Allison Marie Photography Blog by Allison Roen, Des Moines area wedding photographer »

I have spent the past week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment! It has been an enchanting break from the snow, with sunny 60 degree days! Ah, refreshing! I will share more details of the trip once am back at home, but here are a couple sneak peak photos for now! I did two shoots; one was a fun vintage-style shoot with a couple friends and one a bridal shoot at a gorgeous winery. Here are a few of my favorites:

Or, more accurately - Calling All Couples Who Love Each Other and Enjoy Having Their Photo Taken!!

I am looking for young couples to model for me as I experiment with new techniques and locations, as well as create new images to be featured on my (shhhh, top secret! Don’t tell!) new website!! I prefer to have married couples so the wife can wear her wedding dress in the photos. Each couple I choose will receive a DVD of all their edited images for FREE after the shoot, and the wife will also be treated to complimentary make-up and hairstyle at a salon in preparation for the shoot! If you are not married but are interested in modeling for me, I am open to that as well.

If you know of any couples who might be interested, feel free to spread the word!

Email me me at allison@allison-mariephotography.com for more information.

A fun photo for the day as I begin packing my bags to head to one of my favorite places:

I met Allison George when I photographed Ashley & Brendan’s wedding at the Toad Valley Golf Course in August, and it has been so fun these past few months to work with the George family and get to know them more. The more I am around them, the more I love them! Last night they hosted a tasting for the brides and grooms who will be having their wedding/reception at the golf course. This is such a great idea, since the couples usually don’t get to eat much of the dinner at their own wedding! It also gave them an opportunity to see the reception hall set up and decorated like it will be for the day of their wedding. Allison had a few of her favorite vendors come to this event, and I had the honor of being one of them! I had a small table set up with sample albums and my laptop with a slideshow of images, and I got to meet some really neat couples who are in the thick of wedding planning!

Allison also had a design company called Ephemera there as well as a cake company called Goodies Made with Love. Read more about them below!  Here are some photos from the evening:

Sample display of the head table. Near the end of the event, a couple sat where the bride and groom will at the reception…I guess they had to feel it out, feel what it will be like to be at the head of their own table! Allison arranged different themed centerpieces for each table, as a way of sharing decorating ideas. I love this one, since it fits the golf course theme and…you got it…because it’s green! =)This was one of my favorite foods I got to taste. I’m not sure what it was called, but it was a sweet scone-like treat with raisins and nuts. Yum!As I mentioned earlier, the owners of Ephemera were at the tasting and I am THRILLED I got to meet them! Arin and Karen were best friends in college, and began their own stationary studio. They are fabulous women with spunk, personality, authenticity and style! They are brilliant designers, and they create unique & gorgeous wedding invitations!

Aside from wedding invitations, they also do: save the date cards, business identity, website designs, packaging, classes & workshops, and they serve cupcakes to their customers one day a month! This one was my favorite: Check out these details! I love the different textures of the papers, and even the stitching around the edges!  And the next image - guess who this invite was designed for?! None other than an Allison! =)

Here is another of my favorites of their designs below. I love the color and the overall design - it’s irresistable!

The cake company is called Goodies Made with Love, owned by Amy. Amy makes unbelievable cakes!! She made mini cupcakes for sampling, with 3 different types of frostings. She is an extremely talented cake decorator! Here is a sampling of her cake:  And to top of the cake…toads! What else?!

Allison, thank you for a wonderful evening at Toad Valley! It was an honor to be there with your 2010 brides and grooms, and I can’t wait to photograph another wedding at the beautiful golf course!

If you are planning a wedding that is more than 4-5 months out, save-the-date cards are a perfect way to announce your wedding plans to friends and family. They can either be ordered as 4×6 thick cards, or as magnets. Allison & Brandon ordered these cards, and I love how they turned out!

Posted by Allison Marie, Des Moines Iowa wedding and portrait photographer

I searched high and low for a way to package my wedding DVDs, and I finally came up with a way that perfectly fits my branding and style! I found these little green envelopes at Pure Paper, a paper store in Des Moines’s upscale East Village. A company called Envelopments creates these sweet envelopes. In my packaging, I include a document that suggests where to get quality prints and a brief tutorial on cropping photos to the right size so nothing important gets cut off. With a handwritten note inside and  brown & green ribbon on the outside, my DVD packaging is complete!

Posted by Allison Marie, Des Moines Iowa wedding and portrait photographer

Congratulations Adam and Jen! They got married last Saturday at Lutheran Church of Hope, and it was the most perfect day for a November wedding! It was an unusual day, as the events not only ran on time, but things ran ahead of schedule…very rare for a wedding! It was a joy to be a part of their day and get to know them even more. I’ve posted a couple photos from each event of the day to give you a glimpse of the celebration. Enjoy!

To begin, can you tell Jen liked the look of her hair?! Her hairstylist at Salon Seven-O in West Des Moines did a beautiful job!I love the gorgeous simplicity of Jen’s dress!Adam and Jen chose to see each other before the ceremony (something I encourage the brides & grooms I work with to do), and I arranged their “first look” to happen in this neat courtyard at the church. I love the sweet anticipation on both of their faces!They were in for a really funny surprise…we didn’t realize that they had an entire audience watching their first look! To the left of this photo, the wall is all windows, and inside the windows was a large group of women having a bridal shower! So when saw each other, there was a whole bunch of clapping and cheering going on in there! To make it even better, Jen knew a few of the women!Definitely a favorite. Jen is so expressive! I’m so glad I was able to catch this moment of excitement as they left the church as Mr. and Mrs. Hart!Rather than serving typical wedding cake, they chose to have cupcakes. Love it! Don’t they look delicious?!They even had a chocolate fondue! It was delish!Thank you Adam & Jen for allowing me to be a part of your day! Congratulations again!

Posted by Allison Marie, Des Moines Iowa wedding and portrait photographer

The time has already come for the HyVee-sponsored “Everything Bridal Show”! The show is tomorrow at the HyVee Conference Center in Des Moines. You can find all the details about the show here.  Stop my booth to enter your name in a couple great drawings!!! I will be drawing two names to receive a FREE portrait session with me! This is an opportunity you won’t want to miss! Also, I will be running a special promotion during this event. For every ten weddings I book during the show tomorrow, I will be giving away one free day of wedding photography! This means that if you book me tomorrow, you could have a ONE IN TEN chance to receive FREE wedding photography!! Come check out my booth and sign up for these one-time-only promotions! See you there!

Brendan and Ashley were married on Saturday, August 22nd, and it was a most beautiful day for a wedding! Ashley had “put in a special request with God” as she said, for 78 degrees with a light breeze…and that’s almost exactly what it was! Their wedding took place at Toad Valley Golf Course in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

Here are the other vendors that made the day so beautiful:

DJ: Chris Parmalee from Parm’s Porta Party 

Cake: Linda Rozendaal from Pella, IA

Flowers: HyVee Grocery

Hair: Ultra Salon in Altoona, IA

We began the day at Ultra Salon, which was a really neat, unique hair salon! There were bright colors all over the salon, and these cool mirrors on the pillars, which made for some fun shots!

A sweet moment between Mom and Bride:

Here is Ashley, showing off her beautiful make-up to her sister!

Ashley’s bouquet was absolutely gorgeous!!This is their “first look”! I love how all the bridesmaids and groomsmen are watching from behind!

What a good lookin’ couple!

Just perfect weather for an outdoor wedding!

I love what the light created in this spontaneous shot, right after the ceremony!

Brendan told me such a sweet story. The first time he went over to Ashley’s house while they were dating, her parents had music playing and were dancing together in the kitchen! Knowing that makes this photo so sweet:

Thank you, Ashley and Brendan for the treat of photographing your wedding!

As I promised yesterday, I am posting some photos of the albums that arrived yesterday. I am thrilled with how my 11×14 album turned out! Check it out!

This is a 34-page, 11×14 Flushmount Album with a metal cameo on the front. These albums have a lifetime guarantee - they will last forever!! The 2-page spreads could have anywhere between one and 15 photos, so the design possibilites are endless!

Here are some photos of the classy 5×4 Purse Album I offer. It’s  a perfect album to throw in your purse so you can show off your photos at any time!

In each of my wedding collections, I include a proofbook of all photos from the day. Here is what a proofbook looks like (note that this is a senior proofbook, and a wedding one will be a lot thicker because it will have a few hundred more photos!):

And lastly, here are all three albums together, so you can see the differences in sizes:

Here’s a photo to whet your appetite for more to come this week! This is from Brendan & Ashley’s wedding yesterday: