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

Brandon & Ashley: Married!

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:30:07 +0000

From the moment I met Brandon & Ashley, I knew I would not only looooove photographing their wedding, but I also knew I would become good friends with them! It was so fun to learn right away that Ashely and I have many similar friends, from all different times/places in life. Brandon and Ashley both attend Walnut Creek Community Church in Des Moines, and for a long time they were involved in similar activities, but never formally met each other. When Brandon first saw Ashley, he believed that she would be the woman he would one day marry. He prayed about it for months, not wanting to rush ahead of God’s timing for them. Once they met, they started dating right away and it was only a few months before they were engaged! It’s so neat how God led Brandon’s heart to her, before he even knew much about her, and that he was so patient to wait for God’s lead before making the first step. It is obvious to anyone who spends time with them how perfect they are for each other! They both have such lively personalities, and are a sheer blast to spend time with. They also have HUGE hearts for people; their love and compassion for people is so evident, no matter who it is they interact with!

A word of caution: LONG BLOG POST AHEAD! I had a hard time narrowing their photos down to a few favorites, so here come a whole bunch of my favorites! Feel free to leave comments at the end of the ones that you love!

They were married August 21st at Walnut Creek. It was a beautiful day outside, and each part of their big day was infused with beauty! Beginning at Bella Salon in Johnston, the stunning bride got her make up and hair done:

With these cool lighted mirrors, photographing at Bella Salon was so fun!This next one is one of my favorites from the day: Look at the cool ring pattern the lights created in Ashley’s eyes!
Ashley, you have a crazy amount of beauty!
Below: another of my favorites!Ashley’s dress was incredible! She said she’s not usually much of a “lots-o-bling” kind of person, but her dress was covered in lace and glitz! She found this beautiful dress at the Perry Bridal Boutique, and her gorgeous red flowers were put together by Lynelle Duncan. Brandon & Ashley chose to see each other before the wedding so that they could go right to the reception after the ceremony. Their first look was full of emotion!

One of my favorite things is when couples place high value on getting great portraits of the two of them (not a surprise from me, right?!). They chose to go downtown for portraits, which will add so many sweet photos to their collection of wedding photos!Enchanting!This red door was perfect, since red was their accent color!I love how this next photo captures their personalities!They took a few moments for prayer with the bride before she walked down the aisle: They kicked off their ceremony with worship:Another of my favorites from the day!!And off to the reception! For their afternoon reception, they served delicious desserts, catered by Cindy Hammerberg. Don’t these look delicious?!I just had to use the candy bowls for some fun ring shots! Their rings were too sweet, and these colorful bowls called my name! CONGRATULATIONS, Brandon & Ashley! You are a beautiful couple, inside and out! Thank you for the JOY of photographing your wedding! I can’t wait for you to see the rest!

Can’t Resist!

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:50:33 +0000

Second blog post in a day…whoa! That never happens! But I just can’t resist posting this. Grant and I have received a few comments like, “Did you know you two have like the same color of eyes?” so last night we decided to take photos of our eyes in order to compare them, to see how similar they really are. Here is the final product:

How interesting! We do have really similar colored eyes, though they’re totally different shapes! I LOVE eyes, they’re usually the first thing I notice about people. All the different shapes and colors…they’re all so different! Taking these photos reminded me of drawing portraits: I took my first art class my senior year of high school, and just for fun, I tried drawing portraits with pencil. I immediately learned I had a crazy talent for that! My favorite part was always the eyes, so when I see these pictures, I want to pull out my graphite pencils & blending tools and draw them! However, I have this feeling that drawing is NOT like riding a bike…even though it once came naturally to me, I don’t think I could do it again without a ton of practice!

So, conclusion: Grant and I have really similar eyes. I think his are totally captivating… in my humble opinion =)

Wedding Planning Updates!

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:38:31 +0000

My life could easily be summarized in one word these days. Weddings. Photographing weddings, editing weddings, designing wedding albums, conducting new client wedding consultations, creating sample albums…and on top of all that, planning MY OWN wedding!!! PHEW! Putting together plans for Grant and I’s wedding has been SO fun. Despite the couple-week set back when Grant was in the hospital and recovering from surgery, I’d say we’re doing pretty well for planning a wedding in 3 months! In the midst of planning, I’ve rediscovered my love for anything artistic: creating invitations, designing centerpiece ideas, making jewelry, cakepops….and the list goes on! I’m loving this! I’m having such fun that I thought I’d share with you some of my design inspiration. =) We are getting married at Summerset Winery outdoors, so we’re doing a rustic/country-ish theme. Here are some bits of my decorations:And my invitations! These took forever to put together, but were so fun!! And lastly, for an update on my honey… Grant is doing really well! Thank you to all who prayed for him! After the 2nd week post-surgery he started improving a ton. His pain lessened a lot and he began physical therapy, which mainly works to stretch his muscles. After his 2nd physical therapy appointment, his grip strength in his left arm improved by 20 pounds, and after doing the stretches, he is at 80% range of motion…which is what the end goal was! Amazing! I have full confidence that he will be back to 100% someday! The main concern and frustration continues to be the numbness in his hand and arm, since his nerves were damaged. We’re praying that this comes back quickly! It will be at least 6 months until his bones heal, so he won’t be able to bear much weight with that arm until then, but we are so encouraged by his range of motion! When I photographed a wedding last Saturday, I came home to Grant playing his guitar! He’s not able to play for too long before it’s too painful, but the sound of him playing and singing is one of the sweetest sounds EVER to me!

Heather & Jeff: Sneak Peak

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:09:27 +0000

A super fun, unique couple = a BLAST of an engagement shoot! More to come!