Christa & Cory love snow.  Christa says that they are both winter babies (both born in February) and she really wanted to have snowy engagement pictures.  We knew we had to have the shoot done to get their save the dates designed, so we scheduled it for just a couple days after Christmas, and crossed our fingers.  Considering we hadn’t had much at the time, I wasn’t going to get my hopes up.  So, you could say I was a little excited when I woke up that day to some pretty great fluffy snow. Just enough for great photos, but not too much to make the roads bad for our trip up to Columbus.  We even had some start to fall at the end of the session, it was perfect.

They are one of the sweetest couples and I am so excited to be apart of their exciting year!  Thanks for a great shoot guys…and for letting me photograph Eva…she’s adorable!

Could this look any more cozy?! I’m thinking no.

Image credit: Justin, oh, and it just happens to be one of my favorites.  Sometimes I get a little jealous ;)

Image credit…you guessed it ;)  Justin.

Love this one:

Christa & Cory, you two are awesome…we had soo much fun on this shoot, and I know that your wedding is going to be even better!  How about you move it from November to…uh, next month? Great!

It’s so hard to plan a photo shoot when members of your family are as busy as they are these days. One kid has practice, the other art lessons, another has a job…it gets tough.  Well, you know what’s harder.  When one kid lives in Indiana, one lives in Alaska and one is on their way to Texas soon.  So when Allison emailed me from Alaska and was trying to coordinate a time to get family photos taken…I was going to be there, who cares if it’s the day after Christmas. There are only so many chances to photograph this family together…unless they want to take me to Alaska next time they visit Allison ;)

The point is…family photos are important.  People are busy, but in 5 years you wont want to look back and think…did I really not have one evening to dedicate to documenting my family at the time.  I know I stress this all to often, but it’s also all to often that I see families go 5 to 10…to 20 years without a family portrait. It’s a shame, and I hope to be a small part in changing that habit.

I am positive that 30 years down the road, Jackson is going to call up his Aunt Allison and thank him for setting up a session…because when it comes down to it, he is going to love seeing his family when he was just 1 year old.

Love this shot of Jackson & his Great-Grandma.

Crazy cute.

Jackson…you are too cute for words!

Only one more 2009 post to go…then I’ll show you some from this year ;)

In all the months I had considered having our wedding, December never entered my mind.  December in Ohio is cold. Really cold. So I will admit I was actually a little surprised when I had an inquiry for that month.  I mean, how many portraits can we actually do outside?!  You know how I love photographing outside!

I first photographed Maribeth & Jesse for their engagement session in September (one of my favorite sessions ever).  Just talking about the wedding then, I knew that I would quickly become a fan of winter weddings.  She had so many details & ideas planned that I couldn’t wait for their day.  The 5th rolled around and I updated my usual wedding attire with a long sleeves & a scarf…which I needed. It was in fact, very cold.  Guess who didn’t care?  Maribeth.  She was ready for this day, and nothing was going to keep her from going outside and taking photos with her new husband, while wearing the most fabulous dress I’ve ever seen.  We braved the cold for a few and would jump back inside for a few more.  I also made a record of the fastest bridal party photos of all time.

When I think back about the day, I don’t think of the cold at all. I think about the way Maribeth would smile & close her eyes when she was snuggled into Jesse.  How Jesse would look at her with the sweetest, and I mean sweetest look I’ve ever seen.  I think about how she planned the most romantic & beautiful December wedding I could never even dream up.  It was an amazing day, and I don’t plan to forget it anytime soon…and hey, I’ve got a few pictures to remind me ;)

It was SO cold outside, so we shot inside as much as possible…and darn it, I love how they turned out :)

**edited to add: I had a meeting with Maribeth yesterday and she said: “If I knew the pictures were going to turn out like they did, I would have stayed outside all day”.  Needless to say, that made me smile :)

Maribeth, thank you for rocking out the shoe decision.

I’m telling you, they might as well be models.

I always walk away from weddings wanting to be best friends with the bridesmaids…my brides have the best bridesmaids.  This wedding was different.  I walked in feeling like I had known these girls for years.  We even dressed alike.  Seriously, I walked in with the exact same hairpiece they were wearing, and with a scarf…which they all had too. It was so great.

Carolers greeting the guests as they arrived:

I loved all the winter details! Especially the snowflakes hung from the ceiling!

Favorite ring shot to date.

I don’t even know how to stop. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Now I promise to stop gushing.

That wedding ended the most amazing wedding season of Cassidy Dawn Photography…and while it was also the first official wedding season of CDP…it will forever be one of the best.  I will always remember those amazing 14 weddings and can’t wait for all the ones to come.  We are up to 18 this year, and still adding more!

Vendors:

Photography: Cassidy Dawn Photography ;)

Make-up: Kelli Wilt Ramey (she’s so great! email me for info)

Hair: Hair: Trisha Dettwiller (740.773.2002)

Flowers: Robbins Village Florist (937.981.2012)

Church: First United Methodist Church, Greenfield Ohio

Reception: Thompson Tree Farm, Pine Lodge

Cater: Made from Scratch (937.981.3985)

Cake: Kate’s Confections

DJ: Pokey’s DJ (937.981.4290)

This amazing sunshine today has me in the best mood, and I am feeling better than I have in weeks!  It’s made me so happy that I just had to share one of my favorite images from our last wedding of 2009…

image credit: my amazing husband/second shooter, Justin (he rocks).

More on this beautiful winter wedding tomorrow!

Remember this little girl?  Well, her and her brothers are growing up fast!  There is not much in the world that makes me happier than a family that wants me to photograph them every year. It’s an honor.  So when Paul emailed me about setting up another session for Christmas Cards this year, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  The kids are growing up & getting more cute by the second, and it was great to see them all again.

Here are a few of my favorites to help make you smile on this Monday morning. Don’t forget…it’s March, doesn’t that just sound spring-y?! Have I mentioned that I can’t wait till Spring? ;)

Does this not show a some personalities or what?!

Love this family portrait.

Miss Rose:

At the end of our shoot, William turned into a little model.  He was posing & picking out spots, it was so adorable!  Of course, it was at the end of the shoot…oh boys ;)

William, Rose & Benjamin, see you later this year :)

Remember last year when I asked you all to find any friends or family that might be looking to adopt a new puppy to their family?  Well, I am going to do it again!  You just wont believe how cute these little pups are!  It’s taking every bit of self control that Justin and I have to not take one in (I’ve already picked one out…uh oh!)

My good friends & neighbors have rescued these little guys and have been taking care of them.  I just can’t get over how adorable they all are.  I think they look like little black bear cubs…soo cute!

It takes a lot to take care of puppies…trust me, we know.  We don’t know anything about these little guys except that they are cute :)  My neighbors have been taking such good care of them, and I just want to help them find good homes.  I remember how important it was for us to find great homes for our little labs, and we want these pups to find great homes too.  There is a slideshow below that shows some more photos, the second photo is a photo of the mother (a guess as to how big they may get), but they don’t know who the dad might be. We think there are 3 girls & 5 boys and we know that 4 love to play.  The others are a little shy, but I am sure they will warm up in no time.  The one I picked out is a little shy girl…so precious!

Watch this slideshow to see more cuteness… (the second photo is of the mother, just to see what size they may be)

If you know of a great home for any of these puppies, please email me at cassidy {at} cassidydawn {dot} com, and I will put you in contact with the great people that have rescued these angels.  Please, please help if you can!

Thank you!!!!

Oh my goodness. I just love these two…um, three.

Meet Angela, Jerry & Winnie.  This cute family lives in Columbus, and we all got together last November to do engagement pictures.  When setting up the shoot, Angela asked if it would be okay for us to start at their house so we could get some photos with their lab. Um, really? If you know me at all, you know this question NEVER needs to be asked.  I would never, ever turn down a shoot with a pup…and with my new love of labs, I was a little more than excited.

Here is are a few of my favorites from their session…

Um. Adorable.

Angela and Jerry are big blue jacket fans…so they wanted to incorporate that into their session.  So not only did they wear their best blue jacket gear, we also shot all around Nationwide Arena.

This is when Angela informed Jerry that she had planned a little surprise for their shoot…

You could say he was excited ;)

Some ice on the ice ;)

Stay tuned for more of this too cute couple.  We just shot their wedding in January!

Ok, I’m going to interup my consistant posting of shoots to confirm a thought you may have had.  A few of you out there might have thought (in all this wintry bliss), wow, I bet this would be beautiful in photos.  Answer = you are right.

Here are two sneak peaks to show how great this time of year is to schedule your shoots.  Everyone loves the fall leaves, and don’t get my wrong, they are beautiful, I love them too…but honestly, this snow is so amazing!  On, that note, it is metling today.  So if you would like to set up a session to play in the snow for an hour or two, email me and I’ll get you on the list for when the next round comes in!

*Yes, I am secretly hoping we are done…I am completely ready for spring.  It’s beautiful, but it sure is cold.

More of these shoots coming soon ;)

There isn’t any possible way I can sum up the way I feel about the Ash family in a blog post. Sorry, I just can’t do it. As you’ve probably read, Hayley & I have known each other since we were 4.  We met in “preschool Sunday school” and  other than my sisters, she is my oldest friend.  Do you know how amazing it is to watch one of your best friends get married & have babies…well, it’s amazing.

Early last year Justin & I were at the Ash home playing cards & Hayley kept knocking everything (and I mean everything) over. She casually mentioned that last time she was that clumsy was when she was pregnant with Sophie.  We all laughed about that, and continued our game.  When we got home Justin was just as clumsy…and he said, Hayley better be pregnant, cause if she isn’t, you are.

And here we are now. And I am happy about that on many levels ;)

I thought I should combine this post and just go from event to event…so get ready for some maternity pictures, hospital pictures & newborn pictures :)

The maternity shoot was actually pretty unplanned. I was in Columbus and had my camera, and Hayley had a feeling that Laynie wanted to make her arrival before our scheduled shoot.

Love these…

The minute Richard called me to let me know they were heading to the hospital I was putting on my shoes.  Of course I had to wait a couple hours till Justin got home from school…but I was so excited!  *and surprise…Laynie decided to come about 1 month early!

Love this too:

My favorite:

I know, I know…I am still blogging events from last year.  November of last year to be exact.  However, I have a good reason…I couldn’t not post photos from this super sweet wedding.

Shannon & Ross were married on November 21st of last year, and it was such a beautiful day in Louisville, Kentucky!  Not only was it yet another day that Justin & I witnessed two people starting the rest of their lives together, it was also our first Jewish ceremony.  Going into the day, I didn’t expect there to be anything different…other than a fun dance at the reception.  I was wrong.  It was honestly one of the most beautiful & touching ceremonies I’ve even seen.  The traditions and symbolism involved in the wedding were so beautiful.  Well, and of course…how fun is that dance?!  When we left I asked Justin if we could get married again and have a Jewish ceremony. ;)

Here are a few of my favorites from the day…

Love this moment Justin captured.  Shannon, you are soo gorgeous! 

Justin again :)

Favorite:

I usually don’t post group photos, but I just loved the colors & the light here.

The Country Club was gorgeous! I loved the draping here…

Yep, that’s right.  Favorite ring shot so far.

Band 24/7 were so great…there’s just something about a live band!See, it’s fun, right?

Shannon & Ross…you two are so sweet together.  Thank you for having us there on your wedding day, it was so wonderful! I hope you aren’t too cold & buried in snow in Kentucky after your warm, beautiful honeymoon in Cancun!

Vendors:

Photography: Cassidy Dawn Photography ;)

Flowers: In Bloom Again

Reception: Standard Country Club

Cake: Jeanne Dauthitt

Ceremony Musicians : Highland Chamber Players

Reception Band : Band 24/7

Videographer : Abell Videographer