Jenny + John::Chicago Wedding::Combining Traditional and Natural

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 21, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), chicago, weddings | 0 comments

When Jenny + John started planning their Chicago wedding, they had slightly different ideas about what it should be like. John was leaning towards a more traditional affair, while Jenny was hoping for something a bit more organic and laid-back. Thankfully, these two are amazing at taking their individual style and combining it into something truly magnificent! Although their venue was more of a traditional one, Jenny knew she wants to incorporate some natural feeling elements, and she found some really cool ways to do so. Her bouquet included some gorgeous succulents, and their centerpieces were made of more succulents and branches. Their seating cards were actually “seeding cards” and Jenny wore a to-die for leaf necklace (check it out - we think you guys will love it!) To really emphasize their natural theme, Jenny and John chose green as their signature color, and worked it into some other unexpected elements – like Jenny’s shoes and the groomsmen Heineken bottles. Our Chicago photographer, Roya, did an outstanding job, and we’re so honored to call Jenny and John part of our OLAS family! Love you guys! xoxo

Venue: Cafe La Cave; Florist: Kio Kreations; Cake: Oak Mill Bakery; Entertainment: Okyne Medialab; Hair: Salon U

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SNEAK PEEK: Brittany + Chris’ Alabama Wedding::The Reserve at Oak Bowery

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 15, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), sneak peeks, southeast, weddings | 0 comments

If you’re an OLAS bride, you know that we’ve recently started offering sneak peeks – just a quick glimpse into your wedding ready for you just a few days after you return from your honeymoon! Today we’re bringing you a sneak peek from Brittany + Chris’ gorgeous wedding at The Reserve at Oak Bowery in Alabama just a couple of short weeks ago. Our amazing photographer Jen blew it out of the water, and here is just a teensy tinsy glimpse into ALL of the amazing photos! Enjoy Brittany + Chris, and look out for the full blog posting soon! xoxo

PS – Remember that if you want to opt for a sneak peek, you have until 7 days after your wedding to let us know!

Lauren + Chip Wedding :: Inspiration For How To Make Your Wedding More Personal

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 14, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), southeast, weddings | 5 comments

Have we shown you some incredible OLAS shoots this week or WHAT? We’ve had a Trash The Dress shoot, a Newborn Session, a Mehndi & Wedding combo, and now we’re thrilled to bring you this stunner of a wedding shot by a few of our amazing southeast photographers, and for a couple who we love for oh so many reasons! Lauren + Chip are a precious couple to begin with, but are even more special to our little OLAS family b/c L has officially joined the team as one of our OLAS Ambassadors! We’re thrilled to have her and are still quite honestly oohh-ing and aahh-ing over she and C’s wedding photos – get ready people! First, a little back story. L + C met and fell in love in Spain (hello romance!), dated in Athens while Lauren finished up school and Chip began med school, then got engaged with a straight out of a movie proposal. We won’t get into all the nitty gritty details, but let’s just say that it involved Chip creating a video chock full of photos, songs, and memories and ended with a ring. :)

Lauren and Chip’s closest friends tried to put a finger on what their wedding would be like, and they described it to be “classy and elegant with a DIY flair” which we think couldn’t be a more perfect description! One of the things Lauren told us during all of the pre-planning, was that they had a goal of incorporating as many people close to them as possible in the wedding. They felt that it wasn’t just she and Chip’s day, and so really wanted their nearest and dearest to be honored and recognized, too, as important parts of their lives. We love all of the ways they did this – there are too many to recount! For starters, one of their dear friends painted the flower design that was used for their invitations (and makes a guest appearance via Ipad & Skype from Italy during the ceremony!), Lauren’s sister did her hair and makeup (how awesome is it to have a hairstylist and makeup artist for a sis?!), Lauren’s dress is a gift from a dear friend who had worn it previously for a debutante ball (she had looked for other options just to see – but none compared to this stunning dress & the special significance it brought from being from such a sweet friend!), Lauren + Chip’s first act together as husband and wife was to take a moment of prayer for the two of them together and then also make it an opportunity for everyone in the congregation to pray for them in their future and marriage (the photos of this moment are beautiful), L’s Dad plays the ukelele, and so they had him sing and play their first dance song (this is also the song that was the background to Chip’s proposal video!), and so, so, SO much more! Seriously y’all – this wedding is crazy full of great ways to personalize your day, DIY, and most importantly – love. :) Thank you so much for letting us be a part of it, Lauren + Chip – we heart you!!

Ceremony/Reception: Carl House; Florist: I Do Flowers; Cake: Cecilia Villaveces Cakes; Entertainment: Black Tie Events; Dress: Gifted from a friend, alterations from Clara’s Wedding and Alterations; Hair/Makeup: Renee Locher; Soft Serve Ice Cream: Jimmies Ice Cream Company

Sidra + Raheel :: Mehndi & Wedding :: Augusta, GA

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 9, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), southeast, weddings | 2 comments

Hello OLAS lovelies! We don’t even know where to start with this wedding celebration! Truly, there are so many unique and cool things we could tell you about Sidra + Raheel’s wedding weekend, it’s hard to know which to choose! First of all, S + R’s families have known each other longer than they can even remember. They grew up playing together with all their siblings, until one day in recent years things changed (in the best kind of way!). Long story short, they instantly knew it was meant to be and couldn’t wait to start their life together as one. :) They decided to have a traditional Pakistani Muslim Wedding, which means three days of celebrations… THREE DAYS! We here at OLAS are all about some extra celebrating and were thrilled to be a part of the first two both held in Augusta, GA.

First, there was the Mehndi Ceremony with all of the girls on the night before the actual wedding. This is a celebration full of bright colors, henna, and lots of joy and laughter amongst women. Um, LOVE. The following day is the main traditional religious ceremony called the Nikah. As with tradition, this is a segregated event where both S + R are asked to consent to the marriage from different rooms. Just wait until you see the photos of everyone welcoming Raheel into the room where Sidra is waiting afterwards – it’s such a beautiful & happy moment. Jen, our super talented Southeast Photographer, was there to capture everything and the results are stunning. Truly, get ready to be wow’d!! We’re all obsessing over of the gorgeous shots of Sidra’s ornate jewelry and dress, her bridal shots, their first glance (oh. their. first. glance!), the couples shots, ok… maybe we’re just obsessed with everything about this wedding! S + R included so many sweet little details to make the day fun & memorable too. Be sure to check out the invitations designed by a college friend of S’s and printed in Pakistan, and the thumb print guestbook.

S + R we are so thankful to have been a part of your wedding weekend, lots and lots of OLAS love to you both! x’s & o’s

Photographer: Jen; Ceremony: Savannah Rapids Pavilion; Caterer: Punjab Grill;

Suzanne + Max Part 2 :: OLAS Loves Trash The Dress

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 7, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), weddings, west coast | 0 comments

While this session may be officially called a “Trash The Dress” session, we feel that Tracy (our amazing San Diego photog!) more accurately named it when she sent us the photos as a “Rock The Dress” session!! :) You’ll remember Max + Suzanne from yesterday’s gorgeous post of their San Diego wedding (and if not, check it out here now!), but they decided that they didn’t want the fun to end there, and booked a second session together with us for about 2 weeks post wedding! We LOVE when couples decide to do TTDs, and here’s a few reasons why:

1. “You’ll only wear it ~~once~~… TWICE!” :: Let’s get real ladies. Who doesn’t want to wear their wedding dress more than one time? We’d venture very few… to no one. Do a Trash The Dress and not only do you get to wear it again, but you get to have more beautiful photographs in it too!

2. MORE couples shots + MORE locations :: While we here at OLAS do every. single. thing. imaginable to make your wedding day run smoothly and with as little stress as humanly possible (Britt, our Director of Client Relations + Bride’s Bestie does wonders to a wedding schedule people, WONDERS), it’s still going to be a busy day even when planned out to a “T”! Choosing to do a Trash The Dress session lets you and your hubby choose all new places to get amazing couples shots, and still in your wedding duds! Just think of the possibilities….!

3. It’s FUN! :: Maybe the most important reason of the three! A Trash The Dress session is a photo-shoot where you can let loose and get your hands (ahem. we mean dress) a little dirty! Tracy and M + S did an awesome job of balancing their session with both classicly beautiful couples shots (which as far as anyone would know could have happened on the actual wedding day!) mixed in with fun & STUNNING shots in the middle of a fountain! LOVE.

Thanks again M + S for choosing OLAS to be a part of such a special time in both your lives – we heart you!! x’s & o’s

Suzanne + Max :: A Fairytale Wedding for a Boy in the Marines + a Girl in the Navy :: Part 1

Posted by (once like a spark) on May 3, 2012 in (oncelikeaspark), weddings, west coast | 0 comments

Well, we were going to try and fit both Max + Suzanne’s Wedding and Trash The Dress Session neatly into this one big and beautiful blog post… but let. me. tell. ya –> IMPOSSIBLE! There are just way too many gorgeous photos of these two to choose from, so we’re just going to have to go ahead and give you the wedding now and save the Trash The Dress session for later (part 2). :) Max + Suzanne are one incredible couple. They are both military, M is a Marine and S is in the Navy, and they have a love story that stretches from the US to Kuala Lumpur, and finally all the way to Dubai (and how much you wanna bet there’s more in there they didn’t even bother telling us?). Tracy did an incredible job photographing these two and their entire wedding day (gosh, hasn’t Tracy been killing it lately?!). We’re so blessed to have her as our oh so talented San Diego photog!! M + S wanted to have a small, intimate ceremony with their closest family and friends. For S, the Crystal Ballroom at the US Grant was her fairytale ceremony location (and you’ll see why – oh.the.chandeliers), and because they both have such a love of sea and water (obviously!) they decided to have the reception on the waterfront of San Diego at the Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. There are so many little beautiful & personal touches to this wedding, we loved every moment!!

Look out for their TTD (Trash The Dress) session coming soon! x’ & o’s