Nicole + James | Engagement | Youngstown, OH

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When I meet my clients I love getting to know them a little bit. I love hearing stories of when they first met. Whether it be through family or online. Every story is unique. It all started with this couple when James came into the gas station that Nicole was working at about little over 5 years ago. He came in a lot and I think it was because when he saw her the first time he knew he had to make it his primary gas station just to see her. I think that is absolutely adorable! I also love how much James makes Nicole laugh! I mean come one this is one of my favorites!Nicole+James Engagement 258-52The place that this couple chose was absolutely perfect! It complimented them so well. Totally worth the drive and the chill that day! And they both braved it with ease! I’m so honored that these two picked me to photograph their engagement photos and their wedding in 2019! I hope you enjoy viewing the love between these two! I can’t wait for their wedding! Love the winter theme!!

Some photos from our time together:

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Thanks!

-Heather

Kimberly+James | Engagement| Cleveland, OH

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This wonderful couple met online on PlentyOfFish.com about little over a year ago. I can tell they love each other and the endearment that James has for her. I was pretty skeptical about online dating, but these sites I can see how it brings together the best people. Just like these two!!Kimberly+James Engagement 4-Edit-2Our session started at Starbucks (Kimberly’s favorite coffee shop) in Cleveland right near the most beautiful chandelier at Playhouse Square. Once I saw them I knew we were gonna have a great time. Kimberly was getting her sign ready to do her save the date and James and I were talking about some additional areas we could stop at. We started at the beautiful chandelier that was right out of Starbucks, which is absolutely huge and photos don’t do it justice! Definitely a must see! I really had a fantastic time photographing them at the locations we went to. Kimberly was an absolute champ braving the wind and cold. And James was right there with her keeping her nice and warm.

Please enjoy their photos from their session

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First Year of Business

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Wow February!! I may be a day late posting this, but it has definitely the busiest month of consultations I have ever had. I love meeting all these new couples and getting to know them and their plans for the most perfect wedding! Another awesome thing is this month marks one year since I started my business. I have survived my first year!! When I mean by this is I have survived all the paperwork and keeping track of every detail of a business. Yea, it can be hard work, but it’s very rewarding. I love this feeling of being my own boss. I can control my hours. I can’t wait to jump into wedding season and being busy of taking photos of all of these wonderful couples in one of the most beautiful journeys in their life. I also can’t wait to see how much the families I’ve taken photos of grow up and grow in size or even new families and get to know them and become great friends. I have learned so much in this first year of business. From how to start and run a business and to give a better experience for my couples and families! 2018-03-01_00032018-03-01_0002This year will be full of education (which is pretty much every year), weddings, families, and planning my OWN wedding! Being able to balance all this and have some time to myself will be a challenge, but it is a challenge very well accepted with confidence. I hope to have much success in providing the BEST experience possible for all of my clients. I know I will because they are all awesome! I hope you enjoyed this little blog post about my 1st year of Business. The next blog post you will read will be an engagement session!

Thanks for reading!

-Heather

Gina + Bobby Winter Engagement

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What can I say about this couple! Oh I know WONDERFUL! I had an amazing time getting to know this couple. My favorite part is how much Bobby loves Gina so much to go out into the cold to get these amazing photos done. He’s more of a beachy kind of guy, not a below 0. They picked an awesome location to get these photos taken. Too bad we didn’t have ice skates! Another awesome thing about this couple is they are BUCKEYES fans!! Of course I am a Buckeyes fan, so I love that they wanted to incorporate wearing some attire!

I think it’s a new favorite of mine to do winter sessions. Even though bracing the cold winds is a bummer, but when you see a couple in love like these two through your camera you just warm up. I’m so glad this couple found me on WeddingWire! And I can’t wait to be there on one of their most memorable moments of their lives and to be able to capture is an honor!! Here are some photos from our amazing winter engagement session together!2018-01-15_00012018-01-15_00062018-01-15_00032018-01-15_00072018-01-15_00042018-01-15_00022018-01-15_0005

Gift Certificates

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Hey All!!

Welcome back!! So to put you in the Spring/Summer mood and to end the long wait…here it is….are you ready….ok I guess I’ll tell you…. I have made a wonderful gift certificate for special gifts for your family and friends. Even better yet, from 2/1/18-2/28/18 I would like to discount these gift certificates by 30% craziness!! So to give you the lowdown on these gift certificates.

-To get the 30% discount gift certificate it must be purchased between 2/1/18-2/28/18.

-The 30% can be used on any hourly coverage session (1 Hour, 1-1/2 hour, & 2 hour) and engagement session. Not valid on Weddings or a la carte weddings. Example: 1 Hour session $150 (150-30%($45)=$105+tax

– Gift certificates must be used on session(s) in the months of May, June, & July. IF not used in these months the client forfeits the gift certificate and can’t be reimbursed. These are not valid on any past sessions.

-Also I only have 30 gift certificates available, so get yours before they are gone.

Steps to get the gift certificate is to:

  1. Get in touch with me via email, contact form via website, text me, call me, etc.
  2. Let me know which session you would like the gift certificate for.
  3. I will get some info from you like your name, email, address, & phone. As well as who will be receiving the gift certificate (don’t worry I won’t be contacting them I will await for them to contact me)
  4. I will then send the invoice to you for payment.
  5. Once payment has been received I will then send the paid invoice receipt and gift certificate via email to you where you will be able to print or send to them as an email. Like I said before I only have 30 so get yours before they are gone.

Down below is what the gift certificate will look like. Pretty huh? I can’t wait Spring & Summer.

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For Clients that have received the gift certificates:

  1. Get in touch with me via email, contact form on website, text me, call me, etc.
  2. I will verify the certificate with my files.
  3. We will chat and get a date scheduled.
  4. I will then send the contract via email for you to look over and digitally sign.
  5. Once that is signed your date will be secured.
  6. After our session together I have a turn around time of 2-3 weeks to get your photos back.

I can’t wait to be able to produce amazing photos for current clients and NEW clients. I can’t wait to see and meet you all. Until then, let’s wait and hope this winter weather is mild until Spring/Summer. If you have any questions about the gift certificates please feel free to ask anytime.

Thanks,

-Heather

Blogging 2018

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Hi there!!

If you found this blog that means you found out what I’m doing new this year. And that’s blogging. I’ll be blogging about engagements, weddings, and portraits as they happen! I’m so excited to bring this into my workflow.

Trust me I was afraid to start this at first and I did a little bit in the beginning of last year, but this is going to a whole new level and I think it will be a nice addition. I did research and research for about 6 months or so to see if this was something I can do and by golly I think I can! Gotta start somewhere right?

How I am incorporating it into my workflow for engagements and portraits is they will be presented about 2 weeks after the session. Which is about the time you get all your photos back. (Now this is only if the bride and groom say that it’s ok for me to blog their sessions with me.) I will compile together of some photos and details on how we met, details about the session, etc. For weddings it will be about 3-4 weeks. It will be about the same as the engagements and portraits, but will talk more about your relationship a little like how you both met and my favorite…how he PROPOSED!

I am excited to bring this to the table and look forward to what 2018 will bring. There is so much going on this year and I’m so excited to get started. I hope everyone enjoys reading their own blog or even learn about what I do during a session.

Thanks for reading,

-Heather

2017 Weddings Clients

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What a year it has been! I want to congratulate all my wedding couples that got married in 2017! Each and every one of you did an amazing job bringing all of your ideas and work into a great day. I am so blessed that I got to be a part of your day and being able to capture all the special memories. It really has been a great year. I hope each and every one of you enjoy all your photos for years and years. Doesn’t it feel great to marry your best friend?! It’s probably the greatest feeling. I can’t wait to feel that way when I walk down the aisle to my best friend. You all looked fantastic and I hope to see you all again for family portraits or even a 1 year anniversary session. Again, I am truly blessed to be able to photograph your wedding!

Thanks for reading,

Heather

2017 Portrait Session Clients

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I would like to thank all of my Portrait Session clients for a wonderful 2017 year! I hope to be able to take more of my amazing Portrait clients! I mean really look at them they really are fantastic! I am where I am at with all of them as well as all the others from last year. I started my Photography Business in February of 2017 doing what I love…Photographing special moments. I am very excited for 2018 and all the new friends that I make along this journey.

2017-12-17_00022018 will be a great year I just know it. Being able to see the little ones grow up is very rewarding and exciting. Also seeing families new additions are amazing too. 2017-12-17_0001I am truly honored to photograph these couples, seniors, expecting couples, newborns, and kids. I can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store. Again thank you all for being amazing!!

Thanks for reading,

-Heather

2017 Engagement Sessions

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I want to thank all of my 2017 engagment clients! I can’t wait for your weddings or your wonderful weddings that we have done this year. For my 2018 wedding clients I can’t wait to photograph your big day! For my 2017 engagement and weddings I had a great time and I can’t wait to reunite again. I also love getting to know these amazing couples. Hearing about how he proposed and their details on their wedding. I can’t wait to see all the details come together. 2017-12-17_0004I want to thank ALL of you for allowing me to photograph your engagment and future wedding. You are truly amazing inside and out. I can’t wait to see you grow in your relationship and grow your families. I hope you consider me as your Family photographer as well. 2017-12-17_0003To sum it up I really am thankful for all of you and I hope that we see each other again. I can’t wait for what 2018 holds. Let’s make it the best year yet!

Thanks for reading!

-Heather

‘Day Of’ Timeline-9/22/17

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A bride wakes up on one of the biggest days of her life and realizes that she has sooo much to do before she walks down the aisle. She is planning things out in her head, but as the day goes by nothing is getting done the way she wants. Therefore she is so stressed out and not able to enjoy her wedding day. When the bride can’t enjoy her day it throws off the whole day for pretty much everyone else.
I never want to see a bride go through the wedding day without having something in place. Usually everyone is in the background helping the newlywed couple instead of the bride and groom being the hosts and waiting on everyone else when they should be waiting for them. I have composed a guide for brides that they can use to help them plan their big day. How I will have it set up is by how much time should be allotted for different things that can occur during your big day. This is from experience of weddings I have photographed and planning my own wedding.
  • Wake up ( it’s your wedding day!) -should take about 5-10 mins…right haha
  • Eat a healthy breakfast- about 1/2 hour or so to cook or get stuff together
  • Get hair and makeup done- this is for all girls, mother’s, and of course yourself could take up to 4 hours depending on quantity
  • Get dress on- depending on if you have zip up or corset this could take up to 15-25 mins
  • First look (this is not a necessity)- take about 15 mins.
  • Pre-ceremony Photos (Bridal party)- depending on how many groomsmen and bridesmaids you have could take up to 1 hour.
  • Hide (don’t want your guests to see you)-always half hour before music starts
  • Music starts-1/2 hour before ceremony. At this time people with start taking their seats.
  • Ceremony (Lets get married!!)-take up to 1/2 hour if catholic then longer.
  • After Ceremony Photos (family photos and a couple bridal)- factoring how large of a family about 1 hour to hour and a half.
  • Grand entrance (bridal and newlyweds)-takes about 5-10 mins
  • Toasts-about 5-10 mins depending on the amount of toasts you plan to have.
  • Blessing-about 5 to 10 mins
  • Dinner-about 45-1 hour
  • First dances-it could take up to 15 mins some couples like to incorporate their bridal party into the dances.
  • Little bit of dancing- just to get people moving a little bit. Up to 15 mins.
  • Cake Cutting-10-15 mins sometimes it can get messy
  • Bouqet Toss/Garter Toss-about 10-15 mins
  • Popular dances (ie.dollar dance/anniversary dance)-these are usually incorporated into dancing through the rest of the evening.
  • Dance (Party!!)- As long as you want it to be.
  • Final Depart-this is where you will depart and leave to go either home or be on your way to your honeymoon.
I know this list is huge and a lot to fit in, but most of these go by fast. It’s always important to have something set in place. It makes things go smoothly and has all of your vendors on the same page and can work as a team to make your day as special as possible. I always help out my brides when deciding how they want their day to go. Since this is only a guide this is not a set in stone type itinerary. This is just to give brides an idea of how they would like their day to go. I hope you find this guide helpful. If you have any questions about this blog please ask away I’m always here to help brides whether you have me as your photographer or not.
Until Next Time,
-Heather M