WPPI 2010. and the junebug girls stole the show!
we first met them at a killer party they threw in the junebug suite at the MGM. the suite of suites. one suite to rule them all
then we roamed the tradeshow floor with them for awhile.
and then the chat on twitter. of course.

so we’re excited about junebug weddings. not just because they’re cool. but because they’re doing exciting things!
first, there’s the infamous “what junebug loves” section on their blog.
and then of course is the photobug blog and real weddings sections to satisfy your eye candy cravings.

and then…[drumroll]…came along their new “world’s best wedding photographers” section and “image gallery.”
click “world’s best wedding photographers” to see their top ten picks from major markets around the world (literally!). and then click on “image gallery” to browse some of the world’s best images by category (fashion, flowers, invitations, locations, etc…).

awesome. simply awesome.

and then, we’re not gonna lie…we’ve had kiddish grins stuck on our faces ever since junebug listed us in their “world’s best wedding photographers” for the chicago market check it out

thank you junebug for thinking of us. but thank you most for your amazingness!

so here they are. the one and only. junebug.

besides being so incredibly fabulous, what is something else about the junebug girls that we’d all love to know?

Every business decision we make is made to match our brand, and our brand is built on kindness. We committed to being kind, (which is different than being nice), in everything we do. Niceness can be saying you love something or support it when you don’t really mean it. Kindness is telling the truth, providing value and caring about the way you represent and treat other people in all your actions. We focus on the best in everything and everyone, and stay away from gossip and negative critiques. I guess you could say we live by the golden rule and the old adage,” if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.”

give us the skinny on how you work together as a team:  who are the creative geniuses?  who keeps everyone organized and on task?  who steals the show at parties and loves social media?

Christy Weber, Kim Bamberg, and I own Junebug Weddings but I think of every woman on our team is a smarty-pants. Christy is behind the success of What Junebug Loves and so much more, she’s leveled headed, organized, and brilliant with the tech related aspects of our business. Kim is a gifted photographer who has shared her talent with Junebug all along the way. She has an amazing eye for beauty and detail and she’s been instrumental in making Junebug a visual treat. My sister, Sydnor, has played an integral part in our success over the last few years. She keeps everything running smoothly, from our bookkeeping to our marketing strategies and it’s really hard to imagine what we would do without her. We also have several new members of our team who are bringing new and brilliant ideas to the table everyday.
As far the parties go, just tell us when and where. We all love parties!

how excited are you all about launching your worldwide hotlist?!!!  how and when did you decide to take the plunge to go beyond seattle and southern california?

On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 90! Our new Photobug blog, image gallery, and World’s Best Photographers Hotlist are really an organic extension of what we’ve always done and what we really love. As formally trained photographers, we’re fanatics about gorgeous imagery and we truly adore the photographers that we are blessed to promote. I think if anyone would have told me in art school that we would be able to work with and have the support of photographers like yourself, Elizabeth Messina, Jim Garner and Jerry Ghionis we wouldn’t have believed it, but now we’re living a dream.

if you could do your wedding over, what is one thing you would change?

Seriously, I would hire a really good photographer. I got married almost 20 years ago and I didn’t even know there were great photographers like we promote on Junebug. I wish I had photos of that day that I could call art.

name one piece of advice that you feel is super-duper important for a couple to know when planning their wedding?

We suggest that couples take the time to really listen to each other about their hopes and expectations before they let a lot of people in on their plans. If they can agree on a style and up to five priorities each that really matter to them, it will help them stay connected and focused on the important things when outside advice and ideas come their way. Then, we suggest they take a light-hearted attitude about all the small things in the wedding planning process. After all, getting married and celebrating being in love is at the heart of every wedding and the rest is just icing on the cake.

let’s get to know your individual design style’s a bit more.  name your top 2 to 4 stores that you love to shop at!  (home decor and/or clothing)

Uh-oh! Let’s go to Christy our resident fashionista on this one. Okay, Christy says she loves A-Mano (http://shopamano.com/), a gem of a shoe and jewelry boutique in downtown Seattle, Gilt.com (http://www.gilt.com), the brilliant online sample-sale site for great designer deals, and Net-a-Porter.com (http://www.net-a-porter.com) for to-die-for splurges. For the everyday Ts and tanks that she lives in, she heads to American Apparel.

if you were a crayola crayon, which color would you be?

I love that you asked this question! I often refer to the feeling I get when I pick up my camera to the feeling I had as a kid when I got a new box of Crayolas. My favorite color changes all the time but today I think its sparkly magenta.

name something or someone that inspires you right now in life.

Honestly, the Junebug team inspires me every day, and I am always inspired by people who follow their passion, work hard, and stay grateful. My son’s tennis coach says “to be successful you have to stay hungry and humble”. I couldn’t agree more.

you girls have been friends for a long time and have very endearing relationships to each other, which is beautiful.  :)  describe one thing that you love about each other.

Blair – I love Christy and Kim like family, so I truly love everything about them, even on the days when they frustrate me, which are few and far between.

Christy – I love Blair’s huge heart. She has incredible amounts of compassion and empathy, and I’ve learned endless amounts about being a better person from her. I love Kim’s enthusiasm for life and for people. She is quick to give love and support and to show her gratitude in abundance. I’m so very lucky!

Kim – I love the way Blair and Christy know me so well. They can always tell if I need a hug, a laugh, or a shoulder to cry on.

you have just been informed that you and your family are being whisked away to anywhere in the world you want for 9 days…… all expenses paid!  where would you choose to go?

I would go to the Istanbul, then Budapest, and on to the Romantic Road in Germany. If the Junebug team was traveling together, Paris would be a no-brainier. We all love France and Kim and Christy speak enough French to get us everywhere we would want to go.

there have been many incredible additions to junebug recently….. is there anything else we should be waiting in anticipation for?

We’ve spent the last fours years expanding, so we’re turning our attention to improving what we’ve already created. Our business is built on relationships, and taking the time listen to our readers and members to see what more we can provide them is the number one priority for us in the months ahead. We’re super excited for the future, and can’t wait to see what hard work and luck will bring.

10 years ago, today (6.23), a girl, mindy and a boy, ben got hitched. we have the privilege of being a part of weddings and helping to celebrate other couples and their love and committment to each other. today….. we wanted to share and celebrate ours!

MINDY SAYS:

how do i love my ben?
let me tell you………..
he’s loyal and committed to not only myself, our kids, but most importantly God.
his energy surpasses me on most days and he is one of the hardest workers i’ve ever know (hence his nickname “taskmaster”).
have you seen his hotness?!!!! there are times when i get a little flutter just checking him out….. true story.
the way he is such a loving father to our kiddos….. nurturing, yet consistent. playful, yet authoritative.
he would help anyone on a moment’s notice…. joyfully.
his light-hearted attitude on life is contagious and he is CRAZY amounts of fun!!
integrity surrounds his heart and he lives to serve God….. and others, before himself.
every day, he makes me a better person and encourages me to stretch where i need stretching.
we share a bond deeper than just love, we are closer than best friends and we get to keep going on a journey that is amazing, challenging and joyful all wrapped into one.
thanks for loving me every day.

i’m yours.

BEN SAYS:

mindy is a good writer! haha…try and follow that! gulp.
so i’m going to go with random memories over the past 10 years.
the kind of memories that add up to the simply amazing marriage that we have today.

travel back with me 11 years to the first time we met…at a church super bowl party (neither of us watch football…ever!)
i can still remember the first time i saw her walking down the stairs (with her friend), wearing a baseball cap…
i remember her smile. and i remember her eyes.
and remember that she was kinda flirting with the guy i was with. so i was flirting with the girl she was with.
haha…quite the start.

fast forward 6 months to a friend’s wedding. i saw mindy again, but called her the wrong name. oops…
i’ve never been too slick

but we hung out all night and it was a done deal.
we went on our first date the next night…played tennis (wearing my favorite blue sweater vest!)
went out every night that week, had our first kiss on thursday night before i left for a week of vacation.
told her i loved her in a few weeks.
engaged in four months.
married almost exactly a year after the wedding where i called her the wrong name.

pregnant after just one year, right after we moved to florida and decided it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
pregnant again just two years later after starting our first business and deciding it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
and then pregnant again during the move back to michigan and building our new house.

timing has never been our strength

i think my favorite thing about mindy is that she makes everything fun.
i like to work. she loves to play. so together we have fun at work!
we never do things by the book…so we never know what’s going to happen next.
we rarely do things at the right time…which means everything happens on our time!

and you should see mindy with the kids…who wouldn’t want mindy as their mom??!!
our kids are almost as lucky as me.

and then there’s the whole hot thing… ummm…yup.
let’s just say that my first nickname for mindy (when we were dating) was “evil temptress!”
nuff said.

they launched!

we are soooooooo excited to partner with H2O CREATIVE to release the STUDIO 6.23 designer set of indesign album templates. we’ve been using H2O’s album templates for just about forever. so be rest assured it was a good day when we heard they were coming out with designer sets from nate + jaclyn kaiser at “the image is found,” sarah + chris rhoads, mark + candice brooke and justin + amelia lyon. we have a profound respect for all of their work and even had our pics taken by justin + amelia in vegas (see above!). and the day only got better when ben + laura at H2O asked if we’d submit a design as well. we were humbled. honored. a bit giddy. and we’ve been bustin a move on our design ever since.

and now, a shoutout for indesign album templates… drag and drop the images baby. cropping is so 1990’s

so if you’ve got a sec, jump on over to H2O and see what they got going on. and of course check out the 6.23 DIRTY SET while you’re there. with every spread you have the option of keeping it clean or getting dirty with grunge layers or vintage backgrounds.

so here’s a couple preview spreads from our set, but totally link to H2O to check out all the sets. love ‘em!

6.23 hearts ben + laura harrison big time!! so we wanted you to meet them. we first got to know them by stalking their amazing photography at HARRISON STUDIO. and we also know them because of their tremendous resources for creative professionals through H2O CREATIVE. but we’re most proud to know them as incredible friends. heck, our kids even ask when we’re going to see uncle ben and aunt laura again!!

we’ve been using tools from H2O creative now for a couple years and specifically their indesign album templates. they literally transformed they way we designed our wedding albums. [appreciative tear welling up in eye] and on that note, we’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks about their sets of designer albums that we’re crazy honored to be a part of. but more on that later…

also, back in february, H2O creative also came out with a resource to help creative professionals with their SEO strategies. in other words, they help artsy folk get some loving on google. for us, SEO had been like speaking a foreign language while riding a roller coaster. one day we were on the first page, the next we were on the fourth. meanwhile, we could hardly understand SEO speak so we were always just nodding our head saying, “oh, absolutely,” and “for sure…” whenever SEO came up. H2O has helped us a ton with that, so we wanted to let you know about them in case you’re on that roller coaster too.

if you didn’t already click on one of the links above, you can check them out by clicking… right here.

photo credit: Jose Villa

so now that you know the professional ben + laura, here’s a little “get to know me” fodder that will make bring out more of the ben + laura that we love:

* favorite movies….. top 3?
Laura- The entire Bourne Series, Elf, The Notebook
Ben- Ditto with the Bourne Series, anything with Miley Cyrus (wink) and/or Will Ferrell or Steve Carrell

* if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? what place have you already traveled to that is your favorite so far?
L- Definitely New Zealand … I almost got to spend a semester there in college and I still wish that would have worked out for me … so yes, New Zealand. As for places I’ve been that I absolutely loved … Israel was AMAZING as well as my time spent in Thailand and China. I could basically become a professional world traveler and love it … learning about other cultures and places might be one of my favorite things. I love maps.
B-Wah Wah … Laura keeps stealing mine … I would say New Zealand as well, as I would love to be bff with Frodo … and while I’m in that region of the world I would probably hit up the Great Barrier Reef as well!

* you are a crayola crayon…. what color are you and why?
L- Purple b/c it’s AMAZING and is the best color out there
B- Gray b/c I love gray and every shade of gray.

* if you both went on survivor, which one of you would last longer?
L- I would b/c I would dominate all the challenges and I would be the “sneaky” kid on camp
B- I would because I am a people pleaser … actually, come to think of it … I would probably get blind-sided and end up on the Heroes side of the Heroes vs Villans.

* who is a better dancer, your super hot friend, mindy or her husband, ben?
L- Mindy hands down … sorry Ben … love ya, but Mindy can move those hips like nobody’s biz
B- Mindy no question … anyone with a three drink minimum has a hard time letting loose … mindy on the other hand

* describe a setting or venue for a wedding that you would love to shoot.
L- a wedding held in a giant open field with beautiful trees surrounding during sunset … ahhh snap.
B- I would second laura’s … but maybe just one “BIg FIsh” -esque tree in a rolling field.

* why is indesign totally the way when designing albums?
L- It really is THE ONLY option out there that photographer’s should be using … InDesign in my book is the only option.
B- What, there are other design options out there??? I would rather just stick with Adobe

* name a band or group that you sooooo want to see in concert.
L- U2 … oh wait … we are going in just a few short months with you two crazy cats!!! woohoo!!!!!
B- owl city!

* what do you LOVE about each other…. name one of your favorite things about your spouse?
L- I love Ben’s humor … he makes me laugh all the time and laughter is the best.
B- I would say laughter as well … we have a blast together … and … not gonna lie, her organization skills definitely compliment my space-cadet tendencies.

photo credit: Jose Villa

photo credit: Jose Villa

photo credit: Jose Villa

most of you probably know by now, but just in case… we’re letting the cat out of the bag. 6.23 = our anniversary and in light of our 10 year anniversary this june 23, we hired justin + amelia lyon to take some pictures of us lovebirds.

we originally asked amelia if she could do a session for us when we were shooting a wedding in la jolla, california last november. as they were in hawaii, that wasn’t going to work out so well. so we scheduled the session for march when we were both going to be in vegas for WPPI.

now…the only thing that could be more fun hanging with justin + amelia for the afternoon is to hang with them in one of liberace’s vegas homes!!! booyah! we were driving around looking for one last colorful place to take a shot when we saw a cool mid-century modern home with pinkish brick. who could pass that up?! amelia hung out the window to ask the homeowner if we could shoot in front of their home. “sure,” she replied, “but wouldn’t you rather shoot in liberace’s house across the street?” as soon as we could muster up a “yes please,” justin was across the street knocking on the door. we were soooo game! we shot in front of some mirrors (not too hard to find in that house!!) and then in front of the king of bling’s bathtub and even in his bed. scary

we’re so excited to have some new pics of us!! thank you thank you justin and amelia. best..anniversary…present…ever!! here’s a few over our faves!!

now step inside liberace’s home with us….

and here’s a little pic we took of justin + amelia!!

our sweet, sweet keegan just turned 8!!!!! i know that seems almost impossible, since i just turned 29, but math is irrelevant here. he is such a joy to us, so we wanted to share him with the world!!!!!

MEET KEEGAN:

fun-loving……… kind……. HAPPY…… organized……. easy going……….. SUPER social……… future architect……… friendly……… timely…….. thoughtful…….. funny……….. sweet……… loves star wars……. is amazing at building and constructing ANYTHING……… doodle jump champion of the family……… adventurous, yet cautious………. and altogether AMAAAAAAAZZZZZZING!!!!! we have been so extremely blessed by him and are so proud and honored to be called keegan’s parents. watching him grow has been such a fantastic journey and we look forward to every day we have with him!!

we love you buddy…… bigger than the WHOLE world!!!! HAPPIEST 8th BIRTHDAY, KEEGAN!!!

congrats to marty and rachelle for being our first wedding that’s been featured overseas! yay!! seriously, how can you not love the handmade owls?!

BeyondBeyond is a wedding inspiration blog in the u.k. that shares wedding photography and ideas that are “beyond” the ordinary. we like different!!! their blog is refreshing and fun to peek around.

so thanks BeyondBeyond for featuring marty and rachelle’s wedding. their wedding truly was inspirational and it was a treat to photograph.

now go check it out –> click.

so mindy and i are outside the other day playing with the kids….soaking in this amazing thing people call “the sun,” and all i could think of was the movie bambi — you know, the scene where the snow melts and all the animals come out to play, but they’re all bigger. it’s crazy how much bigger and better everything looks after the michigan winter hybernation.

so in honor of bigger and better things in the spring…. today we’ve launched our updated web page. that’s right… all new pics, new splash page, and a bunch of other stuff that we’ve been toying with while locked up inside for the past few months.

we’re not gonna lie… we kinda like it!! and it’d make us pretty happy if you checked it out sometime today. thanks!!!

for the first part of our 10 year marriage, we fell into decorating like all of our friends and the classic pottery barn look (**sidenote: we do still like some things at pottery barn…. just using it for a more visual picture). it was a fairly simple and classic look, with neutral colors and adding a shot of “boldness” was going crazy with a patterned pillow on the beige couch. looking back, ben and i both agree that we not only decorated in a way that was not necessarily our style, but we hadn’t even come to grips with what our style was! GASP!! when we decided to remodel our unfinished basement into our working studio, our style was the most important element. this is the place where we meet with wedding clients, other vendors, and carry out our daily workload. but for us, it has also become our favorite place in our house. we were able to start from scratch and not only decorate however we wanted, but also design the floors, ceiling, walls……. everything!!! and 97% of the time, we had a blast doing it. what is the other 3%, you ask? if you are married…… you already know the answer. in fact, there is only one small wall in our studio that is still incomplete and it’s the only wall that we haven’t agreed yet as to how we will finish it. and that is where YOU come in! we are taking suggestions for what to do around the TV. ben wanted nothing….. mindy wanted the windows (that are currently hanging) to be painted and then…. something a bit more, just to make that area feel complete. soooooo…. bring on your suggestions….. and of course other comments, please!!!

we will let the photos speak for themselves as to what our studio now looks like, but we sure do have to mention the fantabulous people and places that helped us make it a reality!! let’s first give it up for randy ross, a good friend of ours that is crazy awesome with not only creating and constructing, but also loves to design. we pitched randy our vision and away with it he went, adding his own stupendous details and inventions along the way. and we are super happy to share him since he is so awesome……. so here are his digits (847.525.4617). give him a jingle. and of course we have to give a big shout out to our incredible friends, ben + laura harrison, lisa ruff and tom abrams for not only their creative opinions, but also manual labor of love.

mid-century industrial modern with a splash of vintage and retro flair was the look we were trying to achieve. yeah…. we mixed it up….. we’re crazy like that. we don’t play by the rules of decorating and it is only important that we are both happy with our choices. our pieces were found all over the place and we would scour the internet, ebay and our favorite stores until the perfect piece was found. mike and rich over at easttown antiques know us by name in there and we usually don’t leave empty handed! they are our favorite antique store in town not only because they have awesome stuff, but also because they are so darn friendly. some of our other large pieces came from our new favorite store in chicago, salvage one. where do we begin?!!! four floors of reclaimed and completely incredible pieces. one of our favorite things about salvage one is that they rent it out for weddings, receptions and other events. did we also mention that we are dying to shoot a wedding there? so 2010 couples…… check this place out….. it’s stylish but comfortable, vintage but modern and super crazy cool all rolled into one. anthropologie, blue door, ebay, crate-n-barrel and fulton antiques helped us fill in the details and overall…. we are so HAPPY to have a space to call our own.

enough of my babble….. introducing……. STUDIO 6.23….. the makeover.

on the count of three, everyone say “hey” to our new intern, ERICA!! 1…2..2 1/2….3…

erica has actually been with us now since the second week of january, but this past week was the first time she was able to be with us when we had our cameras out….in the freezing cold…

so how did luck strike us with someone like erica?! she asked if she could do an internship with us at the perfect time!! and it was such a nice email, we simply had to meet her. and it’s all history from there. and what exactly does an intern for STUDIO 6.23 do? well, she’s helping us develop our intern program of course honestly, we feel that while learning photography and editing is very important, we’re focusing our internship program on learning what’s involved with running a photography business….what happens behind the curtain…and what keeps photographers up on facebook so late at night. blogging. workflow. processing orders. and the list goes on.

so today we’re giving a shoutout to erica, our first intern, who has been absolutely amazing and has set the bar very high!!

and now a bit more about erica…

6.23 if you could live anywhere in the world, where do you think it would be?
ERICA i was born & raised in the country but my heart is in the city! i would love to live in london!

6.23 if your favorite color could be a crayola crayon….. what would it be named?
ERICA summer days. my favorite color is yellow. canaries + banana popsicles + that polka dot bikini + the sun = summer & the perfect yellow :]

6.23 stores and styles that you love………
ERICA i love the “earthy” vintage look & i love accessories!! i have such a weakness for scarves! :] stores? huge forever21 & american eagle fan! they have great colors, accessories & jeans

6.23 what do you just LOVE to photograph?
ERICA i love to photograph couples & models. couples are so fun! i love capturing candid moments with couples. models are just absolutely beautiful & usually open to just about any location & any outfits which i’m a super fan of!

6.23 who is more fun to work with…. mindy or ben?
ERICA oh geez! i love them both for what its worth! do i have to?? rock paper scissors…mindy! she is an artsy, easily distracted girl after my own heart!! working with her is like working your best friend you’ve known for years. ben is the boss man & equally awesome tho :]

6.23 describe your personal photography style? how would you want someone to describe your photographs?
ERICA i love urban; awesome looking building,great colors, ect. i want people to look at my pictures & say “wow thats beautiful” :] i don’t care what i’m taking a picture of, i want it to be beautiful!

6.23 pick one song that describes you…. or two, if one is too hard!
ERICA gotta pick 2…first of all “i gotta feelin” by the black eyed peas…lets live it up! i try to live each day to the fullest. secondly, “who i am” by jessica andrews…nothing changes who i am :]