Photography Blog

Saturday, May 26, 2012

{Marnie & John} Vegas Destination Rockabilly Wedding

Last July, I received this lovely inquiry from a bride in Australia! Here’s how it read:

A big warm hello from Western Australia!

I have just spent a very enjoyable hour searching your fantastic website. I absolutely LOVE your shots of Crissy & Don’s wedding to remember.

My gorgeous man and I have just booked our wedding in Las Vegas, to coincide with the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival we are attending next year. We are so very excited to be able to wed in Vegas… its going to be a hoot. My theme is retro rockabilly pin up glamour, and I’d LOVE to find a great photographer with an edge that can capture our love of Rockabilly (and of each other!) on our wedding day.

We have booked a package with Little Church of the West that includes a professional photo package with photos at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, but I’d really love to surprise my beautiful hubby to be with a couple of hours of photos along the strip to make our wedding really special.

Your photos are simply stunning. I am definitely not your normal bride. Not very ‘bridey’ if there is a term. We’re after some pics that capture the essence of our Rockabilly lifestyle. I can send you a couple of pics of us from a recent festival we attended so you can see us in our rockabilly best if you like

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Warm Aussie regards,

Marnie

All of the emails from there on out were super awesome – correspondence with Marnie was always full of life and excitement for her super wedding here in Vegas. She planned a 7 week leave of absence from work to accomplish all of the cool site-seeing they wanted to do in the States while they were here as well.

Not only is Marnie a bombshell bride, but she’s an incredibly talented woman as well. Believe it or not, she actually made her own dress! She did all of the planning herself, and happily accepted advice about choosing the right hair and makeup artist. I knew Your Beauty Call would be the perfect match for Marnie’s look, and Marnie said she’d never looked more beautiful in her life than on her wedding day. LaVey and Janine did a spectacular job, if I do say so myself!

Marnie did end up paying an extra fee to bring in her own photographer and cinematographer for the wedding. Even in doing so, we were limited as to where we could stand during the ceremony and movement wasn’t allowed at all, as the venue still had to use their own in-house photographer and video. LOL. Nevertheless, we still were able to snag some great photos and video clips! I can’t wait to see how the video turns out!

Marnie and John’s day together was absolutely magical! They hired us for seven hours of coverage with absolutely no reception. We were there to get all of the intricate details for getting ready, the ceremony, and then just have a blast around town taking photos! Oh, what fun!

Had an absolutely fantastic day with these two love-birds, and I hope these photos don’t disappoint your expectations for a vintage Rockabilly wedding!

xoxo,

Suzi

Marnie brought some inspiration along to share with her makeup and stylist team – she definitely wanted a pinup bride look. Very vintage and rockabilly!

Getting ready venue: Cosmopolitan

Ceremony site: Little Church of the West

Post Wedding Shots: Cosmopolitan, Mandarin Oriental

Hair & Makeup: Your Beauty Call

Photography: Vitamin C Photography

Cinema: Lighten Films

12 comments

Jessie Emeric - May 14, 2012 - 8:15 pm

love this couple! Great images

Marnie Dowsett - May 14, 2012 - 11:48 pm

Oh… My… Goodness! There are no words.

Suzi, you’ve given us the greatest gift, you’ve captured the essence of our day (and our lives) in your photographs.

There are no words to describe the joy we experienced on our wedding day and each and every one of your photos exude the very same.

Not only are you the most beautiful photographer, you’re the most beautiful woman – the world needs more people like you Suzi Lighten! Throughout the whole “booking from the other side of the world” experience I’ve feel we must have been long lost buddies lol.

Thank you for shining your light on our lives.
We are forever grateful xxxx
Marnie

Caroline Cassie - May 14, 2012 - 11:51 pm

Marnie is a very good friend of mine for many years and John has become a good new friend, you have done a wonderful job if capturing the love these two have for each other. And Marnz has been raving about you and your work and I can see why. Big wave from me down under

Kylie Kilmurray - May 15, 2012 - 2:08 am

I’m lost for words…..
Beautiful couple….
Absolutely stunning photos!!!
Breathtaking….
xx

LaVey - May 15, 2012 - 2:28 am

WOW! suzi these are beautiful! quite possibly my favorite yet! love them all!!! can’t wait to see the video too! love love love! i MUST get a cd of these pics please! they will be showcased on our site too

kira - May 15, 2012 - 5:53 am

Love love love love love!!!! Beautiful!!

frances - May 15, 2012 - 8:41 pm

wow !! i love this wedding !! the shots are amazing , the couple look such fun !! , the hair and make up is amazing !!!

are the hair and make up team in vegas ! i would love them for mine!!

Jack and Shazzie - May 23, 2012 - 11:51 am

Hi Suzi – Breathtaking photos!!! Both Jack & I felt very honoured to be part of Marnz & John’s special day. Your photography has made their special day even more memorable. We have never seen such amazing photo’s as these and look forward to seeing the whole package when the bride & groom receive them. We have watched the happy couple’s love grow over time and you have captured it’s very essence in all your shots!!!!!

Katie Hughes - May 24, 2012 - 5:20 am

Literally the most beautiful girl in the world – please kill me now! These photos are amazing. Shazzie you look nice too

Alyshia - May 25, 2012 - 3:53 am

OMG!!!! what stunning pics i absolutely LOVE this theme how cool. the photos are very creative and if i was that bride i would be most impressed with what has been captured! A CREDIT TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER! XX

Loree Shepard - May 25, 2012 - 2:56 pm

Beautiful photography!!! Our friend Shazzie and Jack were in the wedding then came to Alabama for a visit. We haven’t met John and Marnie, know them through Jack and Shazzie, but from these pictures feel like we were there with them!!! I love the one on the luggage cart with the girls pushing! Just AWESOME. Hard to say what what one is a favorite, because they ALL are my favorite!!!!!!

Koda - May 25, 2012 - 3:07 pm

OMG!! These photos are beautiful! What an awesome Rockabilly themed wedding! ( Reminds me of how old I am! haha! ) Love it, love it, love it and Congratulations to the Happy Couple!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Chelsea & Jordan {Las Vegas Destination Just Married Session}

Posted in Trash The Dress, Weddings

I went to Pahrump Valley High School with Chelsea. I think I was a grade or two ahead of her, and we worked on the school newspaper together. With Facebook being pretty wide-spread these days, it’s easy to keep in contact with past classmates, and when Chelsea was getting married, she hit me up for some help on venue locations here in Vegas and was also interested in doing a fun Just Married Session after the wedding.

Since Chelsea now lives out of town, she wanted something that was reminiscent of Vegas and had a vintage vibe. Fremont Street is a GREAT location if you’re wanting something vintage, because it’s full of old buildings, and the furniture inside the buildings is either the originals or a good replica of what used to originally be there.

Here are a few of my faves from their session!

xoxo,

Suzi

Posted in Trash The Dress, Weddings

no comments

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Baby Gus & Jack {A Brothers’ Studio Session}

Posted in Maternity/Baby

Kelda, a new mama a second time over, contacted me when her little Gus was 10 days old and was eager to get some portraits of her new little guy as well as her adorable (and very smart) two-year-old, Jack. We set up a time in the studio just a few days later, and, as with all newborn/toddler sessions, with a little patience, some great images aren’t too far off. Here are some of my favorites from the session! Enjoy!

xoxo,

Suzi <3

Posted in Maternity/Baby

1 comment

Friday, May 4, 2012

Valentine’s Day Date with my hubby

Posted in Personal

Yes, I am a little, okay, A LOT late on this post. I hadn’t been feeling well for quite some time (which I will post about soon), so I tended to let some of my personal blogging slip.

So, on special occasions, I usually am responsible for taking care of the first half of the day, while Terrence is in charge of the evening part of the date.

So, for starters, I feel that it’s so special to cook a meal for someone you love. I made blueberry pancakes, topped with fresh apple slices, served alongside scrambled eggs and bacon. I also found some cute place-settings on sale at Home Goods (one of my absolute favorite stores), so breakfast not only looked great, it tasted great as well!

Inside this box were a couple of inspirational canvases for my husband.For lunch, we headed off to Lakeside to dine by the water. I chose Garfield’s Restaurant, because their food is fabulous! They have a very fresh menu, with REAL food (not stuff out of a box or can), and there are actually quite a few organic items on the menu as well. The chef tries his best to get the best ingredients around. And get this, the food is very reasonably priced.You are given a warm bread basket with delicious real butter. (I love butter)The fire-grilled artichoke was amazing – so yummy!We obviously liked it. Just a little bit.I originally had a friend lined up to watch my princesses, but that fell through at the last minute, so they joined us on our date.I ordered the salmon – WOW – the flavors – out of this world!Terrence is more… of a pizza guy. So, he ordered the pizza.Next, I sent my hubby over to The Spa at Lakeside next door for a facial while I took my girls to the park (also located next door close by).I thought it was so cute when Arielle did this. I had no idea she even knew what a “snow angel” was. But, she laid down in the sand and said, “Look, Mommy – I’m making a sand angel!”Self portrait, in the car, on the way to dinner. My camera battery actually died right after we were served cocktails and bread, so unfortunately this is all I have left from the night…Thanks for seeing what our Valentine’s Day was like!

xoxo,

Suzi

Posted in Personal

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Baby Joey Love {A newborn session}

Posted in Maternity/Baby

Joey and Laurice’s baby girl had quite the difficult time during her newborn portrait session, but we still managed to snag a few totally saweeeet images!