Vitamin C Photography

{Marnie & John} Vegas Destination Rockabilly Wedding

Suzi Lighten — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:28:07 +0000

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

Chelsea & Jordan {Las Vegas Destination Just Married Session}

Suzi Lighten — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:05:38 +0000

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

Baby Gus & Jack {A Brothers’ Studio Session}

Suzi Lighten — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:06:30 +0000

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

Valentine’s Day Date with my hubby

Suzi Lighten — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:47:10 +0000

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

Baby Joey Love {A newborn session}

Suzi Lighten — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:35:31 +0000

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!

Israel + Issac {{A Las Vegas Destination Wedding}}

Suzi Lighten — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:50:16 +0000

You may perhaps remember Israel and Issac from their four-part engagement session blog posting last year. Yep – that was a doozy! They flew me out to L.A, where they met, to have a one-of-a-kind engagement session that truly told the story of who they are and how their love came to be.

To review those posts, here are the links to the four-part series:

Part I

Part II

Part III

and Part IV

We had such a great time hanging out that entire day and getting to know one another better!

Well, fast forward to this year, these two love birds had their destination Las Vegas wedding in a location that they love traveling to, and knew their guests would love to come to as well. The Paiute made a beautiful backdrop for their outdoor ceremony, which was dressed beautifully by Naakiti Floral Design.

All the guests had a great time, and the day flowed beautifully with tons of fun and lots of surprises for the guests!

Wedding Planner: Green Orchid Events

Getting Ready Venue: The Platinum Hotel

The Venue: The Las Vegas Paiute

Photography: TSL Photography

The Cake: Aracelli Cake Studio

Photobooth: Shutterbooth

Hair & Makeup: Your Beauty Call

Floral & Decor: Naakiti Floral Design, Inc.

DJ: All Events DJs

Baby Cael – One Year Portraits

Suzi Lighten — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:11:49 +0000

One of my past brides purchased a portrait session for one of her best friend’s baby. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift! Sometimes it’s hard to buy gifts that really express how you feel or convey any real meaning, but a portrait session is always loved and never forgotten.

I loved hanging out with little Cael. He is such a smiley, happy baby, who, I might add, adores his mommy and daddy. It’s always so special to me when I see the bond between parents and their children. There really isn’t anything else quite like it.

Thank you so much for allowing me to capture these special memories for you!

xoxo,

Suzi

Monica + Rory {A Just Married Session}

Suzi Lighten — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:10:51 +0000

Monica and Rory have quite a unique love story, where you know that their “togetherness” was just one of those things that was meant to be. Living in the UK, they wanted something a bit different and knew that a Vegas wedding was exactly what they wanted. Graceland Chapel was the absolute perfect location! I was able to sit in on the ceremony and watch, and it was so entertaining! Monica was escorted down the aisle by Elvis himself, and a very French minister named Jean-Claude officiated over the ceremony. It was heart-felt and hilarious at the same time! Of course no photography was allowed inside the chapel other than from their in-house photographer, so my job didn’t come into play until after the ceremony.

Rory had no idea that he was going on a Just Married photo session, so it was quite funny when he thought we were just the hired transportation to take them back to their hotel. Monica said that there was no way on earth he would agree to having a session done, so finding out this way was the best way to spring it on him. LOL.

It was too cute.

They were too cute!

As soon as I saw Monica, I was super stoked, because she was just drop-dead gorgeous! She reminds me of a cross between Salma Hayek, Kim Kardashian and my friend Sangeeta. Pure beauty!

And of course Rory isn’t too bad looking himself. They both did amazing, especially Rory for totally being put on the spot like that! LOL!

Monica also had her dress custom made vintage style, and borrowed her shoes from her mother, who apparently has a fabulous assortment of her own!

And without further ado, here’s a peek at my faves!

Hugs to you both!!

xoxo,

Suzi

Joey & Laurice {a vintage Las Vegas Maternity Session}

Suzi Lighten — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:03:10 +0000

Laurice and Joey are past clients of my husband, Terrence, over at Lighten Films. He filmed their wedding last year in the spring time, and we both absolutely adore this couple! What’s not to love – just look at all this beauty! And they are both super sweet to boot! They were wed at Siena Golf Club, and had such a fabulously detailed wedding (thanks to Miss Laurice). You’ll notice that with this maternity session, there were lots of details as well. Laurice handmade cute little banners with their soon-to-be dauther’s name on them – Joey Love. Joey (Laurice’s husband) had his daughter’s name picked out when he was in high school, after falling in love with the character, Joey, on Dawson’s Creek, played by Katie Holmes. Plus, having the name Joey himself, it was a win-win situation! LOL. Well, these two love birds didn’t waste any time at all to get their little family started, and are very eager to meet little Joey once she arrives next month!

Laurice wanted something vintage for her maternity photos. Something soft and feminine, with bright floral, grassy areas, and lots of nature. After much debate, we decided that the Spring’s Preserve was the perfect location for the shoot!

Thanks for hanging out with us! We had a blast! Can’t wait to meet Miss Joey and take her new-born pics! Can you imagine how beautiful she is going to be?

xoxo,

Suzi

I totally adore this white vintage umbrella that Laurice had! What a gem! She ordered it to use for her engagement session pics, but never ended up using it! So, we found good use for it!It was so awesome that we spotted these cherry blossoms!

Marta & Doug {the reception}

Suzi Lighten — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:43:57 +0000

So, let me just start off by saying how much Kira and I just adore Rainbow Gardens here in Las Vegas. What’s so cool about this place is the history of it’s origin. Many years ago, it actually used to be a plant nursery, and then it was converted into a wedding banquet hall. So, the property has a lot of indoor trees and plants, inside of a cool dome-shaped green house type structure. The ceiling has a lattice with woven vines and plants decorating it. All of the plants have some pretty saweeeeet twinkle lights on them, which makes for some amazing photography!

The cake was simply stunning!The candy station was pretty fun, and got wiped OUT by the guests!!This is what the groom’s cake looked like!I loved the band that was at the reception during cocktail hour.The lighting was amazing, made extra beautiful by LED Unplugged.It is Polish tradition to do a blessing, which was given by Marta’s mom and brother, in which the couple also ate some bread and kneeled down on a special piece of fabric.This handsome little fella was just so cute and fun to photograph!

A cigar bar was also present at the reception in which the groom amongst several of the guests enjoyed.There were yummy appetizers too!Here is one of my friends in the industry, Clint, with his lovely wife! Clint is an amazing DJ and also a fantastic Elvis impersonator!After cocktail hour and some mingling with the guests, the bride and groom enjoyed taking a few more photos around the gorgeous property!And here is that amazing surprise I was telling you about in the previous post. Marta’s brother-in-law arranged for Chinese lanterns to be released by the guests in the bride and groom’s honor! It was a glorious site to see!The release of the Chinese lanterns was fantastic!The champagne toast, with raspberries! Clint occupied the guests with his famous Pass That Dollar game following dinner. The guests had a lot of fun with it!Here are a couple of photos of the past owners of Rainbow Gardens and now the new owners. Such a beautiful family business! I love family businesses – I think they really deliver more from the heart, and that is definitely the case with Rainbow Gardens!Gorgeous cake, right? And the set up is stunning too! Can’t beat having all of those twinkle lights in the background along with the votive candles!Time to party and catch the bouquet! Who looks like she wants it the most?? This was a sweet sisters’ dance!Sushi was served during cocktail hour, so I thought I’d have a little fun. I’ve always liked playing with my food. Venue: Rainbow Gardens

Lighting: LED Unplugged