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  • WELCOME!

    I'm so glad to have you here! I'm Suzi, and I'd love for you to kick up your feet and browse through my work!
    Nothing makes me happier than working with couples who have a zest for life, are deeply in love, and are excited to capture incredible memories for their own history books!
    To learn more about how I can capture your story, head on over to my contact page!

Allie + Trent / An Ice-Cream Engagement Session

Here is part 2 of Allie and Trent’s Engagement Session. In the previous post, you saw part 1 of their egnagement session, which had a sushi-in-the-park theme. That was so much fun to shoot! And after we finished up at the Springs Preserve for part 1, we headed over to Luv It for some made-fresh-daily custard. Wow, let me just tell you, WOW! Super good. It’s a walk-up-and-order type of place with no seating. Most of the people were just heading back to their car to immediately devour the delicousness. A few others were lingering in the parking lot and instantaneously gratifying their tastebuds.
When Allie told me that they both love to eat ice-cream, I remebered this adroable old-fashioned ice-cream shop from a session that one of my couples did a few years ago and thought it would be the perfect sweet spot to show off something they like doing togethe!:)
Check out a few of these fun pics!
Love these two!
Can’t wait for the wedding next month!
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Allie + Trent / Sushi in the Park Engagement Session

As with all of my couples, let me just start off by saying how blessed I am to work with the most amazing couples! Truly, I have the sweetest, most genuine people that I get to work with and photograph. Allie and Trent are just another AMAZING, beyond AMAZING, couple that I have the privilege of working with! They compliment one another in so many ways, and their fun and playful personalities are a joy to capture!
When discussing ideas for engagement photos, it came up that these two love sushi and love going to the park. They also LOVE to eat ice-cream, which you will get to see in part 2 of their engagement session!
For part 1 of their session, we met up at the incomparable Springs Preserve.
I am really excited for their wedding next month at The Paiute! It’s going to be an amazing day – can’t wait!

April 26, 2013 - 8:14 pm

Liz - Beautiful photos! What a fun engagement session, so original. I love when couples incorporate the things they love to do or eat!

April 29, 2013 - 8:15 pm

Suzi Lighten - Thanks Liz! :)

Angela + Doug’s Siena Wedding

Angela and Doug are so…. so…. what’s the word? Easy! I mean easy in a good way, of course! They are super chill and laid-back. I had a blast working with these two, as they made my job easy as pie!

The day began by getting ready at Palms Place at The Palms Hotel. Angela looked absolutely stunning! Her hair and makeup looked beautiful all night long – a true testament to the skill of the artists she hired!

I loved her fun and frilly dress from Celebrations Bridal! What wasn’t to love? It was glitz and glam and added a lot of flare to her dream wedding at Siena Golf Club.

Angela and Doug weren’t sure if they wanted to do a first look initially, but went ahead and decided it was a good ice-breaker for them to take the edge off a bit before the ceremony. They both expressed how much pressure it took off the rest of the day as well. Their first look was also very sweet and endearing. <3

Following the first look, we headed over to Siena Golf Club for the ceremony, which was absolutely gorgeous! Pastor Pete did a fabulous job, and made all of the guests enjoy themselves, as well as evoke a great big laugh from Angela after a funny joke!

The various shades of purple and silver floral and decor looked really beautiful, and I loved the purple up-lighting which really added a beautiful effect to the look and feel of the room, as well as added a needed pop to the photos.:)

Angela and Doug, you are both beautiful people, and your wedding was a blast to photograph! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this truly special and intimate day!

xoxo,

Suzi

Ceremony/Reception:  Siena Golf Club
Officiant:  Pastor Pete Starzyk
Florist:  Floral 2000
Photo Booth:  Premier Photobooth
Bridal Gown: Celebrations
Invitations: Alligator Soup
July 20, 2012 - 10:15 pm

TARA - Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I love all of them! Especially the flower girl!

Morgan + Shelby / The Wedding { Part I}

Ahhhhhh! Can I just scream out how much I love Morgan and Shelby?! They are from Orange County and were looking for a Las Vegas engagement photographer.  They had a cool concept to do their photos out here since Shelby actually proposed to Morgan here in Vegas, at a beautiful 30th birthday party that he threw for her with their closest friends. We had an absolute blast together at their engagement session together! We hit up some cool vintage Vegas locations, like The Neon Museum and Fremont Street.

With all of the correspondence I had with Morgan for the engagement session, they decided they wanted to have me come out to Orange County (the Laguna Hills area) to photograph their wedding as well! I am sooooooo happy they did! Their wedding was so amazing, the details were incredible, and I felt as though I were in Photographer Heaven!  Oh, and the weather out there is a nice 20 degrees cooler, so that helps a lot too!!:)If you’re from Vegas, you already know what I’m talking about, LOL.

So, I decided to do two separate postings of their wedding, since there just happens to be tons of great stuff that I can’t make up my mind on what to post! This posting will cover the first half of the day (bride getting ready, bridal party shots, ceremony and newlywed romantic shots.)

Morgan and Shelby’s ceremony definitely goes down in my book of top wedding ceremonies of ALL TIME. It had the right amount of humor, heart-tugging emotional moments, seriousness, education, and a great deal of warmth and sunshine (in a metaphorical type of sense). The officiant, Pastor Todd, did a wonderful job, and I heard he had a few secret admirers following the ceremony as well! LOL. Sorry ladies, he’s taken – married for 24 years with 3 kids.:)

I’d like to extend a BIG thank you to all of the guests and family of Morgan and Shelby as well – they were all such easy-going people! Extremely warm-hearted people!

Let me also give a HUGE shout out to the event coordinator at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, where the couple’s lovely wedding took place. I don’t think I’ve met a nicer, more hospitable coordinator. Allison was sweet, down to earth, and went out of her way to make sure that not only the guests were well taken care of, but that me and all of the participating vendors were given extra special care. She brought me out cold water, gave me a tour of the property, and was always checking in with me to make sure I had everything I needed. WOW! I couldn’t have asked for a better coordinator than her. She made me feel so welcome and cherished.:)So, Allison, if you are reading this, my hat goes off to you – you are amazing, my dear!!

Morgan’s reaction when she first saw the reception room was absolutely killer. The smile on her face wrapped around her face probably about three times!:)Here is the lovely Miss Allison, who is the event coordinator extraordinaire at the Arroyo Trabuco.

 

Venue: Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, Mission Viejo CA
Lighting: BTB Events, Fountain Valley CA
Floral: Colin Stevens Design, Lake Forest CA
Decor: Bride…lots of DIY and flea market finds:)
Hair & Make-Up: Mai Lockwood
Bride’s Dress: Allure Couture
Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Bride’s Earrings: Eliot Danori
Bride’s Hair Accessory: A creation by the bride & her bridesmaid, Mai Lockwood
Bridesmaid Dresses: Minuet
Bridesmaid Shoes: Betsey Johnson
Groom & Groomsmen Suits: Friar Tux
Candy Shoppe Design: Bride
Cupcakes: Made with love by a family friend
Guest & Bridal Party Hotel: The Hills Hotel, Laguna Hills CA
DJ: Justin Lopez with Generations Entertainment
Cinematographer: Solomon Gross with Mission Visual
September 8, 2012 - 12:31 am

Morgan - Suzi!!!! You have outdone yourself, once again! I am so blessed to have found such a talented photographer :) I can’t wait to see all the rest! Thank you again for being so amazing!!! You could not have made this bride any happier!!! xoxo

September 8, 2012 - 11:41 am

lorenz - Well done–enough said!

Savannah Grace’s Memorial

Our little Savannah Grace passed away on January 21st earlier this year. Although we miss our little girl, we are so happy knowing that she is in a much better place – a place that is free from pain and suffering. She’s free to talk and walk and be filled with joy.

Several of our dear friends gave us some thoughtful gifts in remembrance of our Savannah.

We absolutely love this wind chime. It is called “Amazing Grace,” and when the wind blows it sounds a lot like Amazing Grace is being played. We love this! The chimes hang right outside our office window, so every time the wind blows, we think of our Savannah Grace.  Not only do we cherish this hymn, Amazing Grace, but it was a very special song that my dear friend Kira sung at Savannah’s memorial. Her voice is absolutely beautiful!I found this really neat photo holder, with a bird sitting outside of the cage. It reminded me of a caged bird that has been set free. And this is how I feel about Savannah.This is a framed photo that Terrence took of me and the kids when we were in New Orleans getting hyberbaric oxygen treatment for Savannah when she was 4 months old.This is the urn that we chose for Savannah’s cremated remains. We had her photo engraved on it. This photo was taken the day before she passed away.We had a huge out-pour of cards given to us. We were completely blessed by this, as  many of them were filled with monetary gifts. We received just enough so that we didn’t have to come out of pocket at all for her services. What amazingly generous friends we have!This is a tear-jar that was given to us.This engraved piano actually took us by surprise. We were truly touched by the thoughtfulness that went into this gift! It is a music box as well!

Thank you so much to all of our dear friends, family and clients who sent cards, flowers, potted plants, and other gifts! We are blessed knowing how loved we are and how our little girl touched so many lives.

Thank you to all of you who stood up to give eulogies and personally came up to us to deliver your condolences. It meant so much to us!

xx,

Suzi

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