A Sneak Peek - James Wedding 1.28.12 - Dayton Wedding Photographer

Matt and Stephanie tied the knot this weekend at Pleasant View Chapel outside of Bluffton, Ohio. It is this cute little church with only 6 rows of pews. It was a very nice service and it was really fun to meet all the family members and friends.

A just wanted to post a couple sneak peeks before bed....SO MANY MORE to come.....

To know when more are posted "like" www.facebook.com/cmariesphoto

Another Sneak Peek of Steph & Matt - Bluffton Wedding Photographer

Just wanted to post a few more of Steph and Matt as tomorrow is their wedding day. I am getting all packed up, organized and ready for their wedding. I am very excited as I am sure they are as well. 

See you both tomorrow! 

Erin & Dan Love Story Session - Dayton Wedding Photographer

Erin & Dan are a great couple, from just the time I have spent with them on this session I can tell they are head over heals in love. I am sure they will have at least 100 more years. I am really excited for their wedding this May, it is back home in Bluffton, Ohio area.

This session was shot at The Newport on the Levee right on the Ohio River, we met there and even though it was January (I swear it was), it was 50 degrees and sunny.

How crazy is it that Erin is actually the daughter of my 4th grade teacher. Sadly I was not a very good student, some of you might find it surprising to know that I was always in trouble at school for talking and being loud and overly excited about things. And I often time was day dreaming instead of paying attention. :-)

Steph & Matt Love Story Sneak Peek Image - Dayton Wedding Photographer

A quick sneak peek of Steph & Matt's engagement session from this weekend. We were all over Bluffton getting lots of fun photographs, many more to come so keep checking back. These two are so in love it was just so sweet watching them laugh with each other so much!! You only need to spend a few minutes with the two of them before you know they are head over heels for each other!

TheExperience: V.I.P. - Venues, Planners, Invites - Dayton Wedding Photographer

This past weekend was another awesome Experience hosted by the Wedding Connection. If you have not been to an Experience yet you are missing out. Head to The Wedding Connection's Website to learn more about the upcoming Experiences and other events hosted by the Wedding Connections. Every single Experience is a completely different event with each one being focused on the specific things that go into wedding planning.

TheExperience: VIP was a really fun one, we got to hear from an excellent invitations company. Pam, owner of Paper Pod Designs is so great with creating the perfect invitation for your event. She was able to tell us all about the details that go into the invitation options. Unknown to me there really are about a million options but her samples were some of the best I have seen. They are creative and fun but still have a very classy look.

 She created a game for everyone to play, when you arrived you went up to her table of invites and guessed the price. It was surprising how affordable custom invites really can be!

After hearing from Pam of Paper Pod Designs, Jean from Weddings from the Heart Wedding Planning.

Jean was able to address so of the most common concerns or myths about a wedding planner. She was able to tell everyone about how hiring a wedding planner would help take stress off the bride and their family members on the day of the wedding as a wedding planner is a great person to have speak with other vendors on your behalf. Also that wedding planners are not always too expensive, you might be surprised they can usually make a package to fit your budget and what you might need. 

One of the things that sticks out in my mind about Weddings from the Heart is that she is always looking out for you the bride and she seems to be very patient. She is always very friendly and kind which I find very important on the wedding day when they are around all your family and friends.

(And I love that she offers Butterfly Releases to her clients! How romantic is that!! And they start at $55, which is a great price point!)

 Kathy of Your Dream Day was up next, she spoke about the reality of wedding planning, and the myths that sometimes come from the reality TV shows focused on wedding planning.

Such as the TV shows that are featured on TLC and WE are hundreds and hundreds of hours and they edit that down into the best or worst 30 minutes so there is tons of things you never see.

She is a ball of energy and seems to be that way all the time! She has been planning weddings in the Ohio area since 2004. And been voted Best of The Knot, Wedding Wire Bride's Choice, and more. She will be opening a new office in the Cleveland area very soon so she is growing and growing all the time.

Last planners to speak were the very amazing girls of Pink with Envy Event Planning Services. They have a great little hot pink room located inside the Wedding Connection on the 2nd floor, if you ever want to stop by and see them. Brooke, Jenny, & Jennifer were made the cutest little 911 bride kits for the wedding day for all the brides. They are a fun group of girls! They have tons of options in there packages of event planning, even just Day Of Planning which is very affordable at $1200-$1500. They can do anything you need in your wedding planning process just contact them for all their pricing and options.

If you live in the Dayton Area and still have your Reach Magazine around they have a promotion inside the Wedding Section.

After hearing from all these great ladies we all boarded the A Sanannah Nite Limousine Services Bus to go out on a venue tour through Dayton. If I do say so myself, I have been on tons of party buses throughout shooting weddings and that bus was VERY nice! I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Tracy our driver took us to Hilton Garden Inn of Beavercreek first!

 They set up a mini reception in one of the small ballrooms to give us some ideas and see what kinds of things can be done to make things just like your dream wedding you have in mind.

Gigi's Cupcakes  of Beavercreek provided us all with a cupcake to sample as well as this very nice display cupcake tower wedding cake you see pictured above. 

The backdrop seen here was set up in the ballroom as well by Entertainment Unlimited Events, and the sweetheart table is completely furnished from the millions of options offered by Prime Time Party Rentals.

Josie DeDominici was there to greet us and give us a tour of her hotel and talk to us about the different options that the Hilton Garden Inn of Beavercreek offers to their wedding clients. 

NEXT STOP: The Hope Hotel where Billie Meeks was there to greet us and give us the grand tour. 

The Hope Hotel is a great options if you have a large wedding reception, as it has a ballroom to hold up to 500 guests. It is huge! The options are unlimited when if comes to making the space your own. 

Billie had Prime Time Party Rental put together a few table settings for everyone to enjoy and get ideas from.

Next we made a quick stop at Beavercreek Golf Club were they had great little snacks for us! We all loved them. They showed us around and gave us lots of great ideas and options. If you have not had the chance you should really head out there and check it out! They have a great space for you to get ready in, to have the ceremony, cocktail hour and the reception. So many great options, and a great place for pictures too!

NEXT STOP:

 The Schindler Banquet Center, where we were greeted by some of the sweetest ladies. They had some champagne punch and snacks. Which was a very nice touch! 

As many of you in the area might not know is that they now are able to offer wine and champagne at their wedding receptions! Previously this was not an option but they are glad to be able to provide it now!

And Attention Photographers....do you see all these windows, they are like that around the whole entire room! Just beautiful, a photographers dream! And brides that book in the summer would have a beautiful bright wedding reception without being outside in the heat! :-)

A HUGE thank you to Caleb of Finest View Videography for capturing our day on video!

And lastly if you have not yet entered the $25,000 wedding giveaway you really should. The drawing will take place at the Wedding Showcase on Feb. 4th from 11am-4pm at The Event Connections located at US35 and Woodman Drive behind Bob Evans. 4140 Linden Ave Dayton, OH 45431.

A Boudoir Sneak Peek - Dayton Boudoir Photographer

Just a sneak peek.....

More to come soon.....

Couple's Contest - Dayton Wedding Photographer

Hey everyone, The Couple's Contest has begun.....

Spread the word, any couple can enter! Let's face it I am a hopeless romantic so I love reading everyone's love story and I love this contest every time it comes around! So start sending those pictures and stories!

To be fair, if you entered last time you are welcome to enter again, but if you won last time you will not be selected as the winner this time, everyone needs a fair shot at winning!

Erin & Dan's Sneak Peek Image - Dayton Wedding Photographer

Here is just one of so many really fun images I got to take of Erin and Dan yesterday. We were at Newport on the Levee and it was actually about 50 degrees outside even though it is January. :-) So many more images to come...

To be the first to know when more pictures of Erin and Dan are posted "like" www.facebook.com/cmariesphoto

C.Marie's Photography Sponsor of $25,000 Wedding Giveaway

Have you heard? About the $25,000 wedding giveaway going on right now, is in honor of The Event Connection's Grand Opening that is being celebrated during the month of January.

If you haven't entered yet, what are you waiting for? It is a complete wedding package with so many amazing prizes. I gave a $2500 Wedding Photography Collection, as well as so many other of my favorite vendors have also given great packages. Party Pleasers DJ's, Prime Time Party Rentals, Esther Price Candies, The Flowerman, Viva la Strings, and 360 Bridal Boot Camp to name just a few. There is everything you need from ceremony locations to spray tans, to chair covers and sooo much more!!

I hope you get a chance to make it out to the Drawing at the Wedding Showcase on Feb. 4th (you do NOT need to be present to win though). When the winner will be selected. It will be held at The Event Connection at US35 and Woodman Drive.

Also on that date there will be a really awesome Experience, called The Reception. If you haven't been to an Experience yet this would be a great one to go to!! It will be featured at the Wedding Showcase!!

Top Boudoir Shoots of 2011 - Dayton Boudoir Photographer

I have really had fun with these boudoir sessions in the past few months it has become very popular. Whether a gift for the groom, a husband, or boyfriend's birthday they have been a huge hit! I think these are my favorites, its hard to say because I have a lot of favorites honestly in about every category this year! Only one more "favorite of 2011" post to come....

Top Engagement Pictures of 2011 - Dayton Wedding Photographer

I love engagement sessions because it gives me time to get to know each couple before I shoot the wedding. My favorite part is most the time I get to find out the story of how they met and I just love to hear all the stories because I might be a hopeless romantic. :-) 

 This year I have really been into sun glare. I was always against it before because when you go through photography school you learn all about how to get rid of it, and actually I find it kinda cool and interesting!

 I tried to get this shot half a dozen times so I was sooo thrilled when I finally got it just exactly how I wanted it! :-)

I love how you can see their reflection in the car!