Cathy & Jeremy at Gallatin Gateway Inn

So, every year there seems to be at least one wedding that calls me two weeks before their wedding day looking for a photographer. This year is no different. Cathy called and wanted just a few hours of coverage on a day that I was still available. She had contacted me sometime before but then had decided to let a friend photograph the wedding. Their friend cancelled and I was hired.

They chose the Gallatin Gateway Inn to get married at http://www.gallatingatewayinn.com/ It is one of the most elegant venues to get married here in Montana. It is great to photograph in places that you are familiar with, but you run the risk of getting stale. I found two places to shoot portraits at that I have never used before and am really happy with the results. One was a stair well that had wonderfully diffused light and wonderfully aged walls. Here is one of my favorite photos from that spot.

Barbel, one of my associates has a wonderful way of encouraging her couples to be very expressive and loving in their formal portraits. I have been working on capturing more of the passion between couples over the past few weddings. Before photographing Jeremy and Cathy I mentioned that the photos come out more interestingly if they are less inhibited and passionate while I take their photos. As you can see, they were very comfortable in front of the camera and I was able to capture the passion they were feeling on their wedding day.

While talking with Susan, the owner of Country Flowers, http://www.countryflower.com/, I noticed the metal bell boy standing in the lobby. I thought it made a cute photo of the flowers. Again, I like to keep myself challenged by finding interesting ideas in every wedding I photograph.

Finally, don’t you love this woman’s dress?

A wedding in Paradise

Livingston, Mt is a small community that is the gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Carol and Mark chose to have their wedding in Paradise Valley, which is in Livingston and surrounded by the Absaroka Mountains. It’s name does the valley justice.

Carol and Mark chose to have a smaller wedding and dinner and then invite more of their friends for the reception. Carol had taken great care to make a lot of the details herself, including ‘crackers’ which are an English tradition to incorporate some of Mark’s history into the wedding. The ‘crackers’ were filled with sweets and paper hats that many of the guests wore during the reception.

including Carol’s beautiful cocktail shoes and her ringsThere were many details that I enjoyed photographing. My favorite cake eating shot of all times is of Finn who had more cake on him than clothes.

A wide variety of artists and writers live and get their inspiration from Livingston, Carol and Mark seemed to know most of them. I took a photo of Carol giving Russel Chathem a hug in the receiving line.

As I photograph more weddings I continually see some of our past clients. Some with babies on board and others just born. Here are a couple of photos of Nada and Roger, who’s wedding my daughter and I photographed, and a photo of Jen and Pat Vermillion’s brand new baby. Pat and his two brothers were married within four months of each other and we photographed the three weddings. Each of the couples has recently had babies.

I had taken Carol and Mark’s engagement photos on the banks of the Yellowstone River on a FREEZING cold winter day. Their wedding was held one of the summer’s hottest days, about a 70 degree difference in temperature. I hope you like the photos.
Melanie

WED Wedding

Hello,
So the pressure is really on when you are photographing a wedding planners wedding. Ellen Cohn from WED, http://www.charlestonevent.com/ , had her wedding on the beautiful island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She and Dave chose to get married at Caneel Bay, http://www.caneelbay.com/ , which is a great resort that has incredible beaches and food. They chose to do a destination wedding so that they could spend several days with their close friends and family on an island that they both love. Ellen chose me to photograph the wedding and I was lucky enough to bring my children and spend a few extra days on the fantastic beaches.

Katie Huebel, the founder of WED, created all of the floral arrangements and coordinated all of the details. The tables were decorated with fantastic orchids in very subtle vases that brought the tropical feel of the island into the dining area.

I chose some of my favorite images but think you will love to look at all of the photos from the wedding. You can view them at:

http://www.nashan.com/clients/clientresults.asp?name=435#

I hope you like the photos.
Melanie

A year of Firsts...

Hello Again,
I photographed the wedding of Jennifer and Jeremy this past weekend at Chico Hot Springs in Pray, Montana. It was really a very sweet wedding, flanked by quaking aspens that they would later plant in their yard at home. During their ceremony they exchanged 'private' vows that they whispered to each other. They then said their public vows. It was interesting to watch the flood of emotion come over Jennifer’s face while Jeremy whispered in her ear!

Later in the evening, after they cut the cake Jennifer started to cut and serve the cake. Her mother and father tried to dissuade her and remind her that their was the staff to take over but she wanted to do it. She continued to cut ALL of the cake and serve ALL 150 or so guests. I thought it was a great way to be sure that she saw everyone who was at your wedding!!

There are so many interesting stories that I want to share on the blog that I am sure I will be making several entries over the next few days.

Have a good night!
Melanie

My First Blog Entry...

Hello Everyone,
This is my first blog entry which coincides with the launching of our new web site.

There are several people I want to thank for their work on creating the web site. Cindy and Barbel have quickly converted and enhanced images to make Carrie' job go a lot faster and smoother. Carrie, at http://carriepattersondesign.com/, has worked with me to create a page that is better than either one of could have created on our own. She has shown an enormous amount of patience with my nit picking in order to create a site that is really representative of the style of work we do here at Nashan Photographers.

Charles Lillo, http://www.cgldesigns.com/, who had designed my last site, helped out with the new site and created the blogger section. I could not have created the web site without the help and hard work of everyone I listed. So thank you for making this what I had envisioned.

I will write my first entry about photography later. I hope you enjoy our work and the web page!!!!
Melanie