What makes life worth living? Our children. Our family. Friends, wives and husbands. Nature, our animals, special events, every day moments, hobbies and our work……we all have special people, activities, events in our lives that make it worth living. Life is so rich and deeply woven with moments that they really are endless.

A marriage is one of those events, filled with many special moments and memories, love and anguish, anxiety and excitement. Fear and happiness and calm and a sense of being completed.

And while memories are always in our hearts and in our minds, the power of an image, to bring back that moment, that memory is…. Well I could write priceless, but it isn’t really the right word and seems like the obvious cheesy choice word.

For us, images are like little windows into the past. Images are like little time machines, taking us back, giving us that feeling in our stomach or that pain in our heart or that laughter in our belly.

And aren’t memories something we can’t really live without? Could you imagine your life without memories? Good or bad, memories are always with us. They shape us and mold us and make us who we are and help to remind us of where we have been and who we were with and what we love to do. They are so individual they are like our mind’s fingerprints…..memories.

So this is just our post to remind everyone to take lots and lot of pictures of the people around you. The people you love. The people that make your life worth living. Take pictures with those people doing the things you love to do. Take pictures with the animals that give you unconditional love. Not only will you be able to enjoy those images, but your children or friends or family members later on down the road will appreciate those memories.

So then with those words we leave you with Ingrid and Kevin’s second post from their wedding at La Playa. We love what we do. For us it’s not a job and we’ve said this before. We are making memories and how cool is it that 30 years down the road, one of our bride’s grandkid’s will be holding an image we took. An image bringing that moment back to life. Long live love and photography and congratulations to Ingrid and Kevin!! It was an honor for us to capture some of those very special and varied moments that beautiful day.

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings by Astrid
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If you are a wedding vendor or a bride-to-be or already tied the knot, you know that details in wedding design are always at the top of the list for most brides and any good blog and magazines. Well, I’m happy to say that Ingrid and Kevin’s wedding held at the La Playa Beach and Golf Resort was nothing short of spectacular in every detail of the day.

I’ve always been a details kind of gal. Next to shoes and the gown, details are my second favorite aspect of a wedding that I love to immortalize! Just take a look at the list of awesome vendors that Ingrid selected and worked with…..with a meeting of creative minds like that, well the pictures speak for themselves! Stay tuned for Part II, which includes lots more yummy details from the cake to the reception tablescapes to of course, the bride and groom portraits!

~ Thanks Ingrid and Kevin for letting us do our ‘creative thing’ and being our inspiration! ~

~ The delicious details ~

Bridal gown: Rosa Clara
Bridal shoes: J. Crew
Make up design: Brandy Perkins – Nars – Saks Fifth Avenue of Naples
Bridal jewelry: Judith Ripka
Flower girl dresses: Us Angels
Savvy design and planning: Detailz Event Design
Wedding stationary design: Arabesque of Naples
Beautiful beach venue: La Playa Beach and Golf Resort
Delicious wedding cake: Ella’s cakes
Fabulous floral design: Garden District

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings, wedding design by Astrid
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It’s so easy to love our jobs when you wonderfully funny couples, spectacular beaches, unique venues and happy guests to have fun with. Jason and Michelle had an awesome ceremony right on the beach and after the ceremony every guest got a sand dollar to throw back into the ocean. How cool is that? And then there’s that beautiful chemistry between two people in love…it’s awesome to catch it…thanks guys for letting us be a part of such a beautiful day!

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings by Astrid
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Continuing on with Annemarie and Brian’s wedding day coverage, we really don’t want to write a lot down because the images do speak for themselves.

Annemarie and Brian have a wonderful chemistry that was so effortlessly captured. For us it was a process that we relish: ask a couple to be themselves in front of our lenses and voila! Great chemistry, captured emotions and memorable images.

Look at this beautiful couple and tell us that that we don’t have the best job ever!

~ The fabulous and delicious details ~

The gown! Maggie Sottero (Destination Collection)

Beautiful beach venue: La Playa Beach and Golf Resort

Delicious delectable wedding cake: Ella’s cakes

Gorgeous botanicals: Botanicals on the Gulf

Arch design: Planned Perfection

And what’s not to love about having a destination wedding on a Naples, Florida beach?

Old Florida Style. That’s what you can find at La Playa…..not to mention just the right nooks and crannies for amazing pictures!

Living in Europe, Annemarie and Brian LOVE to travel this great planet of ours. For their seating chart, they picked different countries they had visited as the table names….and listed each guest under each country. How cool and original is that?

Annemarie selected the most beautiful shade of orange as her main color. It’s really a rich and beautiful tone that is easily implemented in a wide range of ways.

One of her dear friends designed all of her menus and invitations, and of course, there’s a shot of their signature drink, the ‘ABtini’. And another design that stood out for me: Annemarie had one of the most unique cake cutting/champagne flute sets I’ve ever seen.

Some of Brian’s frat friends gathered around Annemarie, along with Brian, and serenaded her! What girl wouldn’t love that! And last but not least, the infamous Lantern Lane at La Playa….the perfect spot to close out another beautifully unique wedding. Congratulations to you both!

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings, wedding design by Astrid
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Kind blog visitors, please accept my sincerest apologies for neglecting you so! It’s not that I don’t love to blog about the great town I live in or my wonderful girls or my fabulous brides and grooms, it’s that I haven’t found the right tactic to squeeze out more than 24 hours in a day and I still need at least 4 of those to sleep!

So it’s with great pleasure that I bring part 1 of one a day that can be described as fun, sincere, emotional, stylish, perfect, inspirational and simply put, a darn good day!

Aside from having the incredibly easy task of photographing Annemarie, (a woman whose beauty is only rivaled by how sweet and sincere she treats you) we had the perfect backdrop: La Playa Beach and Golf Resort here in Naples! Add to that the most handsomest groom ever, an entourage of the best wedding professionals in Southwest Florida and a family that knows how to throw a party and you have a destination-wedding made in Naples-heaven (yep, Annemarie and Brian came all the way from Europe to celebrate here)!

We caught so many great moments from Annemarie and Brian’s wedding that we are dividing their post into two parts. Look for the second part early next week!

Congratulations to Annemarie and Brian! We had such a wonderful time with both of you, thanks for letting us be a part of it!

~ The fabulous and delicious details ~

The gown! Maggie Sottero (Destination Collection)
Beautiful beach venue: La Playa Beach and Golf Resort
Delicious delectable wedding cake: Ella’s cakes
Gorgeous botanicals: Botanicals on the Gulf
Arch design: Planned Perfection

For those of you planning a wedding here in Naples, just take a look at that view from the balcony at La Playa! It can’t be beat!

This series shot by Rene in Brian’s room rocks…the magazine title says it all!

The beautiful colors Annemarie selected for her wedding literally POP on the beach….this palette works anytime of the year and really makes a bold and elegant statement.

There was a lot of wind that day, but I LOVE wind. It makes for dramatic, moody and sensual images!

Champagne and love, the perfect end to a Naples beach wedding!

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings by Astrid
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One of the reasons that beach weddings are so popular here in Naples, Florida is of course, the scenery! Not only do we have the very best sunsets this side of the state, but we also the best and most fabulous wedding vendors in the area! Our only mission: to create the best most memorable day for brides and grooms!

I think we photographers have the best job though….we get to capture it all forever!

Congratulations Jane and David! What a beautiful family you both have…

~ The Details ~

Location: Naples, Florida
Venue: La Playa, Betsy Tucker
Wedding Coordinator: Stephanie Shaffer – Weddings Made Simple
Stylist: Roni Fields
Florist: Mark Fessenden with Gene’s 5the Avenue Florist
Cake: Ella’s Cakes
Gown: Vera Wang
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Entertainment: Kevin Smith – Florida Talent Consultants
Chocolatier: Norman Love’s Chocolates

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings, gowns, cakes and shoes by Astrid
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We are so excited to have in our hands the Winter/Spring 2010 edition of Weddings Florida magazine!

This edition features Liz and Sean’s awesomely beautiful and fun wedding that we shot at Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club here in Southwest Florida! What a great place to shoot! At every corner we found great spots and the decor is fabulous! Lesley and the staff at Miromar did an absolutely outstanding job making sure everything flowed smoothly and everyone was happy. And we couldn’t have been happier shooting at such a refreshingly unique spot!

I know that the wedding magazine industry experienced some losses last year with the loss of Modern Bride and Elegant Bride so we are SUPER ecstatic to see such a beautiful magazine going strong and representing some of the best vendors, locations and talent here in Florida. We are also very honored to be featured in Weddings Florida.

For us, it’s really wonderful to see this area of Southwest Florida receive the recognition it deserves as being a hot spot for destination weddings. Not only is the area beautiful, but we have some absolutely fantastic talent in the area that will do everything possible to help create a bride and groom’s vision. And part of that success comes from a strong network here of industry vendors that work with each other and support each other.

Thanks again to Weddings Florida for featuring Liz and Sean and thank you Liz and Sean for trusting in our ability to preserve your wedding day.

~ Astrid and Rene ~

 

 

 

If you’d like to learn more about Weddings Florida, check out their Facebook page and their website!

If you are in the Southwest Florida area and want to get to know some of the best vendors (including us) in the industry, make sure to attend the First Annual Clearwater Beach Bridal & Fashion Show produced by Weddings Florida Magazine, Sunday, January 24, 2010 at Clearwater Beach. Check out their website for more information and pre-registration.

Tags: Florida Weddings, Naples Florida weddings, accolades, published! by Astrid
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