Ryan & Amy,

We’ll never forget the moment when we first met Amy & Ryan at Kimberly Crest’s Bridal Faire in November of 2009.  Amy came up to us with the biggest smile on her face and asked, ”Are you THE Imagery Concepts?”  I knew instantly that we were going to be a perfect match for each other!

Amy & Ryan first met in 11th grade.  Amy was first attracted to Ryan’s amazing fro, which became the topic of their first conversation.  After a little time, Ryan asked Amy on their first date…a driving range outing and a movie at his house (Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back!). On Sept. 22, 2002, Ryan asked Amy to be his girlfriend via text message (embracing technology gotta love it!).

After 6 years together, on Christmas morning, Ryan planned a scavenger hunt for Amy.  The clues took Amy all over the house, inside and out.  The final clue led Amy to the Christmas tree where she found a little box.  Turns out the box was empty and when she turned around, Ryan was on his knee, holding the ring…best Christmas ever!

They planned their wedding in Redlands, since it’s where they met and had been together for so long.  Without hesitation, they chose Kimberly Crest as their ceremony and the Mitten Bldg. for their reception.  They chose Alice in Wonderland as their wedding theme taking full advantage of the vibrant colors (notice their cake!) something completely whimsical and totally different.  Together with family and friends, they combined their crafty minds and talented hearts, hand-making almost everything…save-the-dates, invitations, decorations, flowers for the girls hair, party favors, table numbers, and more!

The most memorable experience for Amy was being able to call Ryan her husband.  He is the greatest man she’s ever known.  To be able to say that she married her high school sweetheart, her soul mate, her best friend…there is nothing greater.  He completes her.  Second most memorable experience was for Amy to have her mom walk her down the isle and to have a mother-daughter dance.  She wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Yes, it completely poured rain during her ceremony, the boys got wet, the girl’s shoe color melted off, guests couldn’t hear their vows and she cried….BUT that was their wedding day.  That is the story they get to share with everyone about their crazy unforgettable day.  They wouldn’t change it for a second! Neither would we because we had a blast capturing images in the rain, taking full advantage of the opportunities given to us that we’ve never before experienced at Kimberly Crest.

Amy’s advise to future brides:  “HAVE FUN!  Yes, it’s stressful and you might shed some tears, but remember what you are planning for!  Please don’t let others influence what you want for YOUR wedding!  Just know that there are things that are going to go wrong on your big day, things out of your control, let it go because no one will know the difference!  And MOST of all….LOVE LOVE LOVE each other!!!!”

Amy’s advise and comments regarding her vendors:

- ”We just want to tell you, if you need a wedding and event specialist, definitely contact Katherine Scott Blom at (909) 771-8274!!!  She is the GREATEST!  She makes you feel so at ease because she is a PRO at what she does!  Love her!”

- ”We LOVE Riverside Photo Booth!  They have great prices and it was seriously SO much fun!  I love that we will have goofy pictures of all our guests with props on their heads and wearing huge glasses…. forever!  )”

Contact Daniel @ http://www.riversidephotobooth.com/

- “I LOVED my wedding dress!!!  And it was hand made for ME!!!  Wendy Y. is a genius!  Contact Wendy @ www.ieieshop.com Check her out if you want a gorgeous dress and prices to die for!”

-”We would totally recommend Simply Cakes Bakery in Riverside!!  We wanted a very whimsical cake and they did a PERFECT job!  Everyone loved our cake!”

Bakery -
Contact Greg @ www.simplycakesbakery.com

Ceremony Venue -
Kimberly Crest
www.kimberlycrest.org

Reception Venue -
The Mitten Bldg.
http://mittenbuilding.com

Photography -
Imagery Concepts Photography
800 IC PHOTO 

All Photography by:

Steve & Katerina,

Leave it to Katerina and Steve to do things a little different!  They actually met at a bar where she worked as a bartender.  Steve would hang out with his buddies all the time to watch Monday night football.  Katerina couldn’t help but notice his height and his good looks, but it was their matching personalities that made everything perfect.  They love to have fun and joke around all the time! J

After 5 years of dating, the big moment arrived…the proposal.  It was their 5-year dating anniversary and he acted like it was just another day.  They were home, and for some reason Steve wanted to sit in the living room by the Christmas tree.  They were just having a normal conversation.  When Katerina turned her head for a second, and then turned back, she saw Steve and Alyssa (his daughter) on their knees.  Steve asked if Katerina would marry him and Alyssa asked her if she would be her stepmom.  Needless to say, Katerina couldn’t stop crying so it took a minute to say yes! J

We started our relationship with them (all 3!) by capturing their engagement in the rain…again, something a little different!   Katerina was such a trooper, wearing super cute jeans and high heels.  She didn’t’t even let it faze her when her beautiful long hair got wet in the rain.   They just went for it and together we had a blast!

Katerina wanted to find a secluded venue where she could be a princess, and she certainly found it!  Enchanted Forest is a rare find,  only allowing a handful of couples to get married on the grounds each year.  Their spacious grounds feature a huge lake with swans, a stone bridge, wrought iron gates, armored statues, and even a bridal suite and men’s dressing room resembling a castle.  Carol, their on-site wedding coordinator, did a fabulous job at organizing everything, making her wedding planning a breeze.  As Katerina said, “I didn’t worry about anything!”  They planned their entire wedding in only 4 months!

One of the most memorable parts of the day for Katerina was seeing how happy her dad was the entire day.   He danced the whole night away!  Their evening concluded with a sparkling grand exit filled with all their friends wishing them a wonderful new married life together.

The only thing Katerina would have changed was to not eat a full slice of cake.  That’s funny because most of our couples say just the opposite after their wedding!  Oftentimes, the cake is gone by the time the bride & groom get around to having a piece!

Katerina’s advice for future couples–  “Have fun!  Remember it’s your day!  Don’t try to please other people.  Do what makes you happy.  You are too BLESSED to be STRESSED!”

To read Steve & Katrina’s full story click here

Vendor Friends who helped make their day special:

Venue –
Enchanted Forest
Carol Carlson, On-Site Coordinator
www.enchantedforestweddings.com

Florist -
Cathie Schmidt
951.961.5129

Hair & Makeup –
www.sweetfuss.com

Photography -
Imagery Concepts Photography
800 IC PHOTO 

All Photography by:

Mike & Jillian,

Where do we start with our relationship with Mike & Jillian? We just love these guys!   Jillian is probably our biggest fan on Facebook, taking the time to comment on everyone’s “teasers.”   So if you don’t know Jillian yet, you probably will!

Their relationship all started because of Jillian’s friend, Steph.   Steph invited them to her costume party and her husband introduced them to each other.  Not a great start though because the moment was very awkward.  Unfortunately, 4 months later, Steph passed away in an accident.  Jillian became close friends with Steph’s sister, who also kept insisting that Jillian meet Mike as well.  So, to make everyone happy, Jillian agreed.   To Jillian’s great surprise, she really, really liked him.  Funny thing is, Mike wasn’t looking to date anyone either, but he quickly discovered that he couldn’t live without Jillian!

On their first real date, Mike was a real gentleman, opening doors for her, offering his jacket when she was cold, dressing nice (even though they were actually his work clothes!).  To all the grooms reading this–the little things do matter!

After two years of dating, Mike decided he wanted to propose at Disneyland, Jillian’s favorite place.  He had it all planned out.  She was to show up with her friend at the castle and he was going to surprise her by standing there like her prince waiting to take her hand.  The trip to Disneyland didn’t happen, so Mike had to come up with a new plan. This time, he told Jillian that they had to take a drive to Vegas saying that his Grandma was helping his mom move and they needed help moving a sofa (Jillian complained the entire drive!).  Of course, Mike had bigger, better plans!  On one knee, he ended up proposing in front of the fountain at the Bellagio.  They had a wonderful time together, and stayed in a beautiful room overlooking  “their” fountain!  I bet the drive home was much more fun!

They chose to get married at Kimberly Crest.  Not only were the grounds amazing and perfect, but Katherine Blom, their wedding coordinator, was wonderful and made everything so easy.  They were married on the front steps of the mansion and their ceremony concluded with a butterfly release (our very first butterfly release in 19 years!).  One butterfly decided to hang out for a while and participated in a few romantic scenics!  Even their cake, created by Michelle’s bakery, featured a cascade of edible butterflies!

Everything about planning their wedding was so much fun for Jillian.  Her favorite part was trying on wedding dresses.   They used a classic car that belonged to her Great Auntie Lea, who passed away earlier in the year (she wore her jewelry at the wedding).  They chose a very unique song, Por Ti Volare by Andrea Bochelli, as their first dance song (it was playing at the Bellagio fountain when Mike proposed).  Jillian’s most memorable experience during the wedding was when she first reached the top of the stairs to walk down the aisle…she was so scared she froze.  It took her a minute to stop looking at all her guests and look at Mike.  Once she saw him, she completely relaxed and “married the most amazing man in the world.”

To top everything off, Jillian’s best friend and maid-of-honor, was able to attend the wedding and be by Jillian’s side (she was diagnosed with a terminal illness just months before the wedding).   We are very pleased to share that she continues to be with us today.   Prayer works!

Jillian’s words of advise to future brides - “Don’t stress about the little things….if you forget to do them, they weren’t important anyway!  The only important thing that matters, is getting down that aisle and to marry your man!”

To read Mike & Jillian click here.

Vendor Friends who helped make their day special:

Wedding Coordinator -
Katherine Blom
(909) 838-7905

Ceremony Venue –
Kimberly Crest
www.kimberlycrest.org

Reception Venue –
Tennessee Gardens
www.tngardens.com

Bakery –
Michelle’s Bakery
www.michelles-online.com

Photography -
Imagery Concepts Photography
800 IC PHOTO 

All Photography by:

Paul & Alison

Alison is our niece and was even our flower girl in our wedding.   It was such a great honor when she asked us if we could capture their wedding– which took place on our 18^th anniversary weekend.

Alison first met Paul while working at summer camp.  He was teaching outdoor education and stayed for the summer to be a lifeguard.  Alison came up for the summer to counsel 4-6^th graders.  Alison wanted to start a conversation with Paul (because of his awesome sideburns) so she offered him some Red Vines licorice.  He said he’d have one, but Alison said, “No, you have to take 2, licorice is eaten in Twos.”   So Alison started things off with how obsessive compulsive she is, and the rest is history!  Well, almost…

They dated for a while and broke up for 9 months and wound up back together again.  So by the time August 25^th 2008 came around (their 1 year anniversary of round 2 of dating), she totally thought Paul was going to propose.  But instead, he took her to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and gave her a necklace and jewelry box.  About 4 months later, Paul called Alison while she was in school and said that they needed to get together to take “couples pictures” for his mom’s Christmas card.   While they were getting their pictures taken, in between poses, Paul said, “Wait, I have something I want you to wear for the next picture.”  Then it happened.  He got on one knee, held her hand, and said, “Alison Rose, I love you very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me and be my wife?”  Alison cried VERY happy and excited tears.  She was so surprised, thrilled, and “Oh my Goodness Gracious Sakes Alive EXCITED!”  Pretty cool that they were able to have those extremely precious moments captured in photographs!

Alison and Paul decided to be married in a church (which fortunately allowed them to use their sanctuary free of charge because Alison was interning with their children’s ministry).   Paul’s parents live nearby the church and have a huge backyard, which was perfect for their outdoor reception.

Their colors were chocolate brown and green.  Alison’s favorite color is green but couldn’t find a shade of green that didn’t make her girlfriends look “icky” so she decided on brown dresses and had the guys in brown Dickies with green vests.   They were on an extremely tight budget and were super creative on everything.  Their table centerpieces were made from various green bottles (cleaning labels from Stella Artois, Perrier, Pellegrino, and wine bottles).  They tied brown and green ribbon on them and filled them with white flowers.  Super cool, simple, and super inexpensive!

Perfect day for a couple who are perfect for each other!

To read Paul & Alison’s full story click here.

Photography by:
Imagery Concepts Photography
800 IC PHOTO 

All Photography by: