I love these two. They’re such a beautiful couple, inside and out. I’m so happy to have met them and even more blessed to have been their photographer. When I had my Free Wedding Contest last year, my sister Fran, who went to school with Abbey, nominated them. And because of the amount of people who surrounded them, they won third place. I’m so glad they did! I’ve been to so many weddings, that they don’t really phase me anymore. I love them, but I don’t usually cry. I cried three times. Three. Thank goodness I have a camera I can hide my sniveling mess behind. Oh, and did I mention I LOVE Abbey’s pink and black theme? Yea. Love. Big-puffy-pink-heart love. Thanks so much for entering the contest last year, Abbey & Chad. I’m blessed to have been a part of your beautiful day.

First, I need to thank every one of you who participated in this contest! I had such an amazing turn out. 16 couples in this contest!! That means 15 of you will receive 25% off of any photography package you choose when you book with me! And one of you will receive 8 hours of photography and a high resolution CD FREE! Also, all 16 of you will receive 25% off your cake when you book with Honey Bee’s Cakes! To all the voters who helped every one of the contestants. Especially those who posted on their own walls and business pages. You helped out tremendously! And a special thanks goes out to Melissa Niezgoda of Honey Bee’s Cakes for pitching in!

Last year, there was no guessing who was the winner. This year, the top two winners went back and forth throughout the contest. And the winner only won by 5 votes!! You guys were driving me crazy!

So! Without further ado, the winners are…

THIRD PLACE (16×20 Gallery Wrap) – Jenna Levato & Michael DeMarchi – 215 votes
SECOND PLACE (Free Engagement Session) – Jenna Van Dyk & Jesse Van Maanen – 364 votes
FIRST PLACE (Free Wedding Photography & CD) – Angely Dykstra & Harry Helmus – 369 votes 

CONGRATULATIONS to every one of you!! I’ll be contacting all of the contestants today, so look out for an email from you! Thanks again!

I know what you’re thinking. At least, I think I do. “I thought you weren’t doing weddings anymore?” I’m a liar, liar, pants on fire. Ok, well I didn’t lie. I wasn’t going to do weddings until both my girls were in school. My husband and I made the decision because we were feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work this year. God was pressing me to change, and I decided to just stop doing the work I love most, because I couldn’t handle all the work. I felt torn, because I was so thankful that God gave me my best year in business so far, and then, I just couldn’t handle the stress and the sheer amount of work that went with it. What’s a girl to do?

Make a business plan, that’s what! The hubs and I sat down, crunched numbers and realized that I could take on a LOT more weddings if I just let go of the reigns a little. Editing a wedding takes up the most amount of my time. I literally sit in front of my computer ALL day. The beautiful weather out there right now? Yea, I don’t get to enjoy that. Cant take a glaring laptop outside and expect to get pretty pictures out of it. My stress level is through the roof some days. I want to be a good mom to my girls, I want to play with them instead of telling them to go upstairs and play, go outside and play, go anywhere other than right in front of me to play. I’m missing out on them, and they can’t wait for daddy to come home because he plays with them. So, I needed an editor. And the obvious choice is my sister, Jessica. A great photographer, and equally great at editing. Having her on my team would allow me to do far more weddings than I was able to, and it would allow me to be able to blog again, focus on the business side of everything, and have more time to enjoy my family. And, if I’m able to get enough weddings, I’ll be able to hire more editors. My business is expanding and I am SO excited about it!!

That brings me to the title of my post today. Last year, I did a free wedding contest and it went over SO well, that I’ve decided to kick off my next year with another one! Read below for details and get your entries in by October 9th to qualify!

 ***UPDATE***

The contest flyer below states that people have to nominate themselves or have someone nominate them. And to vote, people just have to “like” their favorite couple. THAT HAS CHANGED.

If you’d like to enter the contest, there is no need to nominate anyone. Simply:

***CLICK HERE TO ENTER***

**THIS JUST IN**

What a sweet deal!! In addition to all the goodies the nominees in my Free Wedding Contest will get, how about adding 25% off their wedding cake from Honey Bee’s Cakes?? Let me tell you, from first hand experience, these cakes are gorgeous and delicious! Get your nominations in quick!!

I love weddings. I love this job. The fact that I get to be hand picked by a couple, spend one of the most important days of their lives with them, capture the memories that they never want to forget AND I get paid for it, well, it’s truly a blessing. The reception is probably my favorite part of the entire day. I have SO much fun working my way around the floor and getting some of my favorite shots of the day. In particular, the first dance is my favorite moment. It’s pretty much the only 3-4 minutes out of the couple’s entire day that they have some semblance of privacy. They’re alone in their own world, and they are able to take a few moments to just breathe. It’s in those few moments that their smiles are the biggest, their tears may flow, and their love for each other shines the brightest. And I get to stand back and capture it all in my lens. Its so lovely.

It’s moments like those that I’m going to miss the most.

As I was driving home from a shoot the other day, I was stressing about what was next on my to do list. And what came next, and next and what I couldn’t get to for a while. Then it hit me. This…peace. I practically heard God say “That’s enough.” It was as if I had been playing tug of war with myself and I just…dropped the rope. And the biggest sense of relief came over me. Not something I could ignore.

For a few moments, I thought I was being told to stop completely. To be done with LilyBelle Photography. But, I realized that was creating a pang in my chest. I love what I do. I love the rewards and I love how it makes me feel. I don’t think I could just…stop. But I realized that I was being told to cut back. And the biggest stress for me is editing weddings. It takes up SO much of my time. I told a friend of mine earlier today, “I spend 75% of my day in front of this computer. And the other 25% is spent trying to get my kids settled with food/diapers/clothes/naps/whatever so that I CAN work.” Its true. I’ve been so completely stressed since the beginning of this year. This has been the most stressful year of my life. On top of that, I don’t do anything fun with my girls. The only time we go anywhere is if my husband is around and he pulls me away from the computer so we can have family time. Have I mentioned that I haven’t even taken their yearly pics yet this year? I’ve been so focused on work, I haven’t made much time for them. I’m missing precious time with these girls, and I’m never going to get that time back. I had to think about what was most important in life. In MY life.

So, as of now, I will not be booking any more weddings until my girls are in school full time. Obviously, those of you who are booked and those who are practically booked (Joy & Kimberly) are set in stone and I’m looking forward to these last weddings with an air of excitement and a lighter heart. I’m also going to be able to second for Jenni O’Connor from Lion’s Roar Media when she needs me to. So, if you’d like me to photograph your wedding, give her a call and book me as your second photographer!

Meanwhile, starting next year I’ll be taking more sessions and concentrating on my photography on a smaller scale. And yes, I’ll be back. Once these beautiful girls are both in school full time, I’ll be able to devote more time to my work and I’ll be eager to get back and work those dance floors the only way I know how… with my lens.

Thank you all for your understanding!

I love these two. Just two incredible people, and one amazing couple. Erica’s sassy, fun and kind and Mike is funny, sarcastic and a geek to the core. My kind of people! I had so much fun at their wedding on Saturday. I have a few sneak peeks for you. I’ll have more pictures as soon as I have the rest up online! Enjoy!

Couple things you notice about this picture right off the bat: One, Erica’s smile will light up an entire room. She’s that gorgeous. And two, her dress is…pink!! So subtle, but unique and completely wonderful. I just LOVED it!

If you follow my blog at all, you must know I have a problem. I’ve come to realize I have a shoe fetish. The only problem with this is I cannot wear heels. Im usually in flats, sandals or maybe some kitten heels to spice things up. So, I live vicariously through all of you. So please, make your wedding shoes ah-mazing. Like these. Thank you.

A masquerade ball! How fun is that? Wait ’till you see the bride and groom in their gorgeous masks!

The gorgeous couple. Love you two. Thanks for being awesome. And having an awesome wedding. Have fun in Cozumel!

Looking for that last minute Christmas gift? Look no further! I now have Gift Certificates available for sessions AND wedding packages! Perfect for stocking stuffers or for that what-the-heck-do-I-get-them friend. Email me at christina [at] lilybellephoto [dot] com to get one now!

I just love these two! I’ve known Mike for a long time, so I was ecstatic to see him and the beautiful Erica at Nicole and John’s wedding back in November of 2008. I went to high school with Mike and we share an obsession with Star Wars. Anyone that does tends to be vaulted to the top of my awesome list. Erica is so sweet and fun, and her smile will make anyone swoon. Even me. I know, I did. Because their meeting and their engagement is surrounded with Christmas and winter, we decided to do a Christmas/winter shoot downtown. We didn’t plan for the snow, but I can say with a straight face that I’m SO happy it did snow! For anyone who’s afraid to do a winter shoot, you need to take note of the first sneak peek here. Gorgeous! More of this story and more pictures to come! Enjoy these couple teasers!

Sidenote: Just about the coolest thing happened as I was taking the Macy’s shot here. When I turned around, there stood Melanie from my last e-session! First, she lives in Ohio. Second, she was in town that weekend. Third, we happen to be in the third largest city in America. Fourth, we were in one of the busiest stores downtown. Fifth, she was on the same floor as me. And Sixth, it was during Christmas time on a weekend. Seriously. Melanie, you had to be stalking me. There is no other explanation.

Happy Cyber Monday!! It’s my favorite day of the year! Ok, maybe not favorite, but it comes pretty close. Its that time of year that I get to sit in my house in my pj’s, surf the web and shop like mad! AND I get to simultaneously thumb my nose (what does that even mean?) at all those crazy people who enjoy braving the crowds and horrible weather for hours and hours on Black Friday. I’ll just enjoy sitting here with my coffee, thank you very much.

Anyway, on to the business at hand. I have fallen in LOVE with Stella & Dot jewelry! Head-over-heels in LOVE! So, the only way to satisfy my newest obsession was to become a Stella & Dot Stylist! I know, because I don’t have enough to do, right? Hey, I’m all about free jewelry!  So, to kick off mmy newest endevor, I’m having a Cyber Monday Giveaway! I’m going to give away a pair of these gorgeous cubic zirconia Glint Flower Earrings from Stella & Dot! I love these! Simple, but fabulous. Wear them with a t-shirt and jeans, or that little black dress. It gives any outfit just the right touch!

To enter:

1) Visit my Stella & Dot webpage here, look around and find your favorite item, or an item you’d like to give as a gift.

2) Then, visit my Stella & Dot Facebook page here, “like” the page and leave a comment (on the FB page) letting me know what your favorite piece is!

That’s it!

BUT WAIT! There’s MORE! (Can you tell I’m having fun?) Order anything from my Stella & Dot webpage today and you’ll receive a FREE 8×10 of your choosing from LilyBelle Photography! You can use that on any past or future session, event or wedding. ALSO, if you book a trunk show with me today, you’ll receive a FREE SESSION from LilyBelle Photography! Free jewelry AND free photography? How could anyone pass that up!?

Contest ends TONIGHT at MIDNIGHT (CST)! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow! GOOD LUCK!

____________________________________________________________________________

And the winner (selected by Random.org) is:

Jessica Peters!

Congratulations Jessica! Please email  your mailing address to christina@lilybellephoto.com

Thanks also to Mandy Raimondi for booking a party with me! Thank you to everyone who participated! I’m having my official launch party on December 11th, so make your wish lists now! Thanks again!

There are a whole bunch of people who live near Piqua, Ohio who need to pack up and move to Chicago. These two are included. How adorable are they?! I am in love with Melanie’s style, and her personality is spot on with mine. And, after the shoot, I find out Zach is a fellow geek! Seriously, who needs to live in the middle of nowhere when you have amazing pizza right over here. (C’mon. You know you want to.) We had an adorable session in a library and I made them make out on the steps of a church because that’s how I roll. More of these adorable pics soon!

These two are very dear to me. Linda and Karl are my best friend, Melaina’s parents. MArried for 36 years now, Linda decided it was time to get a portrait done. I was driving to Ohio to meet with some friends and take some more pictures and I stopped to see them and get a few shots for them. It was a little cold for Karl, so we only got a few pictures, but it was really nice to see them both! Thanks again, Linda, for asking me!