Food Fun Family

My Sister’s Wedding #PSF

Lolli — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 02:14:52 +0000

This past weekend, I met my parents and all 4 of my siblings in Chicago for my sister’s wedding.

It was a busy weekend, but one that I will remember and treasure for years. It has been too long since all 5 of the siblings were together at the same time (we usually meet up in smaller groups) and there’s something special about getting the “original 5” together. As much as we love ALL of the in-laws (all of us are married now), there’s a special bond that the 5 of us share.

My “little” sister, Amanda, was 9 when I got married. It’s incredible to see her all grown up. She may have grown a little since way back when before I was married, but that smile she has when she is happy…that’s the same smile and the same Amanda that I have always known and loved.

We adore her new wife, too. Stephanie is a wonderful (and gorgeous!!) addition to the family.

I took most of these photos on my cell phone, and I never did catch a group picture of the family together at the wedding, but I did capture this priceless, never-happened-before shot of all of us dancing together. I even caught some video…but that one’s staying private.

What have you been up to this week? Now it’s time for YOU to show me your best shots from this past week. Link up below and have a fantastic weekend!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

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An InLinkz Link-up

New Bride, Old Bride #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 01 May 2015 02:29:09 +0000

This past week, I celebrated my 20th anniversary. If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably seen a post or two from me about that.

Just a few days before I celebrated my anniversary, I photographed the wedding of a close friend of mine. I’ve known her for what feels like forever (since before I had all five of my kids, that’s for sure!). As a teenager, she used to babysit for us. As a young adult, she watched my kids for a week while we went on a cruise (And she still likes us!!). I was so thrilled to be part of her day, and it made me so happy to see these two amazing people that I love finally get married.

Here are just a few shots from the wedding day (it was fun to have most of the family there, and to jump in a few of the shots with the bride and groom):

PS – It has been ages since I’ve photographed a wedding, and I was definitely out of practice. It has been SO long since I’ve even done a photo shoot. But it was so much fun to play photographer again this past weekend!

What about you? What have you been up to this week? Now it’s time for YOU to show me your best shots from this past week. Link up below and have a fantastic weekend!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

An InLinkz Link-up

Bridal Registry One Stop #TargetWedding

Annie — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 13:00:27 +0000

Note: This post and giveaway is sponsored by Target, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.

Eight years ago, I married my true love, Josh. And this year, my little sister is getting married to hers. And while her and I are totally different in almost every single way possible, we agree on one thing – Target is one of the best places to compile a bridal registry.

I remember that feeling of giddiness as I held the barcode scanner in my hand and strolled the aisles of possibilities with Josh. He pointed to a Kitchen Aid mixer and I paused, unsure of the need for one. (I was a naive 20 year old, I have since realized the error in my thinking). I wanted to create a beautifully decorated home with cute wall hangings, clocks, and coordinating linens. My husband, however, was more practical. Slow cookers, stand mixers, coffee pots and new dinner ware sets were on his list. Together we combined to create a dynamic couple – me the dreamer, him the realist. Target provided every item on both our lists from the beautiful to the necessary.

My little sister is the opposite of me. She is one of the most practical people I know! She is also quite the Type A personality. She enjoys registering for her wedding at Target because it is easy to shop at for every guest, it has everything she needs and it is simple to do!

Did you register at Target for your wedding?

How would you like to win a $25 Target Gift Card? Well, here you go!

Enter to win a $25 Target Gift card

Target has been so kind to offer one Better in Bulk reader a $25 gift card (and you don’t have to be planning a wedding any time soon, either!). All you have to do to enter is to visit the Target Wedding Catalog and tell me what gift you would love to give at your next bridal shower.

Enter on the Rafflecopter form below before 2/24/14 at midnight, when a giveaway winner will be chosen at random and notified via email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

From Bridal Shower to Rehersal Dinner #TargetWedding

Lolli — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:03:58 +0000

Note: This post and giveaway is sponsored by Target, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s been a little while since I was the one planning my own wedding, but as a photographer I’ve been invited to have a special view of several couple’s big days. And I love it.

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.

So much goes in to a wedding beyond the cake and the flowers and the “I do’s” – from the bridal shower to the rehearsal dinner. I am particularly fond of engagement pictures (they may, in fact, be my favorite type of photo shoot to do!) because of the soon-to-be-married couple’s excitement and eagerness…and willingness to be gushy and smiley in front of a camera for so long. There is almost always one half of the couple that is more comfortable in front of the camera and one half that wishes the photo shoot would be over more quickly. But it’s always a happy time.

Beyond the engagement pictures, my favorite pre-wedding function (that involves more than just me and the happy couple) is the bridal shower…and my favorite part of the bridal shower (except, maybe for the treats, of course) is the re-telling of the engagement story.

Don’t you love hearing the first-hand account of how a couple got engaged?

Every couple is unique, and every story is different.

And, inevitably, a few more stories are shared, because no one can resist a little love-story sharing.

I hate to admit that I am much closer to my own daughters’ weddings and bridal showers than I am to my own way back in 1995. As I think about what I would like to do (someday…not too soon!) for my daughters’ bridal showers, I realize that although they are each so unique, Target has the perfect gifts and supplies to make their wedding preparations perfect. I’ll definitely be taking them to Target to set up a Target Wedding Registry as soon as they’ve got dates set.

For daughter #1, who is very practical, I would get her started with a must-have set of Calphalon pots and pans.

Daughter #2 has been an expert baker for years, and would love her very own KitchenAid Mixer…in her favorite color – Green!

Daughter #3 is already following in her mom’s foot steps as a blogger and photographer, so the perfect bridal shower gift for her would be a brand new Panasonic Lumix camera.

Check out the Target Wedding Catalog for all of the incredible wedding products that are perfect for bridal shower gifts, weddings gifts….or gifts for someone who has been married for 18 1/2 years already and needs some freshening up around the house.

Enter to win a $25 Target Gift card

Enter on the Rafflecopter form below before 11/20/13 at midnight, when a giveaway winner will be chosen at random and notified via email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be Yourself, Together: Unique Wedding Gifts from #TargetWedding

Lolli — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 18:41:28 +0000

This post is brought to you by Target, but all thoughts and ideas are my own. You can find more fun and unique wedding ideas by following #TargetWedding on your favorite social networks.

Over the 19 years that I’ve been married, I’ve attended many, many of weddings. I love weddings – from the perspective of the photographer and as a guest. I even love shopping for the wedding gift. I find it a challenge to locate unique wedding gifts that the couple will love AND that will somehow remind them of me. It’s like a puzzle…or a scavenger hunt. I love a good shopping challenge.

Because I love to give a meaningful gift, I was excited to find out about the Target Wedding theme for this year. “Be Yourself, Together” celebrates the unique qualities that each individual brings to a relationship. Each person may be totally different, but when they come together they create something beautiful.

Target Wedding challenged me to assemble a perfectly unique wedding gift using one item from the Target Wedding registry along with an item of my choice from anywhere in the store. I brought my oldest daughter along as a brainstorm partner and we searched our Target for ideas.

KitKat was my personal shopping Vanna White – and she totally swayed me on my final purchase!

We came up with several fun pairings – items that might not typically be paired together, but when combined create something unique and inspiring. I thought of couples that I know: One loves to travel (a luggage set) and one loves to enjoy the beauty at home (a canvas print for the house).

Another couple might have differing sleep schedules: One loves to head to bed early and wake up early (a beautiful bedding set) and the other prefers to stay up late listening to their music loud (a fancy bluetooth speaker).

Since I couldn’t buy everything on last week’s trip, I decided instead to pretend that I was buying a wedding gift for myself and my husband. And, honestly, after 19 years of marriage, we could use another wedding registry.

My perfectly unique (and totally functional) wedding gift is a gorgeous Threshold Dinner Setting in Aqua (for the half of the couple that enjoys a home-cooked, sit-down meal) paired with a nice big set of Rubbermaid “Easy Find Lids” storage containers (for the other half that prefers eating on-the-go).

One half of the gift is attractive and display-worthy – SHOW OFF. The other half of the gift is all about organization – HIDE AWAY. Both are completely functional and necessary, which I love.

Actually, one of the main reasons I chose this particular pairing to feature was the fact that nearly 20 years after my own wedding, both my dinnerware and all of my storage containers were in total disrepair. I no longer had a “set” of anything, but instead my cupboards were filled with mismatched pieces of this and that. My storage container cabinet in particular was chaos. Lids without bottoms, bottoms without matching lids. And everything stuffed in (because nothing nested properly). Now look at my glorious cabinet, thanks to a Rubbermaid 34-piece Easy Find Lids Set and The Perfect Stack, a 28-piece set with large size containers.

And, yes, I threw out all but a handful of my very best containers so I could start fresh. Wouldn’t it be a dream to do that all over the house?

I’m already making the list in my head…

If you were shopping for the perfect “Be Yourself, Together” wedding gift for yourself, what two items (from the Target Wedding Catalog and all over Target) would you pick?

Many thanks again to Target for sponsoring this post and for giving me the push to get something for myself that has made such a huge difference in my kitchen!

Wedding Photography Workshop #WW

Lolli — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:00:32 +0000

Last Thursday, I joined my sister and the other incredible photographers at Char Photography studio for an all-day intensive wedding photography workshop. And when I say intensive I mean that we spent 12 hours discussing the ins and outs of taking wedding photos, running a wedding photography business, editing, using flash and then putting everything into practice as we took mock wedding photos (in other words, these photos are of recently graduated teens posing as a newly married couple. Even the cake was fake. lol).

I took pages and pages of notes…but that’s material for another more wordful blog post.

For now, here are a few of my favorite shots that I captured during our mock wedding. Despite the threat of a tornado and the massive rain storm that we experienced during our photo shoot, I had so much fun (Imagine! Wedding photos without the stress of the wedding day!).

PS – now that Google Reader is dead and gone, why don’t you add my posts to BlogLovin’ or Feedly blog readers, or subscribe to Better in Bulk email updates.

Are you playing along with Wordful or Wordless Wednesday today? Link up!
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Join Me For the 2013 Wedding Workshop with Char Photography

Lolli — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:31 +0000

Note: I will be attending the 2013 Wedding Workshop hosted by the Char Team (of which my beautiful sister is an amazing part) in June (details below) in exchange for this post and social media promotion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As much as I adore being intimately involved in a couple’s wedding day, shooting a wedding scares me to death. I always come away from a wedding day with some shots I feel good about, but I also know I could do better. Mostly, I worry that I lack the creativity and eye for detail that make wedding photos works of art.

For years, I have studied my incredible sister’s photos for inspiration. So when she told me about this wedding photography workshop hosted by the photography studio that she works with, I literally started salivating. I need help. I need inspiration. And I can’t imagine finding a more inspiring, creative, and talented group of women to guide me.

About the 2013 Wedding Workshop

The WEDDING WORKSHOP will be a one-day intensive workshop with the CHAR Photography team focusing on equipping you with all you need for successfully shooting a wedding. Here’s just a taste of what we’ll be learning:

Coming up with a game plan for the big day
Shooting the wedding details
Capturing pretty getting ready photos (even if it is in a Sunday school room)
Organizing and posing the family and bridal party photos quickly
Bride and groom portraits
Utilizing ALL types of light (even if it’s bright midday sun or dark churches)
Shooting for variety
Simplifying the editing workflow
Marketing
Establishing your style
Setting goals
Overcoming fear

You are guaranteed to go home inspired and ready to take your business to the next level!

The fun-filled day includes a full styled photo shoot by The Char teams stylists, Grace and Karen. (Hello! They are incredible!). In addition, there will be hands-on training, plenty of Q&A, as well as an opportunity for one-on-one conversation.

When: THURSDAY, JUNE 27 – 9am to DUSK (Wrapping up with an optional dinner out, good conversation, and new friendships)
Cost: The investment is $550 per person (And yes, a delicious lunch is included)
Who: Photographers like you and me! (Class size is limited to 15 students)
Where: The Hershey, Pennsylvania area (that’s just a 2 hour drive from my DC-area suburb)
Register for The Wedding Workshop – submit a registration form.
And be sure to enter Promo Code: LOLLI for a $75 discount!

THEIR LAST WORKSHOP SOLD OUT IN TWO DAYS.

Pass the word on to your Pennsylvania/Maryland/West Virginia/etc photographer friends! I’d love to meet them!

Love is the Flower… John Lennon Quote #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:46:12 +0000

This past week, I was able to attend (and photograph) the wedding of an old friend of mine. I love how happy love makes two people. And I love, as a photographer, to be right in the middle of so much new, fresh love so often.

I love this “Love is the flower” quote from John Lennon. I thought it fit just right with the bridal bouquet from my friend’s wedding.

Are you excited for Valentine’s Day coming up in a few weeks?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

To play Give Me Your Best Photo Story Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign the link list:
<center><a href="https://foodfunfamily.com/tag/give-me-your-best-shot" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://mychaosmybliss.com" target="_blank"></a> Hosted by <a href="https://mychaosmybliss.com/" target="_blank">Cecily</a> and <a href="https://www.foodfunfamily.com" target="_blank">Lolli</a> </center>