Tag Archives: desert

Trash the Dress Friday

One of our friends loves to bring me tabloid magazines. I have always just looked at the covers in the grocery store and never actually had any motivation to look at one so I was slightly intrigued when she put one in my hands. She was completely obsessed with the Casey Anthony trial and she is now filling her withdrawal with updates via National Examiner. The best part is that I am pretty certain that she thinks that they are reporting 100% factual information. So I decided to scan through it to see what I was missing all these years and I came across this…

After I threw up, I vowed to never curiously browse a tabloid again. Only in a tabloid can you have an article dedicated to your cat hair jewelry. Like everything else in that magazine, I cross my fingers that this isn’t real, but I fear it isn’t so. The article concludes by saying that the hair is from brushes not from coughed up hair balls. Because that as the jeweler says would be “nasty.” Yeah, that would be nasty, I’m glad we have some perspective here. You’re right, cat hair jewelry from brushes seems way more appealing now.  I hope I have saved you from any tabloid curiosity you might have.

Moving on… Today’s Trash the Dress session comes to you from Lukas VanDyke Photography.  What I love most is the way the Bride described the session. Here is what she had to say:

Not everyone can appreciate the austere and gritty beauty of the desert landscape, but it’s something we both love.  Early in our relationship Scott was helping build the test stands shown in the photos, and he took me out to spend the day in the desert with him.  When I jumped out of the truck with enthusiasm and opened up my arms to soak in the desert air he knew we were meant to be together. Now we have been married for 10 years and were looking for a fun way to celebrate.  When we saw Lukas VanDyke’s trash the dress promotion we knew it was the perfect fit.  We are more happily married than ever and our wedding photos were somewhat lackluster, so what better way to celebrate?  The rocket test site in the desert was the perfect place for us to shoot our trash the dress session and that day was as fun and meaningful as our wedding day.  It was like our own private way to renew our vows, and Lukas and Suzy captured it all perfectly.

Plus the images are AMAZING.

As a desert dweller, I see the beauty in dried up, open spaces and I love to see it contrasted with a gorgeous couple.

I love that they considered this like a private vow renewal. I never thought about it like that and I think that is a pretty sweet way to view a session. I also love that they picked two contrasting locations to get a wide array of images. Just gorgeous!

Thanks so much to Susannah and Lukas VanDyke for sharing this session!

Images submitted via Two Bright Lights.

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A Desert Vintage Safari

The world of wedding blogging has had this unexpected side effect of creating these incredible relationships with wedding vendors all over the world. One such relationship started several months ago when I decided to feature a Trash the Dress session by Fancy Fin Photography. A simple email to ask permission to use their work turned into several emails, a few more features, and a new friend I have yet to meet! Raeleen and Andy are based in Seattle but they come to Arizona every once in awhile so Raeleen said if they were ever in Arizona, they would let me know so we could grab coffee or something. The other day I got an email from Raeleen that said they were planning a trip to Az and she definitely wanted to meet but to make things even more exciting, she also asked if I would want to help put together a styled shoot with them! I have never been involved with a styled shoot but I spend many hours swooning over them on other blogs! I am beyond excited to not only meet this incredibly talented couple but also have the chance to collaborate on a project with them! To give you all a sneak peek of what’s to come- I put together a little inspiration board. Stay tuned to see the actual shoot sometime in April!

Desert Vintage

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Desert Wedding

I think people often fail to recognize the beauty that the desert holds. At first glimpse it is brown, dead, and dry or so it seems. In all reality, the life in the desert are some of the most hearty and impressive forms of nature out there. Sure, green fields and plentiful gardens are beautiful but they are pampered and meticulously cared for. Desert life is forced to thrive in scorching temperatures and without water, sometimes for months. Yet flowers still bloom on the spiny cactus and saguaros tower over the brush. In my opinion, desert life is a great metaphor for marriage. Sometimes you have to thrive, it isn’t always easy, and you have to work with what you have. But if you make it, it is truly beautiful. Here is a stunning desert wedding to illustrate the point by Melissa Dunstan Photography.

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Filed under Photography, Real Weddings