The only dates I have available for 2013 are in October and November

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I 'm calling out all couples whose weddings I have photographed to share some advice and insight on my blog for couples who are planning their very own mountain weddings. What I love about weddings is witnessing the moments and sharing in the stories that make every wedding unique. I feel very lucky to have witnessed some powerful and touching moments throughout my years of photographing weddings.

Part 1: Here's the idea. I really want to know what photographs have resonated with you and why. Please share 1-3 photographs and tell me why they are important to you. I'm not talking necessarily about the photo of the two of you that you used on your thank you card or your most favourite photographs, although that works too, but I am interested in knowing the story behind a photograph that you like and why. It can be a photo from any moment of your day, your ceremony, a detail, a portrait of a loved one. I want to know the story of why a particular photo means something to you. It doesn't have to be "the" favourite photo, I'm interested more in a photo that has a story for you, that resonates with you, I want to know what makes that photo special for you.

Part 2: I'd love to have you share some insight from your own wedding and marriage with couples who are planning their own mountain weddings. You are my community of experts! I feel extremely lucky to have witnessed some truly heartfelt weddings and I know you have a lot to offer other couples from your personal experiences. So in addition to 1-3 photographs I'd love for you to answer one or more of the following questions; What tip or piece of advice would you offer to couples that are planning their mountain weddings? What worked well for you on your wedding day? What advice would you give a couple to help them have a joyful wedding day? What was a favourite memory from your wedding day? What have you found that creates success in your marriage? What do you do in your own marriage to make each other feel loved and appreciated?

I'm calling on you, my community of experts, to share your story. I love stories! To participate; Please send me an e-mail to hello@orangegirl.com with the subject line "Love story". In your e-mail please tell me what 1-3 photographs had meaning for you and why, tell me the story behind why you chose those photographs. (use the file number to reference the photos so I'm sure to share the right ones) Finally please answer any or all of the questions above. The hope is that I will have a series of blog posts to share here to inspire other couples and celebrate the stories of couples whose weddings I have been lucky to photograph. I'm not asking for a big thought out essay, I just want your true thoughts jotted down to share to inspire. So what do you think, are you in?

Stef and Ben sent me their Love Story and it inspired me to look back at their wedding day and watch their Wedding day film all over again which left me in tears. Their connection and love for spending time with friends and family really stood out on their wedding day.

"When planning our wedding, I came across a bridal party group shot walking towards the camera and I knew immediately I wanted to have a photo like this with our own bridal party. I mentioned it to Kirstie prior to the wedding and she captured it beautifully and exactly how we had envisioned it. To have our closest family and friends all together in such a candid, fun photograph is so precious to us and it is now framed and hangs over the fireplace at our cottage."

"My husband's Oma (at 88 years old) flew to Banff all the way from Berlin, Germany to celebrate our wedding. It was so important and special to have her there and we love this picture of her dancing the night away with all of us."

"One of the best decisions we made for our wedding weekend was to have a Mr. and Mrs. session with Kirstie and Kevin two days after our wedding. In a much more relaxed atmosphere and not needing to rush to keep on schedule, we were able to get some AMAZING shots in a hidden canyon in the Rockies."

Stef and Ben shared some advice for couples who are planning their very own mountain weddings; What tip or piece of advice would you offer to couples that are planning their mountain weddings? Take full advantage of outdoors! Banff National Park is such a unique and extraordinary place with so many amazing picturesque spots. Some of our favourite wedding shots are outside with the mountains, lakes and beautiful backdrops - make the most of these! What worked well for you on your wedding day? What advice would you give a couple to help them have a joyful wedding day? When you wake up on your wedding day, take a few quiet moments to yourself to reflect on what your special day truly means and to remind yourself to embrace and enjoy every second of it :) What was a favourite memory from your wedding day? At the end of our ceremony, as my husband and I were walking back down the aisle as husband and wife, I remember how loud all of our guests cheered and celebrated with us. It was such an incredible feeling with so much love and energy surrounding us. What do you do in your own marriage to make each other feel loved and appreciated? Spend alone time together on a regular basis! Whether its a weekend at the cottage, a dinner date night downtown in the city, or taking a more extravagant vacation somewhere - we have so many amazing memories from these times as they truly give us a chance to escape everyday life and just enjoy being together. Stef and Ben just welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their life, what a lucky little man to be surrounded by so much love and parents who adore each other.

I'd also like to share the beautiful highlight film that Imago Cinematography created for Stef and Ben to give you an idea of their day. I love the moment they capture of Ben dancing with his Oma.

I am feeling incredibly grateful and inspired by the stories I get to witness. I was thrilled when I saw the words Love Story in my e-mail from Alison & Aldo whose wedding I photographed in 2008. Alison and Aldo are an incredibly kind and welcoming couple who love each other deeply. Their wedding day was filled with laughter. Alison made a lot of their wedding day details herself including her hairpiece and veil and she remained a calm bride who fully enjoyed her day.

"This picture is immediately after Aldo and I saw each other during the bride/groom reveal. I love this photo. It has truly captured the raw emotion that we are feeling at that very moment. I love the way it shows how emotional Aldo is and I love how he reaching for my face. It is a moment when we totally forgot the camera was on us. It was all about us."

"This is a fun picture for us. Yes, it is a posed picture, but it is at a moment when we are laughing so hard at something. It reminds me of the fun that we had on our day."

"You took so many lovely candid photos of our guests, but this is my favourite. It is a picture of my two grandmas, who are very special to me. I love this photo for several reasons: a) it reminds me that they travelled to come be with us on our special day b) it has captured the fun that they were having c) they are just so adorable!"

Alison and Aldo shared some advice for couples who are planning their very own mountain weddings; What tip or piece of advice would you offer to couples that are planning their mountain weddings? Choose vendors that are local and who will deliver to your wedding location. Brides/grooms have enough stress to worry about on their wedding day to worry about getting flowers set up, cakes picked up, etc. What worked well for you on your wedding day? What advice would you give a couple to help them have a joyful wedding day? I made a very detailed schedule and handed it out to my wedding party. I'm sure they all thought I was crazy, but it really helped all of the events run smoothly and minimized my stresses so that I could enjoy myself. What was a favourite memory from your wedding day? We enjoyed so much of our wedding day. I think my favourite part was immediately after the ceremony when I was able to relax and enjoy the party that we spent months planning! What have you found that creates success in your marriage? Communication. What do you do in your own marriage to make each other feel loved and appreciated? With kids, life gets busy, and sometimes husbands and wives get put on the back burner. We try to have time after the kids are in bed to talk to each other about our days (even we are exhausted and want to just go to bed). We have really learned to appreciate this time to continue getting to know each another. (Alison and Aldo are blessed to have a 4 year old boy, a 2 year old girl and are expecting a baby boy in April so they can definitely speak to the importance of setting aside time for each other in their busy family life)

M y heart leaps with excitement when I see an e-mail with the subject line Love Story. If you've been following along I recently put a call out to couples whose weddings I photographed asking them to share their favourite 3 photographs from their wedding day and why they chose those 3 photographs. I've also asked for some insight into what made their wedding day joyful and what they've found to work for them in their marriage. I'm calling this new blog series Love Story and I hope to get a lot of my couples to participate. I have witnessed some incredible weddings and I know my couples have a lot of insight to share. I'm calling them my community of experts. Emma and Rich had a stunning wedding day at Emerald Lake. It's no secret that it's my favourite place in the world and part of why I hold Emerald Lake so dear is the love stories I have witnessed there. Emma and Rich had an incredible day that just flowed beautifully. They truly enjoyed their day and their friends and family. They were fully present and enjoyed each moment. Their personal vows made me laugh and inspired tears. Emma and Rich are incredibly thoughtful kind and giving people. Emma has been sending us baked goods in the mail with hand painted cards since the moment we met them. On Emma's wedding day she presented Kevin and I with a gift! It was a painting that Emma had done of us with our dogs at Emerald Lake that she had framed for us. My mind was blown. Enough about my thoughts though we're here to share in Emma and Rich's insight.

This is my all time favourite photo from the day. We are just enjoying being with each other in the sun on a beautiful lake on our wedding day—perfect!

I love, love this photo. It captures the breathtaking location that Richard and I fell in love with. I think it captures that sense of all encompassing serenity that we always feel at Emerald Lake.

I love this picture! (can you tell I love them all so much). Our wedding was about more than us, it is about our families and friends that have loved us and supported us all these years, and I love the happiness this picture captures.

What tip or piece of advice would you offer to couples that are planning their mountain weddings? The mountains are so spectacular; choose vendors who are familiar with your location. We picked Emerald Lake because it was a special place for us, then we picked Kirstie because her photos are AMAZING! Then we went to her blog and picked vendors Kirstie recommended. All of them were some of the loveliest people you will ever meet and they were all fantastic. What worked well for you on your wedding day? What advice would you give a couple to help them have a joyful wedding day? Focus on surrounding yourself with the people and things that you love. That’s what your day is about, so make it a reflection of you. Make a schedule and don’t rush the parts of your day that are most important to you. I would really recommend hiring a planner (We had Lynn and Sheryl from Lynn Fletcher Weddings for the day of and it was one of the best decisions we made) they help you focus on the day and not all the little things that inevitably come up. I can honestly say that I loved every minute of our wedding day. What was a favourite memory from your wedding day? I loved walking back down the aisle after we were married through all the bubbles. The sun was shining, the bubbles looked magical and we were surrounded by our friends and family. What have you found that creates success in your marriage? To know that no matter what Rich will support me and I will do the same for him. That we know all the best parts about each other and we know the worst things about each other and we love each other for a sum of all those parts. What do you do in your own marriage to make each other feel loved and appreciated? Rich and I leave notes for each other when we don’t see each other in the mornings or evenings. It doesn’t have to be anything special, just a “I hope you have a great day” or a “I hope you slept well, see you soon” just something to say “I’m thinking of you, I love you”. Rich tells me he loves me everyday even if he has to phone from work to say it. It’s not the big gestures that mean the most, it’s the ones from the heart that let you know you are the most important person in the world to someone.

I t has been a joy filled week for me as I receive responses from couples who are willing to share their Love Story and offer up some wonderful insight. I knew my couples had a wealth of knowledge to share and I hope their stories inspire couples as they plan their very own mountain weddings. Amanda and Simon held a heartfelt magical intimate winter wedding at Lake Louise. Their families traveled from Australia to celebrate with them and to experience their very first encounter with snow! After the ceremony everyone was treated to a horse drawn sleigh ride around the lake. It was a very memorable wedding and we feel so very lucky to have been there. I've asked couples to share their favourite 3 photographs from their wedding day with me and tell me why they chose those photographs. I want to know why those photographs hold special meaning for them. Amanda shared her favourites and I've included why she chose those specific photographs underneath each photograph. I'm going to share more from Amanda and Simon's wedding day this afternoon, it's full of inspiration!

"I love this photo for two reasons, it's lovely to see the emotion in Dad's face & body and secondly this is such a lovely photo of mum." I am so thrilled and proud that Amanda chose this photo, I'm proud because my sweet husband Kevin captured it! Last fall Kevin and I tucked away in a little log cabin and I showed him how to use my camera and taught him some photography basics. At Amanda & Simon's wedding Kevin set up a camera on a tripod to capture Simon's expression when Amanda walked in, I could hear him shooting throughout the ceremony and was thrilled when I got to see what he captured. This is Kevin's photograph and it means the world to me that he captured it for Amanda of her beautiful parents.

"I love Simons expression in this photo, it was just after you said "two kisses, I normally have to ask couples for a second kiss". It's a lovely memory from the day."

"Our first white Christmas with our loved ones."

Some great insight from Amanda below; What tip or piece of advice would you offer to couples that are planning their mountain weddings? Speak with the local vendors, ask them about your day, what you have planned and your timings. They know the area and conditions and can make really helpful recommendations. We wanted to take our family on a horse and sleigh ride & moved our ceremony forward to make sure we could capture this memory in our photos. What worked well for you on your wedding day? What advice would you give a couple to help them have a joyful wedding day? Having Sharon from Naturally Chic to set up and arrange the room and our precious trinkets and bits & bobs. Sharon helped gather people for photos and even remembered the little things like slipping a hand warmer into our gloves before we went outside for photos. We spoke with Sharon in the lead up to the day so she knew what we liked and she made it happen, this meant that we didn't worry on the day and we got to spend more time with our family. What was a favourite memory from your wedding day? It's difficult to pick one memory from a day packed with special memories. We chose a silly song to play before we walked into the reception. I remember standing in front of the closed door and hearing our family burst into laughter. If you'd like to share your own love story you can see all the details here.

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