Melissa McClure Blog

My last wedding of 2009 did not disappoint!  It was a very small intimate wedding, comprised mostly of Midwesterners!  Francis and Melissa both graduated from the University of Michigan, but didn’t meet until an Alum get together in California!

The day started at the Temecula Mall at the Aveda Salon.  Melissa and her entourage were all smiles, ready for the day to begin!

Love this shot of her Badgley Mischka shoes that Mandi took!  They can be silver or gold depending on what look you are going for!

We spent a little time in Old Town Temecula taking some bridesmaid photos!

Sheri’s Flowers in Fallbrook took care of the bouquets and centerpieces!

Melissa and Francis opted for a first look because of how early the sun sets in the Winter!  They wanted a lovely sunset wedding…and this allowed us a lot of time for photos before!

I love me some vine photos!

Reverend Tuttle delivered a charming, funny and heartwarming ceremony, as usual!

Want to know how fun this couple is?  They did their recessional to “Forever” by Chris Brown, and the entire bridal party (parents and Reverend included!) danced back down the aisle, a la this You Tube video.  It was fantastic!

The cake was absolutely fantastic!  They ordered too much and insisted I take some home to my hubby – he loved it too!  The symbol stands for double happiness, which is also the tattoo Melissa has on her ankle!

Cake fight!

DJ Earl kept the party going – and the dance floor packed!

Thank you Francis and Melissa for such a fun night!  Mandi and I had a great time!  Have an amazing time in the Mexican Riviera!

xoxo, M

Enjoy Your Slideshow!

Almost two years ago I ran a contest on my blog for a free photoshoot. Alicia was the winner! She actually donated her shoot to a good friend of hers that needed photos more than Alicia did. Well, the friend and I never found the right time to get together. I got an email a few months ago from the friend saying that Alicia was pregnant and wanted to donate the shoot back…did you follow all that?? Well, fast forward to now!  Alicia and Carlos just had a baby!  Little Alejandro is so adorable!

Love these next two images

It was a blast hanging out with you guys – you are a lot of fun!  Thanks for the wine, chocolate and stroopwaffles!!

xoxo, M

Last year at the Dvorak family session, Jake wasn’t quite walking…and Lisa was newly pregnant with the twins!  So new, that I didn’t even know it!  How surprised was I when she told me that had two new adorable additions to the family!

Meet Audrey and Erin!

Guvu isn’t a new addition…but he is an important part of the family!

This was their choice for the Christmas card photo!

Do you know how difficult it is to get 4 month old twins to pose together, look your way and smile?  Trust me. It’s hard.

and of course the two who made it all happen!

So happy to see you again this year, Dvorak family!

xoxo, M

I’m very excited to announce that my dear friend, Helena has started her own wedding coordination company!

You can check it out by clicking here: Divine Events by Helena

You will see quite a bit of my work on her site  Including her new headshots, taken last month at NTC Liberty Station!

So what are you waiting for??  Go on and check out her site and set up an appointment if you are in need of a FAB wedding coordinator!

xoxo, M

ps The AMAZING website design was done by none other than my studio-mate Cathy with Love at First Invite!  She is now taking commissions for web design, contact her through her own website at www.loveatfirstinvite.com!!

I met Brianna for the first and last time.  Some may remember, she had a disease by the name of Neimann-Pick Disease, Type C.  I wrote about our day at Disneyland in this post.

It’s with a heavy heart that I inform you that Brianna passed away tonight.  She will be incredibly missed by her loving parents and many family members and friends.

I just made a donation in her honor at this website.

Below are my two favorite photos of Brianna and her dad Jeremy on our trip to Disneyland in January.

XOXO, M

My lack of blogging has not been because I am not busy enough. Quite the opposite, actually! I have at least ELEVEN photoshoots to blog right now!! As things start to slow down around here, I’ll be able to get back in the blogging swing of things!

First up, a wedding I attended that I never got a chance to blog! Jodi and Ray were married on 09-09-09 (a wednesday!) in sunny/hot Las Vegas Nevada. They live on the East Coast. This wedding was a bit different than normal for me. I was actually brought as a wedding gift by Jodi’s best friend Cortney!

In Vegas, a lot of the packages come with a wedding photographer and there isn’t much you can do to change that! This is what happened to Jodi and Ray. Cortney still wanted to them to have some awesome photos despite the untrained photographer in their package. So here I am! I had a similar situation like this, for Janice and Andrew’s Vegas wedding. I had to pretend to be a guest and fill in the blanks when possible!

Because of that, there aren’t as many bride and groom photos as normal!  We were very limited in our time at the golf course and literally had under 5 minutes to sneak away and shoot!

The day started off at the Luxor hotel with Jodi getting ready!

The handsome groom, ready to marry his bride!

The ceremony was held at the Bali Hai Golf Resort and was short, sweet and easily over 100 degrees!

These next two images are the ones I had under 5 minutes to capture!

After the golf course, we headed to a lounge/bar place for an intimate reception!

An impromptu first dance…the music downloaded from two cell phones and played simultaneously!

It was a very sweet wedding and Jodi and Ray are obviously nutso for each other!  I was so glad to be asked to be a minor part of their day!

xoxo, M

I still have a ton of family and engagement shoots to blog, but I wanted to get this one up quickly, it has special meaning

One of my best friends, Kirsten and her hubby Brett are expecting their first child at the end of January!   They live just outside of Peoria, IL (where I went to College) so making her baby shower would be no easy feat!  But I planned ahead with the help of her mom and was able to surprise Kirsten at the shower. She had no idea I was coming!  You can see her reaction in the video at the bottom of this post (thanks Laura for capturing it!)  Here are a few from the actual shower:

The monkey talks, hence the reason she has it to her ear!

Us

Kirsten called me soon after she found out they were expecting to see if any of my trips to IL coincided with the time maternity photos should be taken (7-8 months along).  Since I refuse to go to the Midwest in the Winter, I had no plans to be there.  She was pretty upset, there is no one local she wanted to trust with that!  I snapped a few frames at the shower, which was held at the local Zoo.  (it doesn’t look like it, but its about 30 degrees here!)

The following day, we did another short maternity shoot!  Kirsten is a yoga instructor in Peoria, IL (check out her studio – Namaste Wellness). We decided to shoot her maternity session in all yoga poses!  She was so excited  I also got to take her class – what a great experience!

Ok I snuck in one non-yoga pose!

I know this one!  Downward Facing Dog!

Fav #1 <3

They are waiting to find out the sex – I can’t wait! I am hoping for a little girl to spoil!  :)

Fav #2 <3

We had to stay inside – there was snow on the ground outside!!!  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

xoxo, M

Can;t figure out the video thing…here is the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPaMRlbj4xo

Sally and David had a beautiful outdoor wedding last week…and it rained before and after the ceremony!  They were so lucky to have gorgeous blue skies the short time in between!

Love the traditional Vietnamese ao dai she wore for the end of the reception!

This may be my new favorite getting in to a dress shot!

David is Scottish and I love love love their kilts! And how they blended the two different cultures!

Gorgeous Sally!

That’s Larry Samuels on the left, doing his thing!

I’m posting two overall shots this time…first one is mine, second is Mandi’s! Loved them both! (can you spot me in the 2nd one?)

Another awesome shot by my associate photographer, Mandi!

Fav <3

Mmmmmmmm..Flour Power cake!

The reception was at the Pearl Restaurant in Rancho Bernardo

Sally is a life long dancer, she performed an impromtu tap dance for David!

I had so much fun getting to know you two at the wedding! I hope you are enjoying your amazing month long Honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand! (Jelaous!!)

And big thanks for making the day run smoothly, Courtney Tibbets from After the Engagement!!

Enjoy your Slideshow!

xoxo, M

PS I’m in Chicago until Wednesday so I can’t post the slideshow on here right now!  You can view it at the link above, but I will come back and add it when I get home!

I hope you have a comfy seat – this is one large blog!  I had a really hard time narrowing down the images for this post.

As soon as I met Audra, I knew we were going to click.  I was so glad when she booked me at the initial meeting.  Fast forward to November, I was right…Audra is now my friend and  amazing hair stylist!  Check her out at Michael David Hair Design – she rocks!

Favorite #1 <3

Favorite #2!!

I seriously have not had a bigger smile on my face while editing these images, I love hanging out with these two!  So stoked for their wedding in August!

xoxo, M

Just a few images of my “baby” cousin Paul.  It’s hard to believe he is a senior in high school now!  He has such a loving heart and is a talented musician.  I see great things in his future!

Love ya cuz!

xoxo, M