A few years back, in one of those mandatory classes that brings together such disparate people as psychology and engineering majors, Amanda and Jason found each other. Well, to be truthful, Jason found Amanda. Despite the fact that she was dating someone else, he managed to get her phone number (you know, just in case she got sick  and needed to call a classmate for the lecture notes!), then managed to become friends. Life went on, and they began to spend time together regularly; she went out on dates with another guy or two, and he continued to wait. For three years they stuck with each other, getting closer, until Amanda saw what Jason had seen years before: there was something special between them, maybe even the chance for a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. It turns out that they were right, and Grant and I feel lucky to be photographing the first day of their marriage this upcoming June!

To start, here’s my favorite set. November is a fickle month, so Grant and I could hardly believe our eyes when we saw the beautiful light and color at Tunnel Park a couple of weeks back!

It’s not hard to see why Jason fell for her– Amanda, you’re gorgeous! (This is Grant’s favorite from the session.)

We are so lucky with being able to photography people who are up for anything– even getting down in a pile of prickly beach grass!

We’ve been getting into silhouettes lately. They’re so much fun!

Thank you, both of you, for the great afternoon spent at the beach with us. You were both so easygoing and up for anything, and we really appreciated it! Can’t wait to see you again for the wedding in June!

Lauren and Jason drove up to Grand Rapids for their engagement session at Townsend Park, and as we talked about everything from wedding dresses to Mad Men, we grew more and more excited about their wedding in June and more and more excited about the pictures we were seeing on the back of our cameras! We hope they convey the warmth we felt that day–the unseasonably warm weather for a November day, the warmth we witnessed the two of the share with one another, and the warmth we felt towards such a gracious, easy-going couple! Enjoy…

My favorite:

Leandra’s favorite:

And on their way out of town, we stopped downtown for a few…

Thanks, you two, for a wonderful afternoon!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Okay, we love pumpkin cheesecake, but frankly, the best part about Thanksgiving for Leandra and me isn’t the turkey (Leandra’s a vegetarian) or the shopping–it’s the fact that we can legitimately listen to Christmas music, buy Christmas-y things, and decorate for the holidays!  (Even though we did sneak a small Christmas tree into our bedroom already, and we have been playing Christmas music when no one’s listening.) We love Thanksgiving  because it’s the kickoff to the holidays, when we can string the lights and trim the tree and fill the house with smells of peppermint and cinnamon!

In all seriousness though, we’re so thankful for so many things: being able to work together, having a job that allows us to be creative, meeting so many wonderful people, and spending our weekends photographing people in love! We might say “no thanks” to seconds (or firsts) on turkey, but we ARE thankful for you, our readers and couples and brides and grooms and mothers and fathers…  whose wonderful feedback and communication makes it all worth it!

Just a few reminders: tomorrow is the start of our print sale (which continues through December 31st)! We will donate all  of the proceeds from orders received between noon (12 pm EST) tomorrow and noon on Saturday to the Cape of Good Hope School in Mawotto, Uganda, where Leandra spent six weeks volunteering in 2005. We’re really excited about this, and hope you choose to buy your prints tomorrow, so we can pass more on to her friend Godfrey, the founder, and his school!

We’ll continue to donate 10% of the proceeds through December, and are passing some savings on to you– you can read about the discounts on this post. We decided to extend the all-of-the-proceeds donation window until Saturday because we want to donate as much as possible!

Secondly, although we’ll be running specials through the month, the deadline to receive any print orders in time for Christmas is noon on December 13th.

Enjoy your holiday, and do plenty of thinking, decorating, shopping, and singing about the NEXT one! (Can you tell we’re Christmas buffs?) To close, a picture of two of our favorite things in one:

“Now I see clearly
It’s you I’m looking for
All of my days
So I’ll smile
I know I’ll feel this loneliness no more
All of my days
For I look around me
And it seems you found me
And it’s coming into sight
As the days keep turning into night”

- Alexi Murdoch