Kara Purtell Photography

So again, I realize I forgot to blog the engagement photos from last year, so you get another two for one.   Nick & Loretta were married in September at St Mary’s in Orchard Lake, and had their reception at Forest Lake Country Club.  They were a really fun couple to shoot and are just genuinely good people.  I had a great time getting to know them and their families and got to work with some of my favorite vendors  Jamie Honce did a day of video for them during their reception that made me cry.  I snapped a few reaction pics of them, but couldn’t stop watching it.  You can see it on his blog here.

Thank you guys for being so awesome to work with.  I had a great time and think we got some pretty sweet shots!

First for some engagement photos in downtown Grand Rapids last fall:

Darrell took this shot above.  he always seems to get the really good artsy shots that I love.

And now to the wedding.  there are a lot of getting ready of Loretta because she was just happy and looked so gorgeous there were too many I liked

Loretta’s niece was the flower girl, and spent some time playing games on her mom’s iPhone while everyone else was getting ready.

They were cracking up throughout the ceremony since they brought in their own paster who seemed to be a bit of a comedian.  Always a good addition to any ceremony.

The grounds at St. Mary’s were so cool and different, Jaime and I were having a field day.  Every time we turned around we saw something else we wanted to shoot by.  Luckily Nick & Loretta were good sports and the weather held off for us.  We got some sweet shots!

Loretta is laughing in this picture, because her dad had asked if he could be in charge of picking out the song that they danced to.  The song started and Loretta recognized the tune and told him she liked it, but seconds later heard her dad’s voice come through singing the lyrics!  He had recorded his version of the song putting her name and their stories into it.  Now he is by no means a professional, let alone a good singer, but it was the sweetest thing I have seen a father do for his daughter on her wedding day. Props to Loretta’s Dad, and extra points for creativity:)

I just think these are really cute pics of each of their dad;s dancing.  I love it when moms and dad’s have a great time and get into the party!

Kevin and Kim had a unique wedding in the Chicago area this September.  We started the day early with a few getting ready shots, and went straight into their japenese tea creremony.  This is a japanese custom where they serve tea to each of their family members.  It was really interesting to watch, and a good way to get some photos of each family member   We then took a limo around downtown Chicago and tried to find some not too sunny place at noon, and succeded amazingly with a little strip of trees inside a huge park.  I loved this location so much and was so happy with the images we got.  I also posted a few of their engagement session we took in July.  Some their so so cute son Ethan.

Isn’t he just the cutest little man?

OK on to the wedding day…..

Kim had one of those really cool but very flimsy wire hangers with her new last name.  Luckily her dress was light enough that I could hang it up.  I’ve had problems with that before.

If you can imagine them doing this very formally, bowing to each person, to their whole extended families.  It took a while, but it was a very cool tradition to add to the day!

Ok, I don’t usually do these jumping shots because I think they are totally cheesy and obviously posed, but I have a soft spot for jumping off things if they are already on them.  it doesn’t seem as contrived I guess.  Maybe I am just weird…..

I loved these bridesmaid dresses that Kim picked out.  She said they were from a department store, which seemed a lot easier than ordering through a dress store.

One of my favorite things….Sun Flare!   BTW, I love the way Kevin looks at Kim.  I think he was looking at her throughout most of the portrait session instead of me, which was fine with me!

Isn’t this the most amazing patch of trees in the middle of a park?

This church was one of those amazingly beautiful catholic churches….  a note to photographers and videographers though, the videographers assistant left their equipment unattended for a few minutes and they got some cameras and lenses stolen from the back of the church.  Luckily we were able to give them some spare lenses to use so they were able to get what they needed.  But yikes!

I love this moment between Kim and her mom as she walked her down the isle.  It is usually all about the dad, but I like that they included her mom too.

Darrell got this great pic of the exiting the church with the bubbles.  I got one too but I like his better

so we jumped into the limo to go to the reception, but there was a break between the two.  So the best man had a friend go to McDonalds and surprised the bridal party with something to eat.  I think McD’s should use this in an ad.

So Happy

Thanks for including us in your day, we had such a great time!