Jessica Lemmons Photography Blog, Longview Washington (Wa.) photographer.

Several months ago Deva e-mailed me and asked me to be her wedding photographer, being that she lived over 5 hours away we did all of contracts and booking via mail and phone, so my first time ever meeting her was the day of the wedding.  When I walked in to introduce myself to her while she was getting ready, she immediately bypassed shaking my hand and said “I just want to hug you!  Thank you so much for being here for my wedding!”   From that moment on, even though it was our first time meeting Deva, Terran and their families, we were treated like honored guests instead of hired help.   I felt so welcome being there, and even though I got dreadfully sunburnt (I forgot that Walla Walla has a LOT more sun than Longview) I had an amazing time.

Their wedding was a beautiful affair – but it always is when you have two people totally and completely in love with each other like Terran and Deva are.

I also want to give a huge shout-out to my awesome assistant Nate (I think I may have forgotten to thank him for the last several weddings….rude!) he once again did a wonderful job as my second shooter!  I especially appreciate him doing the drive over to Walla Walla – his car has a much better stereo than mine, and it’s faster, and looks cooler…..and I don’t have to be the one driving!  So…..for all of the above Nate, THANK YOU!!!

Deva getting ready and some detail shots.

Their first look and the “formals.”

The ceremony:

The reception:

(side note here – Deva’s father owns a restaurant in Walla Walla – this equaled for the MOST delicious food at a wedding…ever!   They were very generous and offered us a meal…..and I just wanted to keep eating and eating, it was SO good!!!!!!  I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!)

Happily ever after…….  

Mike, Shannon and I went to Portland a few weeks back for their engagement session.  I seriously LOVE shooting this girl!   You might remember her from these sessions – Shannon’s senior photos,  Trash the Dress Part 1 and Part 2, and then two months ago I photographed her in her sister’s wedding here.  I’m so excited for these two to get married!  They are a such a sweet couple, they even took me out to dinner after the session at a Mongolian Grill (YUMMY!).    Congrats guys!   Can’t wait to photograph your wedding!!!

A couple of good friends of mine,  Joe and Andrea,  renewed their  wedding vows a few weeks back.  It was an intimate, beautiful and very emotional day for everyone in attendance.  I was honored to photograph it with my good friend Nate, and my wonderful husband Bryce.   I’m excited to see what the future holds for this precious family.  :-)

Brian and Courtney’s wedding was an absolutely beautiful affair!  I didn’t get to meet Brian and Courtney until just a week before their wedding – they are from San Diego but had their wedding here in Vancouver.  When I pulled up to the church I was amazed, the cathedral was absolutely gorgeous.  The first thing I did was jump out of the car and take a picture of it!  Then I quickly got to work hunting down the bride and groom to get some getting ready photos before we jumped into a busy day.

From friend and fellow photographer Amanda did an amazing job helping out with the photos – we had a lot of fun together.

The day went by so fast!  From photographing Courtney getting ready to dancing photos at the reception….it was fast, and when it was all said and done I couldn’t believe the entire day was over.  Courtney and Brian – you two are an amazing couple!  It was a pleasure getting to meet you guys and be a part of your special day!  Thank you for having me as your photographer and I hope that you enjoy your preview!

St James Cathedral = Stunning!

The guys:

The girls + Brian.  :-)

The ceremony was so beautiful!

I can’t say I would hate to shoot another wedding here!

After the ceremony we met up at Esther Short Park across the street from the Hilton for some  more photos.  The weather cooperated for us, but unfortunately we were almost completely out of light by the time we started shooting.  We still managed to get some fun dramatic low-light shots before heading over to the hotel.

Then we headed over to the Hilton for more photos

The toasts:

Of all the dancer’s Brians Mom was my favorite.   I didn’t get a chance to know her, but I’m guessing she is a fun lady.  :-)

Last month I spent a lot of time putting together some wedding slideshows for a few of the bridal fairs I was going to be a part of.  The bridal fairs went AWESOME – I got lots of bookings and some great leads, but my slideshows were just left sitting on my computer afterwards.  So…..I decided I might as well get some use out of these, I was so happy with how they turned out and it just seemed a waste to leave them sitting all lonely on my  hard drive, so here I am sharing one with you!  More to come and feedback is always appreciated!

Dana booked me a few months back for her September wedding.  When I first met her I couldn’t help but like her!   She was just one of those fun, happy and energetic girls that you just can’t help but enjoy being around.   When I met RJ last Saturday I could totally see why it was they fell in love!  They were both just happy and fun people, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much during the “formal” section of photographing a wedding.    My abs were more sore than my feet after the wedding.

Their wedding was held at the Lewis and Clark hotel in Centralia.  I loved the venue – it was absolutely beautiful inside, with lots of space for the wedding – they still managed to pack the house with all their family and friends though!

My friend and fellow photographer Cindy did an AMAZING job helping me that day.  She was an absolute joy to work with!

Here’s a few  of Dana at the hotel before we headed over for formals -

The boys

The plan had been for RJ and Dana to not see each other before the wedding, but Dana wanted to do photos ahead of time and also wanted to surprise RJ.  So while I was taking photos of the boys she had one of her bridesmaids give RJ a card. .  While RJ was reading it Dana snuck up behind him with her Dad to surprise him.

The look on his face was priceless!

Then we jumped into the “formals”.

I have to show just one more with the skateboards…..I was laughing so hard when we did this!

Once we finished up with formals we headed back for the ceremony:

The reception was very fun!   Great food, great music and lots of joy!

The cake:

The Rings:

And a few of my final favorites from the day:

RJ and Dana got married last Saturday, it’s going to be a few more days before I get their preview up, but I couldn’t help but post just one.   These two make me smile!

I received an e-mail awhile back from a precious lady in Australia asking me if I would be there to photograph her wedding…and be a witness on her marriage certificate, as there would be no guests!  That was definitely a new one for me, but of course I said “Yes!”  I met up with Bernie and Kerri last Thursday, they are an absolutely ADORABLE couple from Queensland that came to Seattle for a holiday and cruise (gotta use the Aussie terms here!) and then after booking their holiday decided that they wanted to turn it into a honeymoon and so they decided to have a judge perform a wedding ceremony while they were in Seattle.   Kerri had searched for wedding photographer’s online, found me, and booked me (thank you Google!).    It was a great excuse to spend a day in Seattle – I took my friend Jenny (who is also my “nanny” for my kiddos in her spare time) and we headed up to Seattle Thursday morning and had an wonderful afternoon with Bernie and Kerri (Jenny was also a witness for their marriage), and then finished off our evening checking out the sites and eating some yummy Italian food.

Their wedding was very simple – he wore a grey suit, she wore a white dress, and had a simple rose bouquet.   No complications, no busyness, just two people celebrating their love together.   It was the most simple wedding I had ever been too, but yet their apparent love and affection for one another also made it one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been too.

And the Ceremony:

Mark and Trene were married last week at the gorgeous Villa at Little Cape Horn in Cathlamet Washington.  The setting was absolutely stunning – a gorgeous bed and breakfast overlooking the Columbia River.  The ceremony was held on the main porch that overlooked the River and the Oregon shoreline.  I really enjoyed getting to know Mark and Trene and was excited to see them tie the knot!   Nate did a wonderful job (again!) helping me with the wedding -yep, you guessed it, that ring photo is totally his!

Thank you Mark and Trene for having me as your photographer and I hope you enjoy your preview!

Some of the details:

The wedding party:

The ceremony:

They had some home brewed beer for the reception –  I heard it was good, but their reaction here made me chuckle.  ;-)

The Cake was DELICIOUS! Several different types of cheesecake – I tried the tiramisu…YUM!

On Saturday Joe and Katie said “I do” in front of a crowd of their family and friends as the sun set slowly over the river next to them.  The lighting, the setting, the details….everything, was just perfect!   They were married at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.   The ceremony and reception both overlooked a gorgeous bend in the Lewis River….it was gorgeous to say the least!  You might remember Joe and Katie from their engagement session.  They have quite the story and have already been through more than a lot of couples will ever have to go through in their entire marriage.   Katie is a cancer survivor – the fact that she was married on Saturday is a miracle in itself! The joy that Katie and her family all shared that day was absolutely beautiful and so precious to be a part of.   My friend and fellow photographer Elena did a fabulous job helping me that day.  I really enjoyed having her there….besides the help she was also great to chat with!  Thank you Elena!

Thank you Katie and Joe for having me be a part of your day!  I hope you enjoy your preview!

They saw each other pre-ceremony for photos…but we still let Joe see her for the first time.  :-)

Isn’t she gorgeous?

The details:

The ceremony:

The light was to die for….

We snuck them a way for a few more photos pre-reception….

The reception:

The joy on their faces was just beautiful….

The bouquet toss made me laugh – her name is Dana and I’m super excited to say I’ll be shooting her wedding in just two weeks….be sure and watch for her!  :-)

And a few final favorites….