Thanks for stopping by! I’m a wedding and portrait photographer, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m a transplant to Utah from Northern California, where I grew up skiing and enjoying the outdoors with my family. I moved to Utah to go to college (and ski) and here I am, 13 years later, married to a wonderfully supportive husband and have two cute, black Labs. I’m passionate about photography and life. I get really excited when I get a great shot (as many of my clients can attest) and I’m not afraid to act like a dork in public.

Check out the video below to get a taste of what an engagement session with me is like. Let’s go!

Video by Orton Films

I visited the lovely ladies at White Couture Wedding Attire and Tuxedos in Park City, Utah on an unseasonably rainy June day.  Lillie Garrido, the owner of White Couture, and her invaluable sidekicks, Kristin and Christina, gave me a warm welcome when I entered their beautiful bridal salon.

In addition to being Park City’s premier bridal gown and tuxedo stop, they also run Soiree Productions, one of Utah’s best known wedding and event design and coordination companies.  Soiree Productions executes elegant upscale weddings and events with style and ease throughout Park City, Salt Lake City, and beyond.  You’ll get to know more about Soiree Productions in a future spotlight on my blog.  Today, we’re going to talk about all about White Couture!

Not only does White Couture feature some of the most fashionable, timeless wedding gown designers, but they also supply bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, gorgeous wedding shoes, jewelry, hair pieces, and accessories to discerning brides.

When you walk into the bridal salon, you’re surrounded by pretty.  Pretty dresses, sparkly jewelry, sumptuous fabrics, and fashionable accessories.  They have beautiful dressing rooms and attentive service.  Christina has a background in fashion design, and Kristin and Lillie are seasoned pros, so you’re definitely in good hands while choosing your wedding gown. Appointments are highly recommended in order to give you the best and most attentive service possible.  You can call for your appointment at (435) 655-3180.

They have an amazing sample sale going right now. Imagine the designer gown of your dreams for an unbelievable price! Summer is a great time to purchase your wedding gown during a sample sale at White Couture, because they are getting ready to change out their inventory for the new season.  They have a great variety of silhouettes–ballgown, A-line, and sheath dresses.  These stylish sample gowns start at $500.00.

In order to make room for new collections, White Couture is offering sample gowns from these designers:

Birnbaum & Bullock

Rivini

Carmela Sutera

Renella de Fina

And also features these well known designers:

Reem Acra

Judd Waddell

Jane Wang

Carolina Herrera

Simone Carvalli

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The have accessories from Erin Cole, and shoes are 15% off!  During the sample sale, Vera Wang bridesmaid dresses start at $90.00 and beautiful flower girl dresses start at $100.00.  They also have bridesmaid dresses from Badgley Mischka, and more!

White Couture is definitely worth a look.  You just might score your dream gown for a lot less than you thought.

Address:

8178 Gorgoza Pines Rd. (Jeremy Ranch exit)

Park City, UT 84098

Phone: (435) 655-3180

Website: www.whitecouture.com

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Stay tuned for a future feature on White Couture’s sister company, Soiree Productions!

Soiree Productions Info:

Website: www.soireeproductions.com

Love and Inspiration-Your Wedding Blog: www.soireeproductions.com/blog

Email: info@soireeproductions.com

The clean and classic, yet fresh look of the bridal salon:

Left:  Lillie Garrido, Right:  Kristin Spear

Left: Christina Hadlow, Right: The White Couture team

The photos below, show the actual sample gowns on sale now.  I had to contain my desire touch every one!

White Couture carries an extensive selection of Spanx (to keep things smooth underneath your gown), and Hollywood Fashion Tape which is great for avoiding wardrobe malfunctions, wedding day emergencies, and is safe for delicate dress fabric–no pin marks!

The phrase “omnia vincit amor” is featured prominently in the salon, meaning, “love conquers all”.  Doesn’t it, though?

Megan and JJ are getting married tomorrow at the Riverwoods Marriott in Logan, Utah.  It’s gonna’ be pretty!  Outdoor weddings are my favorite.

I love this couple and I love Megan’s family (haven’t met JJ’s yet).  I photographed Megan’s sister, Amanda’s wedding a couple of years ago, and recently did her post-wedding bridal portraits, HERE.

What I loved about Megan and JJ’s  engagement session, is that they were always laughing.  They are so easy to photograph and it just felt like we were hanging out and happened to be taking engagement photos.

Just wait until you see Megan’s bridal portraits…yowzer!  I’ll share those after the wedding…you know, since we don’t want JJ to see her in her dress before the wedding.

Matt and Andrea are getting married Saturday at the Salt Lake LDS Temple, and their reception is today at Thanksgiving Point.  I’m looking forward to a breezy, warm, evening garden reception full of vintage decorations and beautiful flowers in soft shades of rose and cream.  I love outdoor weddings and receptions.  They feel so free and easy.

For Matt and Andrea’s engagement session, we took a little tour of Salt Lake City.  It was a spontaneous adventure.  We started near my house in Holladay, at a laundromat where I take my comforter since it’s too big for my washing machine.  One day, when I was there, attending to said comforter, the light was streaming through the windows and I thought it would be a great new place for an engagement session.

After hitting the laundromat, where Andrea’s mom helped a stranger fold his underwear (that’s another story),  headed toward downtown Salt Lake City, stopping along State Street, whenever we saw something we liked.  Thanks to Andrea’s mom, Margo, for driving…and cinnamon hot chocolate to warm us up.

We ended the evening in a grassy field overlooking Salt Lake City. How nice.

One of my favorite couples from 2009 was featured on the blog of Utah Bride and Groom Magazine, today!

To see more of their engagement session in downtown Salt Lake City, click HERE.

The Saga of the Big, Orange Balloon

Madison and Chris did their bridal session together before their modern, stylish wedding at the Salt Lake LDS Temple and reception at Pierpont Place in downtown Salt Lake City. Madison wanted a big, orange balloon in her bridal portraits.  Madison’s mom brought one big, orange balloon, and one big, white balloon along.  As Madison and I began shooting her bridal portraits at the historical white barn in Park City, Madison’s mom was getting something from the car.  We looked into the distance and we saw a lovely balloon floating away, against the bright blue sky.  Madison was crushed and so was her mom, but we still had the white balloon.

As we tromped through the grassy field for photos with the white balloon, and before we could get any photos, we heard a terrible sound–POP!  Balloon number two was a gone-er. The balloon had met its match in the tall, sharp grasses.  Now, Madison and her mom were really sad.  Madison was determined to have an orange balloon in her bridal portraits.  She called her sister, who traveled all the way from Salt Lake City to Park City with yet another orange balloon.  As the sun dropped behind the mountains, she arrived with that balloon.  Madison sat in the grass with the balloon for a few photos, and then, we were going to take a few with Chris, too.  You can guess what happened next.

I guess it wasn’t meant to be.  We had a great time, though, and got some really great photos.  Who needs a big balloon when there are random bathtubs just lying around?

Michelle and Michael live in New York City, but came back to their home state of Utah to be married in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.  They had a simple, elegant reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and I really enjoyed photographing this photogenic couple.  It was just an easy, breezy affair that was a lovely celebration of the two of them.  They weren’t wrapped up in a million wedding details, and that was really nice to see.

I’m a big believer in good product packaging.  Pretty packages make me want to buy things, but the product inside has got to back it up beneath the glossy exterior.  Studio Enizio totally does that.

When you walk into Studio Enizio in Lehi, Utah, you are warmly greeted by the studio manager, Alex.  The decor is chic and luxurious, with soft blue walls, big white moldings, dark , shiny floors, contemporary furniture, sparkly light fixtures, and sleek stainless steel.  You want to be there and you know you’re going to get a great hair service or makeup application.

Cynthia is the owner of Studio Enizio and she’s a doll–warm and friendly.  She insists on the very best, and educates her clients about the best products to use and why they are so good.  She’s passionate about what she does and does it beautifully.  I learned a lot while I was there.  Grocery store hair care is bad!  To get some of this education, visit the Studio Enizio blog, where Cynthia gives tips and tricks on hair and makeup.

Studio Enizio is Utah County’s exclusive carrier of Kerastase hair products (shampoos, conditioners, and all kinds of other hair goodies), which are the best of the best.  Not just anyone can carry this line.  Kerastase puts salons through a rigorous application process, testing, and salon visits before allowing them to carry it.

A big component of Studio Enizio is the Onsite Hair and Makeup division.  I have had the pleasure of having five of my brides use Studio Enizio for their bridal and wedding day hair and makeup, and am always referring brides there.  What a difference it makes for photographs.  It’s “you, only enhanced”, as Cynthia puts it.  The fantastic thing about Cynthia and her on-site team, is that they can do classic, natural, elegant, and chic wedding hair and makeup, but can execute the most current fashion looks when needed.  They are truly talented.

Enizio Onsite Hair and Makeup Artistry has been in business for 5 years, and won Best Makeup Artist in Utah County for Salt Lake Magazine’s Best of the Beehive, 2009.

They also offer permanent cosmetics by Stephanie, who I’m told is very precise and does amazing work, as well as natural, beautiful hair extensions, eyebrow waxing, eyelash extensions, and a specialized hair cutting technique called a Thermal Cut, which seals the end of the hair.  To find out more, visit their website, www.studioenizio.com.

With special treatment like this, who wouldn’t want to visit Studio Enizio?

Cynthia didn’t want me to take her picture while she was putting on lip gloss before I did her head shot, but I think it’s too cute not to post.

Cynthia’s little brother, Samuel happened to be visiting the studio when I was there.

I like to think of him as the studio mascot.  What a cutie.  Then, there’s Alex pulling a Samuel move.

And finally, the beautiful Cynthia, and Alex looking all professional.

Melanie and Ryan chose to do their “bridal” session after their wedding.  Melanie and I talked about doing a “trash the dress” session.  Trashing the dress is also known as “free to flaunt“, “rock the frock”, and “fearless bridal”.  Sessions like these are not about trashing a wedding dress for the sake of doing it.  It’s about creation, taking a sometimes-crazy idea, and executing it.  The exciting thing about it is that you start with an idea and new things you never thought of, start to develop during the shoot. In fact, we weren’t planning on Ryan being in a tux, but he remembered he had one from a wedding he was in, and sort of forgot to return.  Oops! The tux just completed the picture perfectly (no pun intended).

These sessions can range from fairly tame to totally wrecking the dress (as a side effect of the brilliant concept, of course).  It could simply mean sitting on rocks, on the ground, getting the dress wet (all of which can be cleaned) to something like we did for Melanie where we painted and burned the dress.  We definitely trashed the dress.  Oh my!

These two have kind of a rock and roll style, so I wanted to customize their session in a way that was a little edgy.  I can’t quite remember how it all came about, but I think Melanie mentioned the Great Salt Lake.  That made me think of the graffiti building by Saltair, which made me think of spray paint, and the fire thing–I don’t remember where that came from, but I envisioned them sitting on the ground enjoying the fire, ironically, in their wedding attire.

Before we destroyed Melanie’s dress, we thought we’d do some pretty bridals.  Melanie’s daughter came along, wearing her matching gown.  The snow was perfect, soft and floaty, blowing gently around them, and there was a touch of sun filtering through the clouds, which really enhanced the falling snow.

We had an awesome time doing this.  I mean, how often do you get to trash a wedding dress and tux?

Davey, of Pointe Digital, came along to film the whole thing.  That’s me in the video, photographing the couple!

Melanie + Ryan // Spray Paint and Fire from Davey Orgill on Vimeo.

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Want to find about more about “trash the dress”?

Click here:  http://trashthedress.com

And here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trash_the_dress

Tom and Kristin were married at the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.  They are a creative couple and played that up in their wedding attire.  A dear friend of Kristin’s made her vintage-inspired wedding dress and as you can see, Tom went for a Gatsby look with white pinstripe suit and hat.  As we walked around the Temple grounds making their wedding photographs, they received compliment after compliment by people who loved their look.  Random strangers were even taking Tom and Kristin’s photo with point and shoot cameras and camera phones!

Avery is such a cute, sparkly person.  No, she doesn’t have glitter all over her face.  She’s one of those people that shines from within and exudes warm, lively energy.  She’s also very stylish.  Avery works at Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores and she carried that aesthetic throughout all her wedding details.  I just love that Avery wore a short dress and fantastic shoes (which you’ll see more of when I post her wedding to Matt).

We shot Avery’s bridal portraits around Salt Lake City and found the most beautiful sunflower field in the evening light at, of all places, McDonald’s.  Yes, you can make beautiful portraits in a parking lot next to the golden arches.  Oh, and the cool geometric backdrop in the first shot, is the outside of my veterinarian’s office.  Ordinary places make for extraordinary photographs.