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?

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.

For me, a cemetery is a beautiful place, full of life.  It’s a place where all of the memories and experiences of all the people buried there, culminate.  It’s a powerful thing, much bigger than each of us.  Bridal portraits are a celebration of a woman who will soon experience a rite of passage that is one of the most meaningful, powerful memories of her life.  Funerals and death are one one of life’s rites of passages like births and weddings.  I feel like these important things are interconnected.  Some people might think it’s total blasphemy to do a photo session in a cemetery.  When done in a thoughtful and respectful way, I think it’s a celebration of life.

Oh, and by the way, the super-cool bouquet with the peacock feather in it?  Yeah, I grabbed those flowers from the grocery store, 15 minutes before Holly’s session and pulled them together with gray satin ribbon and the feather.  I’m kinda’ proud of it and Holly loved it.

If you wear glasses in real life, wear them for photos!  I love the extra style and personality of Holly’s glasses.

Amanda was married in 2008.  Wait, you say, it’s 2010 and you’re just now posting these?  Amanda thought she didn’t want bridals in 2008, but her mom was so sad she didn’t do them.  Amanda told me that her mom mentioned it every time they talked.  So, Amanda pulled out her wedding dress this last fall, in order to give her mom a Christmas surprise.  We did several large prints and a beautiful bridal album in a pretty brocade silk.

When Amanda’s mom opened it on Christmas day, she cried.

Trash the Dress isn’t about trashing the dress as much as it is about creating artistic, fashion-inspired images of a bride in her gown. I also like the term Rock the Dress, which can be a little more tame. These awesome photo sessions are ususally done after the wedding day, but even if you’re aren’t totally up for trashing your dress, you should definitely rock your dress. You can rock your dress during your bridal session before the wedding. Rocking the dress means having a fashion inspired concept, venturing into places where you might not normally feel comfortable taking your dress, but still keeping it pretty clean and completely undamaged. Besides, you can get the thing cleaned!

Rocking or trashing the dress can also include the groom. Sexy post-wedding shoots are perfect for this.

So, who’s game? Let’s do it!

Asha and Daniel wanted formal wedding portraits of the two of them together before the wedding day so they could enjoy their reception immediately following their wedding ceremony at Alta Ski Resort.  So, Daniel came along for Asha’s bridals.  I loved doing this because it allowed much more time to be creative without the stress and time constraints of the wedding day.  We went to Memory Grove, but we didn’t want the usually Memory Grove look, so we walked up to the trail there.   All it takes to get something different, is to do a little exploring and break out of the norm.  There must have been at least 5 other brides there that evening, but we didn’t really notice them around us because we ventured off into other places.   Then, we headed to City Creek Canyon, one of Asha and Daniel’s favorite places and did some beautiful photographs there.  I just loved working with Asha and Daniel on these and really enjoyed the opportunity to photograph Asha in her Sari.

Like what you see? Want bridal photography of your own? Check out the details at www.melissakelseyphotography.com!

I’ve been dying to post Chelsey’s bridals because I just love them so much. Her wedding to the oh-so-handsome Mitch was yesterday, so now I get to post them! Wait until you see the wedding day photos from the Salt Lake LDS Temple and The Bungalow in Pleasant Grove, Utah. WOW! Until then, click on the slideshow below to see how amazing Chelsey looked. I’m thinkin’ my photography skills weren’t too shabby either. What do you think?

When we decided to do her bridals at the Capitol, Christine told me to remind me her to tell me a story about her and the Capitol. When she was little, on a school field trip, she got her head stuck between two of the marble balusters on one of the railings and the fire department had to come get her unstuck. Upon hearing this funny story, I insisted we recreate the moment. Her head is a little bigger now, so she didn’t get it stuck, but it was fun to pretend.  Watch the slideshow to see our recreation.

• Featured Wedding
• Beautiful Brides
• Cute Couples

I’ll do a quick rundown with some photos from some of my weddings and sessions below.

Whitney is a gorgeous bride and so easy to work with.

Whitney’s Bridal Session

And some from their wedding…

Next, we have the lovely Quincy.  Quincy and Phil’s wedding at St. Ambrose Catholic Church and their reception at Log Haven were beautiful.  Their friends and family really know how to party!

Their wedding and reception:

Laura is an actress, singer, and all around ham.  You can check out more of her awesome bridal shots in my bridal gallery at www.melissakelseyphotography.com as well as her wedding and reception (in the Featured Wedding gallery).  You’ll see her handsome new husband, Ryan, too.  They’re going to have cute kids!

Amanda and Matt are completely in love.  Matt is from West Virginia and Amanda is from Texas.  I love their easy-going attitudes.  Amanda and I could just blab on forever.  There are more of their engagement photos in my Cute Couples gallery on my website.  Their August wedding is going to rock.

Brittany, Dustin, and I went up American Fork Canyon and took Dustin’s horse, Sissy, along.  We hiked up (and down the side of a bank) through trees and dirt to get to some the spots where we shot.  Not just any photographer will do that!  Godd thing I was raised in the mountains.

It was such a wonderful shoot.  Brittany is the biggest sweetheart ever and Dustin is a modern-day cowboy.  I am stoked on the photos from this shoot.  I just shot Brittany’s bridals a few evenings ago and WOW!  I know their wedding in Brittany’s grandfather’s 3 acre “backyard” is going to be beautiful.

There you go!  Those are many of the weddings and sessions I’ve been doing since April.  There are more to post, but I’m tired of uploading photos right now!  I’ll post more later.  Ta ta for now!