Salt Lake City & Park City, Utah Wedding Photographer-Melissa Kelsey » modern. elegant. real.

I’ve been looking forward to the warmer days of spring and Megan’s bridal portraits came to mind. We stopped at a beautiful orchard in Provo, where the flower buds were about to burst. We also stopped by my photographer friend, Justin Hackworth’s studio. He was very gracious to let us use his beautifully simple, well lit space.  Thanks, Justin!

This was a standout bridal session for me because this look was something different than the norm. I also love Megan’s portraits in the orchard. I think she looks like she’s straight from a bridal magazine!

I photographed Megan’s sister, Amanda’s wedding a few years back and it was really fun to have her along for Megan’s bridal shoot. To top off a great day, we grabbed In-N-Out Burger on the way home. Yum.

Brittany chose to have Braden come along for her bridal session. That was a great idea. They opted to have a “first look” so that they could be surprised, making the moment they saw each other in all their wedding finery, really special.

These two are so much fun, that we spent A REALLY LONG TIME shooting this bridal session. Same thing happened on their engagement session in the 9th and 9th area of Salt Lake City.  They’re so easy going, and photos meant so much to them, that I got to spend time getting creative with some of the standard LDS Temple shots. By standard, I mean, the Temple steps, the reflecting pool, and “the pedestal”, as I like to call it. It was really hot, too, so we went inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for some dramatic images.

We were able to complete most of their shots around the Salt Lake Temple, so we didn’t have to be rushed to get those photographs on the wedding day between their sealing and luncheon. Boy, was that nice.

Oh, and check out Brittany’s shoes. Way to spice it up underneath your wedding dress, Brittany!

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?

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.

Long before Holly’s bridal session, I daydreamed about it a lot.  Holly and Eric hired me about a year before their wedding, so I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do for Holly’s bridal portraits.  I made pinhole photographs at this location about 10 years ago for a college photography project and I can’t believe I hadn’t come back here for a photo session since.  It didn’t dawn on me until I was thinking about where to go for Holly’s bridals.  This is a cemetery in Salt Lake City.  I think Holly and the cemetery just fit and I knew that Holly would get it.  I wasn’t trying to make photos of a bride standing in front of a headstone for a sensational juxtaposition. I was simply drawn to the beautiful trees, lawns, light, and ethereal mood.  Where else can you get rows of conically shaped juniper trees in Salt Lake City?

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.