When we went to Oahu this last November for our photography workshop, we did some shopping…okay, a lot of shopping. While meandering through all the rad stores they have in downtown Honolulu- we went into a Kate Spade store. Both of us have loved the line for a long time, but shopping online and at Macy’s is nothing like going into the shop. We were first drawn in by the beautiful colors in the windows and the repetition of color and themes was throughout the store. Black and whites, pops of colors, and touches of metals- some great inspiration for a winter shoot? Yes!!

Soooooo—-what a better person to style a shoot around that our gorgeous bride, Chelsey and her fiance KC!? For those of you who already know Miss Chelsey, who is runner up of America’s Next Top Model cycle 15, us at Ampersand Studios were rooting with everything we have in us!! Yes, we are starstruck a little, I mean- look at her! But after practicing our French accents, we were able to roll. Sorry to be embarrassing Chelsey- we have to give the shoot-out, because we are ANTM NERDS…

The chemistry between KC and Chelsey is just absolutely adorable. She coaches him on his modeling skills and he is such a good sport- and a great model, we must say! We cannot wait to shoot your wedding this summer- congratulations to the two of you. You are so perfect together.

Enjoy.

Oh my gosh, you know how they say that housekeepers always have messy houses and how chefs never cook dinner at home? We are absolutely horrible when it comes to dealing with our OWN pictures! Now that we are really sick of hearing about it from the men in our lives, here it is: Hawaii pictures from NOVEMBER!

As some of you know, Francesca, Nichole, and their two guys went to the beautiful island of Oahu for a photography workshop by Simply Bloom—-see some of those photos here.

Now these are the silly, goofy, behind-the-scenes photos of the dorks we truly are:

At the luau we went to- they taught us how to hula, and then pulled Frannie on stage:

Love this pic with the fire—

Lovely isn’t she?

So…the following photos are when the boys went to Pearl Harbor while we were at our workshop….we let them take a camera, and this is what ya get:

While Matt and Nichole were at Nordstrom Rack, Frannie and Chris found the set of Lost:

Snorkeling Baby!! (these photos were taken with an underwater point and shoot)

Next—the Sunset Cruise…”Booze Cruise” we had an awesome time, as you can tell.

Someone lost their grandpa………..awesome.

Matt, peeing off the side of the boat. Keep it classy.

Frannie dance partay!!

word.

See the original Circus Chic blogpost here.

This is how love should be right?… Easy like Sunday morning. I have been so so lucky to be able to work with this amazing couple and I can’t wait until their garden, lunch wedding this March at the Boise Depot. Margaux is a baker and has a lovely kitchen in Meridian, Idaho called Le Bisou where they ah-mazing sweets and things! (Yes, wedding cakes too guys!) You will soon see the cinnamon rolls that she whipped up for our session which I got to take home and enjoy for the next few days along with some super duper delicious scones! When I found out about Margaux’s business and her love for cooking I just knew we had to bring that into their engagement session. I love the way all of the colors came together and her bakery was the perfect place for the session. A special thanks as well to a good friend, Lindsey Wells from Darlene Collections for her help with styling this photo shoot.

Brides can now simply choose the inspiration for their invitation, enter custom wording, and let us know what they would like to see differently about the design (colors, move around design elements, fonts, etc.), and we make it come to life with our simple-to-use proofing software! We include 2 rounds of revisions to make the design just perfect. Want a more deluxe invitation? We have a wide array of Envelopments brand cardstocks, pocket folds, envelopes and more- just add what you need in the same amount as your invitation quantity, and we will do FULL ASSEMBLY FOR YOU. Rad right? We think so…

Check it out: www.DearAmpersand.com

Now you can have custom design WHEREVER you are. Make sure to check out the new blog on the site too for freebies and rad invitation suite recipes.

Congratulations Natalie and Jorge on your recent visit from Mr. Storky-stork! I had a ton of fun shooting with these guys, and we were blessed with this amazing shooting weather in mid January. I can’t wait to meet little baby Alexander Jacob who is due this Feb 29th (Leap Year!) — You will be seeing a lot more of this cute family over the next year as this is the start to their All Bundled Up package. Thanks again you two, enjoy.