So you’re getting married….

January 20, 2012 by Nicole - Joyful Heart Photography | Leave a comment

I had a lot of fun putting together this blog post. Partly because of my recent interest/addiction/obsession with Pinterest, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the different things a person can do to make their wedding unique, fun, and a little easier on the pocket book.

Here is the link to my Pinterest board with the goodies I’ve been finding. This is going to be an ongoing project… I love finding ideas!
Pinterest Wedding Ideas & Tips.

Here are a few more sites that I also love:

The SoleMates - So often I’ve seen brides and bridesmaids (and moms of the bride and groom!) fight with their shoes when outdoors. Those skinny little heels just sink right into the ground. What a neat idea to help fight that! Even if you’re not at an outdoor wedding (or planning on being outside very much) these are still a great idea. They’ll help keep you from slipping on the dance floor, and should your venue have wooden flooring (such as an outdoor porch or stairs) these will also help keep your shoes from getting caught between the boards.

Finding the perfect dress – don’t try to make your body fit your dress. Find one that flatters and compliments YOU! If your first thought when trying on a dress is “If only my body was…” then it’s not the dress for you. There are thousands of styles of dresses. You’ll find one that is perfect in every way.

Be Organized with eWedding! – I actually just found this site, but it looks awesome! Keep everything organized in one place, help keep track of details, RSVP’s, share info. I think it’s pretty cool! And it’s free!!! You can choose to upgrade and get more features, but the free version actually has a lot available on it!

Unique Cards – I’ve recently teamed up with a couple of different online card companies to let you create your special save-the-date cards and wedding invitations. Minted and TinyPrints. Both companies have a great selection of beautiful cards for you to choose from. Whether you are looking for photo cards, or something more traditional, they have something for you.

I hope you were able to find something of interest! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

Graduation Party FUN!

January 20, 2012 by Nicole - Joyful Heart Photography | Leave a comment

One of the fastest growing trends for graduation parties this year is renting a photo booth to capture some fun, silly, and memorable images of groups of friends and family. It is also a unique way to document everyone who was at the party. With the guest book album add-on, guests are able to put their image in a keepsake guest book and write a special message to the guest of honor.

With the photo booth rental, you have unlimited use of the booth with unlimited prints. You also have  a full-time attendant to make sure everything goes smoothly. I also work with you to customize the photo strips to be specific for your event. No boring templates, but a colorful design that is unique for your graduating senior!

Availability is limited and filling up quick!  So contact me soon about reservation details!

Stop SOPA

January 18, 2012 by Nicole - Joyful Heart Photography | Leave a comment

I don’t usually use my site as a sounding board on political issues, but this is important.

There is a bill coming up before Congress soon that at first glance sounds good. It’s a bill to help stop online piracy. I’m all for that. Many people absolutely nothing about stealing things online. After all what can one song, or movie, or photo really harm? (NOT MY WORDS PEOPLE! LOL) Downloading a movie online is absolutely no different than walking into a store, taking it off the shelf, and walking out without paying for it. Downloading or copying photos without a photographer’s permission is stealing as well. So yeah… I’m all for stopping this! But…. NOT AT THE RISK OF BEING CENSORED! No way in this world would I give up the right to be able to say what I want, when I want, or to create and share any image I want, just because some dude in Congress thinks that he’s censoring me for the benefit of others because I might have pirated those words or that image.

This. Is. America.

We do not give up our rights that easy.

To show how  this  could affect everyone, I’ve censored the following, in protest of this bill. A bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/44838/uncensor

If you don’t ████ to ████ ████ █████ █████████████ ████████, ████ ████ you ████ ████████ to ████ no on ████. █████████, you may ████ to go ███████ all of ████, ████ to see ████ ███████ ████████ ████████. :-(

Uncensor This

 

I promise… next week I’ll get back to my regular fluff posts…… assuming they don’t get censored.

 

Remodeling sale – Half off session fees

January 12, 2012 by Nicole - Joyful Heart Photography | Leave a comment

Work is still taking place on the new studio. Trying to get it fixed up and looking good for everyone takes awhile. So… here’s the deal! If you schedule a standard portrait session for the rest of January, I will take 50% off the price of the session. Orders places within a week of the session (whether by online gallery or in person ordering) will get an additional 5% off their purchase price. You can see all the pricing information here.

This isn’t the kind of sale I run very often, so don’t wait to take advantage of it!

Don’t forget, starting today (Thursday, January 12th) I’m now keeping studio hours! I’ll be in the studio from 9am to 3pm on Thursdays and Fridays! I’m still available for sessions outside those hours, just set up an appointment with me! :)