Kelly Chandler

It is my honor once again to be on display at Overlake Hospital in the Labor & Delivery - Mother Baby Unit.  It is particularly exciting this time as the hospital has recently remodeled the entire Childbirth Center.  It looks fantastic!  Gone are the peach and teal of 1980….you now see beautiful rich colors and warm dark wood furnishings.  Makes me almost want to have another baby just to hang out there.   Plus, you will find over 50 of my favorite images enlarged and lining the halls in this area of the hospital. 

This Sunday, November 8th from 11am-2pm Overlake will be celebrating.  They invite you to come to an Open House to see the newly remodeled center.  There will be guest speakers, car seat safety demonstrations, informational and educational booths, a family show by a magician, refreshments, and more….and it is all free.  Did you know that Overlake is ranked in the top 5% in the nation for Maternity Care!  Impressive! 

 So stop by on Sunday, take a tour, and check out some of my favorite baby and family images like this one. 

I met BriAnne Powell about 5 years ago when her she was a bridesmaid in her brother Josh’s wedding.  When she called to say she was engaged and she wanted me to photograph her wedding, I was thrilled.  The Powell family is one of the nicest group of people you will ever meet.  Gracious, loving, and very spiritual, this tight knit family was so excited to see BriAnne marry a man who shares those same wonderful qualities.  When I met Cameron and his family, I could see right away that they all fit together perfectly.

It helps make the wedding ceremony extra special when the person who performs it really knows the bride and groom well.  It adds that personal touch and makes a tremendous difference in the message.  So when Josh married BriAnne and Cameron, it was really special.  It was as if there were 200 people witnessing a personal conversation between friends about their commitment to each other, their marriage and to God.

It is a tradition that goes back generations in the Powell family that when the father of the bride walks his little girl down the aisle, he holds this family bible in one hand.  The bible is used during the wedding ceremony and then the groom brings it back down the aisle with his new wife.  I love Cameron’s expression of pride and BriAnne’s giddy smile right after they were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Cameron Damskov.

A bubble filled send off ….

and more bubbles…..

Let the party begin….Inglewood Golf and Country Club was the scene for a party to remember.

Ceremony: Bastyr University Wedding Chapel    Reception: Inglewood Golf Club   Second Shooter: Stacey Y

 Wedding Event Design: Katy Leiser Unveiled Events 

Molly and Jim tied the knot at Villa Academy in Seattle.   Here she was full of anticipation, literally dancing down the aisle before seeing her groom.

This little cutie was all smiles, all day.  He watched from an upstairs window as the wedding party was getting photographs taken…..all this while eating snacks to keep his smiles and energy up.  At the reception, he said the cutest thing.  “Miss Kelly, can I follow you around?”  I told him he sure could.  After a few minutes of following my every step, he asked if he could take a photo of me….with my camera.  How could I say no.  So I carefully placed thousands of dollars worth of equipment around his little neck and showed him what to do.  He took a photo of me from about 3 feet away (so I could catch my gear if he dropped it).  He did pretty darn good for a 4 year old. 

I loved the natural lighting in the hallway before entering the church.  The warm light inside was so inviting as Molly and Jim walked into the church for a few moments of quiet before the guests began to arrive. 

A very proud father walked his little girl toward Jim.  Molly caught the loving gaze of her mother awaiting her at the end of the aisle.

It’s official, Mr. and Mrs. Lamb are officially married.  Congrats to you both!  Stacey and I had a blast photographing your day. 

I have been looking forward to Matt and Lyndsey’s wedding for a full year.  I met this adorable couple when I was photographing their friend’s wedding (Suzanne and Adam Jayne-Jensen 08.08.08).  I photographed Matt and Lyndsey’s engagement session last November and they were such fun.  I knew that their day would be full of classy, elegant details…not to mention they both are very comfortable in front of the camera! 

Lyndsey is the tiniest little thing…maybe 5 foot tall….and Matt must be 6 foot 5 or so.  Here her Mom is helping Lyndsey put on her super high heels.  They were sexy, gave her a few more inches of height to catch up with Matt…and Lyndsey said they were really comfortable.  Check out the calf muscles on this lady…now that is muscle definition.   

Okay, are they stunning together!?

LOVE the back of this dress.  If I had a consultation before the wedding to pick the PERFECT dress for Lyndsey, it would have been this one.  She pulls off a strapless dress like it was custom made just for her.

The Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland was the venue for their celebration.   Inside, outside…it just doesn’t matter.  Everything at this venue is beautiful.

We ventured out to a super bright and windy day.  Matt scooped up Lyndsey so she wouldn’t ruin her beautiful shoes on the docks.

Family and wedding party watched from the upstairs balcony…clearly approving of his decision to be chivalrous.

Now there are fun wedding parties and there are FUN wedding parties.  This group tipped the fun meter to SUPER FUN. 

I asked Matt to walk in front of his guys toward me.  I about fell over laughing as the guys started channeling the West Side Story boys in the background complete with side snapping and lots of laughter.

The very talented Stacey Yuchasz was second shooting for me and captured the girls getting a kick out of that scene. 

I love how Lyndsey is fighting back tears in this very emotional moment as she is about to be given away.   

After the ceremony, the wedding party retreated to a side room to toast the wedding.  You can’t script moments like this.  Here Matt enthusiastically shows off his new ring.  What followed was a tear filled toast to friendship, love, and a lifetime of happiness.

Matt and Lyndsey escaped the reception for a moment together at sunset.

Cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Matt Heinle.  What an event for everyone to remember.

It is always an honor to have photos used by other professional wedding vendors.  Brooke Arambula, owner of Event Envy, a wedding and event planning company, recently contacted me about using my photos on her new website.  If you click on the logo above, you will be taken to her website and can see some of my work.  Thanks Brooke for spreading the word about my photography.  I look forward to working with you often.

I had a blast with Dana and Jeff on their wedding day.  These two were so excited to be getting married.  Their enthusiasm was infectious to everyone around them.  We started out on Dana’s parents spectacular property on the water in Olympia.  I want to go back on a sunny day and play in the water there…such a great spot. 

I’d describe Dana in one word…spunky.  She is so full of life and a total delight to be around…the kind of girl you want to be friends with.  Jeff is a super guy too.  He can’t stop smiling and has so much love for Dana.  These two are forever.

The ceremony and reception were at the Olympia Golf and Country Club.  We hit the tide right and were able to do their group shots down on the beach. 

I went down later after the ceremony because I really wanted to take this shot.  The beach had shrunk from 20 yards to more like 2 feet from the break-wall.  I had to lay on the crushed shells to get this shot.   I was covered in shells when I stood up, but it was worth it.

Dana and Jeff released 50 Monarch Butterflies just after they were pronounced husband and wife.  They fluttered around everywhere!  All night long I was finding them inside and outside. 

Here one landed on Dana’s bouquet!

 Not fans of cake….who needs it.  How about 15 flavors and 10 toppings of Ben and Jerry’s Ice-cream….YUM!

One of the flower girls wanted Jeff and Dana to kiss her ice-cream. 

Dana and Jeff, thanks for your patience in getting this blog posted.  It has been a long time coming.  I have 4 more anxious brides and grooms waiting to see their weddings posted.  So keep checking….I’m slowly making progress on the processing of my photos from a crazy season.  Last night marked my last wedding for a few weeks.  So I’m hoping to catch up.  Wish I wasn’t so particular and could hand off the work to someone.  But I like to edit, crop, play with the photos.  It is like the reward for me after shooting an event. 

Michael and Kelley chose Robinswood House in Bellevue for their wedding and I can’t think of a place that would have suited them more perfectly.  This couple had a classy affair with a rustic down home feeling. 

I often witness some pretty special moments.  Michael and Kelley wrote their own vows to share with each other when they saw each other for the first time that day.  They both were very emotional during the exchange of very tender words.

The kids were adorable. 

The ceremony itself was in the perfect setting, complete with decorative touches everywhere.

 This wedding had 2 firsts for me.  It was the first time I’ve ever had a former United States President as a guest at the wedding.  JFK was standing around during photos and right next to the bride and groom’s table during toasts.  He was even on the dance floor later that night.

The other first for me was sliders and french fries.  Kelley and Michael’s favorite food was served (along side two other tables with elegant displays of crab claws, huge prawns, pasta, salads, etc).  I love french fries….so this was right up my alley too.   I thought it was great that Michael and Kelley made this wedding their own.  It was full of personal touches just like this that made it THEIR day!

Another favorite spot for guests was the Sweet Shoppe candy table.  There were party favor boxes to fill to the brim for each guest to take home.  Kelley let me take a few to my kids so they were thrilled the next day.  I think they ate pink milk chocolate maltballs for breakfast. 

Thanks Kelley and Michael for your patience in getting this posted.

I’m making progress on the mounds of photo processing.  4 more weddings to post and I just keep shooting.   The kids go back to school next week so I’m hoping to get caught up between shooting my portrait appointments and next weekend’s wedding.  Wishful thinking I know but at least I know I will make progress. 

This is my “almost put me into a padded room” time of year….trying to balance all the weddings, senior high portraits, and families with kids wanting to get photos before the kids go back to school.  Oh yeah, and then I mix in the fact that I have a husband and 2 kids and I’m trying to be present for them.  I’ve been shooting, downloading, backing up files, cheering at soccer games, carpooling to football, and picking up the camera again the next day.  I usually get my wedding blogs posted in about 1 week and mix in some fun portrait photos too.  Clearly, I’m behind.  I’ve had some amazing weddings to shoot….even had 50 Monarch Butterflies released just after they said “I Do” at one beach side wedding.  My portrait clients have been adorable families and senior high students have been super fun.  Can’t wait to show you what I’ve been up to.  However, I really need to edit and process photos for clients before they burst with anticipation and I lose my mind.  So please be patient, keep checking the blog as I will be posting more later this week.

I had the pleasure of photographing one of the Seattle’s most elegant events….Mike and Elizabeth Berg’s wedding.  Their album design is complete and you’ve got to see it.  Click on the photo below to play and enjoy the slide-show!

Special thanks to April Greer for her creative eye and helping me photograph this day for Mike and Elizabeth.

Ceremony: Holy Names Academy     Reception: Seattle Tennis Club

Florist: Kendra Yaples Love Me Flowers

Video: Aaron Horton Productions   Cake: New Renaissance Cakes

Okay, is this the most adorable boy and dog you have ever seen?!   I have no time to be blogging right now but I couldn’t help it.  I had to share this photo.  I’ve been photographing this young boy for years.  Every time I see him, he is more and more handsome.  Adding the dog about put me over the edge.  I wanted to take them both home with me.  Their Mom wouldn’t let me.