Yesterday, I posted images from Megan and Ian’s wedding at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix Arizona.  Today I am posting my favorite details from their wedding.  Enjoy.

Buttons and fabric!  That’s what made up the bride’s bouquet.  Beautiful, don’t you think?

Here is a cool way to carry the rings down the isle.  The ring bearer simply carried the book down the isle.  I loved the idea.

Sections of the long banquet table were identified with a very small chalk board.  Everything was on chalk boards.

This was  a great cake top.  I especially loved the scrabble letters.  Although you don’t get many points for an I a D and an O.

The fans doubled as the program, or should I say that the other way around?  They were cool… in more ways than one.

Nicely played!

No wedding cocktail hour is complete without a game of “Corn Hole.”  I loved all the games they had for people to play during a long enjoyable cocktail hour.

Like I said, everything was on chalk boards.  What a great way to post signs all over that don’t distract from, but add to, the visuals.

In keeping with the overabundance of beards, those who did not have facial hair could don a mustache for the moment by sipping from their straw.

In keeping with the Quaker style wedding theme, the wedding banquet table was one very long table rather than many round tables.

Shayna and Beto were married at Troon Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.  It was a  beautiful day for a wedding.  Here are a few of my absolute favorite images from the wedding day.

Shayna did a great job with the dress hanger.  Rarely do I see a bride pay attention to the dress hanger.  It is usually an ugly plastic hanger.  I have never understood dress shops who sell these fantastic dresses for thousands and thousands of dollars, knowing they will be photographed and yet they deliver them on an ugly white plastic hanger.  Well, I have to hand it to Shayna for seeing that issue.  For those brides out there who are peeking in on this wedding and making notes about your own wedding.  Bring along a pretty hanger that says something about you.

So, we took the dress out of the closet and hung it up on this large painting in the bridal dressing room and I was composing the shot when one of the young ushers walked through the shot.  I have two shots that are essentially the same of this dress, one with and one without.  I can hardly look at the one without the boy in it.  He completes the picture.  I suppose it is because this boy took my controlled shot and added a bit of reality to it.  Sometimes I am tempted to stray from reality and control it all, but the chaos always pulls me back where I belong.

I think the florist was a bit nervous when she saw me with the flowers out in the sun before the wedding.  She even made a little comment about the flowers being prone to wilting in the heat.  But, I’ll bet she’ll love this image of her beautiful flower arrangements.  And I am happy to report the photo only took a few minutes and the flowers were perfect throughout the day.

This next series is one of my favorite getting ready sets I have taken.  A lot goes into the shot of putting on the dress.  Providing a nice backdrop for the effort is a major part of that.  But also, there is just a lot of fortune that goes into getting the shot as well.  I think all things conspired together for an opportune shot.  And then I have to say that the muted color treatment on the shot really finished it off well.

This moment made everyone laugh.  There is a whole series from this set, but these are the two crowning moments.  The littlest flower girl got cold feet and was not even going to go down the isle, much less, throw the flower petals.  So the older flower girl went back to get her and was trying to show her how to throw the petals, which upset her, I think she intended to keep them all for herself.  When the older flower girl realized this, she thoughtfully moved on with her duties and the little one stood in the isle and silently pouted over the loss of her flowers.  It was the cutest moment.

I was taken by the canopy of branches in the background, so I asked Shayna to pose for me as the guests and wedding party chatted.  Often times the un-planned portraits and scenes that catch my attention at the moment are the very best.

I simply love this image of the bride.  I love the contemplative look, I love the way the hair is blowing.  The veil being set against the dark on the left of the frame is wonderful.  I love this shot.

I looked at this image in color and thought it looked fine, but when I took it to black and white and started aging it, I felt as though it became what it was meant to be.

This shot was taken as the sun dropped over the horizon.  There is no better time of day.  I love the reflection on the water, the movement of the dress as she walks.  I am very pleased with this image.  As dress images go, it is a great description of the dress.

These two little girls were constantly providing opportunities for great photographs.  Here they are waiting to dance with the bride during a dollar dance.   Everyone was dancing with her, and they wanted their chance, but I don’t think they knew how to approach it.  Where to they get the money, how do they get her away from all those other people.  I think they were sufficiently mesmerized with the bride and equally unsure of how to proceed, so they stood on the sidelines for quite a long time, until the maid of honor saw them and gave them some money and explained how to get a dance with the bride.  Even now, thinking about it and about my little girl, I get a little emotional.  You can just see the wonder in their hearts.  The older is thinking thoughts of being a bride someday and the younger is simply awe struck by a princess.  There is an entire thesis in their expressions.

The joy of sparklers.  You can’t help but be happy.  It was a great wedding and party, people were having a lot of fun.  I was glad to have been there.  Thanks Shayna and Beto for trusting me with your wedding day.  Congratulations.

Wedding Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Slideshow Music by Justin Hewitt, courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Wedding Location: Troon Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona

My wife and I have known Allie since she was in high school. Neither one of us thought that there was a man out there as cool as Allie, but of course Allie had to prove us wrong . . . . and found the lid to her pot.  I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Allie and Tyler in a grove of pistachio trees in Gilbert, Arizona. Here are some of my favorite images:

Note to self: buy mirror sunglasses.

I had a great time playing with the colors in this photo.  If I were 14 I would say it looks “chill” even though it is warm.

Long before he fell in love with Allie, Tyler fell in love with the outdoors. Not one to shy away from a little competition, Allie drummed up this little number to catch her man’s eye. I was laughing the entire time we were shooting.  Which is problematic because laughter creates camera shake.  But I kept it under control.

  In today’s world of social networking we have all at one time or another written up a personal profile – a brief description of who we are and of the events that have occurred in our lives to make us that way. I told you that I have known Allie for a long time. Her personal profile is full of strength, hard work, optimism, and survival. I am so pleased with this next shot of Allie. It does what photography does best and provides a visual representation of that description of who we are and the events that have made us that way.

Is it possible that Tyler likes her even better without the antlers?

Yep!

As the sun set, I opened up the aperture on my 50 mm 1.2 lens all the way to 1.2 which gave us this extreme limited depth of field.  I told Allie and Tyler I was going to be making some extremely grainy old looking photographs.  They were excited about the idea.  I think they turned out well.

This is definitely on of my favorite shots of the day.  The grain, the encircling branches, the soft light.  It is all there.

Ever the hunter!

Tyler brought several deadly weapons to this photo shoot . . . and I just brought my camera.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: The Groves, Gilbert, Arizona

Slideshow Music by Fisher, “It’s a Beautiful Life,” courtesy of Triple Scoop Music.

This is a fairly personal post.  I photographed a wedding for a very dear friend of our family.  Our friend Becky and her children joined a new family and promptly flew away to China.

Jeff and Rebecca were married at the LDS Temple in Mesa Arizona.  Their wedding brought two young families together.  The kids on both sides are as sweet as they come.  Rebecca lived with her children in Chandler, Arizona and Jeff traveled with his children all the way from China, where he works and now they all live in China.  We miss Becky and her children very much, but what a great adventure for their family… we hope to see them soon.

I had hoped, with the sheer number of children and people who would be converging on the bride’s home that there would be chaos in the house, which is always fun to photograph, but true to form, Becky and her children were on top of it all, very organized and no chaos whatsoever.  Lots of laughter and happiness though!

Although I don’t think it was the only reason for the happiness, there were a pair of Jimmy Choo magic shoes there, which couldn’t hurt.

Tying ties.

Drying hair.

Putting on makeup.  It’s all part of getting ready and I see it all the time, but getting ready is all relative to what you are getting ready for.  Not just a wedding, but the merger of two dynamic sets of children, a great adventure, a new culture, a 15 hour plane flight…

I thought this makeup photo was one of the better I have captured.  The framing was perfect as was the light and with Becky’s striking features, I thought it deserved a little film noir look.  I was already shooting at a very high ISO, so the grain was a natural result, there was no reason to fight it.  So I pushed it even further.  All of this was done in Adobe Lightroom 4 without the help of any plugins or external editors.

It was interesting.  When I started to photograph the dress on the hanger, Becky just laughed and said, “good luck.  That dress does not look good on the hanger.”  And she was right, the dress looked like nothing on the hanger, but it was perfect when she put it on.  How she decided to try it on is beyond me, but it was perfect.

Introducing Jeff.  All around great guy.  Jeff and his kids traveled all the way from China the day before the wedding, but only after their flight got canceled on them, so they flew from China to LA and then drove to Phoenix.  What a crazy wedding story.  But they made it in time and in the end, I suppose , in the end, those with the best stories win.

I had so much fun photographing the kids during the wedding.  They are all so expressive and good natured.  Case in point…

And finally, a photograph of the LDS Temple in Mesa.  If you do not know much about the LDS or Mormon culture, Temples are a very important part of the faith.  They are extremely spiritual places where members of the church are married and make covenants with God.  So, when you are married in a temple, that building often symbolizes the commitment you have made to your spouse and your family.  So anytime I photograph an LDS wedding, I try to make a new and interesting photograph of that temple for the couple.  I am pleased with this one.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Slideshow Music by Mindy Gledhill, Courtesy of Triple Scoop Music

Wedding Location: Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple

Remember these photos from 2011?  Heather and Jeremy were married at Noah’s in Chandler, Arizona, but their wedding photos were just published on The Offbeat Bride Wedding Blog.  Congratulations again, Heather and Jeremy.  It was a pleasure photographing your wedding.

Photography by Jared Platt, Platt Photography

Location: Noahs in Chandler, Arizona