i'm a kansas girl and not immune to natural disasters. i can prepare and endure tornados with the best of them. i've survived softball sized hail, monster lighting storms in india, and a few snow-ins in colorado. but this week on the east coast has just been a bit out of the ordinary and worth writing home about. it was the first full week we've both been in town since we moved to bethlehem, pa and i'm going to forever remember it as our HURRI-QUAKE WEEK. a double whammy punch from mother nature in two forms i had yet to really...
Read Moreit's official. all things wedding are now behind us (oh, except those ever present thank you notes... it's like those never end!) and i cannot tell you how good it feels... (unless you're married and were the main one planning the wedding then you know how i feel). while it's one of the best days of your life, it's also the most stressful. i feel like it's a big unspoken hazing you must survive before you can truly be man and wife. it's as if society says, oh, so you really want to do this forever thing? how about you...
Read MoreJACKIE COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY As a photographer myself, I know that wedding photography is not just a business but an art. Understanding the events of the day is only the beginning. The emotion, the significance, and the power of weddings requires a photographer who understands the deeper layers of his or her assignment. A photographer can understand those layers better when one connects with the wedded couple. The more comfortable I am with the family, the more natural the photos become and the more emotion I communicate through my photos. For all of these reasons, there was no better photographer choice for...
Read MoreAll of our print materials created by Megan Sornson… best graphic designer… EVER. (and we’re not biased at all :) and here are the details according to megan and photos courtesy of Jackie Cooper Photography: "This ain't a threat but I think I better warn ya, Gonna fall in love if you go to California." Greener Printer: Berkley, CA 150 invites | 150 programs | 325 dollars one week production 105lb reincarnation matte book - 100% recycled, 60% post-consumer waste processed chlorine free, FSC certified paper with soy inks When Jill and Preston asked me to design their wedding materials, I was thrilled. They're an amazing couple...
Read MoreI, (Preston/Jill), take you, (Jill/Preston), as my (wife/husband). I will love you in action and in words. I will honor you above myself. I will serve God by serving you. I will be joyful in the hope of our shared future. I will be patient with you, in good times and in bad. I will be faithful to pray for you and with you in the seasons to come. I will use the gifts that God has given me to build you up and better your world. I will be strong where you are weak. I will embrace your strengths which compliment my own. I will live a life of...
Read MoreWe have chosen to symbolize our unity through a painting. Around the wedding site, we posted a series of paintings… The first to symbolize our meeting. The second to symbolize our common interests. The third to symbolize our journey. The fourth to symbolize our engagement. The fifth to symbolize our compliments. The sixth we competed on the day of the wedding. The painting symbolizes uniqueness and with different things: such as city and nature or the mountains and the ocean meet they create beauty and unity. By doing this, we are saying ‘we are two unique individuals blending together to create something new, beautiful, and lasting.’...
Read MoreI left for the Middle East for research for 6 weeks and while I was gone, Preston wrote me a note for everyday I was gone. Each note was titled with a specific TO/FROM that highlighted our contrasting yet complimentary differences. I loved waking up each morning to open my note see what he had come up with to describe us. I kept waiting for him to repeat one on accident but I found out later that would never have happened... he made a spreadsheet to keep track of them all... of course ;) We used these on our wedding...
Read MoreHe says... Jill was amazing to me from the start - independent, creative, visionary, compassionate. My first memory of her was when she told a story about a homeless woman she encountered in SF. While the whole world walked by, Jill took the time to listen to a woman outcast by society, to speak words of encouragement into her life, to buy her lipstick to help her feel beautiful like every woman should feel. Afterwards, I caught her taking photos which she told me was her year-long project of taking a picture every day - searching for beauty wherever it could be...
Read MoreI’ll never forget the moment Preston walked into my world. A group of us had come together to share what we had been learning as we read through the Psalms individually. He came up to the stage with all the confidence in the world and a goofy grin on his face. Dark haired, tall and lanky with well-worn, favorite flip flops on his feet, he told us of his drive every morning into the Berkeley hills and the opportunity he has to witness the divine moment the sun rises to overtake the night. With a cell phone full of bright...
Read More(as described by Preston in the fall of 2010) Jill lives for inspiration and is a fountain of creativity. Her eye for photography is only matched by her passionate pursuit for beauty in the everyday. One step into my gallery…er…apartment and you can quickly tell that I’m her biggest patron/fan! Jill has an entrepreneurial spirit, a visionary personality, and an insatiable desire to explore new places and cultures. She’s constantly trying to expose me to the cultures she has experienced and grown to love in Africa, India, Europe, and around the world, as well as expand my worldview beyond that of Southern...
Read More(as described by me in the fall of 2010) Preston knows no strangers… just future friends. Truly generous and philanthropic, he chooses people over projects. If he had three shoes, he would probably give you two and then invite you over for dinner. He connects with people of all classes, races, and walks of life without a thought of judgment. Becoming the lowest common denominator in any group, he takes a one down approach so that everyone can contribute and feels included. He reaches out a hand to anyone who will take it in genuine compassion and care. One of the smartest...
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