Junko Yoshioka :: The Gown Boutique of Charleston

The truth of the matter is any bride would be insanely lucky to find her wedding gown here. The beveled mirrors, the crystal chandeliers, the petite fours on silver tray - it all lends itself to a bridal experience like no other. Last Saturday afternoon I had the great honor of joining the ladies of the Gown Boutique of Charleston as they hosted a trunk show for New York designer Junko Yoshioka. If you haven't had the chance to experience a trunk show before, they are a fantastic opportunity for brides to view {and try} gowns not normally available at their dress boutique. While I won't be showing you any of the gorgeous women I was able to photograph {I'm fairly certain publishing a bride in her dress prior to the wedding day is worse than a black cat, broken mirror and umbrella opened indoor combined}, I don't think you'll be too disappointed by the pictures you are able to see.

This boutique is my idea of eye candy - on crack, and I couldn't have been more thrilled to photograph it. Put me in a room with fresh floral arrangements, peach bellinies, and enough silk taffeta to wrap around the world twice and you can rest assured I'll be entertained for hours.

And on that note, it's my pleasure to introduce you to the Gown Boutique of Charleston...

I cannot say enough about how absolutely stunning Junko's gowns are. So beautiful in fact that I caught myself wondering {on multiple occasions} how I could possibly get away with trying a few on.

And one last shot of the fabulous boutique.

Terri, Krista, and Christina, thank you a hundred times over for inviting me to be part of this special trunk show. It was such a pleasure spending my day capturing your beautiful space and watching as you dressed so many gorgeous girls in stunning gowns. A Charleston Gown Boutique bride is a very, very lucky bride indeed!

Wishing you a wonderful afternoon,

M

Learning to Encourage :: Photography

If there is one noticeable difference between Colton and I it is most certainly the way in which we approach life's roadbumps. Say we both stand in front of the same bathroom mirror and realize our midsections are significantly thicker than they were a few weeks ago. Colton will immediately stop whatever he is doing and b-line it for the beach where he'll run - er, sprint, until he's burned off an entire month's worth of calories. In a word, it’s impressive. I, however, will immediately stop whatever I am doing and b-line it for the freezer where I'll take solace in mint chocolate chip ice cream. Or five handfuls of white chocolate chips. Or anything I find that promises a lifetime of {bad} health issues. It is also, in a word, impressive.

While Colton can master life’s obstacles by being intrinsically motivated, I must be held by the hand and told a hundred times over that my legs don’t look like freight trains in gym shorts and that I don’t, as I thought I did, waddle like a lame duck while trying to run on a treadmill. If Cole thrives on bettering himself, I thrive on being encouraged by others.

So Saturday, during our two-hour drive home from the airport when I couldn’t for the life of me stop talking about how excited I was to implement some much needed change in my life and my business, Colton was happy for me. He understood that I was returning from a week with like-minded people who were able to support one another in a way that encouraged us to become both better photographers and better people.

To be completely honest, I spent a few solid days trying to piece together what I had hoped to get out of this workshop. Yet as hard as I tried I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that I wanted to learn. I walked into the conference room last Tuesday morning to group full of beautiful, kind hearted individuals who were willing to open their souls in order to encourage one another. What I left with were 20 incredible new friends who I am blessed to know and proud to call my peers.

And this amazing gift is more than I have gained from all of the other workshops I have ever been a part of.

- M.

Aloha and Aloha :: Photography

Aloha from Hawaii! {Ironically, after typing that - and saying it aloud in an annoyingly chipper voice, I had flashbacks of the Hawaiian Island weeks on Wheel of Fortune back when Pat Sajak's toupee didn't look quite so incriminating.}

After one of the busiest, most eventful weeks of our life and roughly a hundred hours of traveling, I have finally made it to the {absolutely fabulously} incredible island of Maui. The sun is heavenly - as in God definitely put it here himself, and the breeze is actually infused {again, most likely by God} with aromas of Banana Boat coconut oil. Tomorrow is the start of the Making Things Happen intensive and I am overwhelmed with everything I'm feeling about what these next few days holds. I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from Lara Casey, Fred Egan, and Jory Cordy as well as the handful of workshop attendees who are all extremely talented and successful individuals. But I'm nervous. It's like I'm going to summer camp only instead of sharing a cabin with the other awkward, Keds wearing, jumper sporting twelve year olds, I'm rooming with all the cool camp counselors who have awesome wilderness names like Rabbit's Claw .

Ugh. My stomach just dropped thinking about it.

I'll keep you posted as to how it goes. I'm hoping for the best, nervous about who I'll sit by, and wondering if I'm going to cry midway through the day because I missed the stuffed animal on my bed at home. But success or failure, I promise I'll tell you how it goes.

Here's a peek of the session I did today at the Fairmont Wailea with the ever adorable Emily Scott.

Happy Monday and Aloha! {See, 'cuz Aloha means bye, too, in Hawaiian - the language I am quickly becoming fluent in.}

Michelle