Please Pardon My Dust...

I've been a bit light on posting this last week because I was working on a BIG Surprise.....


I HAVE A NEW BLOG!

New year, new blog. This little ol' blog on Blogger has served me very well. But I needed a change, needed something more fun, with more features, more ability to move stuff around, and well, something overall sexier. Oh and something that let me post BIG pictures that everyone can see all of, without any clipping. All things that sadly Blogger couldn't offer me without an extensive education in html code. Never fret, this blog will stay up along with all of it's posts - but I'll be transferring them to the new site as well.

So, point your browsers to:

www.mthreestudioblog.com

and join me there. Go ahead, update your links and blog readers, I'll wait. Go ahead, I'm waiting......Okay, are we good now?

And as a reward for the extra clicking today, I've got a new wedding post going up over there, as well as two other posts.

Enjoy the new diggs and tell me what you think!

Cake and Candles all around

Just wanted to take a quick minute to say Happy Birthday to the love of my life - Ken (known to all of you as "Hubby"). The picture above is an old one, but it demonstrates well how he takes the most ordinary moments and makes them funny. Just one of the many things I love about him.

He always gets super excited about presents (giving them more than receiving them to be fair) and somehow always talks me into letting him open early. Last night I compromised and let him open up his Birthday gift from Ringo (a membership to the Harley Museum), but told him he had to wait until today for mine. He slept in this morning and so there wasn't time before work and now I know it is killing him sitting at work and not being able to open his gift. Hee Hee.

Happy Birthday Hubby! Enjoy every last minute of your twenties!

Miscellaneous Monday

I watched a portion of the "wedding bowl" on MTV on New Year's Day (hey, having firmly committed myself to loafing all day, the options were limited) as part of their "Engaged and Underage" show. I knew it was going to be laughable, but it actually just made me sad. Here were these couples getting married in the MTV studios in Times Square, mostly with family that disagreed, and with constant interruptions from one of two hosts who were continually contriving moments for the camera and forcing "how do you feel" comments out of the Bride and Groom. It just made me sad. To see the beginning of a marriage reduced to a half-hearted spectacle that gave it no reverence, respect or uniqueness to the couple. Shame on MTV.

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Major props to Miss Champagne for featuring one of my engagement photos in her post about Winter Engagement Sessions on Wedding Bee. I love Wedding Bee and read it everyday, and it was all too exciting to be scrolling down and see one of my shots, and one by my friend Dave Jackson. I'm honored to be in the company of the photographer's work she pictured. Thanks Miss Champagne!

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Last week was Wedding Week on The Morning Blend. I know I've mentioned this service before, but if you haven't taken the time to check out The White Box, you really should. Monica Gill (the owner of The White Box) was on The Morning Blend talking all about how the boutique can serve a bride and also about their new White Line - which is a number you can call with any wedding question at all and get an answer - totally for free (just like The Box). Check out her segment here to get a feel for it yourself. With a new year and I'm sure many a long to-do list in the hands of my brides - I urge you all to take advantage of The White Box. It really is a free, fun, and easy place to visit and get much of your wedding woes and questions worked out and answered. You will be so grateful you stopped in. Monica and Meghan are fantastically nice and beyond helpful - no sales pitch or pressure involved. If there had been a White Box while I was planning my wedding, I would have literally taken up residence there.

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I've been monitoring comments on the blog here for awhile to guard against spam (which happens all too frequently) and I have a pretty open policy about what I let thru. I love comments, they truly make my day. I want the comment section of this blog to be an open forum for discussion. However, I will not post negative comments unless you have put your name to it. It is much too easy to hide behind the anonymity of the internet. If you really do feel a certain way about something I can have respect for that, but only if you are willing to stand behind your words. The only exception to this is if your comment is hurtful to one of my clients - even with your name on it, I won't let that go through (this has never happened, but just to be clear). I just wanted to state the policy once and for all, so that everyone is aware because I received such a comment last week from "anonymous" and I didn't want the poster to think I only post "yeah for Molly" type comments.

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The first Mthree wedding of 2009 is already in the bag. Hard to believe isn't it? Congratulations to Katie & Aaron who tied the knot at the Milwaukee Art Museum on January 2nd. Watch for the pictures later this week.

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I finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon (thanks for that push, Monica) and I'm already addicted. You can tweet and follow along with me at : http://twitter.com/mthreestudio

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I read this amazing story yesterday and was so moved. Here is this art student from the same college I went to, and he managed to pull of this amazing feat - getting two stateless women from Thailand into the states for a college education so that they can go back and help others in their country who are forced into the sex trade - and now it might all fall apart. I don't know if anyone out there can help them - but may you can, or you know someone who can, or you are willing to put the story on your blog. To Joseph Quinnell - you are an inspiration, and the real embodiment of UW-Steven's Point.

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I know many are returning to work today after the many breaks of the Holidays. That is true for me too. Have a great week!

Hello 2009!

To: Carrie & Andrew, Stacie & Alex, Kara & Joe, Amanda & Andy, Macaire & Bill, Jill & Chris, Katie & Chris, Calie & Erik, Pagette & Jason, Julie & John, Sara & Brian, Emily & Jeff, Amanda & Curtis, Kristen & Griffin, Adrienne & Chris, Jena & Thomas, Lisa & Steve, Megan & Dan, Meghan & Kyle, Nicole & Justin, Jen & Eric, Carolyn & Greg, Stephanie & Jonathan, Maggie & Peter, Emily & Steve, Kim & Mike, Katie & Aaron, Becky & Alex, Erin & Dennis, Jennifer & Eric, Krista & Ray, Sarah & Corbett, Holly & Eric, Maggie & Steve, and Morgan & Jose -

Welcome to the year of your Wedding. May it be every bit as wonderful as you imagined. I am honored to have been chosen to share your day with you and I'm more than looking forward to what 2009 holds for each of you!

Happy New Year!

- Molly

The Assistants

As some of you may know, I do not tackle a wedding day alone. Well, tackle sounds very brutish - how about I don't rise to the occasion of a wedding day alone? Yes, that is more like it really is. I have assistants, fabulous assistants.


(Katie hanging out during the ceremony at Heather & Chris's wedding)

One is my sister (who also helps me out here in the studio once a week), one is my best friend and one is my first full-fledged Mthree Studio bride. All are married and so they have been in the very shoes of my couples. Each has their own strengths and abilities, and I love experiencing a wedding day with them. I bring them along to help keep me on track, navigate maps, carry equipment and water, babysit equipment, fetch things, fluff dresses, fix flowers, keep me company on long car rides, and do just about anything that will help us stay on schedule and ensure a fantastic wedding day experience in both reality and in pictures. Sometimes they become the Bride's new best friend and sometimes they are just a fly on the wall. Along the way we have many adventures, which we often recount at the end of a long wedding day over drinks or the long drive home.


(Harmony helping out Lindsay during Bridal Party pictures)

I can think of several wedding days that would have gone much awry from my standpoint without their help and cool heads.
These ladies will do anything to make a day go right. Traipse through fields, carry twenty coats, run to my car a hundred times, rebustle a dress, buckle a shoe, help a staggering drunk groomsman walk... you name it and they have done it.

It is not always a glamourous job. Jamie assisted me with the first wedding I ever shot, more out Hubby's fear of me driving down to Chicago alone than any other reason. She was rewarded with a three-hour drive home in a snowstorm, and yet she keeps coming back for more. Katie followed not long after when I needed someone to assist me for Harmony's wedding and thank goodness it was her - after the ceremony I realized I needed more memory cards and she was cool-headed enough to find them, buy them and return within 30 minutes (now I carry enough memory cards for three weddings). Harmony jumped on board almost by accident on a Trash the Dress shoot and has been a faithful shooting companion for me ever since. It is a job you really have to do because you enjoy it.


(I only have one shot of Jamie this year. She is famous for getting caught in loooong conversations with guests)

As fun as I make it all sound, the job has a lot of down time. Once the dinner is over, I pretty much have things well in hand on my own and they are stuck with the avid sport of people-watching. As a result, they find themselves often hit on, asked to dance and the wallflower conversationalist. But they do get free cake. And, as Harmony puts it, I have more romantic candelit dinners with these three than my own Husband.


(Harmony doing what they do all too often - let me test lighting)

They have saved my hiney more times than I can count, and I hope I've given them many great memories in return. It is a rare profession where you get to enjoy it with your friends and family, and in this regard I know I am extremely lucky.


(Katie had run out of hands, so when I handed her my sunglasses, they went on her head with her own. Fashionable, this one.)

After a long wedding season at the very least, they deserve a virtual round of applause for all the hard work they have put in on behalf of my business. Ladies, I am standing and applauding right now.
Don't fret, I properly took them out to eat at Branded last week, where we drank wonderful cocktails and learned of the goodness that is white truffle potato chips. It was so surreal having all three of them in the same place at the same time, and the evening quickly dissolved into a review of all of our greatest bloopers, gaffs and shocking moments.


(Harmony holding all the purses and jackets during bridal party picture time at Carlyn & Dave's wedding)

I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to all of 2009 weddings with this crew.

(a special thanks also to Monica Gill and to Hubby who were fill-in assistants this year too)

The Junk Drawer

Thanks for tolerating my unannounced absense from the blog. I've been trying hard these last couple of days since Christmas to step away from the computer and do other things. I'm not a big fan of this time of year, inbetween an end and a new beginning. It feels like limbo land to me, and I hate limbo land. So, I gave myself a few days to decompress the year, to do other things beside sit on my duff and stare at 32 inches of artificial glow (oh, my lovely Mac, you know I love you).

One of those days I spent three hours cleaning our kitchen. An hour of that was spent cleaning out our junk drawer. Since it could no longer be opened or closed easily, it seemed it was time. You know you have one of these, everyone does. I think even Martha Stewart has one, though hers is likely much more interesting with great backstories for every item stashed within. I figure I proubably last cleaned out our junk drawer about a year ago - so the contents inside pretty much represent what gets tossed to the side of the road in a year of our lives. Looking at it that way, a junk drawer is pretty telling. And as I lined the items up on the kitchen desk, I couldn't help taking inventory. I'm not sure what it adds up to or what it all means, but I found it amusing. Here is a complete list of our 2008 "junk":

-Enough Culver's "Scoopie" points for two free custard treats. (!)
-A small bottle of magnolia blossom lotion from Bath and Body Works
-A tube of crazy clue (I can finally fix my kitchen shears now)
-A disposable mascara wand (?)
-An art eraser
-White out
-A maglite mini-flashlight
-$2.50 in Potowatomi casino chips
-1 box of matches
-My ipod from 2003 (that's right, first generation)
-A sheet of return address labels Hubby made (i've been looking for those!)
-A garage door opener (not for our house...)
-The adorable homemade dollar bill cufflinks Craig made for hubby as a groomsmen gift (those shouldn't be in there)
-The battery covers to two mysterious black plastic devices
-Two dog collars
-A blank christmas card
-A blank birthday card I remember purchasing for Hubby's Aunt and never mailed
-The adhesive for plastic window covering
-A post it note pad with a phone number written on it - no idea who's
-A spool of grey thread and two sewing needles
-Two u.s. calling cards, unused.
-The remote control for the outdoor snowman that Hubby's parents gave us the first winter we lived here
-Two keys that match, but I have no idea what they belong to (I'll bet Hubby does)
-Double stick-tape
-19 various pens and pencils (and yet, we can never find one)
-9 refridgerator magnets
-A miniature "7" billuard ball
-A receipt from Lucille's Rockin' Pianos for $27.21 (apparently I was a cheap date that night).
-A financial calculator
-Three different versions of Hubby's business cards
-Spare keys to Hubby's truck
-2 cent stamps
-A mysterious roll of exposed film (should I get it developed? I can't even remember the last time I shot film)
-A roll of tape
-Extra blades for a box cutting knife
-Touch up tooth whitening gel
- A night light
-A mini-crow bar
-A trailer lock
-Three markers
-Hubby's old driver's liscense (he looks soooo young!)
-12 free movie passes (still good! score! )
-A box of glow stick necklaces left-over from Craig and Jamie's wedding.
- 83 cents in change

HO...Ho...HO!

I know it is a total cop-out, but I'll try to get some pictures of Ringo on Christmas morning with his real santa hat on for you all. He got a haircut yesterday and is looking mighty cute - we've taken to calling him itty-bitty because he looks so skinny. I've been shopping and wrapping like a mad-woman the last three days - with Jamaica, finishing up editing the weddings, and Hubby dealing with a nasty cold, there hasn't been much time for Holiday preparation in the Michel household this year and I've jam-packed it into the last 72 hours. I just have food to make left on my list today. That, and proubably snowblowing since it hasn't stopped snowing in the past three days either.

Have a Happy Holiday! Be safe, be warm and be jolly!

Deb & Tony | Wedding

This wedding was special for me in a couple of ways. First, it was my first Destination Wedding, which I loved, adored and couldn't have been more excited about the change of scenery for. Second, it was the marriage of one of Hubby's oldest friends, someone he has known for over twenty years, since elementary school. Third it was a most unique experience getting to know all of the guests for several days before the wedding, which made shooting all the more fun. I miss so many of them and all of their comedic antics. We also got to spend time with some of Hubby's friends who we hardly ever see, so that was a big bonus too. Oh yes, and it was also the first time Hubby got to actually assist me for a wedding, which was actually lots of fun. So, enough about how I felt about it, on to the story of Tony & Deb's wedding in Jamaica.

The wedding was held at the Sandals Resort in Montego Bay. Most people think you have to use the resort photographers if you are getting married at an all-inclusive - Not So! All you have to do is ask to bring in your own photographer.

Deb (like Racheal) is also an event planner in her professional life. Much went awry on this wedding day, but I think her experience helped her handle it with a cool, calm and happy demeanor. In the end they were married and everyone had a great time - what more could you really want?










Tony waiting for Deb, they did a first look:




We spent some time grabbing portraits while we waited for the minister...






A few minutes from the start time of the ceremony, and still no minster had been seen. So, Deb placed a call to the resort's wedding planner. I think her face in this shot says it all as she is told he is stuck in traffic...


So, guests had to be notified (as they were all sitting on the beach, and we had to rearrange the schedule a bit. But, he did show up and the wedding did go on, just a little later than planned. But the upside of that was some gorgeous sunset light.










Island tradition says to wave to a plane as it leaves. Since Sandals-Montego Bay is right next to the airport, we waved a lot, even in the middle of the ceremony:

I think this shot is hilarious. Tony's brother on the right is all zen, Pat is happy and attentive, and Phil, well, Phil looks worried. Hubby tells me that Phil always looks that way, and that it wasn't a reflection on the ceremony (just kidding Phil, you know we love you):

Look to the right in this shot and you'll see how close we were to regular sunbathers on the beach. There were 3-5 weddings a day on the beach, so you could watch them from your chair easily.





We also snuck in a few pictures before the sun completely set:



The reception was right on the beach too making for a wonderful, laid back party atmosphere:


Hubby took this one. That is his drink in my hand (one, I don't drink at weddings, two, I don't like pina coladas)

Mmmm... Baked Alaska, in a pineapple:

Tori and Guida, I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist:


Possibly one of my favorite reception shots ever - does it get any better than a Bride leading a conga line in the ocean?


After it started raining, the party moved to the Piano Bar next to the pool:



Tony and Deb- I know I speak for both Hubby and myself when I say we were more than honored to be witness to your wedding. To see two friends come together amongst so much love warmed our hearts greatly. We wish you all the best in you future together. And a HUGE thank you for having us along to photograph your day!

Check out the slideshow for a shot of Hubby with four drinks in hand (there's one of the groom double-fisting it), a good recording of what too many fruity drinks can do, more lovely shots of the ceremony on the beach and of Tony and Deb before and after, some fun drunk/dancing shots, Hubby and his friends in a sing-along, the wedding planner who had the couple stab the cake, the cat who befriended Tony's Dad and Stepmom to the point where they let it stay in their room, the staff who joined in on the fun at the reception, what happens when I let Hubby change my camera settings (you'll know when you see it) and more island antics.