Lockie Photography

In my opinion, cupcakes are an awesome way to serve dessert to your wedding guests. You can have a few flavors to satisfy different tastes. You can choose an endless number of cute decorative options. You have a set serving size, so you don’t have to have someone standing there serving as you do with cake. And let’s be honest, they just look darn cute in photographs. One of our couples (Tyler & Shana) from last summer went a step further and had gluten free cupcakes with adorable little tags on them…very thoughtful. …and once again…cute for the photos.

Cheers,
Kath

If you want to know where to get killer cupcakes, I’ll tell you. Marci from the Coffee Pot Bakery & Cafe in 4 Corners – she is tons of fun, and her baked goods (including cupcakes) are to DIE for. Elle from Elle’s Belles is also simply amazing. Of all the sweet treats I’ve tried in my life, very few compare to hers on taste and presentation.  

When Josh and I first got engaged and started planning our wedding, my amazing sister-in-law Kiersten had a very cool idea. She regularly has great ideas, but this one was a particularly good one. She began to send us emails with little pieces of advice about planning a wedding and being married. She coined these as “Nuptial Nuggets”, and they turned out to be amazingly useful, and just plain fun. I know you’re jealous of me because how many gals have such a sister-in-law?

So here’s the deal. From here on out, Mondays on the LP blog are Nuptial Nugget days. So tune in to be inspired about your marriage, and get some great ideas for anything from a kick ass date night, to a cool floral idea for your wedding, and many subjects in between.

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Weddings are beautiful. They are are a subject that many girls dream about for years. They are one of the most important days of a person’s life. That’s the way it has always been, and that’s the way it should be.

However, I can’t help but think that instead of being the culminating point in a person’s life, the wedding celebration should be the precursor for amazing things to come. While I was wasting time on Pinterest the other night (don’t you wish you had a quarter for every time someone said that??), I saw a quote that a friend of mine posted, and was struck by how true this actually is. Think about it, and let me know your thoughts.

Kath

When Reese contacted us months ago about flying down to Costa Rica to photograph his & Tefy’s wedding, Kathy & I could hardly contain our excitement. This was the dream job for any wedding photographer, and on top of it all there was a week’s stay in Reese’s condo on the Pacific shore worked into the package. Kathy would get all the sun she could want & I had open reign to his dozen plus surf boards. As we got closer and closer to the wedding, though, we started worrying about all of the challenges this wedding would throw at us. From language barriers, to getting around, to the fact that day turns to night at exactly 5:46 so there would be very little sunlight from the time the wedding finished to, well, 5:46. There is no golden hour of light when you’re that close to the equator!

We tried to plan ahead for everything – new cameras that dealt significantly better with the dark, extra flashes, a Lonely Planet guide to Costa Rica…we prayed a lot & jumped on the plane to Central America. If you’ve been following along, you saw the amazing photos of Tefy’s Bridal session which took place in a beautiful estate house, and began within an hour of our landing in San Jose! We spent the next day scouting all the locations, grabbing props for the photo booth, and generally just having a grand time with the new couple to be, Reese’s two awesome sons, and of course our new best friend Tatiana who shuttled us around and gave us the best San Jose tour ever!

But the wedding! Wow. Beautiful couple. Beautiful cathedral. Beautiful reception at Campo Lago. Beautiful guests. Beautiful everything. Plus an amazing live band – Freddy Alvez. Kathy & I had the most fun we could have ever imagined. After returning to the states everyone has asked what the best part of our trip was thinking it would be the surfing or the sun or traveling in a foreign country, but without even thinking for both of us it was getting to be a part of this wedding. It was amazing beyond belief.

So sit back, grab a cold one, and enjoy.

Josh

One of my favorite things about coming home from a trip is opening the mail. Ask Josh…I LOVE checking the mail…every day. After all, there is always a chance that something amazingly exciting just arrived! Needless to say, I was very excited to go through our (huge) pile of mail when we got back from Costa Rica. I was not disappointed, let me tell you.

There were plenty of exciting things, but the most exciting of all was a package from one of our wedding couples last year. Ian & Caitlin were married at the Mountain Meadow Inn last summer. These two are super creative and artsy – they designed their invitations, programs, and all their wedding decor (including the awesome cloth flowers).

I will say, though, that they really outdid themselves with this thank you gift. SO COOL!!

I&C – we just wanted to say…thank you for the thank you! You guys are awesome, and we were so happy to get to photograph with you.

Cheers!
K&J

Hoot! Hoot!

After a full day of travel, mixed up flights, an overnight, another flight, and  a personal tour of San Jose (thanks Tatiana!!), we arrived at the sight of our first bridal session of 2012. Combine a beautiful bride, a stunning dress, an incredible house and gardens, and sunny Costa Rica…what can be better? We’ve been looking forward to this wedding for quite awhile, and meeting up with Tefy for her Bridal session was the perfect start to our weekend of photography.

Tefy is a vibrant, caring, and beautiful woman. Our first impression of her was as she walked into the room for her bridal session, and I can honestly say she almost took my breath away with how stunning she looked! I know you will be captivated by lovely Tefy as well…enjoy, and keep your eye out for a highlight of Reese & Tefy’s wedding very soon!

Pura Vida!

Kathy & Josh

We were honored this past week to be involved in a phenomenal new bridal event in town (Put on by Plume Bridal & Mountain 107.7). It has been a wild ride from the initial planning, to the poster photo shoot, to the craziness of the event set up, but in the end everything came together beautifully! The event featured only one of each category of wedding vendor, and had an evening cocktail party feel. The main highlight of the evening was the Plume Bridal runway show. Leigh included some stunning wedding and bridesmaid gowns, and the models were fabulous! Josh and I wanted to give everyone a preview of a few of our favorites from the evening – let us know what you think!

There are so many people who were pivotal in putting this event together that deserve a huge thanks, but we want to especially send kudos to Daisy from Mountain 107.7, and Leigh from Plume – your vision for this coupled with the hard work you put in is what made this all come together, and we are so thankful for you! You both did an incredible job – we’ve loved working with you. Unveiled turned out to be a very successful event, and we’re looking forward to what it will become in future years!

Josh & Kathy

…and a few of our gallery…

A special thank you to: Premier Dining,  Zebra Cocktail Lounge, Silver Lined Weddings, Montana Party Rentals, Katalin Green, Avant Floral, Dance Kinexion, Bozeman Pole Fitness, Lokken Printing, The Broken Hart Ranch, Alara Jewelry, Elle’s Belles, The Bozone, Big Sky Photo Booth, Indulgence, Canyon River Spa, and The Emerson Cultural Center – it was great working with you all!

As we are fast approaching Christmas, Josh and I have been thinking about how life just seems to propel forward, and very rarely slows down. No matter what your vocation or stage in life, I think relaxing and slowing down has to be intentional or it never happens. We are blessed to have our business and get to work together, and we love having the flexibility that we do, but many times I think it ends up adding to the busyness instead of taking away from it. However, no matter how busy things get, neither of us would trade our job in for anything else.

Even though we are full tilt into our Montana winter, we still have several beautiful weddings to finish up for the summer and fall. So take a break from the falling snow to look at this August wedding in West Yellowstone at the old Train Depot! Tyler and Shana did most of their decorating and planning themselves, and had some phenomenal ideas (so to our 2012 brides – listen up!). Their primary table decorations were freeze-dried hops, which turned out to be stunning against the red tablecloths and wooden accents. They went with the classic cupcake idea for dessert, but specifically made plenty of Gluten Free ones and tagged them with adorable little “gf” signs – something we thought to be very thoughtful as gluten free is becoming increasingly important these days. In true Montana style they made ample amounts of huckleberry vodka to use in drinks for their guests – a little extra work, but worth it! And last but not least, they laid out tables and chairs in such a way that they could use the same set up for both the wedding and reception. In many cases this is not possible, but if you choose a venue which will work for it, it can be a very cool touch! The lofty ceilings and striking central fireplace at the Train Depot made it a perfect spot for such a setup as you’ll see.

Tyler & Shana, we loved photographing with you two, and want to thank you again for hiring us for your wedding! Enjoy your post, and have a very merry first Christmas together.

Kathy & Josh

We met with Ian & Caitlin at 10am on the morning of their wedding for an hour of first look pictures at Carroll College. The day was beautiful and sunny, and those two were just beaming and so excited for their wedding day (while simultaneously being completely chill and laid back). As we’ve gotten to know Ian + Caitlin over the past few months, Josh and I have both just really gotten excited for them and for their married life together. It’s a beautiful thing to see a couple who are such close friends.

I+C were married at the Mountain Meadow Inn in Helena. The Inn is a wonderfully old mansion on the outskirts of Helena, and proved to be an ideal setting for their 1920′s era styled wedding. Their colors were turquoise and light green with peacock feathers and handmade flowers. Ian designed their invitations, programs, and favor boxes, so make sure to check those out below. Hats off to Chili O’Brien’s Catering for a wonderful meal as well!

Ian & Caitlin, we had such a wonderful time working with you, and hope your first few weeks of marriage have been far and away the best of your life together so far. All the best to you in your many years to come!

This post holds a special significance for me, as Caroline is one of my long-time closest friends. It has been so exciting to see how her and Dave were brought together through seemingly insurmountable circumstances (the biggest of these is that they got to know each other while she was living in China and he in Africa). It has been quite a journey for them so far, and we were so honored to be involved in their beautiful, intimate ceremony last month. The lion’s share of the photographing fell to Josh, as I was in the wedding, and he did a masterful job of tirelessly running around and documenting everything (have I mentioned yet how amazing a photographer Josh is?).

Dave + Caroline decided to have a small, but very meaningful few days to celebrate their marriage. The event took place at the beautiful Holland Lake Lodge, and included incredible meals, bonfires, hikes, canoes…they really made it a priority to spend some quality time with their small group of guests.

Dave + Caroline, it is so exciting to see you together and to know that you’re finally married and starting the next phase of adventures together. We can’t tell you how much we love you guys, and we’re so honored to have been a part of your special day.

This wedding was such a blast. It started with us driving into the middle of nowhere (and beyond) to meet Bob + Rissy at her family’s ranch on the outskirts of Butte. The ranch has been in her family from generation to generation for (if I remember correctly) over a hundred years. There is so much history and character to the place, and it was really special that the beginning of the day was centered there. The morning was filled with getting ready, sorting out details, getting all the pictures in, and just seemed like a fun time for them and both their families.

If there is anything to be said about Bob + Rissy, it is that they aren’t your average, run-of-the-mill people. Their love of things a little off the beaten path filtered down from Rissy’s beautiful dress (chocolate brown toned with dark brown accents) and into every part of their wedding day. Their day was full of awesome ideas  – including a craft table at the reception for the kids (note to brides, this was a great idea)! In their relationship they complement each other very well. It seems like at the base of things they are just best friends, and that is such a fun thing to watch and get to capture in photographs. Bob is laid back and good natured while Rissy is spunky and enthusiastic – and both of them are very considerate and caring of everyone around them.

Bob + Rissy were married at Abundant Life Fellowship in Butte, with a reception in the Knights of Columbus building afterwards. The reception room was beautiful vintage with huge windows and a vaulted ceiling. There was never a dull moment from the toasts, to the Dollar Dance, to Rissy’s dad tearing it up on the dance floor – tons of dancing, and lots of laughter all around!

B+R, we had such a great time photographing for you and getting to know you. Enjoy your photos!