Back in 2007, Kim Cooley of Carpe Vita Photography learned all about Lovesacs from a photography group we are involved with.  So of course, we had to have one and of course, we didn’t go with the normal size, we had to go with a Supersac.  The supersac is 65 to 70 pounds, 6 feet in diameter and supposedly can hold 3 adults at one time or up to 14 kids at a time (a little exageration, we think).  Anyway, it arrived in April 2007 and we were too afraid that if we opened it it might take over the house so we waited.  Anyway, when January 2008 rolled around and we still hadn’t opened it, it seemed only fair to celebrate the new year with a grand opening (ha, bad pun).

This video shows the unpacking as well as some of the fun we had with the sac while it lived with us.

Here’s some photos from one of our 2009 senior sessions with the lovesac.

And one of our family lovesac sandwiches from this spring.

Anyway, as mentioned in the video, over time the lovesac has gotten a little less love than it deserves while taking up a lot of space.  So when Katie and Jony were here to see their wedding photos and Katie seems so enamored with it (the lovesac that is), we struck a little deal and it was decided that the lovesac would move to Memphis for more love.  The lovesac left Grapevine on Sunday and we have already heard through facebook that it made it safely and is doing well.  As Kim has never been to Graceland, now we have even more reasons to visit Katie and Jony and to check in on the lovesac.

It’s amazing the lovesac made it into Jony’s car – obviously the lovesac is very flexible!

We already miss seeing the lovesac in the living room and the thought of a lovesac nap right now sounds so good – such is life.  We wish the lovesac a great life with Katie and Jony and hope they will send photos from time to time!

Fourth of July fell on Saturday this year and this was a Saturday that Carpe Vita Photography did not have a wedding to photograph so we helped some of our wedding industry buddies out and documented some of their labours of love.

The vendors involved were:
Wedding Planner/Coordinator – Shanna Marko of The Organized Event
Florist/Creative Designer – Stacey Murdoch and the talented crew of The Wildflower
Venue – Tristin Jumper and the incredible staff of The Gaylord Texan
DJ, Master of Ceremony, and Lighting – Randal Stout and his outrageous techs at LUMEN
Cakes – Audrey Ross, the Cake Chick (I lost her business card so I hope she calls us for pics)

We got some fun working photos as well as the splash before the bride and groom arrived. Here’s Stacey designing on the fly.

 
Shanna Marko and a Gaylord Texan executive help the lighting guys get the spots just right so there are no unsightly shadows.  And Tristin from the Gaylord acts as a MOH (maid of honor).

The Gold Chevalier chairs are courtesy of Posh Couture Rentals.

Audrey Ross brings the bride’s cake together while Stacey adds some floral touches.

Then when they finally turned down the lights in the ballroom, the magic really happened.
 
Aren’t uplighting and pin spots the best things?  They add so much drama!

The little chandeliers were a sweet little touch for the entrances into the ballroom (way to go Stacey).
 

The different sized tables and floral arrangements also added more visual interest to a spectacular view.
  

|

Can’t you just smell heaven?


As you can tell everyone involved did an amazing job and this had to be a dream come true for the bride and groom.  Kelly Alexander Photography was responsible for actually photographing the wedding and they seemed to be blessed with a beautiful couple.

Here’s the long awaited photos from Katie and Jony’s wedding.  Since we released the photos to the couple within one week of the wedding, we kind of got off track but we still wanted to show off some of the photos.  Katie and Jony were the best – it was great to work with such a relaxed couple who were all about getting special photos.

The wedding and reception was held at the Gaylord Texan where we got to work with the terrific Tristin Jumper.

Katie’s lovely florals were by Tami Winn of A Magic Moment.

A special moment with a special lady – Katie’s grandmother who had had a rough two weeks but made it to the wedding for Katie.

Jony is a big University of Georgia fan and his gift to his groomsmen where special cuff links.

A few minutes before the ceremony…

Katie and Jony win for the most kids in one of our weddings for 2009 so far.  There a few more little girls in polka dots who didn’t make it down the aisle too – so sweet.

Some of Steve Cooley’s trademark overhead shots – obviously, this is only an option in select venues.
 

A little time alone with just Katie and Jony.
 

Fun that in this photo, you can see the couple’s cocktail hour happening in the top left corner. Then after a visit with Katie’s grandparents upstairs, they headed to their first dance which was nicely choregraphed.

Randal Stout of LUMEN was the DJ of the evening and he and his assistant kept the dance floor hopping.  They also did the lighting that we love…

It didn’t take long for the little ones to find the rock candy on the coffee and tea service the Gaylord provided – too funny.

Katie and Jony made use of the Carpe Vita Out of the Box Photo Booth for their reception and the guests made full use of it.  Here are the friends who traveled from Australia showing off their creativity.  To see all the photos from Katie and Jony’s booth CLICK HERE, they are very entertaining even if you don’t know any of the people involved.

 
Katie seemed to enjoy controlling the remote for a little while…

This setup of the couple’s wedding date was done by their videographer Chris Jones of Mason Jar Films – to see an awesome sneak peek video on their blog, click here.  

After dancing the night away, we headed upstairs for some goodnight photos.  But then someone mentioned getting wet and being photographed (a theme we have had with the Pickrens and hope to fulfill one day, see their engagement blog entry for more details) and of course, they were game so we headed to the pool area which was unfortunately closed for a major chlorine cleaning (close call says her mom) so we just took some photos of them with the full June moon.

We ended up having some special spectators for this part of the evening.
 

See Jony’s bare feet – this is on the wall going over to the pool…  A great ending to a beautiful night.

Kim and Steve Cooley of Carpe Vita Photography spent the first few business days of July photographing a great deal of the inventory of Posh Couture Rentals.  Laurel Howell and Jami Goetz have recently opened the doors to this innovative approach to exquisite party rental items.  As the ladies haven’t yet unveiled everything, we can’t be letting their complete secret out of the bag before their grand opening launch this fall but they will definitely be offering the creme de la creme to make any party be the talk of the town!

Here are a few sneak peek photos we did…
 

Here’s a fun little self portrait of Kim Cooley in the reflection of a coffee part – how about those really long fingers…

We love photographing pretty things – parties, details, people – everything has beauty in it’s own way, we just have to find it and bring it to the light of day.

The Carpe Vita Mission is “Providing unique perspectives of your life” – what a fun challenge it was to do this with something that can’t really smile.
 

The detail shots were our favorite to do…

Their glassware was a ton of fun to photograph.  Here’s two from the Chloe pattern in the Couture Collection.

Fun with Filigree.

And as a fan of red and black (the Posh Couture logo colors plus Go Red Raiders!), I was really liking their new Onyx glassware group.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of all that we photographed.  Check the Posh website in about 6 weeks and you should start to see everything involved.

Oops! I just realized that we never did a blog entry for Katie and Jony’s wedding back in June and shame on us, we hadn’t shared any of her bridals either.
We did Katie’s bridal session back in April.  Katie and Jony selected The Gaylord Texan as their venue for the wedding and celebration because many of their friends and family were coming from different parts of the world – including as far away as Australia – and the Gaylord specialized in that unique “Everything is big in Texas” feel.  After having her hair and make-up done at the Relache Spa & Salon in the hotel we headed out to Grapevine to find one of the last remaining fields of bluebonnets.

Katie found that her boots we perfect for all aspects of her bridal session.

As mentioned before, everything is bigger in Texas, including the branding irons…

The ladies in our opinion are prettier too!

We finished up in the vineyard area of the hotel which is a part of Texas culture that lots of outsiders (makes me think of Lyle Lovett’s “That’s Right You’re Not from Texas”, “Texas wants you anyway”) aren’t aware of is our growing wine industry.