With major Army and Navy bases located so close to Tacoma, it isn’t surprising that we see a surge of inquiries about our casual “couples in love” portrait sessions just before big deployments. I’m always happy to create some great photos that will help our lovebirds get through their time apart.

Here we have some of my favorites from Megan and Anthony’s pre-deployment photo session at Point Defiance Park, kicking off at Owen Beach. After enjoying a laid-back start to the session, we got the two dogs from the truck and had a wild time burning off just enough energy to get a few nice family portraits! Of course, I was just shooting away, and captured some nice candids in the meantime.

Then we headed to my favorite patch of mossy forest, deep inside Point Defiance Park, for a nice change of pace.

Thanks to Anthony and everyone else in uniform for your service!

Happy Mother’s Day! Mothers are such an important part of a wedding, after all, it’s perfectly fitting that we honor them here on the Wallflower Blog. But instead of showing off some wedding photos as usual, I’ve been reserving a few special photos that I shot back in late March.

Our good friends (and former Wallflower wedding clients) Hannah and Mike were the surprise hosts of a hummingbird family, and once the babies started poking their beaks above the nest line, I headed over with my long telephoto lens to take some photos. Mom had built her nest in the nook of a rhododendron branch that was practically overhanging the front porch, giving me easy access to two different shooting angles.

Mom was constantly flying off to gather food, and then returning to the nest to feed two ever-hungry mouths. I set up my tripod in my first spot, then held very still and waited for mom to come back to the nest. I heard her before I saw her, and she spent a few long seconds hovering noisily behind my ears before she decided I wasn’t a threat. After snapping a good number of feeding photos, I moved to a different angle after mom flew away to reload, and only waited a few more minutes before she returned for round 2.

I love how the iridescent colors in mom’s feathers changed so much based on her angle to the sun, so that in each of these three photos, she looks like a different bird.

Thanks to all the moms out there, we appreciate and love you!

I spent beautiful Sunday afternoon in Puyallup at Rock Creek Gardens, manning an info table for Wallflower Photography while taking photos of the terrific decor brought by my follow wedding professionals. Here’s a sampling of my favorite photos from the day, starting at Rock Creek Gardens’ big tented pavilion, where my table was located.

Jen’s Blossoms of Gig Harbor designed the table centerpieces. Here’s a photo of a tall centerpiece on one of the round tables, and several photos of the long head table setup.

This beautiful cake is from Tortes n Tarts of Gig Harbor.

Ram International Catering, the exclusive caterer at Rock Creek Gardens, fed everyone tasty meatballs, baked artichoke dip and beef skewers, but it was this amazing sculpture of fruit and vegetables cut into flower shapes that really caught my eye! It’s even functional, with caprese skewers stuck into the pineapple base, ready to be plucked and eaten.

Up at the smaller pavilion next to the house, I found this huge floral centerpiece by Weddings Northwest, plus a cute smaller one surrounded by candles.

Trendy Event Rentals of Tacoma played a major role in staging this open house. Betta Mansions is a sister company, so I wasn’t surprised to find one of their signature betta fish centerpieces. I’ve photographed quite a few of these over the years, but usually it’s indoors. This one was outside, and the bright natural lighting made its colors really pop!

Although all these wedding professionals did a terrific job, it was the host who stole the show on this warm and sunny Sunday. Odd that after all these years of weddings, my first visit to Rock Creek Gardens was for an open house. I was glad for the opportunity to check it out, and what I found was more impressive than I ever imagined! I’ve really been missing out. These final photos are of the outdoor ceremony site, starting under the tented pavilion by the house, where you can see Mt. Rainier peeking out, and heading down the path to the stage, near the edge of a pond.

Rock Creek Garden brides and grooms, I want to hear from you! We’ll get jaw-droppingly awesome wedding photos at Rock Creek Gardens, I promise.

Starting today, regular readers of the Wallflower Blog will see our photos take on a different look. While our old method of attaching a textual photo credit onto the sides of our blog photos was classy and unobstructive, it also meant we couldn’t use the best part of the Wallflower brand: our logo! So now you’ll find a white version of the Wallflower logo in the lower-left corner of all our blog photos. We get to launch the new look with highlights from the open house at Rock Creek Gardens last Sunday. What an awesome wedding venue this place is!

The shoe game is a great way to get wedding guests loosened up and laughing in a wedding reception before the party really gets rolling. Yet, we hardly ever get to photograph them. I’ve heard the shoe game is more popular in other parts of the country, but I rarely see them here in Washington. It’s too bad, because they are a great opportunity for us to get some great reaction photos from both the participants and their audience, who always get a kick out of it!

Setup is very simple: two chairs placed back to back on the dance floor. The bride and groom sit, remove their shoes, and trade one, so they’re each holding a shoe from the bride and a shoe from the groom. An interviewer (usually the DJ) asks a series of questions about the couple, who answer by holding up the shoe of the person they think best suits the answer.

Here’s how it went down at Marci and Matthew’s wedding at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, which we featured just last week. Marci’s colorful pumps really pop!

Cheryl and Bobby played the shoe game inside the Great Hall at their Thornewood Castle wedding. By that time, Cheryl was wearing her cowboy boots, as you can see!

Our first encounter with the shoe game was at Aubrey and Mark’s wedding reception at Chambers Bay Golf Course. Here, it was one of Aubrey’s bridesmaids who set up the game and asked the questions. Also notice that they didn’t even bother with the chairs, and just stood back-to-back for the game.

Timing of the shoe game can be strategic. It can be a good ice-breaker or crowd-warmer after the toasts have been said and the cake cut. It can also be a great intermission later in the evening when people can take a break from the dance floor to refresh their drinks.

Like I said, I rarely see the shoe game played here in Washington, so you can feel like a wedding pioneer by having one in your wedding reception! To make it extra-easy for you, here’s a list of question ideas to pick and choose from.

Who is the biggest flirt?
Who made the first move?
Who said “I love you” first?
Who is the faster driver?
Who is the better driver?
Who is the better cook?
Who is in charge of the remote?
Who is in control of the checkbook?
Who wears the pants in the family?
Who has the smelliest feet?
Who is most likely to be running late?
Who will be the first to say “not tonight”?
Who is the better kisser?
Who steals the covers more?
Who talks more?
Who is most likely to get lost?
Who is most likely to ask for directions?
Who is the most likely to wake up grumpy in the morning?
And for a crowd-pleasingly cheesy ending,
Who do you love the most in the whole wide world?