Category: Wedding

Testimonial From A Wedding Couple

by Becky

We really appreciate when brides and grooms let us know how we did.

With wedding photography, we are often working with a couple longer than a year. There are so many things we do together, such as the engagement session, Save-The-Dates, coverage on the wedding day and the final album. Of course, there are many steps in between these bigger events in which we are working with the couple.

When we’ve reached the end, the feedback they provide as a testimonial is great for us, as well as potential new clients. Searching for wedding professionals to use for their big day, newly-engaged couples like to know that those professionals are able to please their current clients.wedding testimonial review

We are happy to share the kind words Ashley and Joe said:

“Our wedding planner recommended Appleby Photography and we could not be happier with the results. Becky and Chris were extremely professional and easy to work with. They learned what was important to us and followed through on our wishes. They made us feel like the most important clients they work with.  Beyond taking pictures, Becky is an amazing artist. We received so many compliments on our save-the-date photo magnet she designed. In the end, we have a gorgeous wedding album that we love to show off thanks to Appleby Photography.

Thanks!
-Ashley & Joe”

Wedding On The Lake | Dana & Pat

by Becky

As Dana and Pat planned their wedding, there were several things that were very important to them. One was having a ceremony and reception on the lake. Another was having a fun, live band to play during the reception.

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Both of those elements made their wedding day remarkably fabulous–and certainly more expressive to their individual style than a cookie-cutter approach would have allowed.

With the reception taking place at the Elk’s Lodge, which sits right on Lake Monona and only blocks from downtown, Dana and Pat wanted to arrive to their party by pontoon boat. To make the trip, it made perfect sense to also have a wedding ceremony right on the lake.

As any bride and groom looking for outdoor wedding locations in Madison knows, the city parks fill fast. Such was the case for Dana and Pat. Their first choice had been Olin Park, located on the other end of downtown, also on Lake Monona. With it already being booked, they started looking for other options. The perfect solution came when Pat’s father offered to host the ceremony in his backyard. His home, in the city of Monona, sits on the other side of Lake Monona from downtown. This was a gorgeous location that offered access to the water for the boats and had the added bonus of being personal to the family.

You can see more of their wedding on the blog: a behind-the-sccenes peek and about their 1,000 origami cranes.

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Having a great party is probably every wedding couple’s goal. And the dance at the reception is a large part of that party. There is an level of energy that a live band can create at a wedding reception that a DJ is just not able to produce. At Dana and Pat’s wedding, the local cover band Blue Light Scene was amazing! They sounded great, covered a wide array of music and kept the crowd on the dance floor.

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It was a fun day and I’m sure it was memorable for all the guests, from the beginning to the end!

Cool Place for a Bridal Show: West End Architectural Salvage

by Becky

Last week, we were at the Preferred Vintage Bridal Show at the vintage-trendy West End Architecture Salvage in downtown Des Moines, IA.

We currently watch a lot of HGTV shows about house remodeling. The kids’ favorite is Property Brothers, but the one we all love is Fixer Upper. We’ve watched enough that we can usually guess which house the people will be buying and what updates Chip and Joanna will be making. (If you’ve seen the show, you know she loves to open up walls and to use shiplap and subway tiles, among other things!)

Bridal wedding show at Des Monies HGTV West End Architectural Salvage

Now, we have a new show to watch. West End Architecture Salvage
is home of the West End Salvage show on HGTV. We didn’t even know this show existed before becoming a part of the bridal show, but it looks like it will be making it onto our favorites list!

The store looks like a cross between an antique store and a garage sale. There are four floors of cool, random, old things, many of which will make you say, “Oh, I remember this!!” or “I have no idea what this even was!” For this show, they will transform a room of someone’s house, using old, interesting pieces from their store and ones their “pickers” find for them. You can check out show information here.

The bridal show had the wedding vendors spaced out among the first two floors, using the furniture as backdrops for the booth spaces. With “vintage” being a chic style for today’s brides, the vibe was perfect for the show.

We had a lot of fun doing the bridal show, and we loved combing through the four floors of salvaged finds. We can’t wait to go back!

Summer Garden Wedding

by Becky

The idea of having an early June garden wedding brings to mind the most picturesque vision of what a wedding should be. Casual and relaxed, while still being a little formal and traditional. You get the benefit of colorful flowers so you don’t need to worry about extra bouquets and decorating.  And everyone gets to enjoy the beautiful setting, not being stuck inside a dark hotel ballroom.

Caitlin and Josh had such a wedding, both comfortable and elegant. The ceremony and the reception were held at Olbrich Garden in Madison. The Rose Garden has a large, open grassy area that holds little, white chairs and the brick path as an aisle that allows for a processional to the rose arbor. Caitlin and Josh walked down that brick aisle together, a perfect sentiment to how they were starting their new life together, united as equals in marriage.

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They attended to the details beforehand so they could just enjoy their wedding day, keeping everything very low-key and personal. For example, they forwent cake and served their wedding guests pie, including Josh’s favorite Key Lime. Everything was exactly how they wanted it.

Wedding Highlights and Album for Ashely & Joe

by Becky

Since the wedding day flies by so fast, I think it’s wonderful that a couple will have a beautiful album to share and remember the important moments of their wedding. Ashley and Joe’s album is stunning! And all the images they chose to go in it represent the exciting, touching, sweet and meaningful memories of the day. Read more about their wedding here. And their Real Wedding feature here.

Here is their wedding album. We did a 12×12 album, all custom designed, including custom cover with their favorite images. Inside pages were designed with colors and details that accented the wedding theme and the images Ashely and Joe chose to showcase in their wedding album.

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And here are some special moments and people from their wedding day that were included in the album:

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Upcoming Bridal Show

by Becky
Our next bridal show will be the Preferred Vintage Bridal Show. MARK YOUR CALENDAR! April 3rd, 2016, noon-3:00pm at the vintage-trendy West End Architecture Salvage in Des Moines, IA.

wedding show bridal fair booth

Quick update: Unfortunately, we won’t be at the Madison bridal show in May due to a schedule conflict. (Which happens to be a major trip, and will hopefully have many beautiful photographs to show for it.)

Newsletters Have Been Sent

by Becky

image of photography newsletterThe latest newsletter has been sent out!

Haven’t received yours? Check with us to see if you’re on our mailing list.

Save $200 Now On Cheeky Booth Photo Booth Rentals!

We worked hard on updating the Cheeky Booth photo booth rental website. We wanted something new and fresh, and something that had a little more personality. We are pretty excited about the new design and really want to show it off. To celebrate the updated Cheeky Booth website, we are offering $200 off any new photo booth rental package. All you have to do is reserve your booth by March 23, 2016. Need more details about the booth? The new website will answer all the questions you have. Plus, some you didn’t even know you had yet.

Contact us for more details and get your booth today!

Cheeky Booth Reboot – Fresh Website For Photo Booth Rental

by Becky

Cheeky booth photo booth rental new website for iowa and wisconsinSpring is the perfect time for all things new and fresh. So, this was a great time to work on the new Cheeky Booth photo booth rental website. The timing was good because it’s right before the busy season of graduation parties and weddings starting in May.

The Cheeky Booth website update is finally done and ready to be paraded out for evphoto booth rental website for weddings and party in wisconsin and iowaeryone to see. We are thrilled with how it turned out and excited for everyone to be able to check it out!

To celebrate all the work that went into this, we are including a huge sale in the newsletter that is going out this week. Seriously, it’s HUGE. If you are thinking of having a booth at your next party, this is the time to reserve it! It will be a very limited time offer, so it’s not a decision that you should put off.

Not on the newsletter email list but want in on the sale? Just give us a call or email and we can hook you up.

In the meantime, go over to Cheeky Booth to see the new site and please let us know what you think.

**Updated with SALE info: Reserve your Cheeky Booth photo booth rental NOW to SAVE $200 off any booth package! Offer ends 3/23/16. ***

A Smooth Finish For Our Brewery Wedding

by Becky

The Wisconsin Brewing Company wedding of Vicki and Matt has seen a lot of love and attention. Whether it’s the love of all the details, like hops in the bouquets and boutonnieres, or just a love of good craft beer, it’s a wedding that people want to keep looking at. From the feature with Wisconsin Bride to the one with Iowa’s Corridor Wedding Guide, it’s still one of our most popular weddings for brides and grooms to check out for inspiration.

Of course, Vicki and Matt are not the only couple to plan a beer-themed wedding. There are plenty of beer geeks out there that want to plan their big day around the drink they can’t get enough of.

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At the end of it all, the wedding album is wonderful to have so you can remember the whole day.

Here is Vicki and Matt’s wedding album, wrapped in a gorgeous vintage charcoal gray leather. We worked together to get the final list of images for the wedding. Vicki liked so many from their wedding proof booklet that she was finding it hard to decide! She asked me to help and I was excited to give her some options.

I gave her a list of the photographs that I thought best told the story of their wedding, while showcasing all the work they put into the planning and capturing the emotion of the day. From there, she was able to make some final tweaks to the image list to make it perfect for her.

The final mix of images showcased their fun details and the excitement of their family. The album is a beautiful reminder of their perfect brewery wedding.

Inspiration to Reality: Bre’s Custom Wedding Stationery Suite

by Becky

In the beginning, it was just a cake.

cake image bre found to use as inspiration for wedding themeAs most brides do, Bre started her wedding planning online. She found an image of a cake that she fell in love with. That cake design became the inspiration for her whole wedding, both is color and style. She shared this image with me so I could see her vision. I love wedding cake and I love when someone can take an idea and see how that would work for the bigger picture. Bre did a beautiful job with that.

For Bre and Steve’s wedding, I was able to create their entire wedding stationery suite, from their save-the-dates to their thank-you cards. I enjoy working on designs for clients and Bre loved sharing the process with me. It was fun to have Bre’s image of the cake and to know her ideas. This gave me a great starting point when working on designs.

 

examples of custom save the date magnets and cards designsTypically, I mock up several custom designs for a project. With Bre’s save-the-dates, we decided on using both a magnet and a flat card that would be inserted into an envelope. We went this route to have both a magnet people could hang on their refrigerator as well as a card that would provide more information about hotel reservations for out-of-town guests.

Bre and I worked through a couple rounds of options to create the two pieces so they would fit together in style. One of Bre’s favorite details was the pearl paper stock that I used for the flat card. The pearl sheen matched the pearl of her wedding palette and helped solidify her theme. This is a feature I continued through her suite.

With the save-the-dates created, I was able to carry the design elements forward to Bre’s other stationery pieces. The formal wedding invitations and response cards used coordinating colors, fonts and designs.

After the wedding, we decided to do the thank-you cards as a postcard. While keeping some of the same design elements for consistency, I also made sure to change some to work with the image and to keep the design fresh.

Having a coordinated wedding stationery suite elevates each of the individual pieces. When guests see the custom details, they know care and thought went into planning the whole event. And Bre certainly planned an incredible event!

custom wedding stationery suite with save the dates invitations and thank you cards custom wedding thank you cards custom wedding save the date magnets and cards custom wedding invitation and response card custom wedding invitation