Impact Tip - Happy Halloween

Looking for something fun and festive to serve at your Halloween party? Inspired by the folks at the Organic VeeV liquor, who donate $1 of each sale to Brazil's Sustainable Acai Project.

Try this recipe!

Trick or Treat Cocktail
Serves 2

Ingredients (organic or local whenever possible):
2 shots VeeV
1 oz Amaretto
1 oz honey
2 oz fresh lime juice
2 pinches minced ginger
2 lime wheels (um, slices) for garnish
Put ingredients into shaker with ice; shake and strain. Pour into martini glasses, garnish with lime and sprinkle with ginger

Have fun and be safe!!!

Molly Shoots Whitney & Ben's E - Session

Whitney and Ben and I enjoyed a chilly and super windy Sunday this last weekend at the Arboretum. They were so fun together, and super sweet.

Molly Shoots Anne & Greg's Wedding

I have been looking forward to Anne and Greg's wedding ever since I booked it last April, and I grew more excited after I did their engagement session because they are just simply so cute together! There were so many moments through out the day, I had a hard time picking out which to blog! We enjoyed the beautiful day and taking pictures at Arlington Park Racetrack, and then guests danced the night away at the hip Metropolis Ballroom of Arlington Heights. Thanks to A Touch of Music for keeping the tunes rolling.



I love this sweet moment of two adoring aunts!





What a perfect day!





Ahh... the love of a father, there is such a special bond between a dad and his daughter.

Molly Shoots Gabbi & Raul's Wedding

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting Gabbi and Raul's intimate ceremony ceremony at the Chicago Cultural Center. Kristina and I met Gabbi through Greg Christian Catering so I was so excited to be a part of her special day. I loved capturing the love between them and spending a beautiful fall day in Chicago's Millennium Park.

Impact Tip - Roses, did you know...

Did you know that 90% of wedding flowers still include roses? I know they are popular but I guess I didn't realize they were still that popular. Well I want to tell you about other options instead of roses for your bouquet and centerpieces. This information is just that, information to use at your own disposal. All we can do is stay informed, and if we chose to buy roses anyway, that is our right. But don't say I didn't warn you :)

Some roses facts:
Roses are not native causing them to mostly be shipped great distances and requiring heavy pesticide use.

The harvesters are probably only making $.58/hour which is quite an unfair wage

70% of roses are harvested from third world countries providing unfair wages and toxic conditions

Flowers are not inspected by the FDA when brought into the country and often contain 50 times more chemicals than fruits or veggies which leach into the skin when handled.

BUT if all this pesticide stuff makes you think twice like me, there are alternatives.

Start early and grow your own wildflower boutquet!
Chose potted plants and flowers for centerpieces that can be reused
Chose flowers that are native and don't require pesticide use and buy AMERICAN!
You can offer edible arrangements...interesting :)

But if you just love the look of roses, consider this native plant that looks very similar Lisianthus or Balboa Rose


pretty right! :)

Molly Shoots Ashley & Mike's Engagement

Ashley and Mike enjoyed the beautiful Arboretum with me on Sunday, and it was quite the day to be there! Nothing like a day in the park in the fall!

Molly Shoots Mike & Julianna's Engagement

Mike and Julianna's engagement session was super fun! I enjoyed hearing more of their story of how they got together too! I am looking forward to their big day.

Cathy and Andy

Cathy and Andy got married on Friday at the very modern James Hotel which was the perfect venue for this super stylish couple!

Flowers: A Stem Above
Video: Carbon 14 Films
DJ: Beep Media
Cake: The Cake Girls (AMAZING cake!)



These two did the tango for their first dance and it was amazing! BRAVO!

Impact Tip - Being a responsible wedding guest

This Sat I get to go to a wedding, not shoot a wedding, which is quite unusual but very exciting. Now I can stalk someone else and analyze if they are doing a good job for my friend....of course I will not do that! haha But on a serious note, I am going to Seattle for this wedding. I did not pick the location and I wouldn't miss it but it is a lot of energy to get me there so I realized that this is something that a lot of people who attend weddings deal with all the time. In fact, some photographers travel a great deal to shoot their weddings so they would benefit from this tip as well.

If you are a guest at an out of town wedding, carbon offset your flight and travel in eco-style! It's only between $10-$15 so even the economy is not a good excuse why not to do this! You can even make a note of it on their gift, that you made an effort to reduce your impact as a result of having to travel to their wedding, which you wouldn't want to miss!

Terrapass is a easy to use site that helps you to buy off some of that carbon, like shedding pounds, it just feels good! :)

Krista and Rob

I am excited to work with Krista and Rob after meeting them at Cory and Jason's wedding. Krista is Cory's sister and I am always excited to be able to come back and work with the same family, especially one as fun as theirs!

The clouds were so amazing yesterday!

Kari and Blake

Kari and Blake had a beautiful day for their wedding! Their reception was at the super amazing Chicago Illuminating Company and it was filled with great seasonal details. My favorite was the menu cards which each featured a different photo from Chicago that they took themselves and let me tell you I was impressed! A special thanks to Jacklyn Greenberg for coming in from CT to help me out this weekend! These were great photos! Here are a few from their day.

Impact Tip - New Green Contest!

Thank you Emilie for passing on this info about the newest Green Wedding Contest.

This is a full wedding giveaway with all green sponsors. It will take place in beautiful south Maine on June 21st, 2009 and the deadline is Dec 31, 2008. The finalists will be announced Jan 11, 2009 and the winner will be announced Feb 13, 2009. I guess since all the vendors and locations are provided, they feel you don't need much time to plan! :)

So if you are planning on getting married next summer and south Maine sounds good to you, check out the contest details and get your submission ready!

Funny enough, the winner of my green contest is getting married June 20th, 2009 so its a great weekend for a green wedding I guess :)

Good luck!

Jenny and TJ

Jenny and TJ were so much fun along with all their amazing friends. They just smiled and played all day! It was a joy to work with them. They got married in Tinley Park and the reception was in Homer Glen at DiNolfo's. Entertainment provided by Sound Sonic.

I love this, her dad was in his "man cave" they called it and I just had to sneak a peak!

I think this is the funniest face I have seen a groom make when his bride is waiting to greet him for the first time, it was a classic TJ expression and how fun he is.

This baby, well it's just hilarious when I see babies pretending to be adults :)

Impact Tip - MOSS

Today I went to visit MOSS (Museum of Sustainable Style) exhibit which is part of the greater Chicago Fashion week that runs from 10/1-10/8. MOSS will be open from today until Sunday and it is definitely worth checking out. Jessa from Pivot curated this exhibit and is featuring over 20 designers and their eco-friendly clothes, jewelry and furniture. There is so much information regarding being sustainable in style and she is always looking so fashiony! I am jealous, I do not posses that gene!

They are having a panel discussion on Sat from 2-3 and a post-discussion reception from 3-6. The address is 1109 W Fulton Market just around the corner from Pivot so go check it out this weekend!