I’m excited to share with you our first wedding video of this past wedding season! Seanna and Zack were so much fun to work with and I loved being part of their wedding. Their photo booth was awesome. Nate and I got some super cute phots of us (posted below). Watch this video and you will see how great their wedding was. Leave a comment to congratulate the sweet couple!
Rayleigh Leavitt : Portland Wedding Photographer
Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
503.828.2973 info@byrayleigh.com
Last week I had the honor of being part of a unique bridal event that was put on by Ania Couture at the Portland Museum of Art. It was unique in that each vendor didn’t have a booth trying to sell their business like the way most bridal shows are. Instead, each vendor was part of a team of vendors who’s task was to work together to decorate a set of 6 tables (5 guest tables and a dessert table) that were inspiring to the brides who would attend the event. Each team was given a theme and our theme was Elegant Southern Picnic. We chose to decorate each of the tables differently, while maintaining the proper theme and we used the 4 seasons as our primary source of inspiration for 4 of the tables and the 5th table was decorated in pinks, because we thought pink was a great color for our theme. Our team leader was wedding planner, Elizabeth Tuosto, of Bella Giorno Events. Elizabeth and I worked hard together to plan and design all of the tables.
This is the pink table which we secretly but lovingly referred to as the “Pepto Bismol” table. The gorgeous flowers were designed by Nikki Robinson. I was in charge of all the napkin folding and let me just say, thank the good Lord for Youtube. haha! The cookies were created by Debbie of Sugar Shapes. Because of my weight loss journey, I couldn’t taste any of the adorable cookies but I hear they were as delicious as they were cute. The menus and name cards were designed by Stacie of Microbrew Media. I made the pink gingham table runner. I used a sewing machine and everything. 
The lovely cake was created by Jan with Wrightberry Desserts.
I made this yellow gingham table runner as well! 
Elizabeth with Bellagiorno Events made all the chair decorations. And the apples were her idea as well. I love the use of apples as place card holders. I’m also proud of the grapevine napkin rings, which were my idea. 
I’m very proud of this table because the centerpiece was designed by me. Although, the flowers were different than I had planned. We ended up with 4 extra vases instead of a small bouquet of wild flowers tied with a ribbon that was going to sit on top of one of the stacks of books. So I feel like the table ended up being more cluttered than it was supposed to. But it still looked pretty. I love the grapevine chargers under the plates.
Our team also included Kerry Yu who designs jewelry and Stephanie Yates of Salon Mariposa who, together, fixed up 10 models according to our theme for the Ania Couture fashion show. I wish I had some photos to share of the models because they looked great.
How did we do? Tell me what you think of our tables!
Rayleigh Leavitt : Portland Wedding Photographer
Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
503.828.2973 info@byrayleigh.com
What do you typically do when you feel down in the dumps and you want a mood boost? Eat chocolate? That’s what I do, but then you have to deal with the calories. Do you want a calorie free way to brighten your day? According to Prevention magazine, researchers at the United Kingdom’s Open University examined how much people’s mood rose after eating chocolate, sipping an alcoholic drink, watching TV, listening to music, or looking at photos. Guess what they found? Music and chocolate didn’t do much of anything. Alcohol and TV gave a slight lift. But viewing personal photos was by far the thing that really made people feel sigificantly better. I don’t really know how they can measure such things. But, I can’t disagree with them, when I know how much special photos mean to my clients. Now, looking through photos while eating chocolate and listening to my favorite music; that sounds like a good time. 
What do you usually do when you are feeling down? Leave me a comment!
Rayleigh Leavitt : Portland Wedding Photographer
Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
Congratulations, Amy Pruett! Your photo got the most votes, by far, with 38 votes! Thank you so much to everyone who voted in the contest. I thought it was a lot of fun. Thank you also, to those who commented on the blog post. Megan Desalvo, you were the winner of the drawing! Both of you will receive a $50 credit to use toward prints or towards a portrait shoot! Yay!
Rayleigh Leavitt : Portland Wedding Photographer
Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
I’ve selected my favorite images from 2011 and now you can vote on your favorite one! There will be two winners. The person/family with the most votes on their photo will win a $50 gift certificate to be used for an album, prints, or another session. I will also hold a random drawing for all those who comment on this blog letting me know that you voted and that winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to be used toward a new portrait session. The gift certificate may be given to a friend. Here is how to enter:
1. Head over to my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/photographybyrayleigh and “like” the page.
2. Look through the photos in the album called “Best of 2011″ and “like” your favorite photo. Voting ends 1/12/2012 at 6:00 pm. You can vote for more than one photo if you’d like to.
3. Comment on this blog to let me know that you voted. This will enter you in to a drawing to win the Gift Certificate.
Rayleigh Leavitt : Couples and Wedding Photographer Portland, Oregon
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. The participant is providing information to Photography by Rayleigh and not to Facebook.
I’m a BIG BIG fan of stong relationships, keeping families together, and no divorce. The following video is a promo for a cause I really believe in and the guy in the video is a super cool guy that I know, Noel Meador. I love the part where he quotes his lovely wife and says, “there is nothing sexier than a guy with a vacuume cleaner.” Haha! If you know anyone who could benefit from some encouragement in their marriage, please send them this video!
O2Go Promo (Short Version) from Stronger Families on Vimeo.
Photography By Rayleigh: Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
Yesterday I had the opportunity to host the weekly meeting for the Tigard Chamber of Commerce. Part of that is giving a 10 minute presentation to the group of about 40 people about my business. I told them about my services and my style and my technique. I was so pleased with how it went! I was really nervous before my presentation because public speaking is so not my stong suit! But once I started talking and I was looking out to all the smiling, supportive faces, I didn’t feel very nervous at all and I could just be myself. My awesome client (and now friend), Maryalicia, blessed me so much by coming and giving a really thoughtful testimony. She also took a few photos of me while I was talking and I wanted to share them with you!
Photography By Rayleigh: Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
I had SO much fun during Kimbrie and Josh’s Beloved session. They wanted photos for Kimbrie’s birthday and although they aren’t engaged to be married just yet, I wanted to put their photos on my wedding blog because this is one of my most favorite couples sessions I’ve done! They were great sports and they let me try something new with them for parts of their session! There is a well known photographer, Jesh DeRox, who came up with a concept he calls “Beloved.” I wanted to try out his technique and I love how it went! I asked Kimbrie and Josh to do certain things, pretend certain things, think about certain things, and tell each other things that would help them feel particularly loving with each other, so much that they could almost forget that my camera was snapping away at them. I was able to capture true emotion rather than nervous smiles. And they had a lot of fun just being together and loving each other. That is absolutely the experience I want for all of my clients!
Kimbrie and Josh, please share this blog with your friends! If you get 20 comments on this post, I will give you a free mini accordian album with your favorite images.
Photography By Rayleigh: Tigard and Portland Wedding Photography and Videography
541.231.2137 info@byrayleigh.com
This bouquet is so unique and fun! I discovered Flower Thyme on Etsy.com and I love her work! I love that you can keep this bouquet as a treasured keepsake and the flowers will never die! Check out Flower Thyme on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlowerThyme
Rayleigh Leavitt : Tigard and Portland, Oregon Wedding Photographer
541-231-2137 info@byrayleigh.com
I’ve known Amy and her family for about 19 years and they always amaze me with their creativity. So I knew that Amy’s wedding would have the Banks family touch and I couldn’t wait to see it! It was absolutely fabulous! They turned a simple church banquet hall in tiny Brownsville, Oregon in to a beautiful wedding venue. Amy even made her own wedding cake and it tasted as great as it looked!
Rayleigh Leavitt: Tigard and Portland Wedding Photographer
541-231-2137 info@byrayleigh.com
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