new blog!

Hi Everyone!

We've got a brand new blog, fresh out of the "box"! Please bookmark our new blog at www.whiteboxweddings.squarespace.com.

Keep an eye out for some brand new stuff on the website too!

Erica + Don

While at the Xtreme Seminar we met Erica and her hubby Don from Phonenix, Arizona. We did a loveShoot for them just outside of our Villa. Don was wondering what his wife had gotten him into, but once he realized that he was going to get to do a lot of smoochin with his hottie wife he was happy to be volunteered for a shoot!

Happy Valentine's Day!

wikipedia says: Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards or candy. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day.

The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines. In the United States, the marketing of Valentine's Day has tagged it as a "Hallmark holiday."


You could say I am cheap or you could say I am technologically savvy! I emailed all of my Valentine's Day "cards". I hope I don't put Hallmark out of biz!

shooting it up in Cabo!

We arrived in Cabo and went straight to our gorgeous villa. After 1 day of R&R we joined Liana Lehman and Jessica Claire at the Xtreme Casa for the Xtreme Seminar. Here are a few action shots! Stayed tuned for some sizzling, tropical loveShoot images !

Villa Oceano

Becker shooting Jessica shooting.

Here is Jessica working with one of the most photogenic couples that I have ever seen, Jasmine and J.D. Not only are they hotties, but they are both soooo nice too!

Mel and Sara "shooting it up" at the Xtreme Casa.

libby + cameron

Last Saturday was not as cold as it is right now, but in a strapless dress it was pretty chilly! Libby and Cameron braved the cold to get some great shots!

Mel and I are getting ready to head to Mexico for the "xtreme seminar" so here are a few sneak peaks from Libby and Cameron's wedding. Stay tuned for more pix from their wedding and lots of cool new stuff from Mexico!

Adios for now! We will be back on February 11th!



Check out these gorgeous windows! A pointer for all of those brides-to-be out there....put your cake in front of a window. The light streaming in from behind the cake looks amazing.




We love window light!

lovecrack

One of the coolest girls that I know is writing a "Guide to Kicking an Addiction to Toxic Love". My friend Stacey Jolly has teamed up with one of her friends, Jenny Windham, to help get women out of abusive relationships. They are in the final stages of publishing their hip and helpful book. "Lovecrack: The Guide to Kicking an Addiction to Toxic Love" will be out soon! Check out their talking website, LovecrackOnline to learn more about their book and their "Breakup Boutique".

I had so much fun shooting Stacey and Jenny's headshots. These girls have lots of spunk and great energy. Everyone could learn a thing or two from them!

See ya'll on Oprah!

baby riley

We photographed Riley on his one month birthday! Already Riley is a man that knows what he wants and he does not want to be naked! We wanted to do some sweet nudie baby shots, but every time we would take his blanket off we would get this reaction....



As soon as we wrapped him back up in his little blankey he was as happy as a lamb!

Being in mommy's arms helped too!

He looks so peaceful.




I love this shot. Riley looks like a little pea in a pod.

The hard life of a babe....off to sleep again!

The sound of music!

Take a minute to check out our website.....we now have music!

As photographers we have a high regard for an artist's work and their copyright. After lots of research and a little help from our friend, who happens to be a copyright lawyer, we were able to legally obtain the rights to use one of my all time favorite Tom Petty songs!

Stay tuned for lots of updates on our website. We have some great photos and slideshows to upload for your viewing pleasure.

baby sophia

This weekend we had the pleasure of shooting little Sophia! It had only been about a month since I had last seen her, but she's gotten so big! They grow so fast and change so much in the first year! I can't wait to take some more pictures of her- she is just the cutest darn thing!

Just a note about the blog: If you click on the pictures, they'll come up bigger!







Here comes Dad to make her laugh!



If you look really close you can see me, Sara, and Flerida (her mommie) in her eyes!





She has amazing eyelashes!







My favorite shot of the day

Shout out!

I was cleaning out my emails and I came across this amazing email from one of our brides. In the craziness of the holidays I forgot to post it! We truly appreciate it when our clients take the time to send us a thank you or a good word. Logan is such an awesome girl and her personality came through in her photos. She is so laid back and sweet. We really had a great time shooting her bridal portrait and working with her and Chris at their wedding. The girl can have fun and smile when it is 90 degrees and she is in a wedding dress.....that says a lot!

"I wanted to compliment the girls at Whitebox Weddings
on the amazing work they did for our August wedding!!
My husband and I knew the moment we met Sara and saw
her work that we would be signing the contract. In
the end, it was one of, if not THE, best decision we
made during the whole wedding planning experience. In
fact, we just received our album in time for the
holidays and I am so thrilled to be sharing such a
masterpiece with my family over Christmas. We are BIG
fans of Whitebox Weddings and SHOUT their praises to
any and everyone!! "
Logan

baby bianka

We had a great maternity shoot last weekend. Jenny is due on Febuary 12th! She was so great to work with....she was even willing to change clothes in the car on our location. That is a major undertaking at 8 months pregnant!

loveShoot: Charlotte

We had an awesome day shooting Kristen & Lee in Charlotte. Who would have thought that it would be 70 degrees and sunny in January! I had SO many favorites from this shoot! This post is really long even after I edited- so you might want to to get comfy!

We started our day at the Smelly Cat Coffeeshop in NODA.






A quick stop at the Neighborhood Theatre. Kristen and Lee are both actors, so we thought having the "theatre entry" sign in the photo was really cool.


The beautiful McGlohon Theatre. We really lucked out getting to shoot in here. The lighting guy came in especially for us on his day off. Thank you so much!








The human coathanger




A few shots while we're heading uptown






On the rooftop of the Mint Museum.








Do not follow our example for safety in the workplace






Our all-star jumpers!


Thanks Kristen & Lee- we had a blast!

hey....there we are again!

We found ourselves again in the latest issue of theknot! That's us in the upper right hand corner!


Also, check out the ad on page 176. Maria is a fantastic wedding coordinator and we're really excited to be shooting her beach wedding in October! It's always flattering when a wedding planner chooses you to shoot their wedding!

Are you a blog stalker?

Go to Technorati.com to find tons of cool blogs and manage your blog list! Have fun!

Technorati Profile

loveShoots featured in theknot magazine!

We were so exicted when theknot magazine asked to use some of our photos for a story about engagement photos.

Our "loveShoots" are fun, creative shoots of you and your sweetie. What are you into? Skydiving (mel will be the one in the air, I will be the one on the ground!), surfing, picnicing at the park, going to the theather? We work with every couple to come up with a location and feeling that reflects your relationship and interests. We can conjure up as much serenity or adventure as you require!

Christmas with the Harrells

Santa fever was in the air at my house....



The first stop on our holiday tour was in Richmond.






Then it was time to get ready for Santa! The excitement was almost unbearable!



I just dictated what Liza wanted to say to Santa. Evidently they talk in code.



Santa brought her a doctor kit. As much as she plays with it, medicine could be her calling.....



Or she could be a photographer like mommy. Nonna gave her a digital camera for kids, how cool is that?



Liza wanted a "real live baby sister" from Santa, but she got a baby sister doll instead. The doll made Liza just as happy and now she does not have to share her toys!



Our final stop was to the in-laws. We had a Turkish themed Christmas, with lots of presents that came from our trip to Turkey in October.

This tag is similar to Turkish tiles and the sticker is an "evil eye", it wards off evil!




Yai ya and Grandaddy got "baby sister doll" a stroller!




Poppy and Liza dressing "Baby Sister Doll"



Liza's favorite pastime, reading with Granddaddy

happy new year!

Hi Everyone

Well, we both had a great holiday season and can't wait to see what adventures the new year will bring! We've already got trips planned to Mexico and Portland, and a rapidly filling 2007 wedding season! We're just waiting on those weddings in Hawaii and Italy to come through. No seriously...call us :)

We'd also like to send a special thanks out to our blog-stalkers! We really appreciate your support, and we do read all of your comments, so drop us a line or two! Your dedication may end up paying off because we'd like to give $207 off to the first bride to book in 2007. Give us a ring, and let us know- you saw it here first!

Happy New Year!

subscribable

Yes, that's a word. Really. I looked it up.

We've now made it easier than ever to keep up with our crazy antics! Just scroll to the bottom of the right hand column and enter your email address where it says Subscribe Me! Our latest blog entries will now be delivered directly to your inbox at no extra charge! That's right folks, for FREE! Sara and Mel invading your inbox at regular, yet unpredictable intervals- just what you wanted for the New Year!

my favorite things

Sara and I are off to our holiday frivolities until Dec 27th. Until then, enjoy this video from my most favorite Christmas movie of all time.


My modern favorite- this epic 42 song Christmas album by Sufjan Stevens.


Or better yet, you can stream it from your shiny new MacBook Pro that Santa brought (hint, hint)! Click here.

Have a safe and happy Christmas!
Sara and Mel

Christmas Stroll

My friend and I took our small crew of "younguns" to see Santa at the downtown Christmas stroll. Much to our dismay, St. Nick was not there, but we were able to keep the kiddies distracted with wagon rides and "shopping". Shopping with two 2 year olds and a 3 years old is really more like herding cats through a china store!

The girls at the Mulehead Cafe.


This is the safest kind of shopping with kids!




The wagon ride was chilly, but fun!

Curious George Goes to the Dentist

My own little "Curious George" had her first visit to the Dentist!

At first she was a bit nervous, but then we practiced opening wide!


She was the best patient ever! The most exciting part was going to the treasure chest for a prize.

Candy Canes and Silver Lanes!

We just photographed the Dunlay family for their Christmas Card. We had a great time playing with the girls at the Dunlay's gorgeous home at Lake Jeanette. Everyone made our job easy, I mean, come on, would you look at this family, they are all so photogenic!


Santa bring on the presents!


Kate is in the giving spirit.

There has got to be rewards after a photo shoot!

crystal + steve

We were really excited to do a loveShoot for Crystal and Steve! We've worked with Crystal on several occasions while shooting at the Hayloft and we knew she'd look great in front of the camera! What a cute couple- they must still have that newlywed glow!

If any of you Brides out there are still looking for a venue, give Crystal a call, she'll take good care of you!

Crystal, Steve and the very handsome, Frank. Smile Frank!


Sara in action








I love this car!




Steve does his best James Dean impression. That's hot.




Nice. You can thank Sara for capturing this proud moment. Hey, at least I didn't rip my pants!

Christmas is in the air!

Future J.Crew catalog models, Caroline and Tate stopped by our farm for a Christmas Card Photo shoot this weekend. Decked from head to toe in the latest fall fashions this super-cute sibling unit knew how to work it! Tate was twirling his little sis around to make her laugh and a little bribery of left over Halloween treats helped too!

stacia + patrick (& millie)

What a beautiful day we had for shooting Stacia and Patrick's loveShoot at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons! We love this park! It is so huge and it has tons of great places to shoot! Plus- this super high-energy duo was up for anything we threw at them!


Hangin' with Millie


Ms. Millie, struttin' her stuff


Aw, so sweet.....just moments before.....


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!










really cool old church


These two handled the vintage two-seater bike like pros! Many thanks to Higgins Bike Shop for the sweet ride!




Funky camp shack

website of the week!

We are so psyched to be featured as "Website of the Week" by our on-line viewing partner, Collages.net! If you want to check out this hot and steamy loveShoot go to Collages.net and enter the username: Maureen and Brad and the password: 10579.

laura + brandon

Laura is such an amazing girl with exquisite taste in everything from the man she chose to marry to the tiniest details at her wedding! Brandon, Laura, and their guests cozied up at their ceremony at Childress Vineyards. The chill in the air disappeared when you saw the excitement and love between these two!

Love those shoes!


She is so relaxed!






Laura and her girls getting sassy.


Gotta love a redhead!






Taking a quick breather before heading to the reception.


Tonya from Ocassions of the Hart is so creative!


The first dance.


Bye Bye cold weather.....Hello Jamaica!


What an awesome car!

Don't Forget!!

Just wanted to post a little reminder to get out and vote today! I know it is a bit of a hassle, but it is important! It is your right....use it!

Thanks a zillion!

Hey!

The pictures are totally awesome!!! We love them so much! Thank you again for everything!!! They're all so wonderful, it's hard to decide! Thanks again a zillion times over. Everything was great, and we look forward to a time where we can work with you again!

Thanks,
THE YARROWS!!!!!!!

The Flower Fairy

It has been a very busy week! I did not get them up for Halloween, but here are a few picts of Liza in her costume!
Sara

I had to bribe her with sweet potato pie to get her to smile!