Albums and DVD cases

I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to wedding season starting up again! Three more weeks until my first wedding of the year! I'm getting tired of not having any fun, new pictures to post. BUT I did promise a certain bride that I'd get her pictures of some of the albums. So here we go!

First of all, I'm constantly trying out new album companies. So this year I will plan on keeping these albums PLUS adding a higher quality artistic album. I don't have a sample of that one yet, but when I get my sample designed and ordered, I'll make sure to post some pictures!

But in the meantime, these are a few of the albums Studio Noveau offers. This first one is one of my favorites. It features the images printed right onto the page, and it's a magazine style album with a hard cover. The pages are glossy and heavy weight but flexible. The cover is really cool: it has the image printed right onto the cover, and it can either wrap around the front and back, OR you can put one image on front and another on the back. Here are some photos:









I also used this same style of album to create a custom Guest Book. For this, we use images from an engagement session, and place them throughout the book. Then guests are able to sign it like a traditional guest book. One great thing about this book is you are able to share you engagement pictures with your guests, plus this is one guest book that you will definitely look back through even years after your wedding! Another benefit: guests can write you messages instead of just their names. Here are a few pictures of one guest book:







This is a different company that offers similar style book pages. The biggest difference is the covers. This company offers linen and leather cover options. Here is an example of linen, and I'm showing taupe. But it also comes in about 8 other colors (black, slate gray, poppy red, forest green, navy blue, and a few others.)




Leather examples in black and brown:









The last type of album I currently have studio samples of is completely different style. It features a cover in a variety of finishes: anything from leather to silk to faux aligator skin to metallic. The pages are thicker and not flexible at all. The image is right on top of the page, and is a bit sturdier than the traditional magazine style page you saw above. This book has one image per page and comes in a lot more sizes. This particular sample is 4x6 and it's great to give to parents and grandparents. I like to call it the Little Brag Book. But it does come in any standard size: wallet, 4x6, 5x7, 8x8, 10x10, 8x10, 12x12. Here are a few pictures of it:






Lastly, this is the packaging your DVD will arrive in. I love these aluminum cases! And I appreciate that they will protect your images without crushing or cracking the contents.





Don't forget to check back soon for new pictures!

Happy Spring!

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to give you two important pieces of information.

1) If you are getting married in 2009, please know that I have only two openings left: one in November and one in December. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the 20+ couples who have already chosen Studio Noveau to shoot their 2009 wedding!

2) Prices will be raised on April 1st. (No, it's not an April Fools joke!) If you have been thinking about booking Studio Noveau for your wedding, make sure to contact me and sign your contract prior to 4/1/09. If you have already returned your contract and deposit, your pricing is secure and will not be affected.

So I promise that this blog will get more exciting soon! April should be filled with engagement sessions and other fun stuff, and weddings will start again on the first Saturday in May when Mandie and I are heading to Green Bay. January to March is generally pretty slow, so I'm looking forward to getting out to shoot again. And I'm going to get a shiny new blog in the next few weeks! Genevieve from Lilac Creative is working hard a custom blog design so check back soon for an update.

Have a great day!

Check me out in Modern Bride Magazine!

When I was interviewed by Modern Bride magazine last year, I wasn't sure if the article would even be published, much less include any of my information! But it was a pleasant surprise to open up this month's issue and see my name in an article!

If any of you are Modern Bride magazine readers, please open up the April issue to page 310, the article on bartering for wedding photography. I'm mentioned in the paragraph on the bottom of page 312 and 313. Cool, huh? :)

While bartering isn't for everyone, it can often be a great way to make a wedding more affordable if you have services and skills or products that are in demand to the person you are bartering with. In case you are curious, I'm definitely open to bartering certain products or services for my photography. Of course, it needs to be a good barter for both of us, but I'm willing to give it a shot!

News, News, News

, I will be out of town from Wednesday, February 24th until Wednesday, March 4th.  I'll be checking email, but may not get back to you with my usual lightning-fast speed.  So please be patient, and I'll reply as soon as I can!

Exciting news!  I've applied for and been accepted to join Operation:Love ReUnited!  This is such a fantastic group of photographers that have joined together to support our military service members who are either a) deploying soon, b) currently deployed and miss their families, or c) returning home from deployment.  Basically, I will be capturing one of these events with my camera for families in the area.  

Most of you probably don't know that I spent five years in the US Navy.  :)  And my husband is in the National Guard.  So it's safe to say that I definitely can empathize with the families of our service members, and would like to be able to give something to those who have sacrificed SO much.

So if you or a family member/spouse are deploying soon, currently deployed, or if you have a service member returning home from deployment soon, please contact me for details!  As a participating member, I will be offering a free session and set of 4x6 prints for those who qualify.  You can learn more at www.oplove.org.

Updates on Availability and Gift Certificate Winners

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of the holiday of LOVE, I'm going to give the next person that emails me a Sassy Boudoir session or Trash the Dress for only $75!  But only one person will get this awesome price, so email right away!

UPDATE: Congratulations LINDSAY!  You are the proud owner of a shiny new boudoir session for only $75.   :)

Also, congratulations to the three winners from the McGregor Bridal show. I've drawn three names, Katie, Tabby, and Jennifer, who have each won a $50 gift certificate they can apply to any session or package of their choice.  One of the girls is getting married in May and already has her photographer, but she's excited to use her gift certificate for a Trash The Dress session!

Also, I am nearly booked for 2009.  I have one opening in July and several openings throughout November and December.  So don't wait too long to contact me!  :) I've already had about 8 requests for 2010, so I expect to start booking next year very soon.  Thanks to all of my awesome clients for making my 2009 book up so quickly! This year I'll be shooting weddings in three states and two countries.  Yay!

Did I mention I love my job?  :)

McGregor Bridal Show

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth in McGregor, Iowa yesterday. The bridal show was held in the McGregor Landing and Event Center- a very cool old place that has been renovated into a neat building with a "western" feel to it. It would be an awesome place to have a wedding (and dare I say photograph a wedding?) !!!

First of all if you haven't been to McGregor before, you should totally check it out. It's a couple miles from Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, and right along the Mississippi River.

Here are a few neat pictures of the venue itself. I am such a sucker for antique and vintage locations/details!


Isn't this a neat bar? It's called Uncle Sam's Saloon, and I think every bridal show should have a bar for the grooms who get dragged along. :)


One of the many cool light fixtures in the event center.

The fashion show is always a neat way to see what styles will be popping up throughout the year. Two things that I LOVELOVELOVE are the dresses that have all the ruching, or gathering of fabric, and I also love the presence of suits and tuxes for guys that are grey or brown. I do like a nice black tux, but have to admit that a grey or brown tux/suit really sets a wedding apart, and looks really nice. And a lot less formal!

My seat for the fashion show wasn't the greatest, but I did get a couple of pictures for ya'll!


My favorite combo.  It was a grey suit with a platinum ruched dress.  Wow- it really made me look twice!
I couldn't help it... Awww!  What a cute flower girl!

Normally I like tea length bridesmaid dresses, but I'm starting to change my thinking.  This was such an unusual dress, almost with a vintage feel.  It was long and flowy with that ruching that I really like.  It kind of reminded me of a 1970's style.

I love the simplicity of this dress, and it was so flattering!  My best friend, Jen, would love this!

Cute flower girl dress... isn't the sash cute?

Group picture from the end.  I love wedding dresses!

Lastly, I'll share one final shot.  The highlight of the whole day:

Strawberries and CHOCOLATE!  Yup, I definitely wish I would have had a chocolate fountain at my wedding!  ;)

Check back soon because I'll announce the winners of the bridal show drawing for three $50 gift certificates!

More exciting news!

Yesterday I blogged about winning the Bride's Choice Award with WeddingWire.com. Well, today I received even MORE exciting news!



I'm proud to announce that I've been accepted to the Modern Photographers group! So far, there are only TWO members in Wisconsin: Ardent Photography and myself. Members are voted in by a panel of their peers- other professional photographers who are looking for several specific things in order to approve the application. 

A few requirements for membership are:

*Maintain a proper business license (pay taxes)
*Have backup equipment in case of equipment failure during an important shoot
*Maintain a good reputation in their local community, as well as within the photography industry
*Have solid technical skills (exposure, lighting, composition, post production)
*Have a creative eye that lends itself to a modern style

If you are looking for a photographer recommended by other photographers, look no further than Modern Photographers.

It's such an honor to be selected for this prestigious group, especially since many of my favorite photographers from around the country are members!    Modern Photographers + Studio Noveau = happy Rebecca.  

If you get a chance, you should check out the site!  I hope you are all having a great day- I sure am!

Come visit Studio Noveau at the bridal show this weekend!

If you are in the Prairie Du Chien or McGregor areas, please come visit me at the McGregor Landing and Event Center from 12-4. This will be my first time at this show, so please come by to say hello!

Also, more news:

I've been selected as a Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Award recipient! This award goes out to WeddingWire.com vendors, and they are chosen by their customers' ratings. :) That's pretty cool, huh?



Stay tuned for a post after the bridal show!

Jackie and Kevin:: Engagement

So you've already seen a preview of the preview... here are the rest of the preview photos!

Let me give you a little background on these two and I. We've been trying to schedule this session since November. Yes, that's right, November. It is now February. It seemed like there was always something- rain, extreme cold, or just SOMETHING that got in the way of us actually meeting to shoot their engagement photos! I think we must have scheduled them 6 or 7 times, and finally decided to wait a week or two for it to warm up before trying again.

Well, guess what? The ONE week we decided to take a break was the week it ended up being nearly 40 degrees! So we planned a last-minute session and the weather was gorgeous. They live on Kevin's family farm along the Wisconsin River near Muscoda, WI. It was most definitely beautiful, and the history was great! There some awesome buildings and fun animals like Panda the cow, Rosie the dog, and few others. When I was doing the post-processing work to these pictures, I tried to give some of them an antique feel, and others I tried to play around with the vibrance a bit. It was such a fun batch of pictures to play with!

Well, enough of me talking... what do you think?

Preview of a Preview!

Yes, that's right... two posts in one day!

As I'm uploading the pictures from Jackie and Kevin's engagement session today, I wanted to share a couple teasers... :D They are getting married this June and wanted some pictures taken on Kevin's family farm. It was such a neat place: right across the road from the Wisconsin River, great views, cool buildings, and of course, it had cows. :) Enjoy!











There will be more coming in a couple days... and they will involve this scene:



And this scene:




Super-cool, huh? Or am I the only one who gets genuinely excited to see hay bales and broken old chairs? Check back for more pictures soon!