Kristen Steele Photography

Wedding Photography Product | Keepsake CD Cover

Hi friends! You remember Bri + Shawn’s fun wedding I recently blogged about? I’m excited to share with you a new product that all of my wedding clients will receive as part of their package, it’s a keepsake CD cover.

Each one will be custom designed to reflect your wedding, and it will include your wedding photos and your color scheme. I’m really excited about this new offering and the Bri, the bride in these photos was over the moon excited when I gave her her photo CDs so I know you will be too!

Tags: nashville wedding photography, Wedding Photography Products

Puppy Love Valentine’s Shoot!

I was so excited to team up with Courtney of Pizzazzerie again, especially since it involved my precious pup Winston. Y’all know we treat him like he’s our child… he’s so spoiled. This photoshoot was definitely no different! He ate his weight in dog food, treats and I think he snuck a human sugar cookie… all in about an hour.

This puppy party that Courtney designed really made me giggle with excitement. The table was puppy height — yes, imagine me squatting for photos! There were “doggie bags…” filled with treats for them to take home. The pups wore boas, heart bandanas and heart shaped sunglasses too! We were definitely all entertained and the puppies just loved their amazing party.

Courtney wrote all about the party here on Hostess with the Mostess. Go check it out but first look at all the fun photos!

Vendors:

• Styling: Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie
• Photography: Kristen Steele Photography
• Cookies: Bees Knees Creative
• Puppy Love Garland: Bushel and Peck Paper
• Candy Cartons: Shop Sweet Lulu

Pride & Prejudice Gift Ideas

I have a confession: I am mildly (ok, really!) obsessed with most anything British and especially anything Jane Austen… particularly Pride & Prejudice.

Spending six months living in England in college didn’t do much to quell my absolute love of anything English. In fact, it only intensified how much I love it, because now I  just get really excited when I see pictures of places I’ve been.

Pride and Prejudice is definitely one of my favorites. Mr. Darcy is just so… lovely. And the movie (yes, the six hour version) is one of my all-time favorites!! Wouldn’t you agree, friends?! Insider tip: here’s how I get through the long Colin Firth version of the film: just skip every scene that the annoying cousin Mr. Bingley is in and it cuts down the total running time by at LEAST an hour, plus you don’t miss anything important since he’s such a minor character. See, I just saved you an hour of your life!

As a wedding photographer I’m not sure if it’s a qualification to be a diehard romantic, but I definitely am. I am such a sucker for a romantic story and Pride and Prejudice is one of the best. Oh Jane Austen, you are just such a genius!

Gift Ideas

Now this love of mine was sparked when I stumbled across this amazing Etsy store: Brookish. If you’re a gentleman looking for something to get your lovely lady and she happens to also love Pride and Prejudice, then look no further… I really want this gorgeous coffee mug. And this screenprinted note was the proposal from Mr. Darcy in the book, which would be just perfect for a proposal or for while you’re engaged. I hope that this helps helps you!

Tags: Pride and Prejudice, Proposal

Welcome to the Spunky New Kristen Steele Photography!

I am SO excite and proud to be posting my first blog here on my fancy-schmancy new website and blog!! Redesigning the look and feel of Kristen Steele Photography has definitely been a labor of love!

The Process: Why an all-new website and rebrand you ask?

The basic answer: my old logo, website and blog were not spunky and bright enough. It didn’t fully depict my personality. This, ladies and gentleman, depicts my personality! It was my goal and I was always striving to produce a warm, inviting website and blog that you’d be excited about coming back to again and again! I want you to feel like you can grab your favorite mug full of tea or coffee and sit back and stay awhile. I know that’s so cheesy, and you might not do that, but I’m going to envision you doing that! I hope that the new site better displays my photography, I sure do like it.

The more technical, web-geeky answer: my old site was Flash-based (photographers gasp!) which meant a couple of things… there was virtually no SEO-friendly capabilities, some people don’t have flash or update it frequently enough and lastly it didn’t show up on the iPhone. Also, I wanted my website and blog to be seamless, I hated that you had to click a link and that my blog didn’t really look anything like my website.

Just in case you don’t remember what the old site and blog looked like…

Inspiration Board

So I set about thinking: what kind of imagery inspires me? What colors make me feel happy and alive? It was amazing how similar all of the images were once I started compiling them all. I just kept thinking: clean, bright, bubbly and colorful.

Branding

From this point the sweet Emily Ley from Emily Ley Creative took my inspiration and ran with it! She helped me to distinguish my brand by asking poignant questions and helping me hone in on what’s important to me. Finally (and very quickly I might add!) Emily had a complete and absolutely GORGEOUS Brand Board created just for me. It includes a new logo, all new branding colors, a pattern and more!

Website Design

I can’t speak highly enough of Matthew and Courtney of Primarily Rye for the AH-MAZING website design you’re now seeing! I think at some points along the way I’m sure they thought I was crazy… my wishlist (read: demands for how awesome my site should be…) were very long… very, very long. I think for me this web design process was much more involved since that’s part of what I did at my old “day-job.” I knew what was possible, I knew how excellent it could be so I’m so thankful that Matthew and Courtney were patient with me.

Not only patient with me, but they BLEW me out of the water. As soon as I saw the first mockups of the site design I was floored. Absolutely ecstatic!

Website Development

Amber Weinberg is a Word Press genius! She really is! My whole site and blog are all built on a WordPress platform and I just love how easy it is to update, change things around and it’s all uber SEO-friendly! YAY for amazing backend for a website! I would highly, highly recommend Amber for any of your WordPress needs — she is recognized regionally as well as nationally for her web-smarts. I hear she’s quoted in a new book coming out that’s how awesome she is!

Favorite New Features:
I’m happy to introduce several new features of the site that I have been dying to show!

Client Reviews:
You can take your pic of reviews to read — from past clients as well as industry pros and fellow local wedding planners. Go see what they have to say about Kristen Steele Photography!

Getting to know me:
Go check out the About Kristen page to learn more about me and read my company philosophies.

Press Page {Coming Soon!!}
A concise viewing of the most recent features of my photos!

THE BLOG:
There are so many fun new features here on the blog… my special favorite is the Photo of the Day! I hope that each day you’ll come back to see what that day’s photo is! I had a blast compiling some of my favorite photos from my travels, details from gorgeous weddings, portraits that I adore and more! {Insider scoop: each Wednesday I’ll be posting a cuddly new pic of our puppy Winston… I can’t wait to share some of them!}

Tags: Amber Weinmber Development, Branding, Emily Ley Creative, Primarily Rye

Happy New Year’s Eve!

I’m excited to share this gorgeous Midnight Themed New Years Eve dinner party designed and styled by Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie.

This dinner party featured an interesting color palette that I really love: an elegant black linen topped by gorgeous blue and gold accents. Custom paper products always take a party from good to over-the-top-excellent, and Kate from Custom Paper Works designed all the menu cards, confetti, signs and place cards. The cute cookies by The Cookie Jar are so awesome and perfect for your New Year’s Eve celebrations! Enjoy this photoshoot and I hope y’all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Vendor Credit:

Styling & Design: Courtney Dial

Menus, Paper Signs, Confetti: Custom Paper Works

Cookies: The Cookie Jar

Happy New Year Wooden Signs: Pink Cherry Mama

Photography: Kristen Steele Photography

Tags: Entertaining Inspiration, Pizzazzerie

A Year in Review!

Today is the 30th. Which means tomorrow is New Years Eve! What a year 2010 has been for me… I think I can sum it up one word: CHANGE. I’m going to try to sum up some of the many wonderful things that I was able to accomplish this year.

For me, 2010 started off with a bang by attending ImagingUSA which was such a huge open door for me. I am an avid learner at heart, so a conference filled with great educational workshops to help me grow my business and expand my photography skills was such a great way to start my year of change.

January brought us a huge blizzard (well, a blizzard to us… more like a couple of inches of snow!) and many friends in our neighborhood got together to go sledding! What a fun memory!

In February I attended Making Things Happen where I met some of my now-dearest friends and it’s where we first started our journey together. We shared our hopes and fears with each other and now we encourage each other to do more with our businesses, to reach higher and accomplish more. That’s the essence of our great community and we’re only going to accomplish more in 2011!

Right after MTH I took a much-needed trip with my hubby David to Washington, D.C. just for fun! We were there during the crazy blizzard and there was four FEET of snow on the National Mall. We bought ourselves some snow boots, bundled up and then had fun visiting all the Smithsonian museums.

Also in February I organized and photographed my first Inspiration Creative photoshoot: a gorgeous Bridal Shower Luncheon for my dear friend Kelly (who takes credit for introducing me to my husband Dave!)!

Then, mid-March I made a huge leap of faith and quit my “day job” to start my photography venture full-time.

In April I was excited to expand my photography and be able to reach more brides through Wedding 101. It is a gorgeous space for Brides to come and find the wedding vendors who will help make their day exactly what they’re envisioning.

David and I went to visit my sister Caroline in Athens, GA and we had a fun impromptu photoshoot with her cute boyfriend Chaz at the Georgia Botanical Gardens.

May was a big, exciting month: it started out with the historic Nashville floods that debilitated much of our city for weeks and months. It was heartbreaking.

I was so excited about a new partnership I made this year as a regular photographer for Couture Fashion Magazine! In May we did a fun photoshoot featuring mommies-to-be in celebration of Mother’s Day.
I also had a fun Launch Party to meet Brides and celebrate going full-time!

My friends Ariel & Brian got married in Virginia and I was so honored to be able to celebrate with them!

In June we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in Tuscany and we started the trip off with a gorgeous destination wedding in Volterra, Italy. Lily + Hanier eloped in Tuscany after seeing the Twilight movie.

Our fabulous trip in Italy was seriously such a great time. My favorite edible treat was the amazing gelato. I just love it… and I may have had it every day we were there.

The light in Italy is just divine: so golden and beautiful that it might explain why I took more than 3,000 photos!

The “everyday” scenes around Florence really were so beautiful to me. I have a thing for doors and windows.

In July I flew to NC to photograph a house and their gorgeous interior design for a decorator:

Also in July we became parents to a fun, lovable and absolutely fabulous puppy named Winston! He’s a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and he just loves life.

Another fun relationship I made this year was with Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie. We have shot some really fun parties this year: Thanksgiving tablescapes, Brewbash, Holiday shoots, Product placements for national companies and my all-time favorite and colorful Peacock Party!

I made a list of the 101 things I want to do over the next 1001 days and I’m excited to say that I’ve already accomplished several of them so I will have to blog about that soon!

What’s the one photoshoot that I was most proud of this year? Probably the Bridal Fashion photoshoot that I collaborated on with Tiffani of Creative Designs & Events:

Two of the images (first and third ones on the top row!) were featured in V3 of Southern Weddings magazine which was so exciting!

This fall was filled with tons of fun, most of which I haven’t revealed yet here on the blog! It included: several weddings, fashion photoshoots, creative entertaining shoots, more traveling, and a complete Kristen Steele Photography rebrand!

2011 is going to be huge and I’ll be starting out with a bang revealing a brand new site and blog in the next few weeks as well as new product offerings and even greater client experiences. We’re kickin’ it up a notch and I hope y’all will join us as we expand and grow even more this year!

Tags: #nashvilleflood, Creative Designs & Events, Hostess with the Mostess, ImagingUSA, Italy Destination Wedding Photographer, Pizzazzerie, Southern Weddings magazine, Washington D.C., Wedding 101, Winston

Holiday Party Planner!

The holidays are definitely upon us and I am excited to share this wonderful Holiday Party Planner with you! I had the pleasure of collaborating with Courtney of Pizzazerie who is such an entertaining guru! You will see some of my photos throughout this party planner and I’m so proud of how the cover photo turned out.

This Party Planner is filled with four different party ideas including recipes, decor ideas, favor suggestions and so much more! What are you waiitng for, go flip through this gorgeous party planner! Merry Christmas and let the party season continue!!

Tags: Entertaining, Pizzazzerie, Sheknows.com

Thanksgiving Tablescape | Designed by Pizzazzerie

What I’m Thankful For This Year

There are so many things that I am thankful for this year… good friends, my family and their health, my supportive husband who’s my biggest encourager, our sweet puppy Winston, feeling the ultimate freedom that I am doing what I love and creative people who are my friends!

As I have been really mulling over what Kristen Steele Photography is, I’m especially thankful to the many people who have helped me to solidify my Brand. I’m thankful to Emily Ley who is a sweetheart and rocked the redesign of my whole company look, as well as so many of you amazing friends who helped give me feedback on my Inspiration Board that started the whole process!

Gorgeous Thanksgiving Tablescape

For this Thanksgiving week, here is a fabulous tablescape that I photographed styled by Pizzazzerie featuring printables by Anders Ruff Custom Designs. I especially love the color scheme of this table: reds and oranges and golds. I probably could have eaten all of those caramel apples, but I’m glad I didn’t! Read Courtney’s description of this fabulous table here.

What are you thankful for??

Tags: Pizzazzerie, Thanksgiving Tablescape

The Simple Plan | Nashville

This week I attended The Simple Plan workshop, a business plan workshop for the wedding industy! The workshop was exactly what I needed as I’m changing several things about my business. It helped me re-define my branding, I defined my mission statement, realized I needed to hire an accountant and helped me to forecast financially for 2011.

Needless to say, I am so grateful to Michelle Loretta of Sage Wedding Pros and Saundra Hadley, The Get Real Sales Coach , for teaching me so much! My business is going to forever be changed because of you two!!

Tags: Sage Wedding Pros, The Simple Plan, Wedding 101

85th Birthday Party | Nashville Special Event Photography

The fabulous Stephanie at You’re Invited Events asked me back in September to come and document the details of a musical-themed 85th Birthday Party at Noah Liff Opera Center. I’ll let Stephanie tell you more about this event…

The birthday honoree was so much fun to work with, and he really wanted his guests to have a great time as he celebrated his 85 birthday.  Music was an important element for this family for the evening. The evening started off with a cocktail hour in the lobby, accompanied by a pianist on a baby grand piano. After the cocktail hour, guests were whisked into the Opera Studio for a concert by a string quartet.  A formal sit-down menu, by Sargeant’s Catering, immediately followed.  After the dinner ended, guests were treated to several surprise operatic performances.  After the opera singers received a standing ovation, guests joined in for a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday!  Leland Riggin’s Dessert Designs caramel cake was served, along with homemade apple fritter ice-cream.  I can’t think of a better way to end an evening!

Vendors:

• Special Event Planning: You’re Invited Events
• Event Venue: Noah Liff Opera Center
• Catering: Sargeant’s Catering
• Caramel Cake: Dessert Designs by Leland

Tags: Nashville Event Photography, Special Event Photography, You're Invited Events