I’ve been absolutely horrible with keeping up this blog, and I’m so sorry! I now have a full-time, 40-hour-a-week job in addition to all my photography, so that’s kept me quite busy! Luckily, I still have nights and weekends to photograph to my heart’s content, and I’ve definitely taken advantage of that. I have a lot of pictures to edit and (eventually) share with you all!

Today, though, I wanted to give you an update on Nathan and Abby! They were one of the first weddings I photographed last year, and what a way to start off! So many fun traditions, an amazing couple, and a beautiful day of celebration. If you forgot, here are a few moments from their day (ignore the old logo):

Like I said, a truly memorable day.

I met up with Abby in Lake Geneva awhile ago to go over her album design. Abby brought her friend Maria along, as Abby was pretty far along in her pregnancy by then, and I thought I would use that time/opportunity to have Abby share some advice for current or future brides. Here’s the video of that chat (if you’re viewing this as a note in facebook the video won’t show up, visit http://sarahbohlphotographyblog.com to view the original post):

So, to sum up:

1. The combination of traditions and things that really meant something personal to herself and her husband really made the day not only unique, but personal.
2. You should enlist people to help you plan your wedding, but make sure your wedding is how you want it, not how other people think it should go.

A little while later, their gorgeous albums arrived!

By this time, Abby&Nathan had welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their hearts and lives. So when I delivered the albums to them, I also got to take some pictures of baby Aria! :o)

Mommy & baby. :o)

I remembered this picture from their engagement shoot…

So we tried to do something similar with their growing family:

(Not exactly the same, but you get the idea). :o)

3 generations: Abby’s mom, Abby, and Aria.

Happy family!

Phew! See, I told you I had a lot to catch you up on!

Nathan&Abby, it’s been a joy to share all these great moments in your life with you! I can’t wait to see what your next adventure will be! :o)

~Sarah :o)

My cousin Jen booked the date at Christmastime, and we were lucky to have a beautiful day! Her husband Bob, his kids Lannon and Lindsay, and their daughter Sage (who just so happens to be my goddaughter!) all came for the fun shoot.

Yup, I’m related to these photogenic people. Be jealous. :oP

And this photo below is definitely one of my new favorites!

I just love the 3rd ward. So many fun little spots!

Everyone did a great job so we were able to take all the pictures relatively quickly!  Way to go everyone! :o)

Getting pictures on a street is always interesting because you basically have to RUN out of the way once a car approaches. Not so bad when everyone’s standing but there have been times where I’m lying in the middle of the road to get a shot…yeah…

I love how this one turned out though! Such a cool family! :o)

If you’re thinking that this alley looks familiar, you might have seen Paul&Laurel’s wedding party pictures from last summer.  Or maybe you just hang out in alleys.

Individual pics!

Here’s Lannon, who is currently in Haiti on a missions trip.  Small world story, he was once college roommates with my friend and hip hop artist extraordinaire, Joshua.

Lindsay, I don’t know why you don’t like getting your picture taken so much! The camera sure likes you! :oP

I’ve now been a bridesmaid and maid of honor (and now wedding photographer) umpteen-million times, but my very first time being a bridesmaid was for Jen&Bob’s wedding! I was…13? I think it was the summer before I started 8th grade. (And for my 8th grade graduation present I was given my very first Canon camera). :o)

And I was a Senior in high school, competing in Washington, D.C. for the “We the People” competition when Sage was born. How did she get so old already? Sage just celebrated her 8th birthday last month!

And, of course, my gorgeous cousin Jennifer!  Most people have dozens of cousins, but I only have one. But I think I got a pretty darn good one! :o)

Haha…I love Sage’s expression here!

This shot was Jen’s idea, and I love that everyone was up for it! It turned out great!

Haha…this picture was taken after my search for “pretty doors”. But aren’t they fun? Much better than the metal-and-glass boring ones we originally saw!

Ah, siblings.

Thanks everyone for such a fun time in the 3rd ward (and thanks again, Bob, for the yummy dinner afterwards!)

Hope you all enjoy your pictures!

~Sarah :o)

Classic. Is it sad if I tell you I’d never been there before?  (Sorry all my Cubby fan friends!)

Next we visited one of their favorite neighborhood restaurant/bar/coffeehouses. Everyone there was totally understanding of me running around with a camera, so thanks! :o)

Jenny&Kenny have known each other since high school, and I love how comfortable they are with each other! This was outside of the same place.

Love love love love. :o)  This would make a great large canvas print, wouldn’t it? *Sigh* I need more wall space! Haha!

I could have stayed here all day. It was GORGEOUS out, the sun was amazing, and I was with a fun couple that made me laugh! :o)

Super gorgeous lighting + super photogenic couple = makes my job easy. ;o)

Kenny and Jenny, you guys are rock stars for going along with my crazy ideas! :o)

You gotta love trees in the middle of a city. Especially trees that form such a beautiful backdrop!

One final stop on our mini “tour” of Chicago. :o) We saw another photographer there with an engaged couple, but as Jenny pointed out “They’re not having as much fun. We’re laughing a lot more.” So true. I do really laugh a LOT.

And I really love the photo below.

And THIS picture I was so excited about I posted it on Facebook a few weeks back.

Jenny & Kenny, thank you SO MUCH for showing me your city! I had a blast! And I can’t wait for your wedding on July 4!!

~Sarah :o)

And what a way to start off! I’ve know Charis for basically forever, as we went to the same elementary school. Her older sister, Anna, was in my grade. So that whole family is amazing. I can’t wait to see them all at the fast-approaching wedding!

We took the engagement pictures at Timber-Lee, which brought back so many memories. It’s a camp in East Troy, Wisconsin, where I spent several weeks in past summers. Enough about me, though, here’s Charis & J-me!

They’ve known each other for 6 years, and have been dating for 5, if I remember correctly. So it was great to see how comfortable they were around each other. :o)

I put some of these pictures up on Facebook as a sneak peek, and I loved the one comment about a picture similar to this one: “J-me and Charis, sittin’ in a tree…”  Haha! I swear that’s not what we were thinking at the time! At least, I wasn’t…

Not only was Timber-Lee full of great memories for me, it had some amazing places for pictures! Sometimes Wisconsin can be just so beautiful…

…and Charis and J-me made my job easy, too! :o)

If you’ve perused my blog or my website before, you might have noticed how much I love color. So this bright red barn made my day! Love the texture, too.

Love love love love love…..

A horse tried to get in the background of some of these pictures, I think he felt left out. :oP

Okay, what movie does this picture remind you of? For some reason, every time I look at this picture (which I LOVE, btw), it reminds me of this movie!

Serious jumping skills alert!

I was kind of in love with all the colors in the background here. I kept exclaiming, “So colorful! This is going to look amazing!” (Which, hello! Look at them! So cute!)

So J-me says something like, “Watch, all these pictures will be black and white!” So, just for you J-me…

(The background in these last two pictures are a bunch of colorful and oddly-shaped basketball hoops. So fun!)

I forget exactly how Charis described the setting for this next picture, but it was something like “a secret interlude in the forest”.  At one point they walked so far away from me, though, it would have been called “Where’s Waldo…er… Charis & J-me?” :oP

Yay for fun steps!

Siiiiigh…. <3

Watch out, J-me, someday I might just do a post of all your crazy expressions. They were pretty funny! :oP

All these gorgeous places on one campground. You should visit Timber-Lee. Or send your kids there. :o)

Yay for conveniently-placed picnic tables that I can stand on! As I was taking this picture, a Sheriff patrol car slowly drove past, the driver’s head turned to figure out what the heck I was doing. So I just waved. And he waved back. So I took more pictures!

That’s it for now!

Thanks, Charis & J-me, for such a wonderful afternoon! I’m so excited for your wedding! And J-me, you rock for getting us that golf cart to use!

Stay tuned for Jenny & Kenny’s engagement pictures, a fun family shoot, and some advice from a past bride!

Happy Memorial Day! Take pictures!

~Sarah :o)

Ever since I saw this movie umpteen years ago, I’ve often thought about the little things as being much more significant. That’s not hard when I can find little things that make me happy. Like interesting welcome mats, for example. Someday, I will get this welcome mat. It cracks me up. Plus, it reminds me of travel, which is something that I love.

Here’s a random video about it that I found on YouTube:

Tonight I saw a welcome mat at World Market that read, “got dirt?”. I laughed a little to myself. :o)

My brother’s welcome mat kind of scares me, it reads, “Come back when you have a warrant.” Hmm…

One of my favorite places for unique items, uncommongoods.com, had some unique takes on the welcome mat as well:

And now I’ve found out that when you Google “funny welcome mats” and “unique doormats,” you find some interesting things.

For some reason, I don’t think this welcome mat is very welcoming.

Haha…for the consumer in all of us…

Who knew this even existed? Not me!

Ooh, I love this one:

And I’ll end with this one…

Take some time this week to find some random things that make YOU smile! Or just watch “Amelie”. :o)

~Sarah :o)