See the Pre ceremony slideshow here.

Feel free to leave the newlyweds some love down in the comment section below.

Thanks guys for having me as your wedding photographer!

The colors Jona picked out were beautiful and the reception hall looked amazing.

Chris is serving in the US Army and will soon be shipped overseas for over a year.

It is definately not what a young couple would want but their relationship

has blossomed over time and many miles apart already. It will just be another

stepping stone in life and their Love for eachother and God will pull them through.

I was so happy to be the photographer for their wedding day.

Love never ceases to amaze me.

Congrats Chris and Jona may you live a long blessed life together!

This slideshow is pre ceremony. The next one will follow.

Feel free to leave the newlyweds some of your love below in the comments section.

The toasts made by everyone were fun and then even more fun. Friends sure know how to make friends smile and blush all in the same speech. The wedding cake was so pretty and I forgot to grab some before I left that evening darn it. All I know is that is was chocolate…mmmmmmm. Later came the dancing….and it seemed like everyone there could dance. Right before I left there were two younger boys on the dance floor and they were tearing it up! Must have been working on their moves for a while because they had them down. Rick of A Perfect Party DJ Se kept the music going and the dancers dancing all night long. To get back to my car they had a group of teenage boys taking the guests to and from their cars with a bunch of golf carts which was totally fun.

Congrats again guys!! May you enjoy a life full of peace, happiness and joy together!

Thanks for choosing me to photograph your wedding day!

Feel free to leave your warm wishes for the happy couple below.

To book your own wedding or portrait session visit my website Schona Kessler Photography

Or feel free to e-mail me at schonakesslerphotography@yahoo.com or give me a call or text at 957-5918!

Warning this post has tons of photos!!! 

Meet Dave and Stephanie folks. Stephanie was actually reffered to me through a mutual  friend she works with who was actually getting married the same day. We met up at Starbucks in the early spring and she knew then that I was just the photographer for the job.

Dave and Stephanie chose to have the ceremony at the First Christian Church over on Kessler by the lake. What a beautiful church it was and it was my first time being there too so I was pleasantly surprised. The bride was beautiful and I had never seen a dress quite like hers before and I adored it. I don’t know who the florist was but man the flowers were stunning! The ceremony went along beautifully and without a hitch and afterwards we got some goregous photographs of the two together by the lake.

They rode to the reception that was being held over at the Ballroom in the Historic Monticello Hotel in her uncles vintage Lincoln continental. It was a thing of beauty for sure. I had the pleasure of getting to work with my older brother at the reception since he is a professional DJ and owner of A Perfect Party. The dancing, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss were all fun but the most touching moment was when the bride had a song dedicated to her parents. The got on the dancefloor and when they music started the mother of the bride was overfilled with tears of joy. A big group hug shortly followed and the overwhelming emotion was felt by the crowd. It was so sweet and I loved being there to see and capture it for them.

Congratulations again Dave and Stephanie on your beautiful and very memorable wedding day! Thanks for trusting me to photograph it for you. Best wishes in your many happy years of marriage!

Feel free to leave some comment love for the newlyweds below. Enjoy.

To book your own wedding or portrait session visit my website Schona Kessler Photography

Or feel free to e-mail me at schonakesslerphotography@yahoo.com or give me a call or text at 957-5918!

We met up at Starbucks while she was visiting home one weekend along with her Dad.

It seemed like forever until their wedding day finally arrived. I am betting it seemed to go slow for them as well.

They had their ceremony up at the Rose Valley friends church which is on the outskirts of the Longview Kelso area.

The day turned out to be just beautiful and the details of the wedding matched it. Her dress was goregous and the shoes were to die for.

Nick and Ashley decided to do the formal bridal party and group portraits before the wedding ceremony began.

I always love when the couple decides to see eachother first because I believe it helps to get most of the formal shots done first since

after the ceremony it is a mad dash to the reception and a lot of the time the guests don’t want to sit around and wait on the newlyweds

to eat and get the party started.

After the ceremony was done they had a receiving line where all of the guests had a moment to give hugs and congratulate the new couple.

Once that line was through they had a bubble sendoff and off in a car they went. We all went down to the Kelso Red Lion Hotel for the reception.

There was a live band for the evening and when I figure out their name I will tell you here and the cake was beautiful. The speeches were touching and funny all in one. The flowers from Bandas Bouquets were awesome.

Congratulations again on your marriage and may you live a blessed life and fall in love with  again every day!

Thanks so much for having me take part of your day as your wedding photographer. It was a privledge.

Enjoy your preview there are many more to come! I will let you know when your gallery is up.

Friends and family feel free to leave some love for the newlyweds below.

The reception was held at the Monticello Hotel in Longview which is a beautiful place if I must say so myself. While everyone else got settled in and mingled we went across the street to the park and got some awesome shots of just the bride and groom. These are always my favorite and the ones that always get hung up on the walls to be looked at through the years. Luckily there was shade or we probably would not have been out there very long at all because it was hot hot hot!

Afterwards we went into the ballroom where the wedding party and all of the guests were waiting. We spent the next couple of hours getting all of the important shots such as first dance, cutting the cake, garter and bouquet toss and then the guests getting their boogy on down on the dancefloor. Good times.

I even got sent home with some cake for my kids…so sweet. Thanks!

Well here is the first preview: The bridal party and the shots of the Bride and Groom at the park.

More to come soon so keep checking back.

Feel free to leave warm wishes for the happy couple below the slideshow.

Thanks for stopping by!

First my hubby and I found out our youngest son couldn’t handle any dairy. Not even lactose free.

That really caught us off guard. Then we found out that he can’t have: Whole wheat, egg yolks, lentils, peas, peanuts and soy!

Along with the fact that the Dr. told us he is on the Austism Spectrum. Wow!

So as you can imagine there has been a lot of researching, diet changing and lots of hugs going on.

I made a blog for my little Zeke and his adventures. Feel free to go on this ride with us!

http://www.gfcf4zeke.wordpress.com

I am shooting Matt and Gabbie’s wedding today so that is exciting!

I will continue to play catch up with my 52 week photography challenge and any new pics I have.

Thanks for stopping by.

 Marcus and Libby had a beautiful reception up at the Rutherglen Mansion in Longview, WA.

The weather was perfect, the cake was so fun and the couple so very in love.

Enjoy and feel free to leave your warm wishes in the comments section below. Thanks

Meet Marcus and Elizabeth AKA Libby. They chose May 15th, 2010 for their wedding day and the ceremony was held at Trinity Lutheran in Longview, WA. Libby’s color choices were awesome…Teal or Aqua is my fave so I might be a little partial. lol. This couple knows how to have fun and we meshed perfectly. The bridal party were full of laughs and up for anything as well….just my types. The ceremony was beautiful and I was so happy to be a part of their big day.

Here are some photos up to the end of the ceremony. There were just so many I couldn’t narrow anymore down so I will post the reception sneak peek next.

Enjoy and feel free to leave some warm wishes below in the comment section.

Well the wedding was beautiful! Simple but elegant! The cake was hilarious and they put a lot into making their day special. The weather worked out great for us and we got some rockin’ formals and shots of just the couple down at the Kalama,WA marina before the ceremony.

They had the best smiles and tons of family and friends to share their big day with.  The food was delicious and colorful…who knew you could put saurkraut in meatballs to keep them moist and not even taste it!

The first dances with the parents were very emotional and sweet…then came the traditional money dance. The DJ said in over 200 weddings he has been to only two times did the Groom end up with more money. Well as tradition goes Marissa won with I believe over $100 more than Jake.

The sun was setting so before I took off we got some more pictures of just the two of them and I adore how they turned out.

Congratulation you two! Thanks for choosing me to be your lifelong photographer! I look forward to seeing you again!

Enjoy the slideshow! Feel free to leave your thoughts and best wishes below in the comments section!

Jake and Marissa\’s wedding slideshow

It was grey out and a little bit chilly but it didn’t rain on us and for that we were very thankful. Everyone crowded into the gazebo and enjoyed watching James and Michelle express their love for eachother and promise eachother for better and for worse. It was beautiful and intimate just like I like them.

After the ceremony and when people started leaving we went and took their photos together on Officers Row. A very romantic place with the old houses and the whole feel to the area. After about an hour we were done and a bunch of us headed over to Jantzen Beach OR and ate lunch at BJ’s restaurant and it was good. You definately get your moneys worth at that place and a kids meal can feed at least 3 young kids at once. I loved it!

Congratulations you guys! We love you and are so happy for you two! I am so glad you were finally able to get a hold of me and we made it down in time.

Enjoy your preview and share it will all the family!

Comments are welcomed below

 Alright lets try this again. Take Two of the I heart faces challenge.

This weeks challenge is called ” I wanna Dance ” and while I had thought I had the perfect picture, see the previous post below to see how I failed the challenge since I didn’t have a face in the photo. Duh to me. lol So I kept digging in my files and came up with this beautiful couple dancing. You can just see the love for eachother in their eyes. They are so sweet and loving it is rather catchy. So to outdo my last post there are two faces in this one.

Hey if you are bored and wanna look at pretty pictures then go check out the I heart faces blog for other I wanna dance photos. I am sure they will bring a smile to your face also. Have a wonderful week!

I took this picture back in 2008 at a wedding in Tacoma WA that I was the photographer for. The group was so fun to watch I couldn’t help but smile.

This week over at the I heart Faces  blog the photography challenge has to do with dancing and this was GOING to be my entry but I got mixed up between this weeks challenge and next weeks challenge which doesn’t require a face. Then I double checked on this week and a face is required so I will keep looking darn it. lol

 Go over there and check out all of the other awesome entries when you have time. The talent is unreal!

I thought about gluing a pretty red ribbon down over my number but what I have is not thick enough. Then I thought about just gluing red cardstock over the numbers but I don’t have any in pearl. So I ended up just crossing off the last 4 numbers and re-writing them next to the old with the typos.

I wouldn’t care so much that this had happened if it didn’t happen now! I am a vendor in a local Bridal fair on Sunday and there’s no way to get them replaced that quickly. I will have to explain the hard truth about typo’s before I let someone walk away with one. lol.

So to cheer myself up as much as possible I have decided to blog some more photos from Jason and Holly’s wedding in September. Remember them from their Engagement session I did?  We had a lot of fun together! I love the use of signs in pics. Unfortunately the women took a long time to get ready and we didn’t have much time with them alone. Perhaps some of them will be next!

Enjoy.

The day started off gloomy and rainy but when we got to the church the sun started to come out and some beautiful blue sky appeared. Although after the ceremony while we were outside taking photos of just the bride and groom it did start to rain. Well luckily it didn’t last long and right when we were going to head back in a rainbow appeared. I was shocked and took a quick snap, the house in the background is a bummer but what can you do. lol.

So anyways congrats guys and here’s to many long and happy years together! Thank you for choosing me to be your wedding photographer!

Enjoy your preview and tell your friends and family to come check it out. Everyone leave a comment for the newlyweds so they know you stopped by.

ps. Oops I see the 2nd set of photos is backwards. 

Well I hope you enjoy your preview and Congrats again on your marriage!

Feel free to comment below the photos and let them know what you think. Thanks!

Be sure to share this with your friends and family especially anyone who wasn’t able to be there.

Sorry for so many pics I just couldn’t choose.

Wes and the Pastor getting the ceremony started.
Wes went inside and Whitney came down the staircase, Wes hadn’t seen Whitney for about 4 days and they chose to not see eachother before now so the emotions were all raw at this point.

They had their moment then went outside to continue with the ceremony.

Here Wes is reading his vows.

Whitney’s mom thought they needed some pics of me since I was taking so many…guess she thought I wouldn’t do it…but being the ham I am I handed Wes’ mom my camera and she got some of me. lol. Good times.

After lunch I took them down on the beach and got photos of just the two of them.


I love this one!

I took Wes out to the front of the house and we walked around looking for some good locations and we found this little swing…too fun.



Congrats you guys!

Feel free to leave some luv for the Newlyweds below this post in the comments section. I will post more pics of just them next.