Happy New Year, dear friends!  I hope that you all had a magical holiday season!  December is always the craziest off season month for us- of course there is the hustle and bustle of Christmas, but both Barry’s birthday and my birthday are in December (in addition to quite a few of our friends.)  By January, we are ready for some major down time!  I bet many of you feel the same way!

So, thanks for your patience since I haven’t posted a blog in a few weeks!  But this one’s a goodie because it recaps some of the great things we did in 2016, from a professional and personal standpoint!  Let’s start out with some of Lavender Leigh’s accomplishments…

1.) Twenty-Two Weddings!
By some stroke of luck, the most amazing people find and book us to photograph their wedding, and we honestly feel so appreciative of this, and the relationships we establish with them.  We photographed in Pittsburgh and New York this year! Congratulations to our wonderful 2016 couples!

2.) Fifteen Boudoir Sessions!
I absolutely love photographing boudoir, and in 2017 am planning to have even more time to dedicate to it!  Boudoir sessions take place in my home studio.  Boudoir sessions keep growing in demand, so early in 2016, we decided to dedicate a room just for boudoir- see item #6 below!  Together with my dream team makeup artist, Mandy at Pure Beauty Makeup Artistry, and Callie at Auria Salon, we have the best time producing our boudoir clients’ visions!

3.) Senior Photography
Say what?!  Yes, you heard it correctly!  We have decided to break into the Senior Market, friends!  And, we are looking for 2018 Senior Representatives!  If you know of any families with high school seniors in the Class of 2018, I would be so appreciative if you sent them our way!

4.) Published!
In 2016, our couples were seen all over- from the Pittsburgh Magazine, to Borrowed and Blue, and even on WPXI!  We are happy that so many media channels gave a nod to our amazing clients and their special moments!

Click on the couple’s name to view their feature!  In order of appearance- Stephanie and Doug’s wedding at The Club at Nevillewood, Elise and Eric’s engagement session at Kennywood, Courtney and Chris’s wedding at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott, Calli and Joe’s wedding at the Pittsburgh Field Club, Our award for “Best Wedding Photographer in Pittsburgh” by Credit Donkey, Laura and Dan’s wedding at Embassy Suites.

5.) New Wedding Albums
While we still offer our Artisan Modern Leather Albums, we wanted to give our wedding couples a unique type of album that is incredibly classy and sophisticated.  Our goal was to find an original, high-end album, that isn’t offered by other photographers in the Pittsburgh market, and has gorgeous cover material options.  After searching through a million album companies, we finally found what we were looking for!  The Luxe Album Collection offers the rarest colored raw silks and fabrics, and is such a stunning way to commemorate the most important day of your life!  I plan to post more about this type of album and also the Modern Leather Album shortly down the road!

6.)  A New Boudoir Room
Prior to being the boudoir room, this room was nautical in theme, a la Pottery Barn style.  We decided to put it to better use and create a French Country-Chic boudoir room!  It was a fun project during our winter down time.

7.) Client Love
Who doesn’t love a little mail love or surprise gift?  From our first touchpoint with a client, all the way through the delivered end package, our clients deserve second-to-none attention and quality in product and service.  This is why we keep our studio boutique-style.  We only take on a limited amount of bookings per month to keep ourselves fresh, and to put our best foot forward every time.  This gives us time to spoil our clients with the highest quality products and presentation!

8.) Pop Up Pittsburgh Weddings
This year, we partnered with the Pop Up Pittsburgh Wedding Co and photographed three Pop Up weddings at the Historic Pump House in July!  The couples were the sweetest, and the decor was a beautiful assortment of elegant, fun, and shabby-chic antiques.  Thanks to Trish at the Pop Up Pittsburgh Wedding Company for asking us to partner with them!  If you’d like to see a more detailed play-by-play of this Pop Up Wedding Day, or to learn what a Pop Up Wedding is, click here!

9.) Networking
We had the pleasure of working with so many talented wedding vendors last year, and had the opportunity to capture some of their special events and products!

Whirl Magazine Wedding Networking Event at DeStefino Beauty Bar
Some of Pittsburgh’s finest wedding vendors were asked to come under one roof to share their talents!  There are some amazing small businesses out there- click on here to learn about them! http://www.lavenderleighphotography.com/wedding-networking-event/
Special shout out to our friendor Nicole at Your Big Day for coordinating our participation in this event!

Wanderlust Weddings and Events
Wanderlust Weddings and Events is a talented (and gorgeous) group of ladies that specialize in event planning, event design, and day-of coordination.  They have such an attention to detail, and create jaw-dropping events!  Just look at some of the details from this Baby Shower they asked me to photograph! Ah-mazing!

A519 Chocolate
Think: ultra sophisticated wedding favor or Welcome bag gift.  Amanda is the culinary creative genius behind A519 Chocolate.  Her artistic designs are colorful and dynamic, and the chocolate tastes just as amazing as it looks!  Amanda has been recognized nationally for her skills, and I can vouch that her chocolates are my absolute favorite.  Good-bye, Godiva.  Hello, A519!  When Amanda asked me to take some pictures of her for a national publication, I was overjoyed to help her out!

On to Our Personal Accomplishments….
A photographer has to learn to block off family and personal time, or else we could *easily* work seven days a week!  From April through the middle of December, it can be a struggle to keep it just at six days a week.  Here are some of the things we have gotten around to in our spare free time!

10.) Kitchen Renovations
What used to be a Tuscan-looking kitchen, with maize colored walls and pea-green colored cabinets that were built in the 70s, has now become a modern and bright kitchen!  Don’t get me wrong- our little kitchen looked cute when it was warm and had the Tuscan country vibe, but it makes a world of difference now that it is bright and clutter free!  This project started in February 2016 with the initial concept, and we *just* finished in December!  I love designing the kitchen, and Barry did a bang up job with the installation!  We also had help here and there from a few kitchen professionals and our awesome neighbor, Butch!  I never imagined how much work goes into renovating a kitchen.  It is so much more than installing cabinets and countertops!

11.) Exterior House Stucco
Does this sound boring?  Well, it was.  And tedious!  We used to have patches of stucco missing around the base of the house, but now it is all patched and painted!  Imagine hour after hour of scraping off patches of stucco that weren’t fully affixed to the house.  And sanding down rough spots.  And patching with more stucco. Then painting the entire exterior of the house.  All during 80 degree weather.  Thank goodness that is over!  Here is our newly patched and painted 106 year-old house…

12.) Travel
If nothing else, we want to spend any vacation time seeing the world.  This year, we traveled to Barcelona and Costa Brava to experience the beautiful Spanish culture.  To see a more detailed blog post, click on these links:
Our travels to Costa Brava
Our travels to Barcelona

So, those are the things we got around to in 2016!  Day to day, we also take care of our furry kid, Benny.  This little guy has our hearts!  We rescued him at the age of eight.  He is sometimes a little bit of a healthcare handful (he may have been blessed with good looks, but he has minor genetic health hiccups!)  Benny couldn’t be more loved, and we are a happy and blessed family.  From ours to yours, Happy New Year!