Happy Holidays!

Hope y'all are enjoying the holidays.  This one is a longer blog, because I had a lot to reflect upon over Christmas.  Photos are at the bottom. :)

Christmas came and went really fast this year.  I kept telling myself that this year I'm not going to focus on all the wrong things like gift swapping, holiday parties, etc.  But I ended up being guilt tripped to do all this last minute shopping.  The shopping frenzy was a bit overwhelming for me.  I don't remember the traffic being so terrible until this year. 

Although, giving gifts is probably my biggest love language, I'm not much of a fan of it during holidays like Christmas and V-day.  I like giving gifts just because, not because I'm obligated to.  I think the perfect gift comes to fruition when a lot of thought is put into it.  You get really lucky when you come across something that reminds me of a certain person.  If the greatest gift of all is love, I guess gifts can also look very different for different people.

Maybe for next Christmas, I may have to make it a year long process if I'm going to do this right.  That way I'm not strapped for time and giving people stuff that they might or might not want and most definitely do not need.

At first, all I could talk about was how much I really wanted this ferragamo bag, which I knew I couldn't afford (WAY WAY out of my budget).  I'm not even much of a bag person, and it's pretty rare when I find something that I absolutely must have.  This one just happened to be that hot item!  I really had to remind myself that I really really really did not need it. 

I am more than blessed with what I already have, and it's quite probable that I'd find very little fulfillment in it after I actually own it.  I was reminded of this past year during dts, where we were living more simply and relied on God for everything.  He always did provide for what I needed, and sometimes surprised me with little things that He knew I wanted.  The real joy came from knowing that in Him we live and move and have our being.  Why's it so easy to forget all that He's done.

Also wanted to share some Christmas-related photos.  Thought it would be very fitting. :)  Meet Kira.  She was full of energy and spunk.







She wanted to give us some sass.  Just being her model self.





The outfit was too adorable!

Tara and Jamie Photobooth!

We are very happy to announce that we are officially offering some new services and products: photobooths, custom photobooks, and flip books. 

It seems like photobooths are getting more and more popular at weddings.  And for good reason.  They keep guests entertained.  They leave the couple with a little something extra to remember of their wedding day.  PLUS, they're a ton of fun to shoot!  If you have an upcoming wedding, I would consider having one.

I debated going to party city to buy a handful of props (i.e. crazy wigs, etc), but then I felt like I've seen the same types of props overused in a lot of the photobooths.  I talked it over with Jacob, knowing that I wanted them to be unique to each wedding, so we decided that we would bring only one prop and then get creative with what we could find on-site.  It's amazing what you can find to use as props.

The guests at Tara and Jamie's wedding were definitely not camera shy.  We told them to get wild and crazy for the photobooth, and that's what they gave us.  It was even our first time getting mooned!  I'm keeping the blog PG, but if you were a guest at the wedding and would like to view the rest or purchase any of the images from the photobooth, you can go to www.estherjulee.com and under the clients tab, type in the bride's maiden name as the password.  If you have any trouble with ordering, please email us at jacob@estherjulee.com





















Jacob did a fantastic job with all the photos and definitely knew how to work the crowd.  Hope everyone is having an amazing start to their week!  As for me, I had a pretty rough night of editing, so I'm gonna go catch some zzZz's.

Tara and Jamie Wedding (Teasers)

These were a few things I loved about Tara and Jamie's wedding.

1.  Catholic ceremonies are always beautiful to photograph.  Christ the King Cathedral.



And guess what I found there for some sweet ring shots!



2. Al of 2000 AD Inc. did a wonderful job putting together the details at the wedding, and I had a ton of fun shooting them.



3.  Photography was very important to Tara and Jamie, so they set plenty of time aside for photos in between the ceremony and reception.  They even had a trolley take the wedding party around for a few hours to different locations.  It made a world of a difference.





4.  I love fall and all the beautiful colors that come with the season.  These were taken at Piedmont Park.





5.  Never hurts having a good looking wedding party.  Loved this shot of them.



6.  All the photobooth fun!  They didn't even need to be liquored up to get crazy in front of the camera.  This photo is just a preview for the next post.

Back from Indonesia!

We're back from Indonesia!  Unfortunately, I didn't have much internet access during the trip, so I wasn't able to blog update along the way.  Now, it's time to play catch-up on here.

Yesterday was probably one of my most unpleasant ways to end an amazing trip with 22 hours of flight + 7 hours of layover + delays.  Being sick, I had to run to the bathroom on the plane every ten minutes.  Not fun.  It's good to be back though and to get back to the grind.  And at least I had wall-e to accompany me the entire time. ;)



Best seat on the plane.  The loudest one, and you can't see a thing.  haha



New updates coming in the next few weeks on the blog:

• Tara and Jamie's photobooth
• Tara and Jamie's wedding teasers
• Thanksgiving in Boston
• Places to eat around Boston
  
• Charlie and Jacqueline's wedding (Jakarta)
• Bali trip