12.26.07 - Personal rsvp returns

Ever since our wedding invitations went out, John and I have been immensely enjoying seeing what kinds of responses we get. When I first saw our RSVP cards, I wasn't entirely sure how people would know what to write. But trusting Vanessa and her expertise, I went with it and I am now a huge fan of sending out blank RSVP cards! We are getting back the most fun responses - some of them are pictures, illustrations, beautiful hand calligraphy, formal and informal. Here are a few of my favorites so far. This one made me laugh out loud:

I wouldn't expect any kind of normal response from Bec

and finally, this is probably a good lesson to not look up your friends' addresses on switchboard.com assuming it's the right one when you find the same name in the general vacinity of where you think they live.

i'm sure there will be more coming...

12.21.07 - News Holiday Cheer

What a wonderful year it has been at Laura Novak Photography. Words cannot express how grateful and thankful I am for being able to do something I love, for my wonderful staff, and for all the amazing clients who choose to invest in our artistic talents. My sincere wish is that you have a wonderful Holiday with many positive life experiences upon you in 2008. This morning during my 6 a.m. yoga class the teacher read the following quote: Time is an invention Now is a reality So much creativity is happening for the simple reason that we have withdrawn ourselves from past and future Our whole energy remains blocked either in the past or in the future When you withdraw all your energy from past and future a tremendous explosion happens. That explosion is creativity - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh What an appropriate quote as we look towards the new year. In celebration of a creative new year, here is a cheerful and energetic photo I took at Longwood Gardens earlier this month when my good friend Kristen was visiting from Boston:

As a gift from me to you, you are welcome to download it as a screensaver here Happy Holidays! ps - Please note our studio will be closed from Saturday, December 29th to Wednesday, January 2nd. We will be checking email and voicemail so feel free to leave a message and we'll get back to you!

12.20.07 - News now shipping!

Along with the many clients and friends who frequent this blog, I also know that several photographers read up on what is going on here at Laura Novak Photography! Along with all the excitement of a wonderful Holiday season at Laura Novak Photography, I have also been working day and night with the elves at DVideography to complete our newest product for photographers - Path to a Business Plan DVD set. It's ready to ship and looks fantastic! I'm so excited about the quality of the content, the visual delivery of the material and the business plan workbook that comes with the set.

When I first started my photography business, I felt that every business plan manual I came across just didn't make sense for a photography business, since it's so different than any other kind of operation. This workbook takes photographers through a series of exercises in creating goals and a business plan they can actually use. Any orders placed this week will be recieved by the New Year, just in time for a fresh start with your business. For more information feel free to visit the Strategy Avenue website and blog . Happy Holidays!

12.19.07 - Weddings i have the best clients!

This week we have been getting so many different wonderful gifts, cards, cupcakes (thanks chris!), cookies, chocolate, flowers from all of our clients. we are so fortunate to have such appreciative clients and vendors in our lives - some of whom are going to be responsible for a few extra pounds around here but we all work better on a sugar high anyways. Today I received a package that takes the cake, even though there wasn't any cake inside at all. On Dec. 1st at Suji & Scott's wedding (which will be posted shortly!) I commented on how pretty Suji's handmade thank you card box was - and how I loved the fabric since it goes with the damask pattern on my invite. See? So pretty:

Today I recieved a big package from Suji and right when I saw it, I knew what it was. I opened up the box and this was inside:

most brides would be lucky to remember any conversation they had on their wedding day, much less a casual comment from their wedding photographer. It was so thoughtful for Suji to remember me saying something, nevermind shipping it the week she got back from her honeymoon. I can't wait to use the box for my wedding, it's so pretty!

and just for a sneak peek, here are a few of my favorite photos of Suji & Scott's wedding in West Orange, NJ

more to come soon!

12.17.07 - Kids some of my favorite things

I wish I had the opporutnity to give out fantastic gifts to hundreds of audience members of my blog, but my connections aren't as great as Oprah's (yet!). So in the meantime, I wanted to share with you a few recent favorite photos, holiday cards and albums we have delivered. Today we shipped out several portrait albums, one of which was from Landon's photo shoot about a month ago:

another album is the culmination of a year and a half of photography taking one family from maternity

to newborn

to toddler! what a fun adventure to be part of.

some of my recent favorites are also different and interesting Holiday Card designs custom created by our studio's in-house graphic design team:

There are so many more that we have delivered, but these are just a few that happened to be on my computer right now. And then of course, our annual Laura Novak Photography card featuring our SuperIntern Annie, Studio Manager Michele, me (holding Art the dog), and Associate Photographer Becca Rahn

Happy Holidays from all of us at Laura Novak Photography! Thank you for being reading our blog and keeping up with all our adventures. We are looking forward to 2008 with some exciting plans including a brand new website, new offerings and of course meeting new people!

12.09.07 - News better late than never

12.07.07 - News Amanda + Brett

Hot off the presses... Amanda & Brett's beautiful feature in the Knot Philadelphia. I love the new editorial layout for The Knot and photo selections for this piece really tell the story of their amazing day last February. My favorite aspect to this wedding are the very natural, organic details that complete the theme. Sometimes with winter weddings, people choose the obvious details such as snowflakes or holly inspired graphics. Amanda went in a different direction with organic, natural branches complimented by green moss and romantic white candlelight. Another interesting aspect to this wedding is that all of Amanda and Brett's photographs were taking outdoors at night in February, which could be challenging under some circumstances but they made it super easy for me. A little off camera lighting, a bride and groom not afraid of the cold, and romantic moments between them gave me what I needed to create a variety of portraits that capture who they are.

12.05.07 - Weddings the invites have arrived

and we couldn't be happier. John and I just love our invitations... Two Paper Dolls did an amazing job. Vanessa suggested to send them out early to avoid Holiday mail rush, and with these super cool black envelopes with white modern calligraphy I would imagine they'll stand out pretty well. Annie, our SuperDuperIntern, said that the writing looks like icicles.

Love the letterpress.

The back of the invites are a reverse pattern of the front:

The whole set just looks amazing. We love that the the pink is balanced with black for a classic, yet modern, mix.