About four months ago, I recieved a phone message stating that a woman named Muy called and was inquiring about her wedding on August 28th of 2007. I remember looking at the message a few times - sure that someone here at the office heard her wrong as 08.28.07 was a Tuesday. Sure enough, Muy and Anthony chose a Tuesday to be married so that they didn't have to wait for the perfect venue, vendors and availibility to open up all at the same time. Such a smart idea!

Being a Tuesday isn't the only aspect to Muy and Anthony's wedding that was very unique, they also incoporated Muy's Cambodian heritage into a Tea Ceremony following their Religious ceremony prior to the reception. The schedule, decor and all the beautiful red and bamboo details were pulled together with the expert assistance of Williams Sossen Events, and the wedding took place at The Lake House Inn.

I love Anthony's face when he first sees Muy

and a beautiful inspiration board of a red outdoor asian summer wedding with bamboo details

I can't believe it was three years ago I hired Becca to help me out at LNP and since then she has grown into an incredibly talented and dedicated employee. Being that she is so valuable to me, I felt it was only appropriate to get her a t-shirt that demonstrates her true importance in the studio for an anniversary present.

Thanks Bec, for everything you do!

thank you for all your kind birthday wishes both here on the blog and elsewhere. I must have been good this year because my office was filled with beautiful flowers from friends afar. I was so happy to hear from all those in my life I have been 'meaning' to call but haven't... and my birthday gave us an immediate reason to connect. Birthdays are so great in that way.

Rachel LaCour Neisen and Andrew Neisen of LaCour were traveling through Wilmington last Tuesday and crashed my birthday dinner with John. We were of course thrilled to have the company and they supplied us with this lovely celebration photo:

During dinner, Rachel and I bonded over our love for all things design and a few days later Rachel sent me a birthday gift certificate to Design Public. I am so thrilled to have found a design store I have never visited before, that is a birthday treat in itself! I ended up purchasing this hanging panel with the certificate for a random thin vertical wall area above our hundred year old stairwell which will be simply perfect for the space:

This year's birthday was a great one, from connecting with old friends and getting to know new ones - it seems as I get older these are the things that become more and more important to me. So thank you, my friends, for helping me remember to celebrate life.

I was so fortuante to be part of Caroline and Ryan's beautiful garden affair on a warm summer evening, which was pulled together beautifully with a casual elegance. The reception was held in the rolling vistas behind the Greenville Country Club in Greenville, Delaware in an expertly designed tent by Flowers by Yukie. Jellyroll kept the celebration going late into the night and wedding coordination was perfectly excuted Cathy Klocko.

and an inspiration board from Caroline & Ryan's wedding for a lavender themed summer soiree:

Today is my birthday - the very last one I will ever have in my 20s which is nostalgic and exciting all at the same time.

I always purchase a present for myself on special occasions, I think it's a nice way of being kind to your inner 'id.' Lately I've been scouring art and design magazines for home decor ideas, and found these great Plates in the back of Blueprint Magazine which perfectly match the blue and green decor in my living room. I bought wall plate hangers online and I can't wait to see how they look in our front foyer area!

Edited to add: Strange but True - I also share a birthday with the World's Oldest Man!

It's been a while since I posted about my own wedding, and as the day gets closer I'm starting to iron out all the little details with John. John, Art and I went for a long walk yesterday in the Brandywine Creek State Park and began to plan some of the finer details - the rehearsal dinner, transportation and what colors we'd like to use.

When designing our invitations, Vanessa really helped me think about what types of colors would work really nicely together for our styles. We both love this design she created for us and decided to use it for our invitations:

Here's an inspiration board I came up with over the weekend that helped me see the dark pink, black and white palette together that Vanessa started for us. I really love how it's both modern but with really classic elements to it, and I'm a huge fan of damask so I'm thinking that should probably be incorporated into the wedding somehow. And because it's winter, I think the feathers in the bouquet in the top left photo really make it fun and festive for the season.

This is of course just a start but I'm starting to get excited with the wedding being so close!

With the fall portraits season in full swing, I'm going to be taking mini sessions on the road again but this time I'm heading north and partnering with some fabulous children's boutiques! The three dates are:

September 20th & 27th in Wayne, PA with Gene's Urban Baby Boutique in downtown Wayne

October 3rd in Central Park, NYC with Spring Flowers Boutique on Madison Avenue in New York

I would appreciate it if you could use the 'send to a friend' feature at the bottom of this post and forward information about these exciting events to anyone you know who might be interested in participating.

Mini Photo Session details:

$250.00 fee for the mini-photo session, which includes:

• A personal styling session at a time of your choosing prior to the portrait day.

• $100.00 clothing gift certificate to Genes in Wayne, PA or Spring Flowers in New York to choose your child's fun and funky outfit for the photo session

• A private 15-minute photo session with Laura Novak.

• Ordering meeting for prints and other fun photo offerings from Laura Novak Photography. We welcome you to Laura’s Wilmington Studio to see your child’s photos, and choose the best portraits and presentation for your family’s unique style. For your convenience this meeting will be arranged for you when you schedule your mini-photo session. For those who are not able to travel to the studio, we will arrange a complimentary remote viewing session at a time that suits each customer.

Mini sessions are a great way to introduce a child to photography, and achieve many different expressions in a short time frame. To reserve your space today, please call the studio at 302.656.5274. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. I look forward to seeing you soon!

What a great time I had with Janet Zapalla of CN8 Philadelphia News a few weeks ago - she was gracious, encouraging and very complimentary of my work. It was a great experience to be part of the show!

Click on the below icon listen to the clip. If you don't have a windows media player plugin installed on your computer, try clicking here.