So wonderful to meet you! Most days you’ll find me on the living room floor, wearing yoga pants, a smile on my face, and a book somewhere in reach. I’m a true child at heart, which in adult-fashion is a free-spirit. I give my heart to cities that show spectacular sunrises, and jump up and down when I’m excited.
My camera? It’s the vehicle I use to capture the most beautiful love stories. It’s that box probably muffling my squeal when I see how lovely you shine! I take ordinary moments that are gone in the blink of an eye and turn them into extraordinary keepsakes. The kind of photos that transport you the minute you hold them in your hands I’m that girl who understands how awkward it is in front of the camera. (All my personal photos will attest.) It's because of this, I focus on emotion rather than static posing. I fall in love with happiness, movement, laughter, silence, and that all encompassing word: personality. I allow my couples to be themselves opening an entirely new door to capturing memories.
I'm a photographer, free-spirit, and lover of candids just trying to make this whole picture thing a little less stressful and a little more you.
a bit about riss
About this magazine
Why a magazine?
Short version: I'm in love with InDesign.
Being primarily a photographer, I needed to find a solid reason to purchase the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription of a non-photo-editing software.
Long Version: I've always had this dream to write a book and maybe one day I actually will. I thoroughly love sharing my story and process in hopes it helps someone find theirs!
For the past year I've had an itch for more creative outlets. I toyed with emails, but my soft-spoken soul wasn't ready to pop into an inbox on a regular basis. Hii, introvert over here!
What was left? Just updating social media? Nah.
I had an idea to create a wedding magazine for my 2019 brides. Then it snowballed. Why not create a magazine that allows me to touch base with all my past and future clients, or even just update friends and family of my adventures?
I will chat about some of my favorite weddings (even though they are all my faves!), some nifty tricks I've learned about wedding planning, and even just answer some of the most common photographer questions I receive.
So here we are. The first issue!
My soft-spoken soul and I hope you love it.
Turn the page, let's see where it takes us!
Capturing over four years full of weddings led to experiencing an array of what to-do and what not to-do. Of course there is always more to see and learn, but I feel being a part of 50+ weddings can allow me to chat on the topic. Let me be honest: My clients are amazing. They truly are the best of the best. Since I work with some of the best, I need to be the absolute best.
It's all about guiding my couples through the complicated / stressful / crazy process of planning the biggest, most important day of their lives.
No biggie, right? Wrong. Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day, shall we?
5 tips for a
relaxed wedding day!
schedule strategically
1
Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day!
Your ceremony time directs how the day will lead. If it’s in the middle of the day, great, you can do your photos in between you tying the knot and cocktail hour. But if your ceremony flows into your cocktails, you should probably consider a first look. My goal? To have everyone enjoy as much of cocktail hour as possible. Why? Well the most obvious answer is you are paying for it, so you might as well enjoy it. But another point: it’s one of the only times you get to greet your guests. Chat with your photographer, find out how long they need for certain things, schedule in travel time, and add a little cushion!
Capturing over four years full of weddings led to experiencing an array of what to-do and what not to-do. Of course there is always more to see and learn, but I feel being a part of 50+ weddings can allow me to chat on the topic. Let me be honest: My clients are amazing. They truly are the best of the best. Since I work with some of the best, I need to be the absolute best.
It's all about guiding my couples through the complicated / stressful / crazy process of planning the biggest, most important day of their lives.
No biggie, right? Wrong. Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day, shall we?
5 tips for a
relaxed wedding day!
prep ahead of time
2
Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day!
When your photographer shows up, you want them to get right to work. How do you do this? By prepping ahead of time. What should you prepare? Well, anything you want photographed. For my brides, I suggest to have any bridal details they want captured set out. Whether that is the dress, hangers, jewelry, family heirlooms, flowers, shoes, etc! When I start shooting, I begin with styling these details that help tell your wedding story. If you don’t have things ready, I’ll be wasting time tracking them down (when I could be making them pretty and shooting!) The more prepared you are, the better – for you and for your photographer!
Capturing over four years full of weddings led to experiencing an array of what to-do and what not to-do. Of course there is always more to see and learn, but I feel being a part of 50+ weddings can allow me to chat on the topic. Let me be honest: My clients are amazing. They truly are the best of the best. Since I work with some of the best, I need to be the absolute best.
It's all about guiding my couples through the complicated / stressful / crazy process of planning the biggest, most important day of their lives.
No biggie, right? Wrong. Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day, shall we?
5 tips for a
relaxed wedding day!
communicate clearly
3
Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day!
Need your grandma to the church early? Want your wedding party to hang around after the ceremony? Need to get your college buddies ready for a shot during cocktail hour? Tell them! Make sure you communicate the schedule clearly and that everyone who needs it has it BEFORE the wedding. This helps us not waste time tracking Uncle Mike down or grabbing Ben from the bar. Photos move faster, getting you to your party sooner. Plus you’re less stressed, I promise
Capturing over four years full of weddings led to experiencing an array of what to-do and what not to-do. Of course there is always more to see and learn, but I feel being a part of 50+ weddings can allow me to chat on the topic. Let me be honest: My clients are amazing. They truly are the best of the best. Since I work with some of the best, I need to be the absolute best.
It's all about guiding my couples through the complicated / stressful / crazy process of planning the biggest, most important day of their lives.
No biggie, right? Wrong. Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day, shall we?
5 tips for a
relaxed wedding day!
Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day!
make time for photos
4
I love when my couples make time for a first look for multiple reasons. First, it gives you the chance to take a breath, embrace, and experience the emotions without hundreds of pairs of eyes on you. Second, it allows us to knock out the bridal party portraits so we can cruise into the ceremony with only Family Portraits to go. Lastly, it gives me the chance to sneak into your reception during cocktail hour and photograph all of the hard work you’ve done! The time I have can help preserve all the details you spend months planning! I get it though, some people truly enjoy the traditional first look down the aisle. If this is the case, I always like to take my couples out for a sunset photo, so that way they have a few minutes of time just for them.
Capturing over four years full of weddings led to experiencing an array of what to-do and what not to-do. Of course there is always more to see and learn, but I feel being a part of 50+ weddings can allow me to chat on the topic. Let me be honest: My clients are amazing. They truly are the best of the best. Since I work with some of the best, I need to be the absolute best.
It's all about guiding my couples through the complicated / stressful / crazy process of planning the biggest, most important day of their lives.
No biggie, right? Wrong. Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day, shall we?
5 tips for a
relaxed wedding day!
Let’s talk through five tips to help facilitate a stress-free wedding day!
just be present!
5
Wait, what? You better believe it when everyone tells you that a wedding day is a total whirlwind! If you don't intentionally take in those moments where you stop and hold a hand or share a smile, it will fly by. When I capture bridal portraits, I make sure to reiterate that this isn’t just time for photos, this is a time for you to be fully with each other. Hug the way you hug, kiss the way you kiss. If you want to pick her up, do it. If you want to grab his face, hold on tight. Feel the joy and experience how wonderful your love is. I, along with thousands of photographers, truly believe that wedding days are living, moving, breathing phenomena. They are here and gone in the blink of an eye. It’s important to set yourself up for a beautiful day and to lessen any stress ahead of time. This way you can enjoy your day without focusing on the schedule or the flowers, the cake or even the music. Focus on what is beginning. This union, this marriage, the new chapter in your lives. It's the experience to take in that helps create a marriage more beautiful than your wedding day.
investment into a wedding photographer
Every wedding is extraordinary because every couple is extraordinary.
Being your photographer is a job I take very seriously. I want
you to remember every emotion and feeling that came from your
wedding day. In order to do that, I found it helps if my couples and
I truly click. When you feel comfortable with your photographer, it
shows. You embrace moments as they come, instead of constantly
worrying and looking ahead!
Your photographer is an investment. In truth your photos will live on
for generations to enjoy. The cake ends up devoured, the flowers
dried, the dress pressed and hung. Your photographs are the items
to be revisited again and again!
A photographer should only be helping you focus on what is beginning.
The marriage. The new chapter in your lives. So invest in a
one you respect, trust and love. Have them capture the moments,
while you worry about living them!
Wedding feature
sarah & jimmy
sarah & jimmys nye blog post!
I don't have any words for this wedding, other that HOT DAMN WOW. The Wojtila clan has been in my life for years. They are that family that truly encapsulates what it means to be a family. Together sharing happiness as the brightest of lights to others.
When Jimmy & Sarah first contacted me about working together on their wedding day, I was scared out of my mind. What if I can't capture what I feel? What if I mess up and completely ruin the best day of their lives?
This is always going to be a question I ask myself in doubt. But back in 2016, I was still working out my kinks. I had about 15 weddings under my belt and still hadn't solidified my approach to capturing special days. I went back and forth between posing couples making perfection to intermittently capturing the candids. I thought there was only one place to stand for a first kiss, and I definitely struggled with lighting aspects. I fully believed at that point that I was not worthy to capture a couple like Jimmy & Sarah.
That year I had 11 weddings, and decided to try something new. Their wedding was on the last day of year (yes, that is New Year's Eve), and I jumped in head first. I stopped posing. I paused my instinct to tell them what to do. I let it go, and watched their emotions soar.
The first wedding I captured 100% candidly and why I was hooked!
read on
Wedding feature
sarah & jimmy
What did I see? Everything. I saw the tiny way Sarah's mouth pinched up into a smile when Jimmy looked in her eyes. I saw Jimmy (and his dad!) cry when they first saw Sarah down the aisle. I saw personality in every single guest in that bridal party. I experienced joy in just clicking my shutter. I let them be them, and experienced their day as they felt it. Before their wedding I would ask for Pinterest boards or photo lists. Since then, I stopped. I explain to my couples that the best way for me to naturally capture their day is for them to be natural.
I can't capture candid moments if I'm trying to find the definition of perfection.
Which brings me to my final note: Perfection doesn't necessarily mean posing. Every couple endorses their own version of love and that exudes not only emotion, but also a natural way to fit together. When I was telling couples how to stand, I was taking away from their natural fit. I was instilling in them an idea that their own way to be together wasn't good enough. And that is just not true.
So there grew my idea for a natural photography experience. One that hooked me into primarily capturing candids, and allowing my couples to experience every feeling without evoking anything.
Don't believe that it could work?
Take a look at some images from their wedding gallery!
The first wedding I captured 100% candidly and why I was hooked!
sarah & jimmys nye blog post!
see gallery
Wedding feature
sarah & jimmy
view sarah & jimmy's
nye wedding
blog post!
view sarah & jimmy's nye wedding blog post!
your
Wedding photog's timeline
Let it be said loud and clear, a wedding photographer's job does not end when he or she leaves your reception. It also doesn't begin the moment they arrive. There are multiple steps photographers go through in order to provide clients with their beautiful moments. I love to share my wedding process, not to boast at how much work it takes, but to open eyes of clients and vendors, so one can see how much time I spend making sure their wedding is perfectly them. On the following pages, I listed my own wedding timeline. I hope this helps (or at least lets my mother realize how much work I actually am doing while editing at my computer, watching Game of Thrones for the umpteenth time.)
Let's chat about what your photographer does before, during, & after your wedding!
click to view timeline
Want more?
Well stay tuned!
We hope to create this magazine annually!
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Just a fun way to share Marissa's experiences as well as show
off some fantastic couples!
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