It was the grown up equivalent of a bunch of kids in a candy store, every direction you could turn your head was something fun to shoot. The colors and textures are amazing, you won’t find an unadorned surface in the entire hotel.

We started out in the bar, moved on to the library and eventually made our way up the stairs and into the Zen Garden, where they have the most unique ceremony location in The Valley. They actually build an acrylic stage right over the Zen Garden that you have to see  to believe.

Then it was on to the Presidential Suite, where sadly, our thinly veiled suggestion of needing the suite for the rest of the night was not approved (well, okay, maybe we weren’t really planning on working through the night and might have been considering calling some friends over for a little party…)

Artisan has been a preferred photography vendor at Troon North Golf Club since 2005 and have photographed many splendid weddings there, but since this is a group brochure representing all of Troon North’s preferred vendors, we’re going to break tradition here on the Artisan blog and show you another photographer’s work as well. The design includes some of our good friend and fellow preferred vendor Anne McCarthy’s work too, from One Fine Day Photography

Hope you enjoy the mockup, we’re still fleshing out the text and other details, but we think it gives you a really good feel for what weddings at Troon North are like.

We also have a new variation that should be in soon and we’ll post a few photos as soon as we can.

This is a new style of a guest book for weddings, one that’s photo based and you can sign directly on the pages (provided you have the magic pens- make sure you never try writing on photos with a standard ink pen, it’s more like denting them than writing).

With this style of book, we tailor the engagement session images to focus a little more on negative space and leave lots of room for signing.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

You can add only one book on page

How is it then, that the 1 meter object can travel 25 meters, silently, in the dark of night, place itself adjacent to the larger cylinder and forcibly remove the larger cylinder from it’s resting place?

I honestly don’t know- you’ll have to ask Lucas! We’re running three nights in a row, where the mini-cylinder has sneaked into our bed and methodically rolled me out of it, a new and improved mini-fulcrum: No lever required.

I’d put bells on him, but that would open us up to having Mateo add the antlers and red nose, before sending him off the stairs to see if he can fly.

Here’s the 411:

Venue: Troon North Golf Club
Date: Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Time: 2:00pm-6:00pm
Address: 10320 E. Dynamite Blvd | Scottsdale
Contact: Amber Riley, Director of Catering & Events
480.570.6985, ARiley@TroonGolf.com
Web Site: TroonNorthGolf.com

What can we say about Troon North? Lots.

First things first- Troon North is a stellar venue for photography (where else would you expect us to start?). The ceremony site is tucked away on the most amazing piece of turf you’ll find (big surprise- Troon North knows how to take care of a lawn?) and it’s quite private, all foot and cart traffic is blocked and you won’t hear or see a single golfer. The site is slightly recessed which allows us to meander about on the small hills, providing some wonderful angles you usually need a roof or balcony to get.

The golf course itself presents some problems though- there are way too many places we want to go than we have time for. Seriously.

The other problem is related to Troon’s sunsets. Perhaps it’s the desert locale, but there are many days when we have to correct our sunset photos, because they’re too vibrant! Straight out of the camera, our images often look like they were mangled by a Photoshop newbie that went crazy with the Saturation slider.

Troon North get’s amazing blues and oranges, we love the skies and the variety.

As for the other stuff, Amber is great to work with, super easy going and deceptively competent- she never seems rushed or overly taxed, yet everything just gets done, and you don’t really notice how or when. It makes our job so much easier.

The food is remarkable and the staff rocks, everything is on time and they never walk across the dance floor during the first or parent’s dances, which sadly happens more than we’d like to admit (and drives Andrea nuts). And later, during the reception, Ari will motion us over and much to Andrea’s delight, there will be a small plate with a slice of wedding cake, adjacent to a nice cup of coffee for yours truly. So nice.

Come see for yourself and don’t forget to stop by and say hello.

[Scene: Two boys and their father are preparing for pre-school in the kitchen.]

“My school is shit!” says the little one, inbetween heaping spoonfuls of mostly-in-the-pie-hole, vanilla yogurt.
“Lucas, who told you that?”
“I just know”
“Really, did you hear that from one of your teachers?”
“No”
“Did one of the kids in your class say that?”
“No”
“Was it one of the other kid’s mommies?”
“No”
“Lucas, Why would you say that?”
“I just know, my school is shiiiiittttt!”, said with equal parts dismay and condescension.

[Enter boy's mother]

“Andrea, Lucas has shared a most interesting observation with us, go ahead Lucas, tell Mommy”
“Mommy already knows”
“What?”
“Mommy already knows, my school is shit!”
“Oh really, Mommy, do tell”

As in all matters of grave importance in the family, the parents consult big brother (Mateo, age five) for mediation and translation, as this has proved the only true path to effective communication in the past.

“His school is shut” clarifies Mateo. Once again, he is correct, the door that we generally traverse is now shut and we need to go the long way.

With the most powerful “Duh-uhhh!” expression he can muster our way, Lucas sighs audibly, in concert with slight rolling of the eyes and gentle side to side shaking of the head.

Days later, we scurry out of the grocery store, the children perplexed, Dad with a bemused grin and three women, fully taken aback at yet another of Lucas’ loud proclamations: “I have a big stick!” (spoken with a silent “s”).

First, things you probably already know that didn’t make our list:

• Print out return address labels with your contact info to give out instead of writing it down
• Bring snacks- lines for food are long and you’re likely to be there for a while
• Wear comfy shoes
• Bring a friend
• Get a throwaway email address just for the show from Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail etc.

And now, onto the good stuff, The Top 10 Bridal Show Tips Ever:

10. Every Bride Needs a Game Plan (Sorry Guys, She’s Driving)

Is there more than one, small room of vendors? Get a Map.  Find the ones you want to visit and give yourself some “driving directions” for the show. You can even go crazy and choose a different highlighter color for florists, venues, DJ’s etc.  Maps are available from the organizers.

9. To Sign or Not To Sign

Decide before you get there, if you are willing to sign a contract at the show – AND STICK TO IT! Don’t give in to high pressure, “today only” tactics; they’re usually not in your best interest.

8. Eyes Front and Center

Do not make eye contact- think of the row of vendors like a dark, scary, alley. Only look at someone you want to chat with, you’re less likely to get pounced on. You still will, just not as often.

7. Skip All Zombie Vendors

They are easy to spot, always sitting down, with glazed eyes and vacant stares. If they’re not excited to talk to you now, things aren’t going to get any better later and you really don’t want a zombie at your wedding.

6. On the Way Out

Most of the bridal magazines are near the entrance or at the aisle ends. Don’t grab magazines until you’re ready to go. They are the heaviest things in the bag and you don’t want to lug them around all day.

5. Know Before You Go

Figure out what you need to know before the show and write it down- then ask everyone the same questions. These are your showstoppers, things you gotta have, like an outdoor ceremony, maybe experience with specific traditions, or your vendor must have worked weddings at your venue, whatever is at the top of your list. This is just for screening, so you don’t waste your time or the vendor’s time if it’s not a good fit. These are quick and easy questions, 30 seconds or less, which tell you to move on, or pull up a chair.

4. Marry Your Vendors

Not personally of course, but literally, marry the people to their booth: take a photo of them and the booth together, to help you remember later (you will need this help). Then take a head shot of the vendor holding their business card or brochure (a la mug shot style) and you will never have to wonder who was with what company.

3. Tag Your Vendors

Decide on a simple rating system and get some colorful labels (any office supply store will have them) they come in all shapes and sizes. You can go with Yes|No|Maybe or Price|Quality|Personality, whatever you like. You now have a quick, easy way to tag their brochures and handouts, say pink is for price- put a pink sticker on the brochure with an amount ($2k), maybe an up or down arrow for “high” or “low”, stars, numbers 1 through 10, whatever works for you.  At the end of the day, when you’re going through a mountain of brochures and price lists, you’ll have your first impressions literally stuck to the vendor. “Name Badges” work great too, they’re just smaller than a business card and you can take some quick notes and then peel and stick it to the back side of their card.

2.  Bring a Priority Bag

Take something with a shoulder strap and padding, like a computer bag or briefcase tote with you. Use the “Show Bag” they give you for general storage. Do your best to refuse brochures and things you don’t really want, it’s good for the environment, for you and the vendor, but some vendors are aggressive and won’t take no for an answer; it’s just easier to take it and put it in the “Show Bag”. For the stuff you really want, slip it into your Priority Bag (after you tag it!). Once you’re home, you already know where your favorite stuff is.

1. Don’t Bother With a Fake Email Account: Try This Instead

Let’s face it, throwaway email accounts are a pain to set up, hard to remember and even less fun to check, so why not keep getting your email in one spot and then just magically make the bridal show emails stop after a month?

Check out MailExpire.com, it’s a temporary forwarding service. They give you an email address that you use to register with at the bridal show and they forward everything to your real email account. No one at the show ever sees your real email and you decide how long it’s active, from a day to three months. Once it expires, you never see another email from that address and you’re back to normal. It’s not like you don’t want emails, you just don’t want to get them forever or give everyone your permanent email and this is a great tradeoff.

This is our list, the best advice we can give for getting the most out of a bridal show. Now it’s your turn- we’d love to know what’s worked for you and if any of these tips have helped you, we’d love to hear about that too!

The ceremony was on Sage Court and the reception held at Tuscany. We had time for photos all over the property, which is a real treat at the JW. There are so many fun little places inside and out, we could spend all day shooting, if it weren’t for the whole ceremony and reception part of the day.

On to the photos. This first image is one of Susan’s favorites and we’ve had a few people ask us about it, usually along the lines of “Is it real?” And the short answer is, yes, it’s not a Photoshop effect, just good timing and lighting. We knew that at this time of year, this part of the property is just amazing for the pre-sunset hour and with the sky we had, this specific location was really going to be great, the water acts like a giant reflector, lighting up everything underneath the tree, that’s normally in shade. This lets Susan and Ben look great and we get nice depth and texture on the tree, all of which is balanced really well with the background, the brightness behind them tends to draw you into the picture. Ten minutes either way and we’d get an entirely different look. And painful as it is to admit, this is Greg’s photo, though it was my idea of the angle to shoot it from. I guess our internal competition for best photographer of the wedding goes on…

“Ok boys- what do you guys want for dinner?”

{in unison} “Chocolate Pizza!” (Thank you Chandler Unified School District for this delightful menu suggestion)

“Sorry guys, we’re not having chocolate pizza for dinner”

{belabored sighs} “Okay, we’ll just have pizza then”

“Umm, no, we’re not having pizza for dinner either”

“Muffins?”

“No, have we ever had muffins for dinner?”

“Once with Mommy”

“Really, well Mommy and Daddy are going to have a little chat about that. We’re going to have a regular dinner tonight”

“Ohhhh.” {pronounced in whiny dismay}

Ever the negotiators, they don’t miss a beat.

“If we can’t have pizza, can we stop at the park before we get home”

I was unaware of this quid pro quo, but a voluntary derailing of the pizza train is well worth a jaunt to the park. It’s chilly, so we’re running around, but I corral the boys long enough to take a quick iPhone video to send to Andrea. With the right distance and angle, she can’t tell at all how high the playground equipment is that her boys are launching themselves off of.

First though, we have the safety refresher:

“If a kid falls down on the playground and their mom isn’t there to see it, did it really happen?”

“No!”

“Right! Let’s climb up here boys…”

After a short period, Lucas informed us that we were being chased by Gremlins! Run, run for the hills, Gremlins are scary, even if they are from 1984. We duck behind a light pole- all is well.

“It’s okay Daddy, he’s not following us any more” informs Lucas.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I peed on him”

“Lucas, nobody pees on anybody else, we don’t pee outside, we don’t pee on our brother, we don’t pee anywhere but the bathroom, right?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry Daddy, he turned into a diaper”

“How?”

“I told you, I peed on him”

Luckily, I spotted another Gremlin and we had to run.

Lucas stays put, he’s previously slammed some apple juice and is ready to defend us.

Game over- time to mosey on home, hide the muffins and fire up the grill…

It’s dinner time and in my never ending quest to get the Mongrels to partake of good food- (ie veggies and other things without wrappers or boxes) I get to work on something they like and something I hope they’ll like. In this household- “carne” rules supreme (that’s Portuguese for meat. Red meat- white meat – pink meat – you name it- if it moo’d – oinked – clucked – quacked – swam or gobbled- it’s going to find it’s way to the grill).

First, the known entities. Beef. Flank steak, marinated and pounded, lightly spiced and sizzled on the searing burner for just a couple of minutes- caramelized on the outside, yet tender, with a gentle pink middle.

Next, the trial balloon. I was planning on artichokes, but I also bought some mushrooms for omelettes and they found themselves suggestingly next to the cilantro in the fridge, so I changed course and sauteed them in butter, added some coconut milk, chicken stock, cilantro, lemon grass and assorted Artisan spices. Dare I say, it was quite, quite tasty.

As for the finicky eater in the house- Andrea – I never really know. There are lots of things that can trigger her headaches; I follow the same plan with her as the boys- something I know she can have along with a roll of the dice.

We try very hard to have dinner together as a family, which is a lot easier when the sunset hour is different than the dinner hour (portrait sessions), but we do pretty well.

This night though, an urgent call came in and we all ended up eating on a staggered schedule-the boys were starving and managed to inhale their plates before I could even set down water (note, the flatware goes down first or dinner proceeds a-la caveman style, as soon as we turn our backs). Sadly, the boys passed on the mushrooms, which in hind sight should have been presented before the carne, though Andrea did give them a spin a little later.

She casually mentioned that she liked them, and charming and considerate husband that I am, unselfishly offered the entire remainder to her. She declined, but I was a little surprised that she was enjoying them so much, so I insisted. Yet again, she declined, specifically with the phrase, “That’s okay, I’m done”.

No worries, I get up to dish the rest to her and what does the pan look like (uh-huh- take a look above, that’s what was left- the stuff that stuck to the side of the pan!). Yeah, I’d say you’re done.

Gotta love my iPhone- to the untrained observer (Andrea), I was just checking email or texting, but a quick swipe of the finger and someone is busted with full documentation. {Grin}