The Norah Burrows Blog!

08/08/08 is the most popular Friday of  this year to get married. Perhaps those who chose it as their special wedding date came to the conclusion that it was an easy date to remember, or perhaps they are hoping for the luck and prosperity that the Chinese believe comes along with a date that only happens once every 100 years.    

Nonetheless, TheKnot.com says four times as many couples are getting married on 08/08/08, than any other Friday this summer. 

This past Friday I joined my good friend, Liza Gershman, to photograph one of the thousands of marriages that took place on this infamous date. The day started out beautifully, with clear morning skies, which is a rarity in our coastal area. We began at Fountain Grove Inn where the Bride and Groom and their whole Bridal Party were getting ready. (If you have the opportunity to do this, I highly recommend it. We had great fun running from the Bride’s room to the Groom’s room for all of the pre-ceremony photographs.)   

The wedding festivities took place at Paradise Ridge Winery. Those who have not been to Paradise Ridge Winery, just off of Thomas Lake Harris Dr in Santa Rosa, really should go just to check out the amazing views of the Valley and beautiful new upgrades they recently completed. The wedding couple had a fiesta-inspired wedding with bold bright flowers, teal bridal party accents, and a fun chocolate cake. Paradise Ridge Winery provide a neutral backdrop for the bold colors and overall a great spot for their evening wedding.      

Her goodies: 

As their gift, each groommen received chocolate brown converse shoes embrodered with everything from personalized last names to the wedding date.      

Eric was sweet to surprise his future bride with a scrapbook that his created full of pictures of them as a loving, fun couple.  

Her cute as can be teal shoes! She even had their monogram painted on her toes!  

 The Ring Bearer’s first try down the aisle - love his blonde locks!     

 Kaity and Eric saw each other before the ceremony - this is them seeing each other for the first time.          

Paradise Ridge Winery: 

 The Ceremony: 

LOVE!

First dance:

Custom hand-rolled cigars     

 The end!

I just got this email:

Just wanted to let you know Cory and Katie had a healthy baby girl (6lbs, 10oz) at 1:24pm this afternoon. Yay!

You might remember Cory and Katie from one of my previous posts - they’re the cute couple in love laying on the grass and kissing under the same tree that they said their wedding vows years ago. I can’t wait to meet her!

This summer I know of four women who are having babies within the next two months. This means that there is lots of pregnancy sessions around the studio and beyond.

This week I bring you Chris and Jessica who are going to have a sweet September 3rd baby … and no, they couldn’t tell me if their new bundle of joy will be a girl or a boy! All we know is that this will be a good lookin’ babe, *wink*

Here’s a few of my favorites:

THANKS FOR VISITING!

Peek-a-boo!

Many seniors don’t know what to do when it comes time for Senior Portraits. They either don’t know what to wear or even where to take their pictures. That’s when a professional photographer comes in handy.I got a call from Glena’s mom a month or so ago. We had met during a massage session at my local favorite spa - this is when I splurge! - in fall of last year. So, hearing her voice on the other line, I was excited to have the opportunity to photograph her daughter’s senior portraits. By the way, Glena proved that it’s never too late to take your senior portraits! She had already graduated and is currently going to college, but she missed out on going to a professional for her pictures. After a phone consultation, we decided on some clothing selections and a location to best fit their needs.Here are a few images from this morning’s session taken at Juilard Park and Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa.And a personal photo …

Just a little peek!

Click on the picture to see more!

For the Armenio’s Family Portrait Session Spencer and I traveled to San Mateo’s Japanese Tea Garden. We really lucky with great weather and a beautiful location! The kids were super cute as well - they had a blast following the baby duckies around.

Last Saturday Leonie and Mark had their wedding ceremony at Trentadue Winery in Geyserville. Trentadue, with its mature vineyards, arched french-doors, and dreamy cozy-sitting areas, provided the perfect backdrop for creating their romantic wedding celebration. Leonie wore a champagne beaded dress, while her girls wore fuchsia tea-length dresses. Her red hair and soft freckles were complimented by soft-pink floral arrangements by Zoe Farmar Bowers (www.zfloral.com). At the reception everyone danced the night away with the band Notorious (www.notoriousrocks.com) … needless to say there are some great outtakes.Congratulations again to Leonie and Mark! The Entrance:The Girls:The Guys:I do’s:The Girls and the Boys:Romance in the Vines:Notorious: Thanks for looking!

In March Spencer and I traveled to Paris. Though we knew we were going somewhere, it was still a little impromptu trip, as we booked our flight one week before we left and our apartment just a few days before.We traveled so that Spencer could join Rose Harting, an amazing diva - singer, songwriter, and uke lover - and play with her during her mini-tour in Paris. And I, of course, was there with my camera! I really wanted to capture the old look of Paris and took only fine-grain black and white film with me. My three favorites are the one of the small car, the Eiffel Tower, and the portrait of the little boy (close up of a statue). Enjoy! What is Paris without a little kiss?Spencer and I had an amazing time. We got to live the exciting music life in Paris. This comes complete with learning how to lug your gear onto a subway train, walking at least one block in the wrong direction, and finally getting to socialize with the Parisians. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. We are especially happy to have made friends with our “landlords” Lola and Arnaud, who joined us a few nights at Rose’s shows and even took us to the market on Sunday morning. And let’s not forget about Alice Henja - the sweetest person and talented singer/songwriter. She and Rose meet on Rose’s last trip to Paris, and Alice was kind to set up most of the shows in Paris. (Speaking of Alice, she is here in California now - playing and singing, and probably ridiculously hot in this weather right now.) We are so lucky!Avec l’amour,Norah

Alicia and Steve truely had an amazing wedding weekend! The weather was perfect, and despite the brides makeup bag disappearing, everything went smoothly.

We started on Friday night at their rehearsal dinner. They rented a gorgorous beach house in Bodega Bay and it was literally the last house on the street, so the view of the ocean was endless.

Below: Steve and Alicia (check out those shoes! love them!) and the Beach House.

After a long night before, we started early on Saturday at REL Salon in Santa Rosa.

Unknowingly, Alicia’s mom, Pam, had a perfect shabby-chic room for Alicia to get dressed in. My absolute favorite is the one of the shoes. (Again, more shoes…)

Steve and his boys meet us at Sebastopol Community Church for their photos. Thankfully there was a cute rustic barn and green bamboo trees.

These photographs were taken after the ceremony at Doran Beach in Bodega Bay. By the way, I’m now known as the “five minute photographer” - I only had five minutes on the beach with them before they had to get to the reception and we managed to arrived to Bodega Bay Yacht Club a few minutes early!

So sweet - their first dance!

And last but not least, girls just wanna have fun …

Of course there are hundreds of more photographs, but we only can see a few here!

I should thank Jenny & Adam King and Nicole & Brian Armenio for giving me the best referrals! You are awesome!

Well, it’s May 1st and that means that last night concluded my month long show at East West Cafe. All my prints are back “home” now, aka: in my studio. I received so many great comments from family, friends, neighbors, customers, and especially the crew at East West Cafe. Words such as “Beautiful” “The best work we seen here” “I especially liked…” … I know this may sound cheesy, but it makes my heart warm and restores another level of confidence in my work. So, THANK YOU!Here are some pictures my lovely husband Spencer took of me in front of East West Cafe:

 Now that I have my prints back I can finally complete the last phase of my studio’s revamping! I’m SO excited! And surely, I will post pictures as soon as those are ready.

 So, for now, take care and I’ll see you again soon!