The Root Photography Blog

Maureen + Tim : Lisa Stoner Events Wedding at the Ritz Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes

March 23, 2018 by Jensey 1 Comment

It was love at first Bucky sight for us on Maureen and Tim’s wedding day! Seriously, why don’t our four legged family members make appearances at *every* wedding?!

We’d been looking forward to this day since their engagement session around downtown Winter Park. As if knowing this trio being involved wasn’t enough to get us excited, we always look forward to a day at the Ritz Carlton Orlando, and we got to work with our friendor Lisa Stoner!! And did I mention we got to pet Bucky?!

You know it’s gonna be a good day when Badgley Mischka is involved <3

Loved every single one of these faces!! :)

The sweetest first look. :)

I could *not* get enough of Maureen’s Calla Blanche wedding gown. Just loooook at that illusion back! Swooooon! <3

Too. Many. Favorites!!

Buckyyyyyyyyyy!

Lana of Fairbanks Florist once again transformed the wedding into an absolute dream. I loved all the greenery outside, but waaaaait until you see what Lana did with the reception space! :)

Lisa doing her Mary Poppins wedding thing. <3

Is it weird to have the urge to clap when you see a new family this adorable?!

This gorgeous table greeted guests as they walked into the reception room…

… And THIS was on the other side! The head table with their wedding cake as the focal point of the room. Lisa Stoner Events and Fairbanks Florist together are just wedding magic! <3

Maureen and Tim had a sweet choreographed dance to Lana Del Ray’s “Young and Beautiful.” <3

I’ll say it a million times- Those Mama / Son dances just melt me now. <3

F U N F E T T I W E D D I N G C A K E ! Twice in one year now! What is going on!! <3

Maureen, Tim, and wedding friendors- Thank you for such a perfect, perfect day!!!!! <3

Wedding Planner: Lisa Stoner Events

Wedding Venue: Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes

Floral Design: Fairbanks Florist

Hair and Makeup: LeJeune Artistry

Lighting: Fyerfly Productions

Music: Fyerfly Productions

Cake: Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes

Nicole + Lacey : Loveless Cafe Wedding in Nashville TN

March 16, 2018 by Jensey 4 Comments

Nicole grew up in Illinois, living right next door to her grandparents, who were her best friends.

Lacey grew up in a small town in Kansas, population of about 300 people. Always dreaming of living in a big city, she made the move to Chicago and met Nicole, the love of her life! :)

Now, *I* met Nicole when she worked with me in Fantasyland! We had a lot of mutual friends in common and I always wanted to be better friends, and then she was moved into Disney Entertainment which wasn’t a shock at all to anyone who knew her- One look at her and you knew she was princess material! :) I looooooooved going to visit “my” ____ (I’m not allowed to say who she was friends with but I put in a little hint in the photos below!) We kept in touch over Facebook, and what felt like a million failed attempts to meet up for headshots later, I was thrilled to hear she was engaged.

We met Lacey and Nicole earlier last year around the Grand Floridian. Last April 23rd. That was one week before we found out that the baby we were adopting was a boy, and due just weeks away, not months like we thought!!

These two first planned for their wedding to be in Chicago, but changed venues (and states!) to the Loveless Cafe in Nashville. This was a dream come true venue for us to photograph, because we used to live just 20 minutes away! I always wanted to photograph a bride in front of that iconic sign, and it was truly worth the wait to photograph TWO of them there. <3 Annnnd we got to bring Ollie to Nashville! :)

You KNOW it’s a Nashville wedding when lace and boots are involved. <3

Ma seeing Nicole in her dress for the first time. Just know right here and now that any photo with this gorgeous woman involved is my favorite! <3

I can’t tell you who she was “friends” with buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut.. <3

I CANNOT look at photos from their first look without tearing up, and I dare you to do the same. <3

Wedding time! Nicole and Lacey were lucky enough to have a rainy wedding day, and a venue that had all their bases covered in such an event. They had a basket of blankets for their guests to stay cozy and the cloud cover with Loveless’s rain tent provided such great natural light for us. BOTH of these brides took the news of the forecast in stride and didn’t let it dampen their spirits (see what I did there?) They were just thrilled to be getting married. And as I told Nicole, now any time they have a cold, overcast, rainy day, they can think about their wedding day. <3

My favorite thing about Nicole has always been the strong relationship she has with her sweet mom and grandmother. These three are thick as thieves and it made me so happy to photograph! :)

Hazard of two brides- Lace is a lil’ clingy! ;)

Nicole and Lacey, I loved every single moment of your wedding day. Nicole, you truly glowed and I couldn’t be happier you found your Nate. We love y’all and so hope to see you again soon!!! <3

The Cradle Coach Review (and discount code!)

February 18, 2018 by Jensey 4 Comments

Short of our decision to adopt Oliver, the single *best* parenting decision we’ve made was hiring a sleep coach.

You often hire a realtor to help you sell a house, a coordinator to plan your wedding, an accountant to do your taxes; why should we hesitate to ask for help for the single biggest stress to new parents?

I was skeptical about asking for help for something that our friends seem to have figured out on their own. But as Ollie turned two months and the magical glitter adrenaline of being a new mom started to wear off, the effects of sleep deprivation were taking over my life. We all needed sleep! Despite going through a phase for a couple weeks where he was sleeping 6+ hour stretches at night, his 4 month sleep regression kicked in and we were all feeling like this during the day :

A past bride and classmate of Nate’s, Rachel, had become a professional sleep trainer since we photographed her wedding day. While I first flinched at the idea, it wasn’t long into my insomnia that I was ready to do anything to fix our family! Luckily for me, The Cradle Coach had a sleep training package perfect for us, and it only cost $150. (Shh- Don’t ever tell them how much they’re undercharging for these magical powers!!) That $150 included our personal sleep plan and 3 days of email support from Rachel, which was PRICELESS!

When I first reached out to Rachel, Oliver was about to turn 4 months old and impossible to put down at night. His nighttime “routine” was a ~3 hour disaster of bath time, bottle, swaddling, giving a paci, rocking to sleep, and gennnnnntly putting him in his bassinet trying not to wake him. Without fail, part 2 of this routine would begin about 20 minutes later, where Nate and I alternated going up every 15 minutes to try to calm an inconsolable Oliver. Most of the time, trying to stand over his bassinet, “shhhh” until our mouths were dry, and try to keep his pacifier in his mouth. Every night, I’d cry, and every night, Nate would ask, “can’t we just duct tape his pacifier to his mouth?” (That began as a joke and I think he meant it towards the end!) Short of random ~15 minute catnaps throughout the day, naps were nonexistent and he was so cranky.

Fast forward two nights into sleep training and we put our son down to sleep in his crib. In his room. No swaddle, no pacifier, no rocking to sleep. You could have picked my jaw off the floor when within ~15 minutes, Oliver had talked himself to sleep! A week later, we’d weaned him off his night time feeds and our boy was sleeping 12 hours. Even more importantly? He was happy during the day. His witching hour disappeared since he was well rested, we got more office hours in during the day and some mom and dad time at night. It’s been an absolute dream come true for our family.

While we’ve definitely had some push back from family members, “What do you mean you don’t rock him to sleep?”, “He can’t nap on me when I come over??”, “I never stuck to a nap schedule with my kids and they turned out juuuust fine- And could sleep anywhere!” We’ve just continually pointed out that the reason our son is the happiest baby ever is *because* he’s well rested. And it’s crucial that anyone babysitting him follow his schedule… We’ll know that night if they don’t! ;)

Yes, it’s not ideal to plan our lives around our son’s nap schedule, but we’ve made it a priority. And you guys- He really is the happiest baby now. <3 He’s nine months old today and takes three naps during the day (an hour, two hours, and another hour in the evening) and still sleeps for 12 hours at night! And if we *do* find ourselves on a long road trip and unable to get him home to nap at 1:00, he still gets a decent nap in because his body is used to the schedule. This was taken on our last road trip at 1:01pm. <3

Whether you’re a new parent or this is your 5th and you can’t figure out why your newest won’t sleep, stop what you’re doing and go visit our friends at The Cradle Coach. I know all of the coaches are wonderful, but we can’t sing Rachel’s praises loudly enough. Request her! :) She’s truly our personal sandman! We love her so much we even gifted a sleep plan to my sister-in-law for her baby shower!

I’m so happy to have The Cradle Coach in our back pocket now and have no doubt we’ll be checking in for “tune ups” down the road. Until then, I’ll continue singing their praises to random new moms I meet at nail salons, at the grocery store, and now my blog! :)

You can check out their sleep plans here, and for 10% off, make sure you use “ROOT10” at checkout. (By the way, we get no referral credit or anything. This is simply passing on something amazing because the world would be a happier place if families all got the sleep we need!!)

SWEET DREAMS, FRIENDS! <3