Katie Beverley » Uncategorized

Vonique and Tyler are Getting Married!!

katie — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:55:28 +0000

This was maybe the craziest meeting I’ve had with a couple to date. Vonique and I were friends in grade school and before this shoot I hadn’t seen her since…well I can’t even remember! Grade school days, I guess. I was honestly a little nervous–it was like a mini reunion, and who doesn’t get nervous for reunions? They arrived on a Saturday evening, when the light was golden and beautiful at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach–I looked up and there Vo was, years after I had seen her last, now with her husband-to-be. It was so surreal and awesome to see her again and to meet Ty. We have so many crazy memories from going to St. James school in Torrance together and I am so so SO stoked that I get to be her photographer!! And also to catch up after all of this time…

This is my first beach shoot…I think I may be hooked.

Loving all of the color here…

Vo is still the same… she has the same expressions and laugh! I love it!

Ty likes her…

He likes her a lot…

Vo and Ty, I can not WAIT for your wedding next summer!! xoxo

Samantha and Ryan…Just Because

katie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:38:09 +0000

Samantha and Ryan are no strangers to this blog…they were married a while ago in Lake Bluff, IL. I love them a ton! Samantha has been so sweet ever since we’ve moved to CA–They, like me, have a love of both Southern California and the Chicago area–they grew up in IL but now live here. We talked long ago about someday doing a shoot of just the two of them at home, with their furry children, if I ever made it out here. Well, I was so happy to show up on their doorstep and see their faces again, and shoot them just being themselves. First we hung out at home for a bit–then we went to the Griffith Observatory. I have awesome memories from my childhood of the Observatory so it was a treat to be there again.
Toby! Toby was an alley cat before Sami and Ryan brought him home to live with them You can see evidence of this in his right ear and in his love of eating any food he finds…

The whole family! Maya is their other cat (who looks like she just wants to get away in this picture) and Cody is their dog…

In their cute kitchen!

I died laughing at how Toby rests in Sami’s arms just like a human baby!

Cody and Maya’s favorite spot…

When we made it to the Observatory we found the best light…

Sami’s laugh is contagious!

Thank you both so much for inviting me to your adorable home and for letting me shoot the two of you again!!

Happy Birthday to my Mike!

katie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:35:44 +0000

You’re 26 today and I love you!!! Today Johnny gave you batteries for your birthday…you know, so that you can fix all of his toys that have been needing batteries for a while. His idea completely. Matthew gave you a tortilla warmer, because of the love of Mexican food that you share. Even today he was talking about Mexico, how he wants to go there because that is where there are lots of rice and beans. And the girls? Well, we gave you a new waffle maker since you’ve been craving waffles ever since I ruined our old one when I cooked bacon in it. Alton Brown said it was a good idea and I listened to him. But even better than all of this, we go on a date night tonight in downtown San Diego-our first real date night since we moved. I know, everyone in internetland, this is a disgrace. But we haven’t found a babysitter yet and family is all up North! Our dear friend Andrea is going to take care of our kiddos while we wine and dine. By the way, this is you, helping me test my light at a wedding. You are very handsome. xoxo Katie

Amber and Ryan are Married!

katie — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:44:59 +0000

I arrived at their rehearsal on the eve of their wedding, and there was such a great energy about the room. I normally don’t attend ceremony rehearsals, but since I was traveling and in town early, I wanted to come, chill in the back, and have some time with Ryan, Amber and their families. You see, Ryan was a groomsman for a past wedding that I shot and I had only talked to him and Amber on the phone and in e-mails over the past year as they planned their wedding–so this was our first real face to face time. And I have to tell you, Ryan and Amber were just BEAMING. I love that this is my first memory of them as a couple. I think I even told Ryan how much he looked like he was on cloud nine–and he simply confirmed that he was Anyway, Ryan and Amber are such a positive and upbeat couple–in fact, I think I have found a new obsession and that is Ryan’s blog. His posts are awesome for me both as a person and a business owner-check it out!

The intimate ceremony and reception were both held at the top of The Embassy Club in downtown Des Moines, IA, but first I started out with Amber in her home…

Ryan and Amber decided to have some time alone before the ceremony…and we got some pretty pictures like these…

The bridal party in downtown Des Moines! They were rad.

Amber with her dad!

Ryan and Amber said private vows to one another as a close friend played the guitar and sang in the background.

Married!

mmmmmm…..

I love this shot of their first dance together…

The crazy view from the room…

Thank you so much Ryan and Amber for letting me in on your day! You and your families are wonderful and gracious and I loved that my first time in Des Moines was with you two!

This one’s for me…

katie — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:10:19 +0000

…so that I can remember what sprawled out crayons look like. Specifically, what sprawled out crayons look like in the middle of a completely average Wednesday in June with three kids under the age of 4–It’s been just a normal afternoon, one in which I was trying to keep curious and busy hands out of my kitchen drawers. And also to put off bubbles outside for just a little while longer.

Also, here we are! My cousin Debbie drew this at a family party this past weekend I can’t decide yet where it is going up in the house. But it makes me happy.

Eric and Nancy are Married!

katie — Thu, 27 May 2010 07:54:27 +0000

I was so honored to second shoot this wedding for my new friend Drew Bittel. I got to know her work a little bit while living in IL, and she’s awesome at what she does! I obviously didn’t get to meet Nancy or Eric before their wedding day, but they were so so sweet and I felt right at home with their families. Their wedding took place on the grounds of the Athenaeum in Pasadena, CA and the day couldn’t have been more beautiful! We started out with Nancy and her family in the bridal suite…

I loved the looks on the faces of Nancy’s mom, dad, and sisters as they saw her in her dress…

A pre-wedding toast…

Nancy and her sisters…

Eric and his guys…

Married!

Their first dance as husband and wife!

Last but not least, Eric has a bunch of family that came all the way from Holland to be there…and they brought the house down with a crazy show

Meghan and Mark are Married!

katie — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:46:06 +0000

I’ve been wanting to blog these images forever–I talked to Meghan off and on for about a year and a half before she and Mark had even set their wedding date and so by the time I finally met them I already felt like we were friends. You might remember them from their engagement/family shoot I posted a while back–what a fabulous little family. Their Sunday afternoon wedding had such a great vibe to it! It was made up of an intimate ceremony and reception which were both held at the fabulous St. Charles Country Club in St. Charles, IL. It was my first time shooting there and I left the place hoping to be back soon–what a beautiful little spot for a wedding in the Chicago area! The couple was off to Paris for their honeymoon, and so the day had an adorable Paris theme. Gorgeous purples and blues were everywhere and the scent of lavender filled the air–awesome!

A kick butt Sunday brunch

I hope no one (besides Mike who shot this with me) could notice my teariness when Meghan danced with her son! It’s a good thing I have autofocus..ahem…

Mike’s awesome shot!

And from my angle…

Meghan had a nice mouthful of lavender at the end of this…

Oh, California…

katie — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:22:50 +0000

you have been so good to us so far…! It has definitely been one long awkward silence, hasn’t it? I am a bad blogger, but I will try to be better now that I have my big life change over with. Most of you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? Well Mike and I, along with our three itty bitty Bevs, kissed family and friends goodbye, took up all of our earthly possessions and moved from Illinois to Southern California about two months ago. I know, right? It was kind of a big deal. We had toyed with the idea of exploring new horizons for a little while but it was nothing serious until this past Fall. Mike ended up receiving a very exciting job offer, and after a lot of sweat, prayer and deliberation, we made the decision to just go for it! I grew up and have a bunch of family here in Ca, so we were also moving to familiar territory. There was so much that went into our decision, and I can’t even begin to remember every detail of that journey because it happened so quickly, but in all of our long late night talks, we always arrived at the same conclusion–we knew we wanted this adventure. And it still feels so right. I can’t tell you how much we love where we live! Sure, we are still adjusting, and we don’t know too many people around here, but it’s sort of fun to be the new kid on the block.

I think orchids will forever remind me of this time. When we showed up at our new house, my grandmother had already placed these in my kitchen. ( Along with completely stocking our fridge and pantry) We’ve been here for about two months and they are still perfect! I also keep receiving orchids from other friends and family as housewarming gifts, it’s crazy how many of these I have growing in my house right now!

One of our favorite things to do: on weeknights that we eat dinner early enough, we’ll then head on over to the beach, walk along the water with our new hummer of a stroller (a.k.a triple jogger) and watch the sunset. A few simple snippets

Cecilie and James are Getting Married!: A Shoot at Sunrise

katie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:09:38 +0000

The setting of this shoot is a chilly October day, at the crack of dawn. I love early morning shoots because the light is absolutely amazing–it is my favorite light of the day! (I love it even more than my beloved just-before-sunset evening light.) But these types of shoots are more rare because not everyone is brave enough to schedule a shoot in the early hours of the morning. Cecilie and James were, even when our Midwest weather was just starting to get really crispy…and oh, how I love and hold a special place in my heart for them because of this. We got countless images like this one…

and this one too…

We walked by some cornfields…

and hid in some corn as well.

Then we went to a few locations in Sycamore I’ve been eyeing for a while…

And here is a preview of my next post… Linus joined us a little later, and my, is he handsome!

Four Years Ago…

katie — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:49:17 +0000

…I married my Mike! About 9 1/2 years ago was when we went on our first date (the DeKalb High School Spring Dance, of course) and we’ve been together ever since. Wowza! He is slowly becoming a saint with every day that he is my husband and dad to our three small babes. I am always in awe of how well he puts up with me, how patient he is, and how much I still just love being with him after all this time. You see, I’m a little high strung at times, and he’s, well…not. When things don’t go as expected, he’ll usually just step up to the plate and take care of it…and I have been known to, well, pout. Marriage is huge and wonderful and amazing and hard all at the same time. Whenever we get into a fight, you know, the kind that has a sting to it, he’s always ready to just hug me and keep hugging me till the sting fades. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him! I’ve been absent from this blog for a long long time, and thought this would be the perfect occasion to jump back on the train again. I’ve always wanted it to be a journal, and so here are ten things that four years have given us so far:

1. Johnny, Matthew and Monica are awesome! We love them more than we could have ever imagined. They are daily reminders of how much love grows with service and sacrifice and they’re just plain funny!

2. I now know how to clean a house and remember the time I had to look up online “how to mop a floor” in the first month we were married.

3. I have slowly begun to forgive myself that my house isn’t ever as clean as I dreamed it would be when I was unmarried and dreaming of being a housewife.

4. I now cook better. It was a huge revelation to me (literally it SHOCKED me) that although my mother and grandmother are fantastic cooks, I did not, through osmosis, learn to cook all those years I ate their food.

5. Mike now is definitely a less picky eater. Maybe those early months and years of my kitchen experiments really did kill something in him. Poor Mike.

6. We now have introduced exercise back into our lives after a several year hiatus–it’s tough with kids, but we finally decided to try and make the time for it. We also eat healthier food.

7. I now clip coupons and pay attention to sales.

8. The garage is clean and we are getting better about clearing out clutter.

9. We’re both so lucky to be able to do things we love to do–he is a software developer and I love taking photos!

10. This year we have made new commitment to going away for at least one weekend a year, just the two of us. This is also hard to do when you have kids, but it is SO important. It was New York this past summer, next summer it will be somewhere else.

Hunting through my archives I have found two gems…The first is junior prom!

And last summer in New York!

Last but not least, I have tons that I have been DYING to post. Now that Christmas is over and life is slower, I’ll be showing off some super cute couples soon. Please stay tuned for that! Here is the front of our card this year…These guys are what keep me too busy to blog: