Make Love Real » Boston

New Blogger Contest : Multimedia engagement session award!

Neil — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:09:29 +0000

We are searching for a new bridal blogger!

Blogger contest take two and YouTube version

Blogger talent search contest or YouTube version.

Ungodly Fruit – Soundtrack by Wax Taylor

The prize is a free multimedia engagement session by Neil Cowley with a value of $3000. The quest is for a storyteller with heart and humor to tell the stories of wedding planning and engagement from inside their head and out through the web. Submit your journal, blog, video log, or contest entry to the comments here to be considered! Multimedia submissions will definitely score you bonus points!!

What is a multimedia engagement session?

If you are chosen as the new blogger, I will help you design your engagement session and schedule it for as soon as possible. Your themed shoot will also produce Save the Date Cards, and a Signature Wedding Guestbook. You will then be responsible for writing 20-30 posts from your engagement and wedding.

Who else has blogged for you?

Deanna was our first bridal writer who’s creative, heartfelt and zany posts were a lot of fun! You can view her multimedia engagement shoot slideshow, her post reflecting on the engagements, her wedding slideshow, and her post reflecting on the wedding experience and journaling/blogging. Deanna is planning to incorporate some of her reflections in her album design.

The entries will be judged by Neil, My wife and Deanna on the basis of creative writing, personal presentation and emotional candor. We are looking for writing style, emotional expression, and humorous visual flair (like Deanna’s barbie page).

How can I blog this, pass on the word, tell my friends?

Click the Embed button on the above video and copy the code to your own blog or site – or use the YouTube Version with Neil or My wife.

Paste the link to your post in the comments, so everyone reading here can find your site!

http://makelovereal.net/blogger/

Click this button to post this page to your Myspace, FaceBook, bookmarks or other sites:

The saga of the dress-as if my nose couldn’t get any bigger

Deanna — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:43:40 +0000

I have an obsession for the past. I’m talking 1930′s-60′s when the music was swinging, life was full of dancing and Frank Sinatra was damn sexy! (I have an obsession for him too.) So when I became engaged, I knew right away I was going to have an old Hollywood-themed wedding.

But what about my dress? I needed something nostalgic, hollywood, yet modern for today. Oh geez, was this going to be worse than my first prom?

My tenth grade year, I bought 3 dresses, returned them, had a custom dress made, then bought my final dress 2 weeks before when i was looking for gloves. I’m so indecisive. So I buried myself in my endless library of bridal magazines and surfaced with a beautiful dress from Badgley Mishka, a classy designer inspired by 40′s Hollywood. Perfect!

Now generally I’m carefree about my looks, except for my nose. It’s bigger than I’d like, but I’m not going to knife it for $5,000. Think of the wedding favors I could blow that on instead! Well, I’m thankful it doesn’t grow when I tell a lie, otherwise I’d be in trouble.

I knew I couldn’t tell my Mom the cost of the Badgley Mishka dress because she’d flip, so I fibbed a little. I also knew how important it was for her to see me try on wedding dresses and make my choice, so I promised her it would be an exclusive trip for both of us. Did my nose just swell?

I just happened to be visiting my Maid of Honor, Laura, in Boston a month later, where we scheduled an appointment to try on bridemaid dresses. Well wouldn’t you know, this shop happened to carry the Badgley Mishka line! I couldn’t try on dresses without my mom, she would be heartbroken, but it seemed silly to drive 7 hours and not get a peek! I swear this is where the devil took over.

When we arrived at L’elie on Newbury St., I was greeted by the shop owner.

“Your private showing of our wedding dresses will be with an Italian designer from Peter Langdon.” Seriously? This sounds amazing and expensive…where’s the door? But i was like a kid in a candy store, I had to look around!

We climbed the stairs and I turned to Laura, “Remember, we’re just looking. Don’t let me try anything on!” “Ok!” she said and we entered the gallery. The shop was filled with bright, magical lighting and the dresses where neatly lined up on the walls. Wow.

After telling an American women of my vintage love, she grabbed a few styles and shuffled me to the dressing room. In panic I looked at Laura, was I supposed to tell her no? Ok, maybe just one or two, what were the chances of finding the real one today?

Not so good. I stepped out of the dressing room and almost screamed at the hideous frock I was wearing. I swear it looked like I had dueled a lawn mower and lost. Feathers and stripes of fabric were hanging everywhere. “You look great!” said the assistant. Oh my gosh, was she on crack? I’d rather wear a white garbage bag. I looked at Laura who was laughing. Well maybe the Badley Miska dress would be better.

Nope. Tacky as Britney Spears’ weave. Well I wouldn’t feel bad not telling me mom about this experience. Things weren’t going so well. That’s when I heard the voice of doom herself. The Italian designer from Peter Langdon scuffled over to my mirror with a dress from her collection. “She needs to try this on.”

Looking at the dress on the hanger, I knew it was different. The dress was ivory with floral embroidery which gave it a vintage feel. I walked out of the dressing room and Laura’s face just grinned. The dress fit so perfectly. I felt like Rita Hayworth about to dance with Fred Astaire. I knew this was “the one”.

Realizing I was probably pushing my budget, I asked how much the dress cost. Haha! Was I buying a car or a dress? I looked at Laura and we laughed for minutes. How funny, time to take it off. And as I was getting one last look at myself in the dress, the shop owner came up and offered it to me half price. “I’ll take it!” I looked around the room to see who had said such a ridiculous statement. Then realized, it was me! I couldn’t afford this dress, it was half my salary! I looked to Laura for help. She was dumbfounded but grinning.

“I just need to grab my credit card at my apartment and I’ll be right back,” I told the shop owner . As we stepped out the door, Laura and I were both bent over laughing hysterically at the biggest compulsive purchase of my life. “I didn’t know you had that kind of money!” said Laura. “I don’t! And we have 30 minutes to round it up!” I replied. The look on her face was priceless.

Now if marriage is about honesty and trust, I may have bent the rules. After borrowing money from my Maid of Honor’s mother and my Mom (who thought it was for a purse!) I was still majorly short so I called my wonderful fiance for his credit card number, forgetting to tell him the actual amount of the dress. Oops! He sweetly read off the numbers and I proceeded to call the shop and purchase my dress.

Wait….there’s a security limit on purchases out of state! Oh boy, I wasn’t going to call Bill back and profess my insanity so I did what any crazy bride would do….call the credit card company and pretend to be my future husband:

“Hello, this is Mr. Wallace,” I said in the most unmanly voice EVER, “I need to lift my limit.”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Wallace, but we need to speak to Mr. Wallace.”

“This is Mr. Wallace!”….

short pause….

“Umm, I’m sorry Mrs. Wallace, but we need to speak to Mr. Wallace.”

Would you believe I tried my line three times?! Then admitted defeat and hung up with Laura laughing uncontrollably.

I laughed along with her at how desperate I’d become when my phone rang. It was Bill. I was in the middle of the ultra quiet Boston Library. He was very loud and yes, everyone heard him….”Are you trying to buy a dress for $#*$%! Are you insane!!!!!”

I didn’t realize my dude impressions would trigger a security call to Bill verifying the activity of the account. Oh brother, now I was in trouble!

Now I’m not saying to love a man for money, but if you can talk your honey into partaking in your over the top wedding shenanigans, I might say he’s a keeper and in less an hour, that’s just what Bill did. What a guy!

To end this fairy-tale story, I bought the dress of my dreams, left it in Boston and gained a few inches length on my nose, as I couldn’t tell my mom I had bought a dress without her. After driving 7 hours to take my mom “window shopping” in Boston, we just happened to both fall in love with an ivory floral embroidered dress perfectly sized for me.

Now that’s what I call luck!

2005 Weddings photographed by Neil Cowley

Neil — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:24:58 +0000

A Note from Neil

The start of a new year is a reflective time for all of us. I start my reflection of 2005 with the gratitude and humility 2004 taught me. During that period I was focusing on developing a unique personal style putting my energy into making and thinking about inventive imagery. I looked for every opportunity to use lighting and composition to do something I had never done before. The results of that process were rewarded in 2005 with a top 5 ranking in the US by the WPJA. At the same time I was forcing my personal will into stretching my own conceptual boundaries of my craft – concepts of controlling and creating with light, shadow, perspective, and tonality – the people I served enlarged my spiritual boundaries as I stated last year “I wanted to make clear that God has given much more through you, than your dollars as I have received a new appreciation and understanding of love and art this year. I hope that I have been an equally effective conduit for God to give my talents away to you.”

Well enough for review, my personal goal for 2005 was to expand my consistency. The artistic inspiration can fall at unpredictable times and while that’s nice for winning awards, its not necessarily a reflection of skill as much as an ability to capitalize on good luck. So my intuition told me that I needed to really look at what went into those flashes of creativity I had in 2004, and learn to repeat them as a skill instead of as an accident. I’m only finishing my third year of professional service for weddings so maybe its too lofty a goal to ask myself for consistency after such a short period. But as I write now I feel a tremendous satisfaction looking back over the mountain of work that I’ve completed in 2005. Possibly I’m deceiving myself, but I am satisfied knowing that I have not overlooked the good to make something great. Sounds funny, but it has been a tremendous challenge to face this year – boredom – that could have eaten away the quality of my work as I sought to continue to top my own pictures. What brought me back to that point, was you again. Times where I began to feel rote, where I was being distracted by the small things – you gave me the expressions of Love that can not help but snap you back into focus. Love, the miracle that we give to each other; that we go through all these rituals to express and to seal; that I have the privilege to have the invitation to help you develop.

My reflection for 2005, has the same heart of the lesson learned in 2004 – learned more deeply. “The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. (Albert Schweitzer)” This year I’ve matured enough to realize how I should act to reinforce my reflections. I see better the Tao that has helped keep me in balance and I will seek to nurture that harmony through my business practices. “We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.(Talmud)” So this turn of my personal quest for photographic vision leads me to work to see you more clearly. I will draw upon my experience of over 100 weddings to help you express “How your Love is New” in photos and in person. I excitedly anticipate what you will teach me as my experience shows that it will be volumes.

Much respect,
Neil

Current images posted at http://makelovereal.net/

2005 events page has been dedicated to the bridal portrait

Micaela & Toby – Elim Gospel Church – January 7, 2006

Christina & Jacob – November 11, 2005 – Newark Club, New Jersey

Michelle & Brian – October 22, 2005 – Lodi New York Historical Society and Wagner Vineyards

Alexandra & Stephen – Oct. 16th, 2005 – Belhurst Castle Wedding Ceremony and Reception, Geneva New York

Sandra & Chris – October 9, 2005 – Westmont Country Club Patterson, New Jersey

Nicole & Andrew – Oct. 8th, 2005 – Saint Patricks Church and Binhampton Club

Kim & Will – Oct. 1st, 2005 – Butler Mansion Buffalo, NY

Lindsay & David – Cadet Chapel & 49′er Lodge West Point New York

Jessica & Greg – September 24, 2005 – Sheldrake point vineyard

Jen & Dan – September 18th, 2005 – Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park

Leanne & Andy – September 17, 2005 – Saint John’s and Monroe Country Club

Sara & Tim – Sept. 10th, 2005 – Boldt Castle and Edgewood Resort

Lorraine & Aaron – September 4th, 2005 – Letchworth State Park, Glen Iris Inn

Elaine & Grant – September 3rd, 2005 – Chapel Hill and Monroe Country Club

Nicole & Jake – August 27th, 2005 – Belhurst Castle Geneva, New York

Shannon & Andy – August 20th, 2005 – Saint Rita and Shadow Lake Country Club

Christina & Ben – August 6th, 2005 – Bethel Christian Fellowship and Casa Larga Vineyards Fairport, NY

Mary Grace & Matthew – Auguest 5th, 2005 – Canandaigua Inn on the Lake, New York

Heather & Mike – July 30, 2005 – St. Charles Borromeo & Cobblestone Creek Country Club

Sarah & Dean – July 16, 2005 – Wedding and Reception at Glen Iris Inn Letchworth State Park

Mary & Paul – July 9, 2005 – Blessed Sacrement and Rocheter Club Ballroom

Karissa & Jim – July 2, 2005 – Perry Methodist Church and Wadsworth – Jerris Estate reception

Robyn & John – St. Louis Church Pittsford & Steamboat Landing Canandaigua NY

Audrey & Mike – June 12th, 2005 – Lauxmont Farms, Wrightsville Pennsylvania

Deb & Jim – June 11th, 2005 – Walker Bible Baptist Church & Senator’s Mansion Chili

Kelly & Peter – June 4, 2005 – Trinity Reformed Church and Woodcliff Lodge Fairport

Ella & Chad – May 28, 2005 – Sacred Heart Cathedral & Rochester City Hall Atrium

Juliette & Kevin – May 21, 2005 – St. John’s Church & Glen Iris Inn Letchworth State Park

Heather & Matt – May 20, 2005 – Saint Joseph’s church and Owego Treadway

Jeanne & Mark – April 23, 2005 – St. Thomas More & Memorial Art Gallery

Corie & Michael – April 9, 2005 – The Waterview in Monroe Connecticut

Allison & Jason – April 2, 2005 – University Presbyterian and Hemingbough Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Jodi & Dan – January 22, 2005 – Our Lady of the Lake and Crystal Springs Resort, Vernon New Jersey

Amanda & Shervyn – Jan 16, 2005 – Mansion on Delaware, Buffalo New York

Jan 5-8, 2005 – Manti Temple, UT & Strong Todd House Rochester, NY

2004 Weddings Photographed by Neil & Liesl Cowley

Neil — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 20:30:19 +0000

A note from Neil – 12.29.04

I have a debt of gratitude to pay with these words. I’ve been putting off lifting this weight from my mind due to its extraordinary size. But I recently found the catalyst, a quote: “God will give much more through you than to you.”

I am truly humbled at what you (my clients) have given me this year. You have invited me into your private moments of emotion, and extended the generosity of your families to me. You have provided reason and opportunity for me to expand my artistic vision deeper into the soul of human emotion. You have contributed your lives to my lens and you have generously donated your dollars to see my manic passion. Before this gets too self centered I wanted to make clear that God has given much more through you, than your dollars as I have received a new appreciation and understanding of love and art this year. I hope that I have been an equally effective conduit for God to give my talents away to you.

Gratitude and awe,
Neil

Naomi & Ken – November 13, 2004 – St Rose and Shadowlake Golf Club Penfield, New York

Heather & Todd – November 6, 2004 – St Francis of Assisi and Clarion Inn Niggard Falls New York

Carrie & Eric – October 23, 2004 – Geneva Presbyterian Church and Belhurst Castle Seneca Lake, NY

Christine & Jesse – October 16, 2004 – Interfaith Chapel and Crowne Plaza Ballroom Rochester, New York

Rebecca & Justin – October 15, 2004 – Annunciation and Rich’s Atrium Buffalo NY

Sarah & Jared – Oct 10, 2004 – Niagara Club, Niagara Falls New York

Chrissy & Chris – October 3, 2004 – Highland park overlook and Lilac Arches Rochester, NY

Yat Ming & Jon – October 2, 2004 – Rochester Interfaith Chapel and Daisy Flour Mill, Penfield – New York

Jackie & Brett – September 25, 2004 – St. Francis Xavier and Sherwood Inn, Skaneateles, New York

Pam & Joe – September 24, 2004 – Adam’s Mark, Grace Lutheran and Rich’s Atrium Buffalo, NY

Amy & Mike – September 18, 2004 – Hershey Country Club, Hershey PA

Sara & Tim – September 17, 2004 – The Krebs Garden and Welch Allyn Lodge Skaneateles, NY