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Last night was the grand opening of our studio…I have been waiting to share pictures of the interior until after the event, so it would be a fun surprise. Sadly, I was so busy talking with everyone that I didn’t take pictures of anyone…I am so bummed! We had a fabulous turn out, with way more people than I could have ever expected. My deepest gratitude to everyone that took time out of your busy schedules to be there! Your support means the world to us and we thank you. NO, really…we THANK you from the bottom of our hearts. You make it all worth it!

Now, for my family and friends that weren’t able to be there, here is your virtual tour. Dad: This is for you! I love you and missed you more than ever last night. I can’t wait to hold your hand and walk you through the studio this winter.

The front entrance…a big thank you going out to Shawn Bright at Signs in One Day for rocking our sign and window decals! You guys are the best!

We are looking forward to having this area landscaped by our friends, Beth & Mike, so stay tuned!

Here I am with the kiddos…this was approximately 30 minutes after my nervous breakdown. I pulled it together, but on the way to the opening I was sweating bullets and silencing my children after the boy karate chopped the girl in the neck “on accident.” The screaming in the car sent me over the edge…I almost came undone…but thankfully they could see that I was literally teetering on the edge of sanity and we had a nice, quiet ride to the studio with lots of deep breathing exercises.

I didn’t like the light there, so I asked Brandon to take another shot. Please excuse this picture…I included this for one person, and one person alone: Tashia Webber: “Does my hair look okay?” Gosh, I missed you last night!

Back to the tour (sorry!)

Here is the view from the entrance:

Another angle, showing our awesome dividers from Ikea that separate the shooting area:

Here’s a view of our sitting area & packaging station, where orders are boxed up & ribbon-tied:

My favorite chair ever…and the bathroom, which I named “the detail room.” All of the pictures in there are wedding details: shoes, dresses, flowers, rings…my favorite things!

Shooting area…not the best picture I’ve ever taken, but I wanted my Dad to have a full view of the place!

This is the viewing area, where clients come and comfortably view the photos from their session. I love offering the capability to view pictures in a large format, rather than being limited to the computer screen!

Here is our office…it is adjacent to the viewing area. Now that we put yellow accents in the viewing area, I am determined to find yellow office chairs. If you see any, please let me know!

Before everyone arrived, our dear friend Jeff presented us with the MOST amazing gift ever. EVER. It’s a Dave Matthews Band gold record, framed, engraved and dedicated to us. The lyrical quote is absolute perfection: “Turns out not where, but who you’re with that really matters.” The thoughtfulness of the gift was overwhelming…I cried…and Brandon got choked up too, you can see it in his eyes in this picture:

Thank you, Jeff & all the folks at Way FM. We are extraordinarily blessed to know you. And we love you!

I couldn’t believe the generosity of my friends, my heart was bursting last night. Here are some of the gifts we received:

Thank you to: Karen Cubler for the gorgeous (& functional!) silk bouquet from Jan at www.rentyourflowers.com. Thank you, Sharon Brotherton for the fabulous purple bouquet…Patty’s Flower Shop made a gorgeous design! And to Patty herself: thank you for such a sweet, fragrant bouquet…you are so generous, and of course…I love your work. Shout out to Bonnie! Thank you going out to Jennifer and David Rodriguez of Jaz-Mar Photography for the flowers and for being there to snap a family picture! Your grace is an inspiration, we love you guys! Thank you to Glen & Lizette…you have encouraged us from the beginning and we will always treasure your wedding memories. We love you! And finally, thank you Donlyn Turnbull for the treasure find…a vintage camera…something I have been wanting but never thought I would find! You have no idea how special that camera is to me–I can’t wait to use it for an engagement session!

p.s. you know I had to write on the cork and add it to our collection…if you don’t know about our collection, click here: corks

Thank you to Elba Plaza, of Jewels by Park Lane and to Kristen Pell of WAY FM for contributing giveaways…they were fabulous!

I am still floating on cloud nine from all of the loving support lavished upon us last night. I truly can’t express my grateful heart, I am so emotionally overwhelmed by the encouragement and kindness of you all! There are just no words to describe how blessed I feel…if I could wrap my arms around you all and give you a great big bear hug right now, I totally would! Here is a virtual one: (((hug)))

Here’s my favorite new family picture from last night, courtesy of Jaz-mar Photography:

Phew.

After things cleared out, Brandon and I took some time for a little dancing…and the kids snapped some pictures. These images are blurry and precious, kind of like the entire day!

If you missed the event, it would be my pleasure to give you personal tour! Thank you for stopping by the blog today.
Love, Stacy
www.setfreephotography.com