2011 June | Champaign and Urbana wedding photographer

Champaign and Urbana wedding photographer | Holly Birch Photography bio picture

Welcome to my blog!

Hey! Thanks for coming to my blog! If you're here as a bride or groom, I hope you like what you see. I'd love to meet with you in person to talk about your wedding day and how I can help you. I love photographing weddings and hope that shows in my work!

Things I love: the Illini, the color orange, lobsters, my husband, my son, weddings, my Nikon D700, socks, my dogs, Johnny Cash, American Idol, my iMac, The Sound of Music, Hereford cattle, a pair of good-fitting jeans, the Food Network, & macaroni and cheese (and my Grandma Hazel wants me to add her in here too).

Scroll down to view images from recent weddings and sessions! Also, be sure to "like" my Facebook page to keep up with announcements & specials!

Monthly Archives: June 2011

June 7, 2011

Jewellie + John | Wesley United Methodist + Memorial Stadium wedding

Posted in Wedding 27 comments

Jewellie + John were married at the Wesley United Methodist Church on campus on June 4. It was a super hot, super humid day, so we didn’t do many outdoor photos before hand, but Jewellie let us go crazy with photos at Memorial Stadium!

After Jewellie + John’s First Look, they exchanged gifts and cards with each other. Here Jewellie is showing John where her writing started. Apparently she covered a large portion of the card, and John didn’t know where to look first!

New favorite shoe shot ever? Maybe!!

John wasn’t in the room for this one, but we told Jewellie to pretend that she was looking at him instead of what she was really looking at–one of her bridesmaids!

Beautiful bride!

John awaiting his bride at the front of the aisle

Having some fun on the field. I got to put my football photography skills to good use here:

Sassy wedding party shot

So the University had just finished installing the new Big Ten logo on the sideline, and Jewellie + John got to be the first to take their photo with it. Pretty neat!

I always forget to go up to the columns when I am photographing a wedding at the Stadium. The last time I saw wedding coordinator Bobbi, I told her to make sure I don’t forget to go up there next time! So glad we did… these are some of my favorite shots of them from the day, and I can definitely see one of these hanging as a huge canvas in their living room.

The groom + groomsmen all wore stripey Illinois socks. Then they rolled up their pant legs for the wedding party intros. I told them they looked like Oompa Loompas!

Groom’s cake:

I love this idea. Jewellie wanted to incorporate her Mom’s wedding dress into the day, so she used a piece of the lace and wrapped it around her bouquet. How sweet!

I call this one “oops!”

If Julie and John can get 50 comments on this post (either via the Facebook comments below or regular blog comments, they’ll receive a free 16×20″ mounted print of their choice!

Vendors:
DJ: Roger Kleiss – (217) 841-5878
Cake: Allison Mowry, Decatur
Florist: Abbott’s
Dress: Satin ‘N Lace (Claudine for Alyce Designs)
Tuxes: Seno Formal Wear
Photographer: Holly Birch Photography

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Tags: Champaign, Memorial Stadium, Wedding, Wesley

June 2, 2011

New logo + new look + new website = New brand!

Posted in HBP 1 comment

You may notice that the place looks a little different! I’ve been working hard for the past 2-3 months to get my new brand, logo and website up and running by June 1. I’m so glad to say that I made it! I hired Christine from Deluxe Modern Design to create a new brand for my business. I wanted to keep the gray/green theme since it is crisp + clean and matches the studio/meeting space I share with Allyson from Sweet Pea Photography. I’ve already handed some of these goodies out to clients, but I have a few more of my old brown photo boxes to ship out before the new slick gray ones can go out. I’m super excited to see it all come together and I love the new more feminine, boutique feel that all my printed materials and website now have. There are still a few odds and ends I have left to tie up but most of the hard work is done. It feels great!
These tins are for non-wedding discs.

And the CD label inside!

New thank you notes

This is something I’ve never done before, but I added “Happy Anniversary” cards to my repertoire for this year. Sorry to ruin the surprise for my 2010 wedding couples!

Love the bright green envelopes!

Stamps!! I’m still trying to find a good, solid ink color that stamps well and shows up on anything. I’m trying to avoid using boring black ink.

New business cards with UV spot coating on the front

And the back. I love the rounded corners!

Folders for my wedding consultations

Wanna see what’s inside? Schedule a consultation with me to book your 2012 (or possibly late 2011) wedding!

New photo boxes with custom logo imprint

Here you see the 8×10 & 11×14 sizes

I wasn’t sure about the white on gray, but the company worked with me to ensure that it would turn out great, and it did! They look awesome!

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Tags: branding, business cards, logo

June 1, 2011

Sarah + Anthony | Illini Union Ballroom wedding photography

Posted in Wedding 37 comments

Welcome to my BRAND NEW WEBSITE! Thanks for taking the time to check it out! For your viewing pleasure I have just uploaded the fabulous wedding of Sarah and Anthony from May 28. They were married in Sadorus at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church followed by the reception at the Illini Union in Urbana on the University of Illinois campus.

I’m trying something new and putting the slideshow here ahead of the single images. I prefer to look at the images individually myself, but I thought some of my blog readers may prefer the slideshow version. With the individual images, you will find my commentary about certain images as well.

If Sarah + Anthony get 50 comments by June 15, I will gift them with a 16×20 mounted print of their choice. Comments can be either on the Facebook form at the bottom of the post or on the post itself, but they MUST be on the blog to count.

Anthony writing a love note to his bride. I think there were 3-4 throughout the day. So sweet!

How happy is this guy to see his bride coming down the aisle?

Lifting the veil. I don’t get to see too much of that anymore! Pretty neat!

I wanted them to have a photo to remind them that it rained on their wedding day.

I just love the way he looked at her all day long.

We got in a few extra indoor portraits before braving the puddles outside.

Boys will be boys.

Anthony is a basketball coach and several of the groomsmen grew up playing sports with him, hence all the basketball-themed images.

This would be my favorite shot of the day if I could see Sarah’s face. I still love it though!

Box out!

I snagged Sarah + Anthony for a couple more portraits just before they went in to be introduced. So happy I did!

So, Sarah + Anthony did their first dance…

And then they did the entire dance scene from Hitch. You know the one where Kevin James is trying to show Will Smith his dance moves? Yeah, that one. It was hilarious! I hope somebody got it on video.

You’re always bound to get some good reactions during the toasts.

Let him have it, Sarah!

See the guy pushing everybody back in anticipation of catching the garter? Yeah, that’s Anthony’s dad! LOL!

Money shot!