As many of you have seen on Facebook, my dear friend Christina and I took the Sin City by storm this past week! I wanted to share some of what we did with you guys 🙂 Oh and expect awesome iPhone and S4 photos –
So, last Saturday, I woke up way too early and headed out to Christina’s house for a morning flight out to Vegas!!! Our first plane ride into ATL went well, except for the fact that I suddenly felt ill as we were about to land. I took some medication thinking it would help, except it did not. As we waited for our second plane, I somehow lost my license in the craziness. Lol. Fantastic start, right? There were so many times I did not think I’d be able to make it on the flight because my body was in total hate mode, but I just have to thank both Christina and the flight attendant for helping me out and taking great care of me.
Because of all the storms going on out that way, our pilot took a different way into Vegas – right over Colorado!! I have been DYING to go to Colorado, and seeing this amazing view did NOT help.
After we landed, we were greeted by my friend Ric of Ric Ingram Photography – The funny thing is, Ric and I went to high school together, but as Christina and Ric talked, they realized they attended the same middle school! Small world, right?? He brought us to our hotel – which is the moment I realized I had no ID lol…. – and then he took us to this AWESOME sandwich joint (Capriotti’s) where we got this crazy sandwich called The Bobbie, which is this huge sub stuffed with roasted turkey, stuffing, mayo, and cranberry sauce – aka Thanksgiving on a bun. It. was. INSANE.
After dinner, Christina and I headed back to the hotel to get unpacked and prepared for the next day –
The next day started with a bang! You see, about a month ago, I was given the opportunity to put together a semi-styled shoot for Pretty Pear Bride in the desert! I got to work with some great vendors ( Chelish Moore Flowers + Impressions Bridal and Prom + Bobbie Pin Beauty + The Bead Lady ) to pull together one kickin’ styled session that would take place in the dry lake bed and Nelson’s Landing. Francesca of Bobbie Pin Beauty showed up at our hotel, and rocked our WORLD. This hair and makeup artist is THE. ABSOLUTE. BEST. She has a heart of gold, the most incredible personality, and we all fell in love with her (and may or may not have threatened to kidnap her and bring her back with us)! She not only did a fabulous job applying Christina’s makeup and styling her hair, but she helped us with anything we needed as well as doing any touch-ups that may be needed, and paid a ton of attention to details. All this being said, if you are in need of a best friend and hair/makeup artist, look into this chick – you won’t be disappointed!
After we were all ready, Ric picked us up and hauled us out to the beautiful Nelson’s Landing! Did I mention that he offered to be our male model too?! So awesome! When we arrived at Nelson, we noticed a TON of people over there. When we checked in, we were informed there was a country singer filming out there as well as a movie being filmed! And then there we were too haha 😉 I like to think I gave them a run for their money. The thing I loved about working with these two as models is that they were cracking up the whole time. They kept whispering the most ridiculous things to each other to create genuine smiles for my photos, but it had us all dying from laughter! We walked around to all the antique spots that we could fit into an hour, and Ric began warning me to wrap things up. You know me. I get lost in the moment, and before ya know it, fifteen minutes have passed when I said, “Just one more!”…
And finally Ric was like, “Yo we gotsta go NOW.” so we left. I realized how right he was as I began watching the sun slip away rather quickly, and I began freaking out a little because we had so much left to do! When we got up near the dry lake bed, I was at the point of almost begging Ric to just pull over wherever he could because I knew this was our moment to get things done or else we’d lose it. He did what he does best and whipped his Geo Metro right across the dirt median – drifting and everything – and then on over across (right as a cop passed us lol…). I literally jumped out of that car SO. FAST. and had Christina run over to the spot I needed her to be in as Francesca and Ric got everything set up. As soon as we were ready, we did a total wardrobe change into a dress Christina and I have been piecing together. We created the chiffon skirt to tie around a dress to add flowy-ness, and then added a blinged out belt to bring everything together 🙂
Francesca doing her thang 😉
We knocked out a ton of great shots, but then it became too dark for natural light and I called it a night. Ric was like, “I don’t think so!” and brought out all his flashes. I just stared at him. I’m not a flash kinda gal. And then this happened. I hate when Ric proves me wrong. Ugh.
So, you best believe we had a lot of fun with this… You see, Ric makes a ton of jokes about owning a Geo Metro. It gets him where he needs to be, and it’s actually a pretty awesome. At one point, he joked that he has to be the only guy that owns a tux and a Metro, so we did a series as if they really had gotten married and he was trying to whisk her away…
Notice the Classic Rod license plate…
As we headed back to the hotel, I expressed my concern that we hadn’t captured everything the editor may have been looking for. I was just thinking out loud, but Ric jumped on it and said not to worry because he knew the solution… We’ll get into that later…
The next day, Christina and I woke up with a desire to do something ridiculous. We went to Groupon to try to find something that we could both agree on trying out, and well – the shooting range is what we were both drawn to lol… Neither of us have ever shot a gun, and I have never really held one. I had this idea in my head that it’d hurt, I’d get burned from something probably, or I would possibly have something screw up and end up shooting myself. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Our instructor was the best though and really helped me understand everything I was doing and what to expect. We got 50 rounds each, but split it up between two guns. I also now understand why my dad wasn’t too willing to let me shoot his shotgun. Because that was insane.
On our way back to the hotel, we were apparently talking the ears off our cab driver (Don – we got that personal haha), and made him miss our exit because we were in deep convo about the beautiful sunset that was happening. I took this as a sign that we were meant to do something else, and then it hit me – “Would we be going the right way if we were to go to the Bellagio instead?” That would be a YES. So off we went! They had decked out the entire inside for Christmas, and it was oh so lovely!
And here are some videos of the fountains!!
And we also found this machine…
So remember when I said Ric had our backs? On Tuesday, we woke up early and had Ric pick us up. I told him we trusted his opinion and would go anywhere he suggested. I had a list of items I still needed to photograph for Pretty Pear Bride, so I decided to take to the desert again to finish this up. Ric suggested Red Rock Canyon, and oh my – it was just breathtaking. With this look, I decided to go natural with her hair and makeup, and gosh… I’ll let these photos speak for themselves.
Nothing could beat this day. At all.
On Wednesday, we needed to take care of business by sorting out my MIA license and her MIA debit card (we are great travelers, let me tell you), and then spent the remainder of the day exploring a bit. The best find was definitely Lush – a fresh handmade cosmetics store. Girls, this is a must. Everything there is so cool! We each purchased a perfume, I bought some primer and moisturizer, and then was introduced to a lotion/exfoliating bar, sea salt exfoliant, and their lotions. It was life changing. Here are some random photos from the day:
Thursday was our last day, so we knew we had to do everything we wanted. A trip to the aquarium was in order for sure, and after we did that, we decided to spend the rest of the evening relaxing and packing.
Christina swore up and down to me that I NEEDED to take a bath in the bathtub we had because it was incredible. I had looked up Lush online to see what bath products we could possibly go purchase, and the bath bomb seemed interesting. Now, here’s a funny story for you guys. I am the world’s most clumsy person I’m sure. Don’t trust me around anything. I was in their store picking up the different bath products to smell when one literally flew out of my hand and happened to land inside a tub of water they had sitting out for product samples. FAIL. The thing began fizzing and turning the water pink, and Christina was like, “Walk away quickly! JUST DO IT!” lol! I was so embarrassed! Each of us grabbed a couple of different ones to try out, and then we got super girly and purchased coconut daiquiris and had pizza delivered to our room. We also watched CSI to get that CSI experience because we were le tired. That counts… right?
I went first with filling the tub up, had some lovely music going, and then dropped the bath bomb in to get that party started! It was crazy to watch!
And here’s the color it turned the water 🙂
As I soaked in the tub, I thought about this trip as a whole. I thought about this year as a whole. It has been one heck of a ride, but I’ve held on, embraced everything that’s come my way, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’ve learned so much about the business side as well as finding my style. I’ve been able to mark off so many things I’ve dreamed of doing, and it has been fantastic!
The next day was flying home day. I was asked to be at the airport three hours prior to departure to ensure I’d make it on the aircraft since I didn’t have my license as my ID anymore. That was fun. What was more fun was waking up at 4:30am and not getting home until 10:30pm. But coming home and hugging my family and puppies made it all good 🙂 It’s great to be back, but that trip was certainly needed! I am beyond excited for what next year holds, and can’t wait to share more of these images from our trip at a later date after Pretty Pear Bride gets to use them!
Thanks so much for stopping by! xoxo, casey
{ Destination Wedding Photographer Casey Hendrickson Photography }