This isn't goodbye...

If you are reading this, this is my last blog entry on this blog.

I feel like I should be like Oprah and give a long dramatic tearful speech about "This isn't goodbye, this is.. until we meet again." But really, this isn't goodbye... this is... join me at our new blog!

The past 5 years have been an incredible growing experience for me as a young woman. What started as a girl with a dream of being a wedding photographer, went on to become Scarlett Lillian Photography. Through my camera I traveled the world, shot some a-mazing weddings, made fabulous friends, been published, met my husband, bought my dream car, got married, and now...... Stephen and I are excited to introduce:

Scarlett & Stephen
Wedding Photographers In Love

In getting married, not only have I had to had to learn the art of compromise and that it's not all about me, but I've had to do the same in joining our businesses. Before meeting Stephen, I worked my butt off to build a business... all by myself... as my only child syndrome would love to flaunt... but now I'm growing and learning the beauty of bringing on a partner, a teammate, someone to help carry the load... We are finding that unique balance as husband and wife, but also as business partners. I admit, it's been hard for me to say goodbye to Scarlett Lillian Photography, and now embrace Scarlett & Stephen. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited about the next chapter, but I can't help but feel like it's high school graduation all over again. As excited as you are to graduate, it's hard to say goodbye and stand there in that in between spot of the past and the future getting ready to walk into the next chapter of your life with all the unknowns.

For those who followed my journey from the beginning, or joined the ride part way, thank you for being here. Thank you for all your comments you have left over the years. Thank you for all your personal emails that extended beyond a comment. Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me when the times got tough, and celebrating with me during the exciting times of my life. Thank you for your prayers for the vulnerable moments of my life, like when I blogged about losing my dad to cancer. Thank you to those who have been silent and never left a comment, but still followed along. Thank you even to those out there, you know you who are, who through your not so kind words, you taught me to be a fighter and stand strong in the face of opposition. Each of you has helped me on this journey, as I've learned who I am in these 30 years of life. I will be forever grateful for your virtual friendship and love.

For the next chapter of life, I invite you to join my husband and I over on our new blog, www.scarlettlovesstephen.com. We have a lot of great things lined up such as our newlywed adventures, photography tips, wedding industry tid bits, and of course we can't wait to continue showing off our awesome clients who allow us to have the best job in the world! Also while you're there, be sure to sign up for our new newsletter to stay up to date for all things related to Scarlett & Stephen.

We're excited to have you chill with us at our new blog home, and I look forward to continuing the journey with you!

FOR SALE: Pink Betsey Johnson Dress

I have a little obsession with Betsey Johnson dresses. Anytime it's a special occasion, I head to Betsey to get a new fun party dress. I think I could decorate my whole house in Betsey dresses, but my closet is running out of room. Because they are special occasion dresses, I know I won't wear them again, so I've decided to sell them here on the blog to allow another girly gal to get her fabulous on!

I wore this last month at my bridal shower as you can see in the pic with my gorgeous bridesmaids above. I felt part pink cupcake, half flamingo. But it was super fun and frilly and I had a blast wearing it. And in this pic, you'll see Betsey had a lot of fun in it in her own parade!




I paid $475, but I'm selling it for $375. I only wore it once and it's a size 4. Also, I wore this black belt with it, I paid $45, but I'm making it available for $35. Must be sold together.

If you would like to buy it, hit me up at scarlett@scarlettlillian.com. First come first serve.

More dresses to come once this one sells!

Our wedding video is here!

When planning the wedding, the first thing I hired was our photographers, obviously. The second thing I hired was our cinematographers. Then from there, I would figure out how to pay for the rest of the wedding once I had those 2 important vendors secured. :-) Having previously been a videographer myself in the past, I know how videography can often be overlooked and one of those things brides are quick to cut from their budget. But after viewing our wedding highlight video tonight about 10 times, and crying each time reliving the day, I am so glad we had our cinematographers to accompany our photographers. Each a unique artform in it's own way, it was exciting to see another perspective of the day in motion picture and sound.

A big thank you to our amazing cinematographers, 4120 Weddings, who we flew from San Diego to film our day. Be sure to check out their site here!

The song used in the video is called "Beloved" by Tenth Avenue North and was our first dance song. We just love the analogy it talks about as Christ as our bridegroom and the way He views us as His beloved.

To all of you who have been posting sweet words on Twitter & Facebook, and sending us such beautiful emails, thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your love. We are so thankful for each one of you and humbled by your inspiring words how God could use our love story to inspire you. If there's anything I continue to repeat, it's that true love IS worth the wait! I remember reading a book in college called "When God Writes Your Love Story" and all these years later, after many many years of waiting, watching this video tonight, I am just blown away at how He has exceeded my expectations.

God is so good and loves to reward His children when we are obedient to His word and rest in the peace that He has great plans for our lives. There's nothing more beautiful than the day that you place Jesus as the first love of your life, and then find someone who loves Him even more. As Stephen and I lifted our hands in worship during our ceremony as now husband and wife, and listened to the chorus of our loved ones behind us singing along, my heart melted at the small glimpse of how beautiful Heaven must be there worshipping Jesus in His presence. There is no greater love than that of our Lord and Savior and our greatest prayer is that you too can know the intimacy of His love as His beloved too.

Enjoy our video!  (Password: stephen)



To view FULL SCREEN, click over to 4120's Vimeo site here and it's the lower right hand corner of the video. :-)

The wedding photos are here!

So, who was up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding?

Not me, but I did DVR it and am so excited to live vicariously through the new Princess Kate. :-)

In the meantime, yesterday I was able to relive what it felt like to be a princess on my own wedding date because our photographers blogged all the recap of the best photos of the day on their blog. We got their text as the first thing we saw when we woke up, and sat in bed getting teary eyed as we woke up to preview the beautiful story of our day over again!

So many of you have already reached out with sweet emails and Facebook comments about how the pictures made you cry. So sorry! But I'm so glad that you could share in our day and be moved by it. Our greatest prayer for our wedding that it could help inspire people toward Christ's love, as well as honor my dad who couldn't be there to walk me down the aisle.

Here's a few of my favorite shots from the day that I borrowed from their blog, but be sure to check out the Gray's full blog to see a lot more in the the full showcase at:

http://www.grayphotograph.com/blog/?p=11280

p.s. Be sure to leave a comment on their blog because we get fun prizes from them if we reach 75 comments! You can also leave them here too of course. :-)

A few of you might remember this amazing wedding I shot which these shoes. At the time, I kind of flipped out when I saw the shoes, and Cara's aunt was so kind to make me a pair like she did for Cara. I have been saving them for 3 years and was excited to finally wear them!


My 1st love and ring bearer, the Rhett-ster.




My handsome hot husband who I had prayed so many years for. I still pinch myself all the time that he's finally here!


My awesome paper designs by Jessi of Just Invite Me!




Yes, you know every girl wants this reaction from the man she's walking down the aisle toward!





A moment of looking over at my dad's picture and missing him tremendously in that moment.




I promise, when I started wedding planning, I said I didn't want a lot of froo froo for the reception. But, well, I couldn't help it in the end.


You know how obsessed with pink I am, so you know how much I adored the lighting design! I truly recommend lighting design as a must for how your reception atmosphere and pictures look in the end. By the way, the cake topper was my parents original cake topper from 1975!




Back when my dad started chemo, just in case he wouldn't make it, I asked him to have a father daughter dance with me that I could play at my wedding one day. While playing the video, I asked my mom for a dance so the three of us could dance together. To view the actual video, you can see it in my archives here.




And you know how obsessed I've been with this word for years. I love how our photographers captured the rings with it! ha!




And this blog entry couldn't be complete without a huge shout out to our amazing vendors that helped make the wedding day become what it did!! A lot of these are colleagues we've worked with in the industry, but are also great friends. They come highly recommend!

Photographers: Gray Photography
Paper Designs: Just Invite Me
Florist: Rosalee’s Flower Boutique
Custom Veil: Fascinating Creations
Cake: Brielle Hutchinson chefbrielle@gmail.com
Video: 4120 Weddings
Tents: Beachview Tent Rentals
Dress: Enzoani
Planner: Terrica with Cocktails + Details
Make-up Artist: Paulina Perez
Hair Artist: Mandi Adams, hairstylist_mandiadams@hotmail.com
DJ/Entertainment: Jacob Towe of Y? Entertainment

We're married!

I was never the girl who dreamed about her perfect wedding growing up. I was the girl who dreamed about where my husband was under the moon somewhere. I always felt so strongly that God was designing that one man just for me. I wasn't on a mission to find the perfect man, but I knew in my heart that God was preparing someone perfectly for me. And I knew when I met him, I would recognize him right away. I wouldn't question, I wouldn't doubt, I would absolutely know it was Him when God brought him to me because of all the years I had been praying for him before I even met him.

Yet, I truly feel like I had the perfect wedding. Everytime someone asked me what I thought, I just simply said, "It's perfect. I couldn't have asked for more."

But now that the wedding has passed, it still hasn't quite hit me.

Oh my gosh, I'm married. I mean, we're married. Stephen always lets me know we are now "our" not "I". :-)

I can't believe how quickly the day passed. As a photographer it seems to drag on and on but as a bride, I feel like I blinked and it was over. I'm so glad that we had some amazing photographers and videographers there to capture the blur that it was!

We are still anxiously waiting to see our wedding photos and highlight video (gosh, now I know what my clients go through wanting to see their photos quickly!), but here's a few teasers our photographers Gray Photography released.

FYI, I got my veil custom made from Fascinating Creations. You must check them out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FascinatingCreations

It's finally our wedding day!!!!!

Ok, first, no, I'm not blogging on my own wedding day. I'm not THAT obsessed with social media. But yes, I have prepared this blog entry ahead of time because I wanted to share something special with you.

Today at our wedding, we are showcasing a special video we had made of our love story. Back when I was a little girl, I remember being in love with a show on TLC called "A Wedding Story." It was one of the original wedding reality shows that started with a bride and groom telling their love story and then transitioning into their wedding day. I remember daydreaming about what my own love story would be one day that I could tell my kids and grandkids. I knew, one day, whenever God brought me the man of my dreams, that I would want to create our own love story video to play at our wedding.

So here it is! It was filmed in Coronado where Stephen is from and produced by our videographers 4120weddings.com. From our heart to yours, enjoy!

Scarlett & Stephen // Love Story from FortyOneTwenty on Vimeo.

1 day and counting...

Reason #12 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he has also believed in the sacredness of true love waits and the beautiful gift that is to receive from the man I am marrying tomorrow!!!!!


One of my favorite engagement photos in the way it symbolizes Stephen leading me through our life together.


Photo by Mike Larson.



Lastly, be sure to tune in to the blog tomorrow because even though I won't be blogging, I have set up a blog post to publish with our special love story video we are playing at our wedding, made by our videographers 4120weddings.com.

Thank you SO much to everyone who has been with us on our journey from the beginning. We are so grateful for all your kind words, encouragement, support and prayers as we approach our big day!!!

2 days and counting...

Reason #11 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he has such a big heart for helping others and hardly asks anything in return.


Ok, so there was one thing he asked in return.

Photo by Gavin & Erin Wade.

3 days and counting...

Reason #10 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he was waiting for me at the end of the marathon and wants to keep running this race of life with me.


The first and only marathon I will run!

4 days and counting...

Reason #9 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way we can be totally silly with each other and how much he makes me laugh.


Hanging with Elvis in Nashville.

5 days and counting...

Reason #8 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way, no matter the distance between us, he pursues my heart each day and always ends each night praying for us both.


Celebrating New Years 2010.

6 days and counting...

Reason #7 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he created a cute thing we do called a "nosey" which sometimes says so much more than a kiss.


Kissing on the streets in New Orleans.


Photo by Brandon O'Neal.

7 days and counting...

Reason #6 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way we learned to fish together and he gets SOOOO excited about each catch like it's his first catch ever.


One of our candid videos from our silly Scarlett & Stephen Show YouTube channel we started for our kids to watch one day of our newlywed life.

8 days and counting...

Reason #5 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he still keeps trying to love my poodle Rhett even though Rhett keeps trying hard not to love him back.


Every now and then Rhett WILL let Stephen hold him, but it's rare.

Go see Soul Surfer!!!

A few weeks ago I blogged about the sneak preview Stephen and I saw of Bethany Hamilton's new movie "Soul Surfer." I don't get passionate about a lot of movies, but I totally have gotten passionate about THIS movie and have been telling everyone they need to go see it! It truly will inspire you to new places in your life.

Just a reminder that TODAY is opening day in the theaters!!! Grab a friend or a loved one and go see it! It's a movie for all ages. This weekend is crucial for attendance to show Hollywood that more of these inspirational movies need to be made. So go TONIGHT! :-)

Here's a glam interview Bethany did on the "blue" carpet this week. I love how, even without an arm, she looks just as beautiful, if not more to me, as the "normal" movie star. I love what she says toward the end:

"Live your dreams and work hard at what you believe in. Stand firm. Don't let the world tell you what you are or aren't."

9 days and counting...

Reason #4 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he wears pink for me just because he knows how much I love it.


I knew when Stephen let me pick out a pink shirt for him, he was a keeper.

10 days and counting...

Reason #3 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he never gets angry and always sees the glass half full.


The first time we went went ice skating, and it was the first time he held my hand. Yes, I got butterflies like I was a teenager again.

11 days and counting...

Reason #2 why I can't wait to marry Stephen

It's the way he always says "I love you" without me having to ask.


The first time we rode bikes around the island of Corondao together, where he's from.

12 Days and counting!

It really hit me on Saturday as I shot Stephanie & Aaron's wedding. Oh my gosh, 2 more weeks until it's time for Stephen and I to take our turns down the aisle!

Saturday night when I got home, I was laying in bed and on my iPhone peaked on the weather forecast and saw, oh no, it's going to RAIN! With that I had a mini meltdown, HOW could it rain? In the midst of my freakout, I texted Stephen, always the calm one, and he comforted me and reassured me that no matter what, rain or shine, our wedding day was going to be beautiful.

As I laid in bed trying to not dwell on the fact that it said it was going to rain, I was thinking about how he handled my freakout was one of many reasons I love Stephen and can't wait to marry him. With that, it started even more thoughts of why I love him so much that I wrote down. As the countdown to our wedding, I wanted to document it here on the blog, simply to remember all the reasons that I can look back on one day.

(p.s. Now the weather forecast is saying it will be partly sunny, so I love how my freakout was totally unnecessary!)

Reason #1

It's the little ways I'm always seeing how we are made to complement each other. Like the way I'm always correcting his spelling for him, and the way he is always encourages me to keep believing God is good in the challenges and victories.

Our first picture together ever, trying on each other's sunglasses!

Happy Birthday Rhett!

This time 7 years ago, I was heart broken. Like the completely-shattered-didn't-know-how-I-would-EVER-love-again-heart-broken. At the time I was still living at my parents and my favorite all time movie (still is) was Legally Blonde. I came home and told my parents, "I want a puppy." My mom and dad were like, "You? With a dog? We have a dog."

"Yeah, but" I protested, "It's YOUR dog, and I want a cute little chihauhau I can carry around in my purse. I'm heartbroken, and I need to transfer my love to something else!"

My parents fought the idea, but I was determined. I started visiting EVERY pet store around town until I found "the" perfect chihauhau. She was white and a toy breed and I was already imagining the cute little pink outfits I would dress her up in. I had named her Coco (after Coco Chanel, not because she was brown), and I knew she was "the" dog for me. After much begging and pleading, I convinced my mom to go look at her with me. We arrived back to the pet store and SHE WAS GONE! Someone else bought her! Danggit! How could I have been soooo sure she was the one for me and now to discover she totally wasn't? (Yes, that totally paralleled my break-up at the time.)

As I sat there and moped about my loss, the dog that is, my mom started walking around the store and pointed to this white fluffy poodle. "What about this one?" she asked.

"Oh mom, poodles are so cliche," I protested. "Plus, it's a male, I want a girl."

But then those puppy eyes grabbed me. And he perched up on the side of the pin as he if was saying "I need YOU as much as you need ME." He was quite cute and fluffy so I agreed to pick him up, but only to play with him. From the moment I picked him up, he melted like butter in my arms and even let me turn him on his back like a baby. Gosh, he just grabbed my heart.

So the poodle and I went to the play pin. He was the cutest thing ever. We played, and I fell in love, but there was a black female in the pin with him. I told my mom to go get her so I could see how the female was, because I was determined to dress a dog in pink. When my mom brought the female into the pin, the male jumped in front of me and growled as if he was saying, "This is my momma, back off!"

Needless to say, that day I went home with a brand new male poodle and named him Rhett. I had always thought it would be funny to meet a guy named Rhett since I was named after Gone With the Wind, but I never did meet a Rhett, so I thought it was perfect for my pup. And just like Rhett Butler, he is totally a ladies man. I wish he was nicer to guys (including Stephen, ha), but he loves the women and is the best snuggle bunny in the world!

Happy 7th Birthday Rhett!! Here's a few funny photos I took of him in his original birthday get up. And as you can tell, I enjoyed taking the photos a lot more than Rhett enjoyed posing for them! ha!


My little circus dog. I promise you, he did this all on his own.


This was the same birthday hat and scarf I got him for his 1-year birthday!


Obviously Rhett doesn't like the hat. :-)




One of about 100 tennis balls he's stolen over the years.






A cute video of him hopping like a bunny rabbit. :-)