Tuesday, June 28, 2011

working hard for the money..

I really wish I had something OTHER than work to blog about..but seeing as how we are in the midst of wedding season, it's basically what consumes me life. It's going surprisingly well so far! I say that now but talk to me around Sept 29th when we've shot 20-something weddings in 16 weeks...I may be in a different frame of mind. All the sweet comments on our blog, facebook, twitter and heartfelt emails from our couples remind us daily of how much we love what we do.

Many of you have already seen this i'm sure..but last weekend we captured and witnessed McKenna and Derek Rishmawy's wedding day. What a blessing it was to see a couple who truly understands the sanctity of marriage and everything that God created it to be. Paul and I were so used to the typical wedding ceremony, vows, ring exchange, you may kiss the bride, done. Not this ceremony, the Gospel was preached and it was a beautiful thing!! I may have shed one or a few tears throughout their ceremony.



In other news, Paul and I remembered that a year ago today we came home from our honeymoon! It was a bittersweet realization..the final closure that our first year of marriage is over. I still want to be a newlywed!! Here are some pictures we were reminiscing on...



cheese.







Lava flows were a big deal for me..



easily amused.


Saturday, June 25, 2011

618studios. Growth.

So over the past couple months we swayed back and forth on the idea of hiring our first 618 intern for this summer. With 21 weddings spread out from June - October we finally came to the conclusion that the time has come, much sooner than expected but nevertheless it's here.

I just had to share this sweet email we received from a potential 618studios intern..It made my day.

_______________ here from _______ University, It has been really exciting to see from Facebook and Vimeo all the great memories 618 Studios has been capturing this past year. I would like to submit my resume to make myself available to all the great things happening at 618. I personally would love to learn the operations necessary to go from Pre-prodction to Post-production in the film/cinematography industry. As a student at _______ I have the urgency to put my knowledge to use in anyway possible. I know I can be of service in a range from customer service, paperwork all the way to editing. This opportunity would be a great help to my academic and personal career. So if there is anything that I can do I would love a chance to learn in such a rewarding and memorable business that 618 studios is a part of. Please feel free to look over my resume and contact me through email or by phone at ________


Super sweet, exciting things to come! :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Our offices this month {July}

Well...July is right around the corner. It's probably the busiest month for us along with September. With 6 weddings and 2 love stories just in July..We're excited for all the amazing couples we get to work with but nervous at the same time because so far the most we've shot in 1 month is 2 weddings and 2 love stories. Now or never I guess!! We've been doing all we can to prepare for these crazy months ahead, including purchasing a new Macbook Pro today!


Paul is now able to help out with some of the post production stuff which is amazing!! We can bust out videos twice as fast :)

July we are all over the place Orange County, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego..and we couldn't be more excited! We are shooting at some of the coolest venues.

#1. The McCormick Ranch Home 

#2. The Historic Cottage - San Clemente State Beach


#3. Condor's Nest Ranch!!!!!! We are lucky to be able to shoot here twice this summer..it's a dream venue.



To see more from this beautiful wedding from Katie Neal Photography click HERE!

#3. The Cliff's Resort Pismo Beach 

So intimate and beautiful! Photo by Jen Slot Photographer...more goodness HERE!

#5. The Seacliff County Club - Huntington Beach


#5. Webb Lake Park





workaholic

I'm sure lots of you have heard me refer to my office, which is rather less of an office and more of a desk in the corner of our already living/dining room. Ok, it's not as bad as it seems, but yes our place is small..

What I dislike most about our set-up is that is makes it nearly impossible for me to separate work life and home life since both are mixed in our apartment :( When I say "impossible for me to separate work and home life" what I mean is that, I work ALL THE TIME! I've talked to people with similar setups who have the opposite problem. For them, having a home office is restricting because they are constantly being distracted with something else, not allowing them to get any work done..I wish I had that problem! ;-) But the more I think about it, I can't just blame it on the setup, I've always been the type who enjoys working, a lot apparently. Even on our 1 year anniversary, I had to fight the urge to check my email. When I saw this picture of pinterest, I immediately thought, "story of my life."




confession of a workaholic::: when I saw this picture, I thought to myself "I wish I could take my laptop on the beach!"

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

So much.

So...I've been guilty of cheating. On Blogspot that is, I thought the grass was greener on the other side of Tumblr land..and I was wrong. Their fancy templates were deceiving and after trying it out for a few days I decided Blogspot was right for me!

Soooo....with THAT said, If you'd like to be updated on what has been happening in the world of Team Gilster click HERE. I suggest you might so that you understand what this next post is all about ;-) After spending 4 great days in anniversary bliss we were thrown back into the world of weddings, twitter, Facebook (which is always in my world), promos, you know real life. I started my first official week of self-employment which has turned out to be less scary and more exciting than I thought. This process of self-employment I've realized is less about choosing was a comfortable for you and more about surrendering to God and His ultimate plan. It has become obvious to us over the past year that He has us right where He wants us, and if that's what He wants then that's A-ok in my book!

I was completely planning on blogging about something else and now I'm way off track. Eh whatever. This will be a long one.

MARRIAGE YEAR 1::::

If you read our tumblr post about our first year, you'll have read that Paul and I asked each other a series of questions over dinner (at the melting pot, which I'll say again is not worth $90). If you want fondue, call me/text me we'll get together, grab some chocolate and melt up a fondue chocolate party at my place. boom. Well here are one of the questions we asked each other.

1. What have we accomplished in our first year of marriage?

We started a growing business, we learned how to maintain that business, one of us graduated from college, we bought a new(er) car together, we made it through the challenges of the first year of marriage.

Challenges?? What challenges? Oh there are challenges let me tell you! :) Trust me, girls who are reading this...when you are in your first year and marriage and trying to think of ways to lock your husband out of the bedroom because your door doesn't have a lock and you are so extremely upset that you want him to sleep on the floor in your living room? You're not the only one!! I tried everything...the the chair up against the door doesn't work for future reference. Yes, it's true, marriage isn't always staying up late watching movies, baking cookies together, having beach days, and sipping delicious morning coffee together..but sometimes it is and that's awesome. We've had a lot of struggles and learned much more about each other in the past 365 days than we had the first 4 years of dating, but it's been more of a blessing than a burden. And even when we do fight, which ALL normal couples do! It's times like these that make it all worth it...



p.s. If you'd like more Gilster 1 year stories...ask lol I'm sure you'll find them both relieving and entertaining ;-)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Twenty-Two.

My 22nd birthday was definitely sweet. Birthdays have been weird in the past couple years..On my 20th birthday Paul proposed, which was amazing don't get me wrong but the birthday-ness of the day was overpowered with the engagement bliss and the beginning of a new chapter. My 21st birthday I went to vegas and got smashed...ayyyeeee! Hardly. With our wedding less than two weeks away I barely remembered it was even my birthday month! June 18th was on the brain and June 18th alone. Adios 21st birthday!

This year I decided to keep it low key once again. Didn't plan any huge birthday bash but rather decided to spend it with those I love most, the fam! They came up, went to church together, gathered for a sweet lunch in San Clemente and the day ended with a killer hike. Radness. First though, a memory I will never forget.

Paul had decided the night before that he was going to wake up early to make me breakfast. Without waking me up and then surprising me with breakfast in bed. Well let's get something straight here, no one loves their sleep more than Paul Gilster, 9-10hours is about the sleep he averages per night, so when I say he wanted to get up early, we are talkin' 8:00am. So 7:30am I'm up and wired..laying in bed with my eyes wide open with birthday excitement. At 8:00am Paul rolls over to look at me, only to find my wide open eyes starring back at him. "Why are you awake?" "I dunno." "You're supposed to be asleep so I can surprise you with breakfast" "awww really?!?"...he rolls back over and out of bed.

20 mins later I'm greeted with this..


what a guy.

A little recap of the day!

Me and my Lauren on our way to lunch.

Balboa Island fun!


Got me some sunglasses!

friends that bring you birthday cupcakes on your birthday night are friends to treasure!


My mom says we look like sisters in this picture.


Birthday success :)

p.s. thanks to all for the sweet birthday shout outs and texts throughout the day..you guys are so special! and I didn't realize how much of a commitment it was to say thanks to each one lol. But i'm glad I did!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Our offices this month {June}

Ahhh June, you are so lovely. Not me mention my favorite month for many reasons. Growing up it always signified the end of school, beginning of summer, and my birthday. Now, I also have another reason to look forward to it, it's the month of our wedding anniversary. :) Holla!!

Side note: We get this question allllll the time, "What does 618 stand for?" Some friends of hours guessed that it stood for a Bible verse...I wish it was that cool ;-) 6.18.10 was our wedding date. Paul came up with the name..Hey I guess I won't ever has the husband that forgets his anniversary!?

This month we have really fun weddings, 1 out of state and 1 here in good 'ol Cali.

#1. Portland! Holla (i'm really into saying holla these days)

The Grotto - Audrey + Curtis 6.11.11

They will tie the knot inside this beautiful church at The Grotto


is this little red chapel on The Grotto grounds not the cutest thing you've ever seen!!! I'm really eyeing it for their first look :) I know it's not our call...but if it were...
St. Anne's Chapel at The Grotto - Portland, Oregon

too.much.prettiness!!



#2. Kindred Community Church - McKenna + Derek 06.26.11

This church actually has multiple ceremony locations on their grounds :)

loving all this green!!


Just wait till July we have SIX venues to share with you!!