January 1, 2018 /
Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018! Rivas Photography
Hello, friends! And Happy New Year!! We hope that your holiday season has been filled with so much love, and warmth and fun! We’ve had a LOT going on lately, and are finally getting caught back up with everything! We’ve got so many fun, amazing, exciting things coming your way in 2018! But, before we start making those announcements, we wanted to take a look back at 2017. Because trust us, it was a complete whirlwind!
Is it just us, or does every year seem to just fly by faster than the year before?! 2017 was no exception, and was a complete roller coaster for us. Stop by our Facebook page later today for a FULL rundown of ALL the announcements and craziness that has been going on around here lately. Despite all of the chaos, we want to stop and take a minute to say thank you. Thank you so much to everyone for letting us into your lives. For letting us get to know you, your families, kids, pets, grandmas, and for letting us create your most precious memories. There’s no way in the world we could ever do this without you, and we are so, so, SO grateful that you put all of your trust in us. We’ll never be able to thank you enough for that. And you mean the world to us.
Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018!
Since this year was SO crazy for us, we’re going to break it down a little bit for you, because we want to make sure to give everyone some love. Trust us – there are A LOT of you!
Engagement Sessions
This year we had the pleasure of creating engagement images for 16 very unique and different couples. And we honestly loved every minute of it. You know by now that we LOVE engagement sessions, and this year was SO fun. We traveled with amazing couples from to places like Sedona, Seattle, and even got to do so many crazy-fun sessions here in Kansas City. Each session was so unique, and we feel like they each fit their couple SO well!
Weddings
You know we only take a limited number of weddings each year. And this year, we decided to cap it at 17. Why? We wanted to be completely ready, refreshed, and excited for each and every single of our couples. And can we just say that this was the year of surprises at weddings?! From Matt and Monica eloping, to Alyssa and Justin’s ceremony and vow renewal at Sporting KC. Running down the 12th Street Viaduct in a thunderstorm with Stephanie and Aaron, to getting to go ON the court at Allen Field House. Each and every single wedding day and couple this year was SO unique and had so many fun, emotional aspects to it. We can’t thank you enough for letting us be there for you.
Styled Wedding Shoots
This year, we had the opportunity of participating in some pretty AMAZING styled shoots with some of Kansas City’s best wedding vendors. And we LOVE how different they all turned out!! Not all of these have hit the blog yet, but we promise, they’ll be headed that way soon!
Styled shoot at The Garment House
Styled Session at The Legacy at Green Hills
Styled Shoot at LaRue & The Kansas City Club
Styled Shoot at The Reserve Event Space
Corporate and Nonprofit Events
Every year we get to work with some of Kansas City’s very best nonprofit and corporate companies. Doing what?! Capturing everything from their crazy-amazing holiday parties, to creating marketing materials, to photographing food. Here are some of the fun, amazing groups we got to work with this year.
Foundation Repair Systems
Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
Thursday Therapy at Tom’s Town and The Legacy at Green Hills
The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
EA Bride Magazine Fall Issue Launch Party
Sporting Events
This year Kyle had the pleasure of covering everything from Chiefs games, to Sporting KC, the Royals, KU Basketball, and beyond. Here’s just a glance at some of his favorite images from the year in sports.
Newborns
This year I (Melissa) really started to focus in on our newborn photography. And can I tell you just how excited I am about the upcoming year?! From close friends newborns, to clients bringing their new babies back to us, and even venturing into cake smashes and beyond, this year was SO fun (and colorful!)!
Fun Stuff
This year we even got to cross a few photo related things off our bucket lists. We had such a blast visiting Antelope Canyon and creating images while on our tour. We can’t wait to take a couple back there for portraits! And, who could forget the Eclipse? This year we also each got to spend some time educating ourselves. I had the opportunity to travel to Minnesota to study under two of the nation’s best newborn photographers for a few days. Later last fall, Kyle headed to Charleston to really dig deep at the Fearless Photographers Conference.
Published Images & Honors
This year we also had the honor of having a few different images published in various places and forms – which is always exciting! We’ve had a few images published in a photographer run magazine, alongside some of the biggest and best photographers in our industry! We’ve also had a few images published in People Magazine, and currently have an image on a billboard for Children’s Mercy Hospital over by Southwest Boulevard!
In addition to being published, we’ve also received a few honors this year. And can we just say how completely blown away we are that these things happened?! Early last year, we entered three of our images in a photo image competition, and we found out that two of the three were published at a conference and that we merited in the competition. (Not an easy thing to do!). We were also nominated to submit an application to be considered for one of Kansas City’s top Small Businesses. And while we didn’t win, we were so honored to be thrown in the same group with some of Kansas City’s biggest movers and shakers. Lastly, we found out just a few short weeks ago, that our amazing wedding clients voted us as one of The Knot’s Best of Wedding Photographers for 2018 in Kansas City. AND, that we’re officially in The Knot’s Hall of Fame, which means we’ve received the The Knot’s “Best of” award at least four times. Talk about mind-blown!
In Memoriam
So many fun, wonderful things happened this year, but a few things also happened this year that completely grounded us. And made us take a step back, and remember just how important what we do is. A few weeks ago, one of the couples that we’ve had the pleasure of knowing for a few years now, and whose wedding we photographed in April of 2017, passed away in a tragic car accident. It’s never something that is expected, and always something that’s earth shattering. Especially since we hold everyone in the Rivas Photography close to our hearts. Laura and Ryan were such a sweet, fun-loving, energetic couple, and we learned so much from them in the short time that we knew them. They will forever live on in our hearts, minds, spirits, and in how we approach each and every wedding.
Our hearts were also broken this year when more of our wonderful, big family had to say goodbye to their loved ones. We had the privilege of creating family images for one of our couples at their wedding that included three family members that passed away this year. While it’s never something that’s easy, we’re so glad and honored they trusted us with creating those last images of their loved ones with them. And, our hearts were also broken when one of our brides had to say goodbye to her father earlier than she expected.
We don’t want to end on a sad note, but please, hug your loved ones close for us!
Hello 2018!
Well, now that 2018 is officially here, we’re so excited for a fresh start! This year has some really fun, slightly crazy things in store, and we can’t wait to share them all with you! We’re so glad we get to kick this year off with Krysteena and Patrick’s wedding on Saturday (yay!!)! And are so excited for everything that will be following it. In terms of weddings, we do still have a very limited number of openings. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re even slightly interested in how things work around here!
Adventure is out there! And we’re planning on taking full advantage of it! This year we’re scheduling out our traveling in the hopes that you’ll join us for a unique, one-of-a-kind, Rivas Photography Portrait experience. This January we’ll be traveling to Los Angeles and San Diego for Lauren and David and Kat and Tim’s engagement sessions. Later this year we’ll be in back in Malibu for Lauren and David’s wedding – yay!! We’ll also be hitting up Banff National Park in Alberta Canada sometime in Q2, and Colorado in August for Maren and Kellham’s wedding! To wrap up our year, we’re also working on putting together a trip to a destination in Europe (TBA)! If you’re at all interested in having photos created at any of these locations (or anything within 2 hours of these locations), please let us know! You know we’re always up for an adventure!
Friends, we are SO excited to see what 2018 has in store for you. We can’t wait to laugh, love, and celebrate with you. The good, any bad that may happen, and everything in between. We’re so, so grateful for each and every one of you! We’ll see you so soon, and Happy New Year!!
Book us for your Session:
To book Rivas Photography for your upcoming photography session, or for more information, please visit our contact page to send us a message. Or, check out our calendar for our next available meeting time!
