Archive for the ‘Parties/Social Events’ Category

Bastille Day – Alliance Francaise d’Atlanta

July 12, 2010

bastilleday071010_0001“J’mapplle Shari”!

is what I should have had a name tag reading!  That’s what all the volunteers and staff of the Alliance Francaise d’Atlanta were wearing on Saturday when I was shooting their annual Bastille Day celebration at Atlantic Station!  The celebration was held on the 17th & 18th floors of 201 Atlantic Station, otherwise known as the Nelson-Mullins offices.  I get to shoot here quite frequently now for Mogul PR and the view of downtown Atlanta is spectacular on the terrace.  Here was our beautiful view on Saturday…bastilleday071010_0005

Steven and I even had a friend take a rare photo of us together on the terrace. ;o)  bastilleday071010_0115

As with all things French, the food was magnifique!  Plenty of wine, h’ordourves and of course beautiful flowers.  Love the sunflowers and peacock feathers that gave an exotic but French country feeling to the affair..bastillev5bastillev6bastillev7bastilleday071010_0023bastilleday071010_0021

And no self-respecting French celebration would be complete without DESSERT!  OMG, I had to try so hard not to partake – I only had the creme brulee, ok?  And some mixed fruit that was put out for the crepe station! Agggghhhh!  Formidable!batillev4bastilleday071010_0049

This event is held every year to raise money for the Alliance Francaise d’Atlanta.  The monies raised go towards education and resources to foster intellectual and artistic exchanges between the French-speaking world and local communities.  The foundation offers classes in language and cooking and sponsors several trips to France each year.  In order to raise money, the Bastille Day tickets include the array of food and drink as well as entertainment and both silent and live auctions for bidding on fine art, dining, and luxury items like destination villas and fine jewelry!  I wish I had some money to donate!  Some of the items up for bidding were amaaaaaaazing. Really wanted that week in the Tuscan villa…

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My favorite items though had to be the jewelry from Baccarrat!  I had no idea that they made such beautiful pieces.  One set was auctioned off for $800 and retailed at over $2,000!  I loved it!bastilleday071010_0075

There was also a magician, Rick Silver, performing astounding tricks (awesome slight of hand Rick, you amazed me and Steven!) and my favorite caricature artist, Tony Smith, was on hand whipping out lightning fast likenesses of the guests!bastillev2Daniel Wolff, President speaking before the crowd prior to the live auction event.bastilleday071010_0190

And the auction begins!

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At night after the auction, the crowd boogied down to some great music and the beautiful view of the city got even more breathtaking at night.bastilleday071010_0253bastilleday071010_0246bastilleday071010_0270

Here’s all the lovely ladies of the Alliance Francaise d’Atlanta!  Your hard work made for a spectacular and successful event!  Vive La France!bastilleday071010_0286

To see all the images of this event and order prints, please visit the online gallery here: http://pictage.com/871404

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Anna & Eva: Dual Baptism and One Year Party!

January 8, 2010

I am so blessed and honored to still be a part of the Burton-Kallis family!  After photographing Stephanie and Nicolas’s wedding in 2004, I never would have dreamed that 5 years later, I would be documenting the first year of their adorable twins, Anna & Eva.  I truly love all of them and so happy to be a part of their growing family!

November and December were a busy celebration time for the family! The girls were baptized at the Greek Orthodox church on November 14th.  This is one of my favorite churches in Atlanta -not only because it offers beautiful natural light in a round sanctuary, but because I am also given quite a bit of freedom to shoot.  Usually the church rules about photography are something like, “Don’t get in the priests’ way.”  I can handle that!  I don’t want to get in anybody’s way or block the view of the guests either!

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I also enjoy all the traditions of the Greek Church. ( I once traveled to Greece for a month and felt like I’d been there before -a  total deja vu!)  Now, as I captured the girls’ baptism, I was learning and seeing new traditions I had not known of before.  They start the ceremony before they even enter the sanctuary.kallis111409_0236kallis11

After the girls are welcomed into the church, they proceeded to the altar with their proud parents bringing up the rear.  I’m not sure if they’ve ever had a double baptism here before but it was eventful – double your fun!kallis111409_0277kallis111409_0272

The babies are adorned with olive oil on certain parts of their little bodies – to make them too slippery for evil spirits to grab hold of them.kallis10

After drying off, a quick snip of their hair is an offering to God as a gift for receiving His blessings.

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After circling the baptismal font, the girls are given their first Eucharist.kallis12kallis111409_0401

When the girls had been blessed and accepted as members of the church, it was time to go celebrate – GREEK STYLE! – at Kyma, one of my favorite restuarants!kallis09kallis111409_0456kallis07

Anna & Eva had several guests at their reception that were also twins!  There were three sets of twins in the house!  I love these twin boys peering into the girls’ strollers to say hi.kallis06kallis111409_0485kallis111409_0492

Stephanie’s dad, the girls’ grandfather, gave a touching toast to the families.kallis111409_0516

It was such a fun event and you can see more photos of the day in this cool slideshow below!

One Year Birthday Party!

kallis122009_0767I was invited back to join the family to celebrate Anna & Eva’s one year birthday party.  I cannot believe how time has flown by!  I KNOW it’s cliche, but seriously, one year?  I remember sitting at my desk and getting the email that they had been born – Christmas Eve Eve last year.  I was so happy for Stephanie and Nicolas!  TWO beautiful girls and each one looked like mom and dad. ;o)  Here you go – two of everything from now on! kallis03 I took a few portraits of the girls with their adorable birthday outfits in front of the Christamas tree.  Custom purple and pink tutus that Stephanie ordered and how about those plushy crowns!  So freakin’ cute!!!!kallis04kallis02kallis122009_0632kallis122009_0632When the guests started arriving, the girls scrambled to see who had shown up ;o): kallis122009_0679kallis122009_0655 Then it was time for cake and gifts!  Each girl had their own one-year cupcake and candle to blow out. But surprisingly, they didn’t make too much of a mess!kallis122009_0732kallis122009_0808kallis122009_0830 I don’t know who had more fun with this great gift – the girls or Stephanie! ;o)kallis05 Thanks so much for letting me capture the girls’ special moments this year!  I’m so proud and honored to be a part of your lives!  Check out more fun from the birthday celebration in the slideshow below!

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Ferrari Atlanta Holiday Event

December 23, 2009

ferrariatl121609__0015Last month I was asked to cover the Ferrari Atlanta Holiday Event this year!  Even for a gal like me (I only know enough about cars to get me in trouble ;o), it was an exciting opportunity.  The PR host I was working for was Mogul PR and other sponsors included Luciano’s, Roche Bobois, Brown & C0., & Grey Goose Vodka – who offered an open bar all evening and served up [what looked like] luscious holiday spirits. Here are some of the shots from last Wednesday night.

Yes, the Enzo was the “star” of the evening – with only 72 in North America, it was definitely making the guests put it on their mental Christmas list for Santa!ferrariatl121609__0122ferrariatl121609__0053ferrariatl121609__0134

Christmas list in the making…ferrariatl121609__0183

Roche Bobois supplied several seating vignettes for the guests. I wanted to take home the swirl occasional table…ok, the red and white chairs, too.ferrari02ferrariatl121609__0058ferrariatl121609__0055

Bright bling and exquisite time pieces were on display from Brown & Co.  One of the watches was $97,000.  I think they came with their own police officer to the event!ferrariatl121609__0065ferrari04ferrariatl121609__0085ferrari01ferrari03ferrariatl121609__0032ferrariatl121609__0127

OK, I get that they didn’t hand out Ferrari’s for party favors but why couldn’t they give me one of the cute Ferrari bears?ferrari06ferrariatl121609__0009ferrariatl121609__0024ferrari05

Sean Clinkscales of Seven Creative Media Group, Shafiqul Hai of Scottish Tobacco Fine Cigars were selling and handing out some cigars. So, I got at least one party favor!ferrariatl121609__0143

Stephanie Fleitas, Ralph Herrera of Lanza Group, Karina Gilpin, and Ines Bonell

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Nima Bagheri, Ken Wingerter, Mike Johnson, Mac Maritir Ossianferrariatl121609__0185

What a great evening with some cool cars, amazing people and contacts in the PR industry!  You can see more images from this event and other Mogul PR events by clicking HERE.

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