Atlanta Watercloset

Please tell us a little about your company: Atlanta watercloset provides boutique portable restrooms for outdoor special events:  weddings, corporate events and parties.  From a high end “portapotty” (with flush toilet and sink) to a 10 stall restroom trailer we will provide exceptionally clean and fresh restrooms for your guests.

About Christine: I have a corporate sales background and have been home full time with my 2.5 year old, Matthew.

How did it get started: I investigated a “potty franchise” about 4 years ago.  At the time it didn’t make sense so I moved on to look at other business ideas.  I wanted to find a business I could do once I left the corporate world.  In January of 2010 the idea resurfaced.  As I researched the industry I realized there could be a unique niche to fill:  providing clean and even “cute” potties for high end special events.

When: My first event was a wedding at Stowers Farm in Dawsonville coordinated by event perfect in May 2010.  Affairs to Remember provided the catering and Peachtree Tents & Events did the tenting and rentals.  Our potties were a huge hit with the bride and her guests.

photo taken by Climie + Co.

Where you see yourself in the wedding and event planning industry: I hope to show people that the outdoor restrooms don’t have to be something people dread.

How did you come up with this idea, to offer cute, decorated restrooms to Brides and other event clients?

A company out of Cape Cod was trying to franchise their idea.  I thought it would be fun and interesting to take it a step further and make them “boutique” with signage, coordinating flowers and other special touches.

Can you share some client remarks, comments, or stories of how they felt about your company’s services, and why they chose to use Atlanta Watercloset vs. the Blue potty’s of death? ( )

At the 50th surprise party (photos shown) the client was so excited to see all of the special touches:  the 5-0 on the mirrors, signage, flowers, LED candles and high end soap and lotion.  She also was so pleased with the add on tiki torch lighting package which added a festive walk way to the restrooms.  One of the guests said the restroom was nicer than their bathroom at home! When someone visits our website vs the competitors I believe it’s obvious why they should choose us!

What would you like Brides to know about your company and why they should consider booking with you? That the outdoor restrooms will be just as nice as the rest of their special day!  I will personally make sure everything is perfect.

Any other comments you want to share? That I never thought I could be excited about potties!

I have to say, I was with Christine when she was setting up these potties for the Birthday party shown in the images, the clients came out to look at it and absolutely adored it, they were so excited to show more and more people how it looked! She truly works hard to give it a homely, cute appeal to take away from the stereotype that porta potty’s are gross. They were air conditioned, cool, cute and smelled great! If you are having an outdoor event you should DEFINITLY call Christine and have the boutique potty’s at your next event!  Here’s an article that Lei Lydle, of Atlanta Bridal recently did on Christine’s company , Notice some familiar images Yep those are mine So glad I could help Christine get some new product shots, as well as a couple of cute new headshots! She’s so sweet and a beautiful woman to photograph!

“It is not only Cinderella, but the glam goddesses of Sex and that City, who prove that a pair of shoes can change your life! Not to mention, an irreplaceable flock of girlfriends!

I think it’s safe to say that we all have a little Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha or Miranda in each of us. Maybe you even have a little bit of each of them – perhaps you’re a slightly promiscuous, somewhat traditional and career-minded fashionista! But it doesn’t matter what your style because you are invited to join Lethal Rhythms at the Fox Theatre as it, and the Coca Cola Summer Film Series present Sex and the City 2 on Thursday, August 12^th!

Join Lethal Rhythms, who is sponsoring the event, along with A Tasty Pastry, and your best girlfriends to celebrate being fabulous all evening long! Not only do you get to watch this fun, fashion-forward film with your favorite gal pals, but along with your ticket purchase you also get a martini and chances to over $15,000 in prizes! You can win a diamond, a trip to NYC, a Persian rug, a personal trainer boot camp, cosmetic gift basket, Botox(R) cosmetic treatment, and more! What more could a woman want, you ask?  Well, there’s more, trust me!

There’s a pre-party at 5:30PM with live entertainment by none other than the rockin’ Lethal Rhythms. Hors d’Oeurves will also be provided by the Georgian Terrace and swag bags for the first 200 guests will be given out! After the 7:30 show, be sure to stick around for the after-party with desserts by A Tasty Pastry and more music by your favorite entertainers - Lethal Rhythms – of course!

Think this sounds fantastic? Wait – it gets better…  the Egyption room will be transformed into a Moroccan paradise, there will be themed cabanas placed around the ballroom representing the different style of the Sex and the City stars, and if you purchase tickets prior to August 12^th will be entered into a drawing for you and to three friends for a pre-movie makeover at Paragon Hair Salon!

And no Sex and the City party would be complete without a best shoe contest. So throw on your Manolo’s and strut yourself to this can’t-miss-event!” – Lethal Rhythms Blog

See the flyer below,

I for one am SO excited to have been asked to photograph the event and blog about it. My friends at Lethal Rhythms asked me to and I was honored to accept. Please come out and show me your sexy shoes, and lets see who wins that diamond and gets named Hottest Shoe! I think it will be me

The ticket is only $30.00 for the movie, after party and a martini. If you come, send me a tweet at my twitter id katrina_wheeler and tell me to look for you and take a pic of your shoes! I’d love to feature your shoes and you on my blog w/ my after party blog story! I’m also really excited to see what the Tasty Pastry has cooked up for the event, everything they ever have is nothing shy of amazing! So get a sitter and come out for some fun at the last weekend at the Fox for the Summer Movie Festival.  Don’t wait until it’s too late!  Get your $30 passes here:http://www.foxtheatre.org/ccff2010/sexandthecity2_party.aspx)!

Word’s can not express how much the one above this and below this mean to me.. I want to tell you, not only do I love these two w/ all that I am, these two photos will bring me back to this very moment, forever… My little girl is just so hilarious, she is already trying to grow up WAY to fast, she constantly wants to grab his face and kiss him, or just hold him, and I know she’s copying mommy and daddy, she talks about marrying her brother all the time, its absolutely adorable, but I’ve got to get ahold on her, she just loves “love” like I do… I’m praying for her already, and her future husband.

So the pictures below were some of my favorites too, they both Love taking “pretend” pictures and think they are so serious and that they are photographers too. I love it!

These are some more of those moments that I cherish…

I dream of light that is this amazing.. When I start to brainstorm ANY photo shoot I’m going to do, do you know where my mind goes, it goes to light like this… I always pray to find it, i look for it, and this day, I finally found it! I drove around for about an hour looking for a place to take photos of my kids, and dangit, I was going to find somewhere! Finally just before I was going to throw in the towel, I came across a gem of a place. I jammed the kids out the door, sunset was minutes away, changed clothes and let them run… The images that came from this little mini shoot, will forever change my photography, my house, and our lives.. These images really truly represent my children and they just are some of the most beautiful images I’ve ever taken. Its taken a while for me to speak with such confidence, but I do today, I love these and plan to make 30×40 or 24×30 canvases of these for my home and studio!

Good Night all…

Katrina

xoxo,

Katrina

They volunteered and I was so glad, to capture their love on camera! If you notice they’re in the video that I got filmed by Ron Dawson of Dare dreamer media, for my promotional video. They look so adorable don’t they! Well Here’s some of my favorites from that day.

I love this picture, I used a little more “Special effects” in my editing then I normally do, but I felt it called for it. Some pictures just speak to me, and this one told me what to do! I hope you enjoy it.

There are some moments that I will suggest poses to my couples, but I usually start out w/ something then just stand and watch as the pose evolves into real moments, my husband calls them posed moments, whatever you want to call them, they’re real, thats when I click the shutter. The moment below is one of those moments, I guided them to the place I wanted them to stand and even told them to stand that way w/ his hand on her, but then I told him to just talk to her in his ear, so that part is posed, but then the moment you see, is not! He is saying something that truly moved her and made her laugh, thats the moment I captured, thats what I love! This image shows the real true love they share! Thats why its probably my favorite!

Its funny when you have this vision in mind for how your going to do your photo shoot and you envision the sky is blue, amazing light and just everything perfect right? Well that’s not reality and its not what God chose to give us for Mandi and Josh’s shoot that day. We had cloudy sky’s but not much clouds just overcast, and no sun. So everything was really bright in the skyline, that sort of bummed me out because I was envisioning a beautiful skyline with blue fluffy clouds and the sun peaking through right before it sets, amazing right? Well instead I had to compensate for the brightness and still manage to capture some of the buildings. So I did what I could but, God knew what was in store, I actually LOVE the images just like this, I think its real, and thats really what my style is about, real moments that truly move people and that are not fake. So this is real life, cloudy day turned beautiful. Look at the image I still managed to capture below, I think the skyline is still incredible and it still really moves me! How about you?

So then we did a few more posey ones, but I absolutely love them!

So then we moved down towards another gorgeous section of Piedmont Park, i’m telling you, if your in Atlanta and have not been to Piedmont Park, theres a HUGE selection of places to go there, its beautiful and lush! These are more vibrant and I love that!

I love how you can see Mandi flirting w/ Josh, this is a perfect example of why I call my couple sessions “Flirt Sessions”

I think Josh looks so good here, he’s thinking about Mandi and how beautiful she looks, isn’t he!

A couple sweet kissy kissy pics before we’re through.

Wedding/Engaged Clients:

Book in August and you get $500.00 off your package and the engagement signature book is included in all packages. Payment plans available as well!

High School Seniors:

Book in August and get images done before October, receive an extra $50.00 in print credit and $100.00 off your session fee.

Families:

Book in August and get images done before November and receive a bonus $50.00 print credit and $100.00 off your session fee.

Ooh and I just found out that Ron has featured my video on his website, please go check it out at the Dare Dreamer website. What I love most about Ron and his film making is that he only films things that are moving and have emotion. I was drawn to that because I want to move my clients and capture emotion as well.  If there was one thing that a Bride and Groom MUST HAVE at their wedding day, outside of the Photographer of course;) Is a Videographer/Cinematographer. Ron has a separate brand for his company that covers weddings and they are phenomenal! He is definitely the top notch photographer. He travels all over the world and would love to film your day! Here’s my interview with Ron Dawson of Dare Dreamer Media and Dawson Signature Films! By the way, his Love Story videos. they are so cool!

Tell me About yourself and your company, and how you got started into wedding videography?

I originally took film and video courses at a junior college in 1992. I had graduated from Cal Berkeley in ’91 as a business major and was working as a senior real estate appraiser at the time. I turned to filmmaking as a creative outlet. I also wanted to make a movie about a funny experience I had while in college. (It was only funny in retrospect, not so much while I was experiencing it. But, isn’t that how life is? Alan Alda’s character in Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” describes comedy as “tragedy plus time.”  Very true in this case. I never made the movie, but fell in love with filmmaking.

Over the years I did short films and fun videos just as a hobby. By 2000 I was working as a business marketing manager for Quicken, and getting more interested in film. By 2002 I decided to quit my job and pursue my passion as a filmmaker. So for 8 years now, that’s what I’ve been doing.

Our focus now is cause-driven and inspirational films. I do a lot of work for non-profits, but have also worked for companies like Adobe, Apple Computer, QuickBooks, and Fuller Seminary. And we still do weddings through our wedding division Dawson Signature Films. I love being able to use my God-given gifts to bless families and marriages with a cinematic re-telling one of the most important days of a couple’s life.

How long have you been filming for?

It’s been 18 years since I first took film and video courses at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA.

The #1 thing that makes me different is, well, me. The way I connect with my clients, direct them, make them feel comfortable. I’ve been doing this a long time, so no matter what kind of couple I work with, I can make them feel and look amazing. Besides that, if you want something more objective, I’ve co-written a book on video production that many people in the industry are now calling a “must read” for anyone entering this business; for two consecutive years I was named to the Event DV Top 25 event filmmakers in the world as voted by my peers; I’ve spoken all over the country at video and photography conventions and seminars; and I’m an international award-winner.

One of my favorite moments we ever caught on tape was actually from one of the first weddings I ever shot (back in 2003). Unfortunately, I don’t have a clip of it. It was right after the father of the bride finished his toast. My wife and I were both shooting at the time and I was on the main camera. When the father of the bride finished and sat down, I stopped rolling. But my beautiful wife, armed with her powerful female intuition, kept rolling on the dad. As he sat down, he lowered his head and began to weep. He realized then and there he really was losing his little girl. His wife put her hand on his back to comfort him. It was such an amazing moment that ONLY could have been captured on video. I’ve since learned to keep rolling after emotional speeches and moments like that just in case.

Before I get into that, I need to be sure to mention something IMPORTANT!!

My Website/Blog Launch Sale that brought my $4500.00 package down to $2900, and gave $500.00 off my other packages, that expires at midnight tomorrow night! That means if your interested, you need to let me know and I can get you a proposal/contract sent to you and you can submit your deposit. The sale also applies for Seniors that bring the senior session down from $300 to $200.  Be sure to get in on that ASAP!

We had her  a skating birthday party, and my son and her had their first experience with skates!! See I secretly really miss skating! When I was in Middle School and High school I LOVED to skate. I use to go often when I would visit my dad on weekends, then when I was in high school I learned to Roller Blade and boy was it on, I LOVED roller blading. See my husband doesn’t really think I can do it, so I thought, OK I will prove him wrong at my daughter’s birthday party…well they did have rollerblades but I couldn’t get them on my feet, I’m not retarted but they just were cheap knock off’s and so I was trying to hurry and get back to my daughter’s party and not be tied up worrying about my skates so I just took the regular ones. Here’s me proving I can skate for my hubby! I know its not rollerblades, but I want to do it again, this motivated me. I WILL get into rollerblading! My kids liked skating but didn’t “Get it” yet, not fully. Logan my son he was doing really good on the carpet but avalyn just wanted to play!  Anyway, Sorry I get carried away! Here’s a few pics from the bday party!

Don’t laugh to hard at my picture of me! I passed off the camera and so you know its hard sometimes for our friends to figure out the focus button, so i just made it funky and small Also, I was on skates taking the others, so don’t be too hard on me

Another event I photographed recently was for my church, they do a program called “Back to School Basics”, its where they have the kids in the community come to the church to receive free clothes, ear checks, eye checks and dental exams. They also had haircuts, and some other neat things. So I was photographing the day. Here’s one picture from that:

Then I also had the most fun yesterday, I got to photograph Emilie’s and Justin’s Senior Portraits! We had so much fun! It was REALLY hot, 100 degrees, but it didn’t stop Justin from looking good and Emilie Rocking it! Justin said he was shy at first but I think he was a great sport! I even picked up a few pointers for future “Guy” senior sessions, thanks Justin! Hope you like these little previews. More tomorrow!

After Justin’s casual Senior portraits in Little Five Points in Atlanta, we took a trip over to The Carter Center. There is absolute beauty to be seen there. Theres a fabulous Rose Garden, a beautiful garden area behind the museum that has a couple ponds and some gorgeous flowers in bloom. I’m grateful for the staff who had no problem with us shooting the pictures for Emilie and Justin there. More about them tomorrow!

Anyway, Enjoy the new stuff, leave me some love if you like! More soon!!!!

OH YEAH! And because I’m launching, I’m doing a LAUNCH SPECIAL!! You have to mention it when you email me, No later then July 31st! $500.00 off wedding packages, or choose my TOP Package that normally is $4500.00 that has boudoir, bridals, photobooth, albums, unlimited everything, engagements and more, for only $2900.00!! Thats cause I just turned 29! But for the launch I’ll throw in something special for each parent to have as keepsake mini book! For my seniors and portrait clients, if you have not already booked a session and want to book, all session fees will be reduced from $300.00 to $200.00 until the end of July as well. You must pay your retainer before July 31st for any session of any kind to take advantage!

So look forward to awesome stuff on the blog, cause we’ll be having Guest bloggers weekly! Can’t wait!

Have to include a picture! I love these recent father daughter pictures..

Good Night!

Katrina

XOXO Katrina