Vintage heirloom:

kate spade shoes!

I loved photographing Alanna and her bridesmaids helping her get ready – everyone was so excited and smiling ear-to-ear!

What did I tell you? STUNNING:

I love this father-daughter moment:

St. Aloysius at Gonzaga is huge and airy and just beautiful:

Chris’s view of the ceremony coming atcha in the next three images:

Classic:

Immediately following the ceremony we headed to Woodend Nature Sanctuary for the reception.

Toasts:

The perfect shoes for flower-girl-ing:

Dancing!

Best wishes and congratulations to you both, Alanna & Brendan! It was so fun to see you again and to celebrate with you. Thank you so much for inviting Chris and me to capture these moments!

Taylor! You really are gooooorgeous!

Truth: this photo isn’t 100% in focus, but I love the motion and her expression, so I’m posting it anyway! My blog, my rules.

Taylor’s sister was along for company, and we couldn’t resist doing a fun action shot!

Thanks for hanging out with me, Taylor! I had such a fun time chatting with and photographing you.  I’m so excited for you with all of the amazing things ahead in your future – best of luck to you this year!

Chris doesn’t usually come with me for the engagement session, but I suspected I might need a little extra help on this one (you’ll see why in a minute), so he joined me. And I’m so glad he did – he grabbed the next two beautiful shots below: Here’s why I thought I might need some extra help! Meet Abby and Brandon’s two adorable Yorkies, Baxter and Miley! Side note: for some weird reason, I just couldn’t whistle yesterday! I normally can whistle, I swear. But my whistle wasn’t working while I was photographing the pups and trying to get their attention. I think I finally made a really high-pitched squeaking noise and got them to look at me:I’ll be honest, I’m not tooooootally sure which one is in this adorable picture courtesy of Chris, but I think this is Baxter. Abby/Brandon – am I right?! Abby has THE best skin ever.  Brandon spotted these umbrellas and suggested it as a potential photo spot, and it’s one of my absolute favorites from the session. Good eye, Brandon! So sweet!Abby and Brandon – thanks for hanging out with us yesterday! I’m so glad we finally got the chance to meet up before the wedding. We will see you in just a few short weeks, and I’m so excited!

In lieu of a veil, Sandy wore a simple, fragrant wreath of rosemary:

Sandy’s parents both accompanied her down the aisle: Their ceremony was so sweet:
Chris caught this little guy honoring their union with some festive stickers:
Married! Sandy and Matt’s reception was held at The Farm at Broad Run, and it was just THE perfect spot for their celebration.
The pavilion:
How incredibly delicious-looking is that?! The watermelons made such cute, colorful centerpieces. A tree was planted for each guest as the perfect environmentally friendly favor.
And since Sandy and Matt are both fans of The Beatles, who better to play at the reception than The Apple Core, a Beatles tribute band!
Some of the prettiest cupcakes ever were provided by Mallow Drama: And what farm would be complete without some farm animals! (Captured by Chris, wildlife and farmlife photographer extraordinaire):
I’m pretty sure in this next shot he is saying, “Congratulations, Sandy and Matt!” The minute I pulled up to the farm and saw these greenhouses, I knew that I desperately wanted to do a few photos in there, and I’m SO GLAD we had the chance: (And since I promised to have this blog post up on Monday but it’s nearing my bedtime, I’m going to wrap it up there!) Sandy and Matt! Thank you so much for inviting Chris and me to capture your wedding day. We were so honored to be a part of the occasion and it was fun to see your amazing plans come to fruition. We wish you both all the best!

Group hug!

You might recognize the girls from a princess party that I photographed two years ago. I can’t get over how much they’ve grown!

You two are So. Darn. Cute!

We hung out at the Jefferson Memorial for quite a few photos, and this next one is my favorite, with the fun shadows:

If you’ve ever done a session with me, you know that I love really cool trees, and this was definitely a tree of that sort:

So, Molly and Will, how did we do?! I have to say I LOVE the images we were able to get. Thank you so much for spending your evening with me! You totally earned the post-session pizza. See you in October! I can’t wait.

I’m pretty sure I audibly gasped when I saw Venessa’s dress out of the bag. The beading was just exquisite.

Reviewing the vows that she wrote:

In lieu of melting before the ceremony even started, I offered to do some portraits of Venessa inside, to which she jokingly replied something like, “Might as well – this is the best I’m going to look all day!” But I have to respectfully disagree, because Venessa looked this gorgeous All. Day. Long. I’m not even exaggerating.

And actually, both Venessa and Mike looked amazing the whole time! Case in point, these next two were actually taken after the ceremony:

The ceremony was one of the sweetest I’ve ever witnessed. Lots of family, and lots of cute kids:

The lawn at Overhills Mansion provided a bit of shade, and with the breeze and some paper fans provided by Venessa and Mike for their guests, the temperature was actually bearable.

My absolute favorite part of the ceremony was the ring warming – each member of the bridal party and all of the parents held the rings in a special satchel, and provided their blessings for Venessa and Mike’s marriage. It was incredibly touching to witness.

Venessa and Mike also wrote their own vows to each other (which were just so wonderful), and they did a Celtic hand-fasting as well, which all made the ceremony just so personal and lovely. After the ceremony, we did a quick few portraits and then went inside to enjoy the reception (and the air conditioning!).

The reception details were so fun and reflective of one of Venessa and Mike’s favorite pastimes: games!

The escort card-holders were adorned with dice, and the cake (made by a very talented friend/guest!) had a chess piece theme:

The reception had the usual elements like a sweet first dance…

Hilarious and slightly embarrassing toasts…

Cake cutting…

And lots of dancing. (I’m going somewhere with this, hang on!)

But it also included karaoke performances!

And a truly amazing choreographed dance by the bride and groom! I was BLOWN AWAY by their talent. When I was reviewing their schedule before the wedding, I saw the performance listed as a special surprise and I couldn’t have been more excited. But I had no idea they would be THAT amazing! Like, it made me want to put down my camera and watch, and that’s saying something. I hope someone posts it on youtube soon!

I loved seeing the guests’ reactions to their performance:

Here’s everyone!

And I’ll leave you with this last shot that my fantastic second-shooter and guest photographer for the day, Emily Goodstein, captured – check out Venessa’s get-away dress! Red HOT:

Venessa and Mike – what can I say?! I knew your wedding was going to be so amazing, and it was beyond my expectations. You were both such gracious hosts, and I had a wonderful time celebrating and documenting this day with you. All the best for a lifetime of happiness to you both!

This one was their idea and I love it:

Gorgeous!

We managed to work a little nature into a shot or two like this next one:

Romantic = being so in love that you can’t resist a traffic-stopping dramatic kiss in the middle of the street. This one is my favorite! (And I promise no one was in any danger here – we are safely within the median, and traffic continued in a normal fashion.)

Thanks Stephen and Lesley for wandering around DC with me! You guys are so much fun, and I just know your wedding is totally going to be a blast. Can’t wait! See you soon.

A-dor-a-ble (said like four separate words):

Thank you, cute little town center, for having such beautiful colors for me to play with!

And for shaded breezeways with perfect light:

We ventured further into the neighborhoods of Lansdowne:

So darn sweet!

And then we hopped in a jet and flew to a tropical location with beautiful flora and waterfalls. Okay, just kidding – but it almost looks like it, right?!

I love these next two images! Ahhh, I’m so excited for your wedding next year, Alexis and Scott! I had a great time photographing you and hanging out yesterday, and I know your wedding is going to be amazing. And hopefully with the added bonus of cooler weather. Talk to you soon!

We met up Friday evening at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna where Bernadette used to do event planning for the gardens. We had a really bright, sunny warm day, but thankfully not AS hot as it has been. Whew! Just nice enough to stroll the beautiful gardens and get our daily dose of Vitamin D! Check out these rays:

I LOVE these next two images. So fun and sweet:

After making our way through Meadowlark, we headed over to Vienna for a few shots around town.

Their first date was at this very restaurant below, the Vienna Inn! Have I mentioned how much I love when couples incorporate special spots into their engagement photos?! B & K, thanks so much for spending your Friday evening with me! I have to admit I’m kind of curious about the chili dogs at Vienna Inn now, and I’ll have to try one sometime. I’m really excited about photographing your wedding in September – see you in a couple of months!