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  • Alicia & Nick – Engaged!

    Well, hello there! I almost don’t want to bring attention to the fact that I haven’t blogged in about three (!) months, but there’s just no getting around it. Chris and I took some much needed time off over the winter, and then I just never got back into the habit of blogging. Oops! Busted. In any case, I have an amazing couple to post about today, so I’ll get on with it! I met up with Alicia and Nick in DC last weekend for an absolutely gorgeous day, and we kicked off wedding season with my first engagement session of the year! Here are just a few of my favorite photos of this gorgeous gorgeous (yes, I meant to say it twice) couple:

    So sweet!

    Talk about making my job super easy – these two were a breeze to photograph.

    Impromptu first dance practice:

    Alicia’s sister, Lindsey, was along with us as well and pointed out this next shot. Thanks for the suggestion, Lindsey! It turned out to be one of my faves.

    Alicia and Nick, thank you for spending your Sunday with me last weekend! I had so much fun photographing you both, and I’m even more excited for the wedding now! Side note: I totally did try the “prune” trick in the car on the way home. I don’t think I can pull off that look at all. πŸ˜‰

  • 2011 Wedding Favorites

    Happy New Year, blog-readers! At just over two weeks into the year, we can still say Happy New Year, right?! Or is it so old by now? Well, I’m a little behind in blogging and kind of out of the habit, so I hope you’ll forgive me. I still have a few things on my list that I’d like to blog, but first, I thought it would be fun to do something a little different. I asked my 2011 wedding clients to chose their favorite wedding images and why! Their selections and words made me smile over and over again, and I’d like to share the responses here with you.

    Amy, of Amy & Scott: “My favorites were the large shots of the ceremony where you can see the whole place and the ones that you took outside in the gardens when we’re walking on the path and Scott has my flowers and I’m holding up my dress.”

    Alexis, of Alexis & Scott: “Picking our favorite two photos was not an easy task!Β  Are you sure you don’t want me to pick 500? We decided that each of us would pick one photo. Scott picked the one of the two of us during our first dance. The look on my face says it all. Pure bliss …”

    “I picked the one of us out in the field after the ceremony. As I’m sure you remember it rained EVERY weekend in May this year and by the grace of God it cleared up and was beautiful on the 21st. The colors in this photo take my breath away every time I see it.”

    Lindsay, of Lindsay & Mike: “What a fun request! We had a REALLY hard time with this, as we truly love all the photos. So it’s not all that original, especially as you articulated so well what we feel about the photo. Our favorite image is the one where Mike is sticking out his tongue at me. It’s lighthearted, not taking ourselves too seriously and truly us – we like to laugh, and Mike’s a pro at making that happen. And it doesn’t hurt the beautiful flowers pop so well.”

    Reina, of Reina & Dave: “It’s such a happy photo! I love that the photo is all grey in the background and we bring all the color to the picture! Oh and it became our photo for our holiday cards!”

    “A sense of relief! This was toward the end of our reception and I think at this moment I realized that everything had gone smoothly: we were married, the dance went well, the wedding went well… We’re surrounded by his parents and my best friend.Β  It’s a perfect picture.”

    “One of my favorite human beings (and my sister, hehe!).Β  What a cool photo!!! Truly a gem and I was so surprised by the beauty! πŸ™‚ Thank you Chris!”

    Debbie & Adam chose this next image, and it’s one of my favorites, too! So classic:

    Adria, of Adria & Avi: “Well, if this isn’t a nearly impossible question to answer, I don’t know what is! Β There are too many to choose from. I would say, the photo of my niece fixing my dress has stolen everyone’s heart (and, since she was the only one to straighten my train all day, she gets a giant gold star).”

    “Another favorite would be Avi dipping me during our first dance. I would also include all of the pictures in your blog post from our wedding, and about 200 others if I could.”

    Thanks to all of my amazing 2011 couples (including the ones who didn’t get a chance to choose their favorites yet!) for such a fantastic year. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. Chris and I are truly blessed to have met each of you, and loved working with/getting to know you. Thank you again, from the very bottom of my heart!

  • Jessica & Sam – engaged!

    Hello, blog-readers! I hope you had an amazing, delicious Thanksgiving (or just Thursday if you’re not in the U.S.). I am utterly behind on my blog posts – I have several portrait sessions to show you. First up, Jessica and Sam, who spent the afternoon with me in Old Town Alexandria on the Friday after turkey day. And because I’m so behind, I’m going to go light on the words and just get straight to the photos of this gorgeous couple!

    Okay, I know I promised more pictures/less words, but first I have to say, I love their story. They technically met when they were all of nine years old (so cute!) because their moms were friends, but they don’t actually remember meeting. I think maybe subconsciously they do remember meeting, because they eventually found their way back to each other and are getting married in the spring in Rhode Island!

    Seriously, Jessica, you have such a great smile!

    How cute is this idea?! 5.5.12. = wedding date, in case you weren’t sure. πŸ˜‰

    Jessica and Sam, it was so nice meeting both of you! Thanks for spending your afternoon with me. Best wishes and congratulations on your upcoming wedding – I’m so happy for you, and wish you all the best!

  • Adria & Avi – 11.12.11

    Adria and Avi started out our 2011 season with the first engagement session way back in early April, and they finished out 2011 as well with our last wedding of the year! I love that. They’re like a pair of sweet, adorable bookends to the story of our business year. Everything about the wedding at The Mimslyn Inn in Luray, VA was just lovely, and I’m excited to show you a few of my favorites from the day.

    Simply gorgeous!

    Sweet hairpiece for later at the reception.

    Their first look worked out perfectly with the timeline and the fact that the sun sets so early now.

    Loved the purple pops of color in these flowers.

    Such a sweet, helpful flower girl!

    Signing the ketubah:

    And such a beautiful, intimate ceremony.

    Married!

    And since we had already finished all of the portraits before the ceremony, everyone was able to head straight to the reception. Love it.

    First dance:

    Love the sweet glances at each other during the toasts!

    My favorite – the Hora dance!

    My second favorite – the sprinkler (well, part-sprinkler here anyway).

    Adria and Avi brought cute props for their guests to use in the facebooth. I love all the signs!

    And just one last sort of fall-themed photo because you know it’s my favorite season (if you didn’t know, now you do).

    Best wishes and congratulations, Adria and Avi! I have really enjoyed getting to know both of you – I love your love story so much, and it was such an honor for Chris and me to photograph your wedding. We wish you all the best! P.S. I’ll always remember that there’s nothing stupid about macaroni and cheese. πŸ˜‰

  • Debbie & Stephen – Engaged!

    This is Debbie and Stephen! Debbie and I go waaaaay back – we know each other from high school (I’ll spare myself from saying how many years ago that was). I couldn’t be happier for her that she has found Stephen and that they’re getting married next year! Yesterday we met up in Old Town Alexandria to take engagement photos on a beautiful crisp fall day.

    Okay, this is just too cute:

    So sweet. (Side note: Does Debbie have the most perfect skin or what?!)

    Debbie and Stephen’s courtship (people should use that word more) frequently took place in Old Town, including this super cute ice cream shop.

    Every once in a while during an engagement session, I joke with my couples and say something like, “Okay now I want you to both climb to the top of that tree…” just to see their reactions. (I’m hilarious.) This time the joke was on me when Debbie said, “We should go get in the canoe.” I was all, haha – that’s funny, but they actually did go get in the canoe. They stood in it. And Debbie was wearing heels! That combo would have had me in the water in about a half-second. Hello balance skills!

    Debbie and Stephen, it was so fun to hang out with you yesterday! I love the photos and I hope you enjoy them, too. Best of luck with the rest of your wedding planning, and I’ll see you next year for the big day! Say hi to Kip for me. πŸ™‚