“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”
There are a lot of wedding dresses out there…these days it seems we’ve hit upon more of a sleek mermaid/trumpet dress look that is modern, sleek and well, doesn’t allow for too much breathing room. Along with the modern look, though, the veil seems to have fallen by the wayside, usually brides have smaller veils and lots of people have decided to skip the veil entirely. Upon walking into the bridal suite for Kristin’s wedding, the first thing I spotted was her unbelievable, down-to-the-floor, past-the-dress-hem veil. Love! Just so elegant and traditional, like so many of the elements in her wedding.
The wedding took place in Williamsburg, VA approximately two and a half hours from DC and Lotus and I took a road trip down south for the weekend. We were totally excited to meet up with Kristin and David again, considering the engagement session at the National Cathedral had turned out fabulously. Just like before, Kristin and David were so much fun to be around, tons of laughter and just genuinely joyful about everything on their day.
Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day:
This is THE veil! It had to be hung from the chandelier to keep from tangling.
Flower girl getting ready for her big moment.
Breathtaking!
My absolute, hands down favorite of the day.
Doesn’t the reception look incredible? The centerpieces and the lighting just came together so well.
I love crafty brides! Tanya made some amazing stuff for her wedding with Chris, from her boutonniere, bouquets, and centerpieces down to the tablecloths. Tanya and Chris got married at The Berry Barn at Great Country Farms in Bluemont, Virginia. It was a gorgeous setting, just covered in green with a perfect farmhouse at the center of it. Tanya and Chris, along with all of their guests were just incredibly warm and kind to us and we feel so lucky to have been apart of their incredible day. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day:
A quick portrait of the bride and groom.
Here is Chris waiting to see Tanya for the first time!
Here is Tanya and Chris’ lens-meltingly adorable son:
Some of the incredible details that Tanya put together.
Isn’t this a creative way for the guests to sign in? Guests made a turquoise thumbprint and added it as the leaves to the tree.
They had a huge, enormous bonfire. Here, an adventurous guest braves the flames to get a delicious toasted marshmallow.
We were lucky enough to have clear blue skies with those light puffy clouds that make the perfect backdrop for any postcard worthy photo. Rock Hill Plantation was a great setting and had real, live farm animals on the grounds, along with a duck and a goose that were the best of friends (photo below of said duck and goose). According to one of the property managers, the duck was an orphan and raised in the company of geese, and came to believe that he is in fact a goose. Based on all of this amazing stuff, there really could not have been a more perfect setting for an early fall wedding. We’ve known Melissa and Peter for quite some time now–we shot their engagement photos ages ago near the National Monuments (and they even used the photos in a guest sign in book during the wedding!) It was wonderful getting to see them again and be a part of their amazing day. Here are a few of my fave photos below!
*** Update ***
Here are a few more of the photos in a wedding video!
Lighting is under-rated. While some thinking of super zoom and wide angle lenses as the major tools in a photographer’s toolbox, the truth is that no matter how great your lenses, the photos will be awful if the lighting isn’t done right. Sometimes you get lucky and there is no work involved in creating beautiful lighting, like at Maggie and Jason’s wedding at Oxon Hill Manor. With amazing window lighting flowing in through floor to ceiling windows, it was like giving someone chocolate on a Top-Chef challenge and asking them to make something that tastes good.
It’s hard to describe Maggie and Jason, the bride and groom, with a word other than adorable. Maggie says “Handsome” when talking about Jason…like I said, just adorable. We had a great time walking around the monuments a few months ago doing their engagement photos and we just felt so lucky to be a part of their wedding day. Here are some of our fave photos from the day:
Early morning getting ready. Maggie has an identical twin!
This picture totally cracks me up. Jason to nephew – “Hey want to take a picture with me? High five?”
Absolutely stunning, are they?
Sister dance of joy.
And I love this photo from Lotus Ryan, from the bride and groom’s soul train dance during the reception. Woot woot!
About 70% of a photographer’s job is spent in front of a computer going through the hundreds of photos from each wedding (yes, that’s a totally made up statistic, but it seems about right =). It’s crazy how much the substance of the photos can really affect your mood…if I’m staring at a photo doing the editing for a few hours and there are tons of photos of people laughing like crazy or smiling, it’s hard to be anything but happy.
Reese & Chris’ wedding has kept me on the happy-high for at least a week now. At this wedding, there was definitely no one happier than Reese–in every single photo, her smiling/laughing/just plain beaming just jumps out of every single photo. Here are some of my faves from the wedding, and a video with more of the wedding photos at the end.
Here is the wedding video that we created, enjoy!
Congrats Reese & Chris! Thank you guys so much for letting me be a part of your amazing day!
I’ve known Mary Lynn since first year of college. Earliest memory–she was ob-sessed with Penn State…it was unlike anyone I’d ever met before. We lived together sophomore year with Lara (also in the pics below) and spent days watching Real World marathons, eating Papa John’s pizza, and singing Army by Ben Folds Five at the top of our lungs. There have been tons of other memories, including some crazy careening around a golf course while volunteering as the beer cart girls for a charity tournament and an almost-fight with some Auburn basketball fans after their team lost. Some seriously fun and crazy times.
When she met Dave, I think she knew that he would be the one. After dating for 5 or 6 months, he got a job transfer to Tokyo, and trusting in how she felt, she moved a million miles away with him. Crazy and amazing at the same time, right? That’s how much she knew she loved him. After Tokyo, Dave got another job transfer, and they’re now living in Hong Kong totally in love, and with their adorable dog.
They flew in to New York City for the wedding, and tons of people flew in from all corners of the word, including Australia and Japan, to attend. Everything about the wedding was just amazing! I was sad that I didn’t get to use my camera much since I was in bridesmaid mode, but here are some photos from before the ceremony.
How great is the flower in the hair?
Here is Lara, trying to convey how big she wanted her hair to be.
I’ve spent some serious time wondering where or when I could rock out these crazy fake feather eyelashes.
Some of the lovely purple details. We had a running discussion about whether asparagus was actually used in the bouquet, so someone took a bite and confirmed…not asparagus. Isn’t the stamped “Bride” tag adorable?
The Vera Wang gown was seriously TDF fabulous [my sister has informed me that I am too old to say TDF...] and the detailing on the dress was unbelievable.
Sandra helping Mary with attempting to find a bustle.
Sarah was the winner of the contest that District Weddings held for the best proposal. Joe saved up for months and planned a suprise getaway to propose in the most romantic city, Venice. He told Sarah that they were just going on a weekend trip to New York. She had no idea the trip was happening until they arrived at the airport, walked up to the curbside checkin, and her tickets were scanned for DC to NY to Venice!
When Sarah first called me, she had some fantastic ideas, including a Man Men themed shoot. Words cannot describe how much I love that show! All of the dresses are so cute and the men always look so dapper. Love it. I was all about this idea! Then she mentioned that she might be able to get us permission to do so photos at PX since they knew one of the bartenders that work there. Right then, I knew we would be making some serious photo magic.
Ever get that kid in a cupcake store feeling? I think the typical expression is candy store, but I’ve got cupcakes constantly on the brain lately since I’ve got the Red Velvet cupcake store about two blocks from me, and the Curbside Cupcake twitter/facebook updates constantly following me. Ok, refocusing. So, kid in a cupcake store is the exact feeling I got when Kristin told me that we’d be able to photograph on the grounds of the National Cathedral. Typically, commercial photography is not allowed on the grounds, but Dave had special permission to photograph on the grounds because he rings the bells at the National Cathedral. Isn’t that crazy? It never occurred to me before that the booming church bell music originates from some people in a room swinging ropes, attached to bells, with precision.
Kristin and Dave are hilarious. One minute, they’re striking Top-Model-worthy poses…the next, they’re bursting with laughter at something that the other has said. They actually met because they both ring handbells. I’ve never seen handbells before, but they’ve assured me that there will be plenty on hand for their wedding in Williamsburg, Virginia. I can’t wait!
I love everything about the National Cathedral, but oddly enough, the wow-this-is-amazing-point came when we first pulled into the parking lot. Check out these stripes.
Rocking the “10″….they’re getting married in October.
Remember what I was saying about Top-Model-Worthy?
The architecture at the National Cathedral is just breathtaking.
So I’ve been terrible (awful!) at blogging regularly lately…but I swear it’ll be worth the wait! Here is a preview pic of a recent shoot. More to come!
