January's Bridal Portraits on Friday, June 30th
Sam and I have the best job. We get to hang out with some of Richmond's most beautiful women and take pictures in beautiful places, that's what I kept thinking this morning as we took January's bridal portraits at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. The gardens are so magical that we couldn't stop shooting... each time we promised January that she was finished, one of us would see a shot and say, "ooooh - just one more - and then I promise we're done..." That went on for awhile so there is going to be a lot for her to choose from!
January and Teddy will be married at the Blomendaal House at Lewis Ginter on September 10th of this year, we're already looking forward to our fall season. January will receive a slideshow with some favorites by late next week. If you would like to be notified when her bridals are ready for viewing,
click here and contact January for the event key. We will post her slideshow and a couple of our favorites here after the wedding but for now its all hush-hush...
Emily and Ryan's Wedding on Saturday, June 24, 2006
We drove through some pretty heavy rain to get to Clover Forest Plantation on Saturday. Everyone wants blue skies for their wedding but rain offers some creative opportunities and we were up for the challenge.
While it did rain for just a few minutes during the ceremony and throughout the evening, Emily and Ryan are so much fun that a little bit of rain wasn't about to dampen their spirits or anyone elses. There was plenty of sun for the cocktail hour underneath the grand magnolia trees in back of the house and a lively party continued underneath the tent. To find their seats, guest picked up cards with their names under a pink and brown ribbon and had to match their ribbon to the ribbon tied to their table's flower arrangement. Guests enjoyed the hunt as they checked out each flower arrangement in search of their table. In addition, Emily and Ryan compiled a cookbook of recipies by friends and family for guests to take with them, a unique and collaborative favor that everyone there had a hand in creating. I'm sad that I forgot to pick up an extra copy for myself, Sam will concur that I could use it!
It feels like we have known the Drudge family for much longer than we actually have, it was a pleasure to shoot for them on Saturday and we're almost a little sad its over. Hopefully Archie will still give us a call once and awhile just to say hi.
Click HERE to see a slideshow preview with our favorite shots of the day. If you would like to be notified by email when all of Emily and Ryan's pictures are available for viewing,
click here. By the way, I updated the post with Emily's bridal portraits so check those out too...
Blair and Adam's Wedding on Saturday, June 17th
"Stunning" is the word that kept coming to mind as I was looking through the lens on Saturday... The setting of the ceremony at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Blomendaal House was stunning, the light was stunning, the natural color palette of pale wildflowers was stunning, and most of all Blair was stunning.
There were so many personal touches that made Blair and Adam's wedding memorable: the checkered Vans that the guys wore, the "spontaneous" vows that Blair and Adam exchanged, and Blair's father Doug's toast inspired by his own wedding song ("Wouldn't it be Nice" by the Beach Boys). Blair and Adam actually met in high school and reconnected in a college Algebra class, at one point someone mentioned that they have known each other for half of their lives and I keep coming back to that thought.
Click HERE to see a slideshow preview with some of our favorite shots of the day.
Click HERE if you would like to be notified by email when Blair and Adam have made all their pictures available to view online. We're still coming up with an ETA on that, its been a busy summer so I am playing catch up!
Brooke and Dan's Engagement Portraits on June 13th
Congratulations to Brooke and Dan on their recent engagement! The couple took off from work a little early so that we could take some pictures both downtown near the Main Street Train Station as well as Libby Hill Park. Shockoe Bottom is a familiar place to us, I make an effort to walk down to the Farmers Market on Thursdays to buy vegetables and like many Richmond residents, we celebrated as restaurant and shops recovered from the flood. But looking through the lens at Brooke and Dan, I was reminded more of quaint shop corners in Europe than the buzzing bar scene that I tend to associate the Bottom with, making me wonder whether I know the place at all.
We're looking forward to Brooke and Dan's wedding which will take place in Williamsburg next Memorial Day weekend. B&D may have contracted "smile-i-tis" from their engagement session but there is a lot to smile about, next May will be here before we know it!
Click HERE to see a brief slideshow with some favorites and if you would like to be notified by email when all of their engagement pictures are available,
click HERE.
Rorie and Stuart's Wedding on Saturday, June 10, 2006
We met Rorie and Stuart through an interesting connection: Rorie became friends with a cool girl named Julie in high school and Julie, as it turns out, is a close family friend of mine that I haven't seen in years - I actually squealed when Julie came up the stairs to see Rorie get ready!
While Rorie and Stuart live here on the Virginia side, they were married close to Baltimore at the Elkridge Furnace Inn, a beautiful historic house with lovely gardens. Rorie's brother Sam brought her down the aisle and stood in place of a maid of honor, similarly Stuart asked his sister Kim and brother Philip to stand to his right.
R&S also debunked tradition by nixing the wedding cake and replacing it with a tiered display of handmade chocolates. Their pictures show how full of life and love they are, it was a pleasure photographing their celebration. The song they danced their first dance to, "Life Less Ordinary" by Carbon Leaf, says it all...
Click HERE to see a preview slideshow of our favorite pictures. If you would like to receive an email when they have made all their photos available online,
click HERE to register.
Heather and Kevin's Wedding on Saturday, June 10, 2006
Sam shot this one solo so you're getting the scoop second hand...Sam got an email from Kevin before the wedding requesting some odd shots including antique-style pinups of Heather and we had no idea if he was serious or not. I told Sam that I was cool with whatever, go with the flow and do whatever they want! Much to our relief, the fuzzy dice shots were as weird as Sam got... Although Kevin couldn't help but giving Sam the Jersey "rock on" hand gesture from time to time...
From the looks of it, the wedding was anything but bizarre - it was a beautiful event held at Clover Forest Plantation, one of the most colorful and elegant locations we know. Red was the color of the day (and the heart) and everything was vibrant.
Click HERE to see a slideshow preview with some of our favorite shots.
Click here and sign the guest book if you would like to receive an email when all of their pictures are available.
Celebrating 4 Years of Wedded Bliss on June 8, 2006
This is a picture of us on June 8, 2002 (taken by Lindsay Neal):
And here we are on June 8, 2006:
Sam and I took a few days to hit Rehobeth Beach in Delaware to celebrate our wedding anniversary and visit one of our favorite breweries,
Dogfish Head. Even though it rained most of the time, it was good to unplug from the computer for a couple days just to hit the boardwalk and tool around!
Brandy and Kevin's Wedding on June 3, 2006
We loved the bright and stylish Tiffany blue that Brandy chose for the wedding.
Pauline of Elations Wedding & Event Planning worked on getting everything including programs, favors, M&Ms and even spotlights for the ballroom in that dreamy shade of blue.
Brandy and Kevin were married by Kevin's father at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Glen Allen. The cocktail hour and reception were held at The Greater Richmond Convention Center. Brandy and Kevin put together a slideshow of photographs from their childhood through their lives together to show their guests at the reception on a large projection screen and it was a big hit.
Click here if you would like to be notified by email when the couple makes their pictures available. A slideshow preview will follow soon so be sure check back in with this post to see more...
Keri Abbott's Bridal Portraits on May 31, 2006
We're star struck... Its a lot of pressure to shoot for a local celebrity but Keri is so cool that we couldn't help but have fun - you'll recognize
Keri Abbott , a meteorologist from News Channel Eight!
Because her fiance Dan already knows, I can talk a little about the location - we shot at Virginia Crossings Resort where the couple will say "I do"on October 21st. Keri and Dan chose the VaCR after visiting the location and noticing the beautiful broze weather vane on the top of the main building - they felt like it was destined to be!
Needless to say, the weather vane makes an appearance in a few of the pictures we took but the Crossings offer lovely architecture as well, giving us many scenic opportunities for pictures. We especially appreciate Keri and her mother Betty's endurance as we shot in 90+ degree heat, I think that summer is officially here!
Its going to be awhile before we can release these pictures due to heavy scheduling recently but I have promised Keri a slideshow sometime soon, email her for the link!
