After having to move the date of their engagement ceremony, Sayali & Pulkit got to officially celebrate their engagement among all our family and friends at the Reston Lakehouse on Memorial Day! I got there bright and early to snag some cute portraits of them before their guests came in to join the fun. I got to meet Pulkit’s sister along with his parents that have been visiting from India. And it was amazing watching them being welcomed into our extended family because family friends isn’t a term that quite covers how close our community has become after 15+ years of celebrating milestones and enduring and supporting each other through hardships.

Their toast given by Sayali’s dad was so reflective as this, he held the microphone in one hand, his glass of champagne in the other and turning his head from left to right, he could see all the families that not only Sayali grew up with but even him and his wife grew up with. These were the people that helped bring up Sayali as a kid, that helped shape and mold so much of who she is today. These were the people that hundreds of dinners and every weekend had been shared with, the ones where every Holi and Ganapati celebration was with, these were the people that truly  made Virginia feel like home. And now here he was welcoming a son into the family that has meant so much, inviting everyone around him as well to welcome Pulkit as one of the kids, as a son!

Sayali and Pulkit I’m so glad you had me capture your big event, I love the attention you guys put in to all the little details and how they were true to you both and your story with your roses being the same that Pulkit proposed with, the engagement sign being made again by Sachi, and the champagne being the same kind you toasted right after your proposal!! I can’t wait for Pulkit to experience and become a part of all the shenanigans that go down when all the families get together and know that no matter what comes your way, you always have this family to fall back on. I know you guys will have the most incredible wedding in India and I can’t wait to see the pictures from it!!!

Was so happy to be able to take some portraits of these two before all the guests arrived! 😀

Just mildly obsessed with these rings!!

 

And of course some family portraits as well 🙂

LOVED all the thought that went into the detail for their toast! They had the same kind of champagne that they celebrated with after their proposal just a couple of months ago, how sweet is that 🙂

Leave it up to Shirish Uncle to crack everyone up 😀

The photo above doesn’t do this cute moment justice, Pulkit kept playing with Sayali and she had to force him to be gentle with the mini cupcakes which were to DIE for!! Thank you guys for letting me photograph the day!!

If you liked this post check out these posts as well 🙂

Sayali & Pulkit’s Engagement Session – Capitol Hill, D.C.

Sayali & Pulkit’s Proposal Story

Lakshmi & Nakul’s Vibrant Harbour View Engagement Ceremony

Within what seems to have been a super slow start to spring with very cold and windy days, March 31st just happened to be the one day that stood out as being perfect with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s making it for the most gorgeous day at Stone Tower Winery for Charlotte & Ben’s wedding! And what a place for their wedding! Stone Tower Winery is just simply beautiful!! From their mountain views, to stone patio with s’mores and a firepit at night, to their lake where the ceremony was held, and their indoor reception with a gorgeous glass wall out to the view! It was the perfect backdrop to a gorgeously classy wedding day filled with touches blush, magenta and navy and so my photographer heart was quite literally SO HAPPY!! And then add in the fact that Charlotte & Ben were so romantic, easy-going and relaxed throughout the entire day!!! You could tell just how excited they were to be married especially during their ceremony! Their personal written vows were some of most emotional ones I’ve ever heard to this date and it didn’t leave anyone in the crowd with a dry eye!! These two are so loved by their friends and family and so clearly meant to be together, I don’t think my words could ever fully attest to it but I hope the pictures from their day come somewhat close!

And if you haven’t already heard me say this a million and one times, I’ll say it again because honestly I don’t think I could say it enough. I’m so grateful that Vanessa let me second shoot with her not just for this day but for my first wedding THREE YEARS ago!! She totally introduced me to the world of weddings and I can’t believe she took a chance on me then because I look back at those pictures from three years ago and man, have I come A LONG way!! Definitely go check out her blog post as well from Ben & Charlotte’s day, I promise you will be amazed!

 

  LOOK AT THIS VIEW!!

  

Such a cute first look with Charlotte & her dad!

In love with these colors!






   

Everyone was wiping tears!!

JUST MARRIED!!!!

Look at how happy Ben is!!! This wasn’t posed at all, it was just RIGHT after they had gotten married :’D

FAVORITE!!!

FAVORITE!!!  

What an epic kiss & dip!!!

 

Loved the light filled reception space!

 Some funny toasts 🙂 

These two are just adorable 😀

If you loved Charlotte & Ben’s post, take a look at these weddings as well!

Nakul & Lakshmi’s Vibrant Harbour View Engagement Ceremony

Courtney & JJ’s Classic Downtown D.C. Wedding

Alejandra & Adam’s Jefferson Memorial Wintertime Wedding

It all started on Thursday during work with a group message from my best friend. It had some of the greatest news ever. I scrolled through back to where it began and read five words that made me smile from ear to ear “Pulkit is proposing to Sayali!” And so it began!!! I had known that it was coming soon, but I didn’t realize just how soon it would happen! Sachi and I went out to Target the next day to grab posters to help Pulkit make signs that spelled out “will you marry me?” across them and then we spent 15 minutes in the card aisle trying to find the perfect “congratulations” card. You’d never guess the amount of cheesy ones we ran into before stumbling upon the perfect card!! That night we spent half an hour putting together the posters with thick, black Sharpie to make sure she’d be able to read it from across the little reservoir in front of the Capitol Columns.

The next morning we started driving over into D.C. to the National Arboretum Capitol Columns to meet up with Pulkit to run through our game plan for the big moment, before Sayali got there. He had two of his friends there that she wouldn’t recognize who could essentially “hide” in plain sight without being recognized to take video and pictures with the columns in the back! Me, Sachi and Sayali’s sister Sanika would have to hide BEHIND the columns and snake around as Pulkit got down on one knee. We practiced where we would crouch and made sure that we weren’t visible. Pulkit let us know that he was planning on reciting a poem he’d written for her (it was SUPER cute!!) and that he’d then get down on one knee and that was our cue to run around with the signs that he would point us out to her before showing her the ring.

And so we crouched, and we waited, and we scouted for her car. And after what felt like an eternity to us (so I can’t even imagine what it felt like for Pulkit!!) we peered around the edges of the columns and we saw them come up over the hill right to the middle of the columns. He pointed out the columns to her, and pointed out the view the other way, pulling her around so that her back would be facing us as we ran to the side of the columns first. He finished his poem and got down onto one knee, the moment she had been waiting MONTHS for, was finally there. And it was perfect. Because she didn’t notice his two friends video taping or taking pictures to record the epic moment and she didn’t notice us running like little chickens, posters flapping in the wind. Because all she could focus on was her soon to be husband, asking her to be his wife!!! He got up and she hugged him and he pointed us out to her and her face was priceless. Really words don’t do it justice, just see the pictures!! And then after she realized he pulled out the ring to put it on her finger and to seal the deal and it was perfect.

They celebrated with everyone running out to her, to give her flowers, to give her the biggest hugs and congratulations and to see what we’d all been waiting for: THE RING!!! And boyyyyy is it a GORGEOUS RING!! Seriously none of us, especially Sayali of course, could stop staring at it! It caught every bit of sunlight that day and even later on at her parents’ house, every bit of light even at night!! They enjoyed popping some champagne and then took their first pictures as an officially engaged couple and the rest of the day was spent in absolute happiness and bliss and sharing the good news with everyone 🙂

Hehehe just hiding out behind the columns, nbd!!

WHEN SHE NOTICED US WITH OUR SIGNS SAYING “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” Best moment hahahahha 😀

Look at this STUNNNERRRRR of a ring!!!





The whole gang recreating the E.P.I.C. moment!!


Adorable, adorable, adorable!!

Coming home to the parents!!!

The ring is loved BY ALL!!

I’m so honored to take their engagement pictures later this month among the cherry blossoms and their engagement party later this spring with their family friends but I’m so glad to have been able to capture a part of the beginning of official their journey together as a newly engaged couple!!!! CONGRATULATIONS YOU GUYS!!!!

For all of you that can’t get enough of proposal stories 

Botanical Gardens, Capitol Hill & Union Station Proposal – Wendy & Lucas

Georgetown Waterfront Proposal – Nakul & Lakshmi

 

 

It was a cold November day, the one where the week before it was actually warm but somehow Virginia weather managed to do a 180 in a week. We made it to the Iris Inn, the coziest little inn nestled into the side of a mountain that was starting to bloom with the gorgeous warm, fall colors. Louisa was in one cottage on the left, getting ready with her best friends and her mom while Grant was across on the right, getting ready and hanging out with the guys watching some football. From the moment I saw Louisa’s details and dress and Grant’s details, I knew this wedding would be styled, refined and meaningful. Louisa’s mom gifted her a horseshoe that had Louisa and Grant’s name, following a British tradition 🙂 Both Louisa & Grant were so incredibly relaxed on their day, so ready to be married, nothing to be anxious or nervous about. Their certainty was incredibly heartwarming. And to say it was a cold day would be an understatement, but I don’t think we could have found anyone more up to the challenge of taking their pictures out in the cold than Louisa & Grant!

But, I haven’t even gotten to all the Harry Potter details that played in to the day. There are Harry Potter fans and then there are Harry Potter fanatics like Louisa & Grant. Her shoes had “after all this time?” and “always” printed on each sole, their friend read a passage from the Half Blood Prince during their ceremony, their cake had the snitch and the deathly hallows on them, each of their reception tables were named after places in Harry Potter like “The Owlery” and “The Ministry of Magic,” and their reception had music from the soundtrack of Harry Potter playing throughout the night. Even some of their floral  decorations were made out of paper from the actual Harry Potter books. Jontell and I were amazed at how well they incorporated so much of the book in such a classy and wholesome manner. It all tied so perfectly in with having their wedding at the Hermitage Hill Farm with their open barn and actual horses in the back! Plus, we got to take some gorgeous pictures of the bridal party with their custom wands and the horse of the farm making a truly magical day!

Vendors
Day of Coordinator | Bride & Joy
Hair & Makeup | Charlottesville Makeup Artist
Hairstylist | Brooke Christine Designs
Cake | Shall We Bake
Dress | The Dress Boutique
DJ | Schultz Sound Services

HOW GORGEOUS ARE THESE LACE DETAILS??!!

Love this one of the guys getting ready 🙂 And a tie with Snitches on them, yes please!

 

When they read Harry Potter DURING the ceremony!!!

These two made taking pictures in the freezing cold look soo effortless!!

SO COOL that they brought out a horse named Clyde to take pictures with!!

Clyde was a total professional when it came to taking pictures, look at him looking RIGHT at the camera! 😉

The Harry Potter touches continue!!

 

I loved being able to second shoot such a unique wedding with Jontell Vanessa Photography back in Charlottesville!! Check out her blog post from the day! It’ll be one that I always remember. Louisa & Grant, I hope you continue to bond and incorporate the little things into your life in a big way, always <3

This week was another good week! I feel like good weeks generally keep good weeks coming. My life here is by no means all pretty flowers, gorgeous wedding venues and beautiful rings ALL day every day! Most of it is just sitting behind the computer with a top knot and an unfinished mug of coffee next to me, typing out this blog post or emailing a client, or putting together something useful for 2018 brides, or even mundane things like marking expenses as business or personal. It’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes that doesn’t always get showcased! So, I want these posts to be a little bit more transparent with everything that goes behind doing wedding photography 🙂

So that being said, here’s prominent parts of the week (aka generally a lot of food highlights hahaha):

– I went out to the Wharf in D.C. on a super windy day with Naveen and LOVED IT!!! Also, they get a million bonus points for having a brand new Dolcezza gelato and coffee store which also features BREAKFAST FOOD!! I mean check out this menu & this super cute penguin 😀

  

– I got to virtually hang out with all of my girls from college who are now all over the US via Google 😀 It was definitely the highlight of my week getting to catch up with everyone & hear about all the awesome things that people have been up to. And it was also comforting to realize that yea sure, we’re “real adults” now, but we’re still ourselves and having fun! I also think everyone appreciates the fact that they get wayyy more sleep now post that E-school life!!!

– It feels so much quieter around here now that everyone who was back from UVA for break has gone back to school again but I’m excited to get back to practice, practice, practice!! I’m performing with DCBC at an upcoming bhangra competition called East Coast Bhangra (ECS) at UVA and I am SO excited to be going 😀 At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to perform but now that I am able to I CAN’T WAIT to be able to be in Charlottesville for a weekend, compete with my DCBC crew and get to hang out with all of my UVA homies!!! It’ll be like YAR PART TWO! and I’m so, so exciteddd.

– Anyone see the Vikings victory over the Saints? I was totally rooting for the Saints but damn, that was a CLUTCH ending!! If you didn’t se it, go check out the highlights, it was a crazy game!

– For any of you craving Bodo’s, try out Bethesda Bagels in Dupont Circle! I promise this will help you get your fix of the water bagels & bagel sandwiches we all love Bodos for <3

– I spent a lot of time configuring HoneyBook which is my new customer management system that tracks all of my project/wedding details in one place! So far I’m loving it (except for that one time I accidentally sent someone a slew of template emails…). I added the Wedding Questionnaire that I send to couples 2 months before their wedding day into HoneyBook to provide a seamless experience and added a portion to my website regarding what the wedding experience with me looks like from start to end! I also updated my engagement questionnaire to reflect these changes. Along with that I fixed up a section of Frequently Asked Questions to include in my Wedding Collections & Pricing guide! You see what I mean about the top knots & coffee and hours at a computer rather than just taking pretty pictures? But I really love it!! Because from all the hard work comes news like that below:

 – I BOOKED ANOTHER WEDDING!!!! I legitimately love this couple already 🙂 We FaceTimed since they currently live in San Francisco and they are just the most easygoing and laugh loving (that’s a thing…) people I’ve met! The groom to be designed one stellar engagement ring that I can’t wait to photograph soon as their official wedding photographer!!!

– I AM GOING TO BE WORKING WITH ONE OF THE TOP PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY LEADERS THIS YEAR!!!!!!!! I know, all caps, this is excessive but this is someone that I’ve looked up to for probably over five years now. You know when you meet a movie star in real life? I’ve never been a fan of actors/actresses but I FANGIRL over some of these well-known photographers and she is one of them! Despite being around the same age, she has worked really hard and been so incredibly successful, she hosts her own photography workshops and even teaches at conferences! I will be photographing a handful of weddings alongside her this year and I can’t wait to get to meet her in person (I was NOT cool over FaceTime when I talked to her hahaha let’s be real) and get to know her personally over this upcoming year 🙂 Plus a little bird told me that I’m sharing this whole experience with another photographer friend which makes this all the sweeter. I’m so excited to get to go out to this photographer’s workshop which is right after ECS! I had been planning on trying to make it out to a conference this year as one of my 2018 goals and it’s cool to see this coming to life!!!

If you read to the end of this, you’re a champ and I thank you for being a small part of my journey here with my little business 🙂 It couldn’t be possible without you!

PAST FRIDAY FUN POSTS!

The One with Biscuits & Warm January Days

The First of 2018!

Wind, Hats, Cake & The Crown

 

 

Ahhh with a great first week comes a major setback in week 2 of the New Year! I was kinda bummed about this obstacle, but it definitely drove me to work even harder in terms of my photography so I guess that’s a silver lining in disguise. Going to stick to the highlights for this week!

– Nothing like trivia to lift up your mood! I got to go to trivia with friends I haven’t seen in MONTHS and we had so much fun 🙂 It’s become our tradition to do trivia at Crafthouse (formerly known as World of Beer) and apparently we always look so clueless that people OFFER their help to us…..also can I say that I’m a big fan of their bacon tots?

– I also got to go to Ted’s Bulletin to catch up with former co-workers! I love that even after 2+ years we’ve stayed close and get together when everyone is back in town 🙂 Highly recommend their chicken biscuits!!! Me and Naveen are known for having an obsession with biscuits and this meal definitely satisfied the recent craving. If you sense a general theme of loving food with the first two bullet points, you are not at all wrong!

– I loved kicking off a new blog series about tips for brides on their wedding day! You can read the first post here about tips for the getting ready portion of the day. In the upcoming colder months since I won’t have as many shoots, I’ve decided to take some time to write out a bunch of longer-form educational blog posts for brides chockfull of useful tips for their wedding days. I hope that someday these will help them have a super smooth and relaxing wedding day! There’s the stereotype that all wedding days are crazy, something goes wrong and the timeline gets thrown out the window but I’ve never witnessed this in person. All of the photographers I’ve had the pleasure of working with have gone the extra mile beforehand to educate their clients about how long each part of the day realistically takes. So this is my attempt to do just that!

– Anyone else enjoy the unseasonably warm past couple of days as much as I did? I mean I know they’re not stellar for the climate, but I just have really been missing warmer days! I’m convinced I need to eventually move out to California….

– And speaking of California, I actually have a wedding consultation with clients who live in San Francisco tomorrow and I’m super excited to meet them virtually! They have a vintage travel themed wedding in the works which sounds amazing, such a unique theme!!

– I’ve had a ton of inquiries lately for portrait sessions within the upcoming Spring, so if you’ve had getting pictures taken on your mind, definitely reach out within the next couple of weeks because my dates are filling up super quickly!

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, whenever I mentioned to my friends and family that I was preparing for a fall themed styled shoot with Jontell I got a bunch of funny looks. Such happens when you start throwing out wedding industry jargon and then realize that it’s not a common term. I found myself trying to explain what a styled shoot was in a couple of sentences and then realizing how specific of a thing it was to the wedding industry. When you explain a styled shoot, it almost seems a little weird. A whole mock wedding set up only to take pictures? How does that work and why do you do it in the first place? I tried to break down the answer to these questions below for anyone that’s curious!

A styled shoot is essentially a gathering of wedding vendors’ resources & talents to create a staged wedding or event with a certain vision in mind that would appeal to an ideal client.  They range from simple to more elaborate affairs. Ours involved a wedding venue, a florist, a cake and sweets, models to act as a bride and groom,  a calligrapher and sign designer, a videographer which was pretty cool, a bridal boutique, and a hair and makeup artist to help bring our fall themed & sweet obsessed vision to life. We set up a sweetheart table where the couple would sit as well as a dessert table with the cake as the main focus along with a few other fall themed desserts. So WHY do people go to such lengths, volunteer their time, efforts and skills to put together a mock event if you’re already in the wedding industry space and have REAL clients?

Getting a styled shoot that you have put together published in a creditable online magazine is a great way to earn credibility! Not only are you able to show off beautiful images from the day, but a publication is able to recognize the quality of your work and wants to showcase it to their viewers and brides. It not only provides a sense of inspiration on the blog where it is published, but it also attracts your ideal clients. For photographers and other wedding vendors, it’s important to showcase the kind of work that you would LIKE and your ideal style in your portfolio. For example, if I’m looking to attract more brides interested in having a vineyard wedding, they are more likely to identify me as someone they’d like to work with if they have seen that I have photographed vineyard weddings before rather than if I showcased a lot of weddings photographed in an urban city. Also, photographers always have high quality images of their work to post online, but this isn’t necessarily true for all other wedding vendors. When they receive images from the shoot, it gives them a chance to showcase their hard work and dedication beautifully online.

When you are working with paid clients you are providing them a service to help bring together their vision for their wedding day come to life. Although every professional is given some sort of artistic control to make this happen, as someone putting together a styled shoot, you have full control over the starting vision or theme for the day AND more control over the details as well! As a photographer this is huge since you scarcely have the opportunity to choose exactly which venue or general aesthetic you’ll be working with until you’re established enough to only take weddings that are “on brand” or align with your aesthetic preferences. As someone who has second shot a lot of weddings, not each wedding aligns to the kind of wedding I would want to showcase in my portfolio simply due to the fact that I have a different personal style than that of the bride. It’s not to say that these weddings weren’t gorgeous (they totally were!), but not all of their details were necessarily ones that I would have had at my dream wedding and that’s ok! Being able to photograph every detail and have it be something that I would want to showcase in my portfolio to attract ideal clients with similar details on their wedding day is a huge advantage of photographing a styled shoot! This is not to say that Jontell and I nitpicked and gave our vendors no control, we just communicated a very specific vision to our vendors to bring about details that would match this vision.

3. I think one of the most under-looked, but most important aspects of putting together a styled shoot is developing relationships with the vendors you are working with. A styled shoot gives you the chance to work with wedding vendors across the industry that you may have admired and to appreciate the hard work that each and every one brings to a wedding. You get a chance to get a feel for what it’s like to work alongside them and to connect with them in person! It’s important to have these relationships with vendors so that if you have a bride or client looking for a specific vendor, you can refer someone amazing with confidence to them that you would absolutely love to work with again! It helps strengthen your relationships and is a great way to network within the industry when you’re getting started! I knew that I worked well with Jontell, which is why we decided to put this shoot on together, but it was so cool to meet some vendors that I had followed online in person finally!

4. And the last reason is the most important of all: TO HAVE FUN!! A styled shoot is arguably less stressful than a wedding day and gives you more of a chance to be creative and practice your passion! It also was my excuse to drive down early to YAR and buy some fall decorations and sweets! 😉 I think the fact that styled shoots are so common in the wedding industry and people who may not have even met each other will so kindly offer up a whole day as well as their work for a collective vision is really, really cool!

I can’t share TOO many pictures from Jontell and my styled shoot since we’re trying to get it published, but here’s a little teaser for anyone that read through this entire post!!

 

 

 

 

I mean, could they BE more adorable?!! That is Marla, she’s also an incredible photographer & a pretty cool human being so you should go check her out as well as the rest of our vendors featured below!

Venue:  Delfosse Vineyards & Winery
Photography: Jontell Vanessa Photography & Manali Photography
Videography: Mckenzie, Travel House Collective
Cake & Desserts: Tiffany of Commonwealth Cake
Florals: The Faded Poppy
Hair & Makeup: Nicole Laughlin
Bridal Boutique: Sealed With a Kiss, Charlottesville
Signs: Desiree, Reciprocated Designs
Invitation Suite: Becky J, Becky J Invitations

 

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It was such an honor being able to capture their day, second shooting along a new friend and fellow taco lover, Caity of Cait Kramer Photography! Caity is such a sweet person and you can tell that she’s MEANT to do weddings. I can tell just how hard she works and I can’t wait to watch this girl’s business continue to keep growing here in D.C.! Maybe it’s just us, but we definitely both get a little nervous before a wedding! But we couldn’t have had a more seamless, smooth and beautiful day capturing all the details, the first looks, the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception at the Birkby House in Leesburg, Virginia on a perfect, fall day this past Saturday. We looked at each other half way through the day and had thought “we must be missing something” because everything was going so smoothly!!! Talk about a dream wedding 🙂

Now about Liz & Luis. Oh man, these two were just meant for each other!!! You can tell by the way they look at each other, laugh together, the thoughtful (and goofy) gifts they got for each other, the way they teared up reading their letters to each other, how they couldn’t stop smiling and looking into each others’ eyes during their first look, their portraits and all the way to the toasts. They are heart warming, joyful, thoughtful, playful, and so, so kind. To their friends, their family from their grandparents to the little ones and everyone who came to join their celebration! I wish I could go back and do it again and again! To Liz & Luis, I hope you guys enjoy your honeymoon!

Check out Caity’s blog post of the day to see her pictures & all the vendors that helped put together this amazing day!

Pretty much in love with Liz’s BEAUTIFUL dress & Cinderella blue flats, I mean how pretty are these!! I think this has been my favorite dress & shoe combination to date, and that’s hard to say because EVERY wedding dress and shoe is gorgeous!! But these flats man, gorgeous & comfy!!!! I definitely advocate every bride to have a spare pair of flats for the reception, or to just have gorgeous shoes like these to wear all day!

AHHHHHH the sweetest moment between Liz & her mom while getting into her dress

A sparkler exit to send off the new couple, the perfect end to the perfect day!

This one had been in the books for a long time! Ever since I started becoming interested in wedding photography, I’ve looked up to Hannah of Hannah Smith Photography. This girl was someone that lived close to me and was about my age and doing something that I dream to do in a couple of years on my own! So safe to say when she asked me to second shoot with me in August, I did a little happy dance 🙂 I would get to photography another wedding while watching and learning from the sweetest, bubbliest pro! The drive down with Hannah and Madison was sooo much fun & I loved getting to work with them throughout the day, talk about a dream team! I could immediately tell that the day was gonna be a good one 🙂 The storms were holding off, we perused TJMaxx and had lunch at Chik Fil A before officially starting the day at Rock Hill Plantation.

And the entire day continued to be so easy-going!!! Jon & Melissa were sooo calm and easy to work with and you could tell that NOTHING could make their day any less than perfect! Even their bridal party was so easy to get along with, welcoming and the whole wedding felt like one big tight knit community that had come together to watch two of their beloved own finally tie the knot 🙂 And what better place to do so than Rock Hill Plantation in Stafford, VA. They had a BEAUTIFUL outdoor ceremony space in front of a gazebo, such a classy getting ready area for Melissa, the cutest little front porch and 3 baby goats! I have a thing for baby goats so I was freaking out a little and all three of them were SOO cute and nice (shots with goats included at the end)! Here are some of the highlights of Jon & Melissa’s big day!

This first look was the SWEETEST THING EVER!!!! This was my first time photographing one & I can see why photographers advocate for them!! It gives you guys some time to see each other, talk to each other & enjoy the day before your big moment!!

Definitely one of the funniest parts of the day!! These girls had soo much fun with these shots 🙂

^^^ THIS MELTED MY HEART!!!! Melissa watching the Mother Son dance 😀

And they finished off with a sparkler exit that looked like it was something out of a fairy tale 🙂

I loved getting to capture all the sweet moments throughout Jon & Melissa’s big day along with Hannah & can’t wait to work with her and Madison sometime again 🙂 iPhone pictures with goats below as promised!