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 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

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!

 

Oh man, I have to say each wedding seems to get better than the last and it was only fitting that I ended my season this year second shooting with Hannah at Alejandra & Adam’s wedding! Their Christmas themed wedding spanned D.C. and Northern Virginia with getting ready at Alejandra’s house in Alexandria, a first look and bridal portraits at the Jefferson Memorial (fitting for two hoos!), their ceremony at a Catholic Church in Annandale and their reception back at the Wolf Trap Barns! Whew, what a day! It just flew by with all the traveling between places! When Hannah told me it was Christmas themed, I didn’t really know what to expect and was blown away when we got to Alejandra’s house to take pictures of the girls getting ready! The entire place was decked out in Christmas decor, there was the most wonderful scent of Apple Crisp wafting through the house, all of the girls were in cozy matching flannel PJs, and the kitchen was full of snacks and champagne with crystal candy in them! And when her florals arrived, they just pulled all the little details together, matching the maroon red bridesmaids dresses and white pashmina shawls, with the cutest little pinecones nestled among the red and yellow roses. And just wait until you see the dress!! So many people throughout the day commented that Alejandra looked like a princess out of a Disney movie which was so inredibly fitting!

Alejandra & Adam’s first look at the Jefferson Memorial (GO HOOS!!!) was most definitely my favorite part of the day! Alejandra was just starting to get those pre-wedding jitter nerves right before we headed to the Jefferson but you could see them go away as soon as Adam turned around to see her for the first time!! I couldn’t describe the moment perfectly so I’ll let you look at the pictures! But throughout the whole day, I loved watching the two of them look at each other with all the love in their eyes and take care of each other throughout the day. The way that Adam was so eager to take photos of his soon to be bride with his Polaroid camera, the way she looked at him for every single pose during portraits, the way he held her dress while walking to the car, her face when she walked down the aisle towards him, the way they laughed their infectious laughs during the toasts and how they danced with each other at the end of the night! You can tell these two admire each other to no end 🙂 And hearing how much they were loved by everyone in the room and how it was not just expected, but known, that they will go on to love each other and be so successful in life made me hope that one day I would be just like them and people would say such a thing about me! It was simply inspiring and I was so grateful to be able to be a part of their wedding day, to help capture all the love, the laughs and the sheer joy of the whole day of not just them two, but of everyone that came out to celebrate with them! I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding or couple to end 2017 with! Thank you, thank you to Hannah Smith Photography for having me along for the day, be sure to check out her blog post here!!

A slight warning beforehand that this post is going to be LONG because I had soo many favorites from the day!!!

LOVE THIS ONE!!!

First Look with the BRIDESMAIDS!!! These reactions get me :’)

SO MUCH JOY!!!! 

CONFETTI POPPERS!!!! THESE WERE SO COOL!!!!

^ seriously how cool is this!!

They were at the JEFFERSON MEMORIAL FOR THEIR FIRST LOOK!!!!! So the move as UVA alum 😀

^ Loved how excited he was for their First Look, he wasn’t nervous at all! 😀

AWWW love this 😀 Reasons why everyone  should do a first look!! Look at how happy they are :’)

Hands down my favorite part of the first look was all the pictures Adam was taking of his brideee in her gown, cutest thing ever. I fully support any grooms that want to take Polaroid pictures on their big day!!!

 

THE TEAM

Main Photographer | Hannah Smith Photography

Venue | Barns at Wolf Trap

Wedding Planner + Coordinator | Mimi Perez ( a brides bff) 

Brides Dress |  Stephen Yearick at Elegance by Roya Tysons

Cake + Cupcakes| Mother of the Bride &  Georgtown Cupcakes

DJ | DJ Luccio

Hair | Yulia Justiniano

Makeup | Heather Rea

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!