The blog has been up and down a lot lately…I’m going through some behind the scene changes and dealing with some back end issues. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to get my post up today! I’m SO excited to share Stephanie and Scott’s wedding with you guys! I would have been so bummed if I couldn’t get it posted today:(

Stephanie and Scott have been such an amazing couple to work with and their wedding was one of my favorites to date! Stephanie is a girl after my own heart! She included so many fun little details and gave me so much time for portraits… shooting their wedding was like a photographer’s dream! Everything about their day was so heartfelt. It was an awesome day to be apart of and I hope that my pictures can do it justice!

We walked across the street for a few more portraits after the ceremony…I love it when my couples are game for more portraits!

Prepare yourself for an overload of amazing reception details! Stephanie amazes me! She planned and put together all of these fun things while studying for her Master’s AND working full time!

Loved these escort cards! Stephanie put each guest’s name on a Rifle Paper Co envelope and inserted their seating assignment on a card inside! Such a unique touch!

Stephanie and Scott gave homemade vanilla as their favors!

Scott’s mom made the “Groom’s cake”…aka the amazing apple pie!

Vendors

Venue: Bristow Manor
Florist: Sue Chamberlain Flowers
Music: Soundwave Entertainment
Invitations: DIY
Makeup: J’aime Makeup Artistry
Hair: PR at Partners
Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal
Shoes: Steve Madden
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: JCrew

Sonic cherry limeades. Can we talk about how good they are for just a second? I love them so much. If I was going to pick one meal to have to eat every day for the rest of my life, I think I would pick Sonic tater tots and cherry limeade. So good.

I decided that since it’s practically summer (which means lots of time relaxing and cooking out with fun drinks!) I would try to make my own cherry limeade…and just for fun I decided to make it into an adult beverage as well! The obvious choice would be to add vodka, but I’m not a big vodka person. I prefer rum, whiskey, bourbon, etc. This particular recipe was made with Bacardi rum, but you can really add any liquor you’d like. You can even leave it out all together and make virgin cherry limeades instead!

This recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman’s recipe. You can pretty much tailor it to your tastes. There’s really no way to screw this one up!

3 cups Simply Limeade
3 cups Sprite
8-9 ounces rum
1 jar Maraschino cherries and juice
1-2 limes, sliced

Mix together and serve over ice. I like having lime slices in mine because the lime juice makes it a little more tart. And it’s pretty! Can’t hate on that.

Hope you guys enjoyed this recipe! Anyone going to a cookout this weekend? I won’t be…we are shooting two weddings and traveling in between. But I plan to mix up a batch of these limeades for the next one I get to go to! How fun would they be all ready to go in little mason jars? With the lids on in a big tub of ice??

The skies looked dark all day and though I was pretty sure it wouldn’t rain, it started pouring just minutes before Carmen and Tommy’s wedding ceremony was about to start. A lot of people would have been stressed, but Carmen and Tommy were both so calm! I was so impressed by how easy going and flexible they were. No matter what I asked them to do, they were both willing to try it…and even though we had done a first look and we had a good amount of portraits in, Carmen came to me during cocktail hour and asked if we could go out (IN THE RAIN) for some more portraits. Of course I was game for that:)

Carmen and Tommy: you were both so much fun to work with. I know you are going to have an amazing marriage! Have fun in Jamaica!!

The ceremony was supposed to be held outside on the lawn…everything was all set up and ready to go until the skies opened up and the rain started pouring down only minutes before Carmen was supposed to walk down the aisle! I have never seen such a couple react so calmly when asked what the rain backup was. It didn’t seem to bother them that the ceremony they envisioned wasn’t going to happen exactly the way they had pictured it in their minds. They were focused on getting married and that was it!

They say that your wedding day is the best day of your life. Or that it’s supposed to be. Well, I disagree. The day that we got married (two years ago today), was an amazing day. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delicious, we did the Cupid’s Shuffle, and we got married.  But it wasn’t the best day of my life.

The best day of my life has been every day since our wedding day. It hasn’t been perfect, but every day that you have continued to support me, and love me, and hold my hand when I’m afraid has been the best. Each one of these days is better than the last because no matter what else happens, I have your love, and you have mine.

It’s been two years and I love you just as much as I did the day I became your wife. Maybe even a little more;)

Thank you Katelyn James for this image!!

Is it wrong that I’m already looking forward to lunch today?? I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet and I’m so excited to heat up my Olive Garden leftovers! We went for a late lunch yesterday to celebrate finishing up my first double wedding weekend, then I treated myself to a few of my favorite movies to watch while I marathon edit this week. Do you guys watch tv while you edit? I picked up that habit back when I was home schooled. My sister and I would do our school work every afternoon with the TV on in the background! Fun times! I used to really wish that we weren’t home schooled (I am still bummed I never got to go to a prom), but these days I’m really grateful for that time in my life because I learned how to manage my time and get my work done on my own, without the structure that school or a day job enforces!

A double wedding weekend means double the wedding peeks!! On Friday, Stephanie and Scott were married in Bristow, VA! Stephanie added so many fun little DIY touches and gave me so much time for portraits. The weather was perfect and it was such a fun day.

And on Saturday, Carmen and Tommy were wed in Newport News!! It may have rained, but it didn’t stress either of them out for a second. Carmen was probably one of the most chill brides I’ve ever worked with. She walked through mud puddles in pouring rain in her wedding gown for portraits!

Hope you guys enjoyed these peeks! Have a wonderful Monday!!

I’ll admit it.

I was skeptical about this book. I mean, it was published in 1937!! That’s before my grandma was born! I wasn’t sure that it would offer anything relevant, or that it could offer any advice that wouldn’t seem outdated in the technology fueled age we live in now, but I gave it a try anyway, because it was on sale in the kindle store. And gosh, I’m so glad I did!

Even though the book was written over 75 years ago, it’s still very easy to read and has lots of little anecdotes that made it interesting and enjoyable. The principles the book covers are all very simple things, but they’re written in a way that makes you think “Wow, why didn’t I think of that??”. If you have a kindle or the iPad kindle app, you know you can highlight passages in the books you read and then go back and look at them later…well I highlighted something on every other page. At least. There were so many good little tidbits of knowledge, many of them are common things that we all know (but don’t always practice), but there were many new ideas for me to consider as well!

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone, but I think it’s a really helpful read for small business owners, and photographers in particular. I’m not the most outgoing or social person until I really get to know people, so this book has definitely given me a lot of things to think about and improve upon. And not just with clients or potential clients, but with wedding guests, bridal party, vendors, and all types of others that we have to interact with on a wedding day while also focusing on the light, shooting, the timeline, and everything else there is to think about.

Because I enjoyed this book so much, I decided I want to give a copy away! I’ll gift one person either a paperback or the kindle version. All you have to do to enter to win your own copy is leave a comment with your favorite summer book. I’ll pick the winner and notify them by email on Monday!

I LOVE to wear dresses when I’m shooting weddings. I just feel more comfortable in a cute dress than I would pants and a top…first of all, I’m shorter (5’2”), so it can be hard to find pants that fit me well. And second, wearing a dress is more low maintenance! You only have to pick out one thing to wear, rather than having to choose pants as well as a separate top!

My favorite shooting dresses are sleeveless (I get hot!!), modest, figure flattering, and have modern elements to them, whether that’s a fun color or pattern, or just a modern cut. Bonus points if the dress has pockets! My budget for shooting dresses is typically less than $50 dollars per dress, but if it’s something I really love and know I’ll get a lot of use out of, I’ll spend up to $100.  All of the dresses below are things I’m loving right now! All of them are under $100, but most of them are under $50!

1. Jcrew Factory, 2. Target, 3. Old Navy, 4. Gap, 5. ModCloth, 6. Ruche

Another reason I love to wear dresses is because I like to blend in with the wedding guests as much as I can! It’s so much easier to get candid shots when you kind of fade into the background because you have on something a typical wedding guest might be wearing. I’ve also found that at each wedding you shoot you are potentially auditioning for any guests who may be at the wedding who are engaged or looking for a wedding photographer. For this reason, it’s important to dress professionally and also represent your brand at the same time, because you never know who might be watching! My brand isn’t stuffy or traditional, so why should my outfits be?

I can’t believe that Sirena and Derek are finally married! It feels like just yesterday I was meeting them for the first time…even though it was almost a year ago. I remember thinking that their wedding seemed so far away…May 2013 seemed like a distant, somewhat hazy future to me. Their wedding day this past Saturday at Aqua at Bay Creek Resort was so much fun! If you know Sirena and Derek, you know how fun they both are to be around, and their wedding reflected just that!

I’m so excited to share these favorites from their day! Sirena and Derek, hope you guys are enjoying Paris!

Vendors:
Venue: Aqua at King’s Creek Marina
Planning and Design: Antonia Christianson Events
Florist: Fluttering Flowers
Cake: Cake Delights
Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal
Reception Gown: Kirstie Kelly
Music: Astro DJ
Paper products: Paper Dolls
Makeup: Kristal Lane
Hair: Kristal Lane and Janel Daigle

I woke up this morning and noticed my iPad was still in the bed with me, like I had fallen asleep last night while I was pinning or playing Diner Dash. It’s okay…that happens often. More often than I should probably admit! Of course once I saw the iPad already lying in bed, I couldn’t help but pick it up and check out my Pinterest. I know, I know…it’s a sickness;)

My favorite category to browse through is actually the humor category (What can I say? I love a good meme!). Every so often there’s a pin that slips into the humor category that doesn’t really fit…like this one below, that I saw this morning.

This pin couldn’t have been more perfect for me to see today. Comparing myself to others (photography peers, friends, other 25 year olds, Kim Kardashian, etc) is something I do EVERY SINGLE DAY. Lately, instead of feeling joy about my growing business, I feel like I need to be doing MORE because so and so is. Because “they” are doing something I’m not, or booking more, or shooting a wedding on the moon, or getting featured in the Encyclopedia. “Okay,” I think to myself, “Well my business is doing okay, but I DON’T HAVE A MOON WEDDING THIS YEAR”. Am I alone? I know you guys do it too. It can’t just be me, can it?  Am I comparing myself on comparison now?

I felt really compelled to share this with you guys in lieu of a “for photographers” post I had scheduled for this morning because I know this is something that everyone does. Not just photographers. And I have learned that comparison really is a thief. It sneaks into your mind when you’re just sitting there, minding your own business, and then takes the joy and positivity away and leaves you with an empty hole filled with anxiety and negativity. Comparison is one of those things we THINK will make us feel better when we start doing it (oh, I feel better about myself because I have blah blah that so and so doesn’t have) but it nearly always leads to negative feelings. At least, this has been my experience!

The next time I find myself anxious and wrapped up in self criticism and comparisons, I plan to think of this bright, happy picture and I hope that maybe you do too:)

Saturday’s wedding was so awesome! There were so many cool things about Sirena and Derek’s day that I can’t wait to blog, like their first look at a lighthouse, their BEAUTIFUL outdoor ceremony, and the most fun nautical details! Here’s a little peek to tide you over.

How did you guys end up spending your Mother’s day weekend? John and I had lunch with my parents and my sister at this pizza place across town…I had this huge calzone that was bigger than my head and as we were leaving I saw a flyer advertising free kittens, some of which were orange! In case you are thinking we got another cat yesterday, I won’t get your hopes up. We didn’t get one, though I did beg John to let me go get one for at least 30 minutes straight. He finally convinced me that right now is not the right time to add more pets to our family…we’re too busy to care for another pet. Maybe one day! I can totally see myself as a crazy cat lady with a ton of kitties running around.

Other than debating over whether or not we should add another cat to our family, we mostly just spent our Sunday relaxing. I decided a while back that during wedding season I was going to fight to protect my Sundays…meaning I was going to purposefully start not scheduling sessions or meetings the day after I had a wedding. I am really glad I did this, because although I love shooting weddings and I love my clients to death, I have discovered I really need to make sure that I have some downtime to recover and re-energize. Because our weeks are so busy and John is really only off on Sundays, Sundays are a great time to schedule this in. At first I felt bad about having to tell clients I don’t have weekend availability during my busy season, like I was letting them down or doing something wrong, but it’s been great so far, and there haven’t been any conflicts with availability yet, which is awesome. Now I just need the pool to open, so we can spend our lazy Sundays there and things will be perfect:)