I was so excited for Bill and Sarah’s wedding day to finally arrive! They are one of the nicest couples I’ve ever worked with and the way they love each other is just so special!  I was also really excited to shoot at the Naval Academy for the first time! It’s such a beautiful place and had so many great places for pictures!

Ceremony time!! The Naval Academy chapel is so amazing!

Thank you Katie for the shot on the right!

Because their wedding ended at six, we saved our portrait time for the end, which was awesome because we had plenty of time to get lots of great portraits!!

The post Annapolis Wedding Photographer | Sarah + Bill appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

Ah the age old question:) That’s probably the number one most common thing people ask before their engagement session! Most people have never had professional pictures taken before their session and of course they want to make sure they look great in the pictures. With that being said, here’s a list of my favorite tips!

- Have your hair and makeup done professionally!
This is a great time to try out your wedding day makeup! I would suggest scheduling your makeup trial before your engagement session and having your hair styled too! There are tons of blow dry bars opening up all over and those are great to try out for engagement sessions!! I went to one before we had our anniversary pictures taken and it was so much nicer than if I had tried to style my own hair (am I the only one who can’t get the back of my hair straight??) If you do choose to DIY your makeup, one thing a lot of people may not realize is that you need to wear a little more makeup than usual when you’re having your pictures taken. So don’t be afraid to be a little bit more heavy handed than usual!

- Wear fake eyelashes
They do wonderful things for your eyes. Seriously! They are super cheap, but have a big impact!

- Think about accessories!
Shoes, jewelry, hats, scarves, etc are great additions to outfits and easy ways to add personality and color. The way you style your outfits is more important than you might think…the little details are what elevate an outfit into something stylish and polished.

- Wear things you feel confident in.
I personally believe that you look your best when you feel good about yourself! Choosing clothes that fit you well and complement your body style is always smart! When you feel good, you are going to look so much more confident because looking good on the outside has a lot to do with how you feel about yourself on the inside! We all have those outfits that we like in theory, but they are uncomfortable, or show off that armpit muffin top (pretty sure there’s no workouts that get rid of that) and we just don’t feel good about ourselves when we wear them. Leave that at home for the engagement session and wear something that you feel amazing in!

- Think about coordinating, rather than matching
No need to find matching jeans and white shirts or worry about both wearing the same colors. As long as the things you wear don’t clash, you’re good!

- Layers!
I love outfits with layers because they look so dimensional and have interest. Adding layers is another great way to elevate an outfit and create something slightly more stylish.

- Be yourself
My favorite tip of all is to remember to dress like YOU would dress. Like the best version of yourself!

And because a post like this would be somewhat useless without pictures, here is a pin board I created with some of my favorite outfit inspiration for engagement sessions!

The post What to wear to your engagement session appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

Annapolis also happens to be pretty close to where my sister lives right now so we stayed with her and got to visit a little bit. I also spent time with my dog niece, Sophie! I’m allergic to her, but she’s cute, so it’s worth it! It might sound silly, but I’m really grateful for all of the Maryland weddings we book, because they give me the chance to have a sleepover with my sister and spend time with her pretending to be little kids again. We don’t know how long she will live in Maryland or how long she’ll be stationed close to us, so each of these visits is really special!

On our way back to Virginia on Sunday we hung out with Serena and Chad! I met Serena earlier this year and we became friends pretty quickly. We really bonded at WPPI! I was so excited for John to finally meet her! Serena is such a great person and I’m so glad to have her as a friend. It’s been fun to slowly introduce John into my photography world! He fits in really well and so many people already know him due to his infamous instagram account. HA! For those of you who don’t know, John has been second shooting with me quite a bit this season! He’s a really good photographer and I’m so proud to have him become a bigger part of my business!

Here are some instagrams of our adventures this weekend:

And here is a peek at what’s to come later this week…Sarah and Bill were AMAZING. Seriously. We had as much time for portraits as we wanted and made use of the beautiful Naval Academy grounds! Can’t wait to share this amazing couple’s wedding day!

That’s it for me this morning! I have a TON to do…it’s a short week in the office since Thursday we’re headed up to NJ for a wedding! Hope you guys have a great Monday!

The post A Case of the Mondays #22 appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

I’m guessing by now a lot of you probably know that Trader Joes has had PEONIES lately! Peonies are one of my favorite flowers (we had them at our wedding!)…and they are normally super expensive because they’re only in season for a little tiny window of May/June. I’ve never seen peonies at Trader Joes before so I snatched up two bouquets for our apartment as fast as I could. I would go back for more, but it seems like a waste since we will be gone so much within the next couple of weeks. For now though, I’m going to enjoy them as much as I can before they die or Lucy eats them all. (Sidenote, why do cats freaking love to eat flowers so much??)

Also, I did want to say that I know that my blog posts haven’t been as meaty as usual lately…it’s just so hard to sit down and write out a ton of posts when I have a ton of editing and the pool is also screaming my name. I’m planning a bunch of great posts for you guys over the next few weeks and I’m sure during my shooting hiatus in July I’ll have lots more time to dedicate to sharing ideas, tips, and diy projects with you guys. Cross my heart.

The post Cheers for the weekend! appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

Both Kelly and Michael come from very close families and it was great to see how both of their have blended together and become one big family! Kelly and Michael are so lucky to have so many people surrounding them who love and support them!

Here are a few of my favorites from their day!!

Each individual bridesmaid carried a different bouquet representing a flower in Kelly’s bouquet!

Michael LOVES Batman, so Kelly surprised him by having a Batman symbol added to their cake!

Vendors coming soon!

The post Hermitage Country Club Wedding | Kelly + Michael appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

A friend of Kelly’s family allowed us to shoot at her gorgeous home in Richmond. It was such a nice space to shoot I joked she could start charging admission! Kelly was so much fun to work with and I loved spending this time with her. Can’t wait to share her wedding with you guys at the end of the week!

The post Richmond Bridal Portraits | Kelly appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

I was so excited to finally meet Molly and her husband John, but also a little nervous too…you never know if people are the way they are online in “real life” or if you’ll really click with them. Or if they’ll like you the same way they like your online persona!  But as soon as we finally met, and Molly was giving me a big hug, I knew I had no reason to worry…Molly is every bit as fun and sweet as she is on her blog! And her husband John is HILARIOUS. Meeting them was like meeting old friends for the first time!! John and I had SO much fun spending the evening with them! I left the session wishing that we lived closer to one another so we could hang out all the time.

Molly, you are one of the most kind and genuine people I’ve ever met and I feel so lucky to know you and call you a friend! You and John are such an amazing couple…you compliment each other so well and that is going to make you the best parents to your little nugget:)

I’m so honored to have been able to capture this important time for you guys!  Enjoy a few of my favorites!!

At this point it was raining pretty hard…so we ran out and hid underneath this bridge! I loved the light underneath here!

I loved the props they brought with them, but my favorite was a little sign that Molly’s mom made when she was pregnant with her. Molly’s parents had chosen to leave the baby’s gender a surprise, so they lovingly nicknamed Molly “Embry” (for embryo). Molly’s mom hung the sign in the delivery room while she was in labor with Molly and used it as an anchor. Since Molly’s mom passed away when she was younger, Molly plans to have the sign in the delivery room too as a way to have a piece of her mom there too!

The post Petersburg Maternity Session | Molly + John appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

Yesterday we chose to knock that one (picking our own fruit) off of the list! We picked several pints of raspberries from a little family owned farm in New Kent County. It was fun! And I won’t lie, I ate a few as I picked…shhh. John told me this was stealing, so I didn’t fill my container up all the way to make up for what I ate. Oops. I was a little disappointed that the places that had pick your own peaches were closed…peaches are my favorite! They remind me of being a kid and going on vacation to the beach with my family. My parents would buy a bunch of peaches from a farm stand just across the South Carolina border and we’d eat them on the beach, burying the pits in the sand when we finished.

Anyway…back to the berries. I had no idea that raspberries don’t actually ripen after they’ve been picked…so a smallish percentage of ours will remain pretty tart! I’m thinking those will have to become a raspberry vinaigrette. Or something like that. Picking berries this weekend made me feel so domestic…I’m considering trying to make homemade pickles. WHO AM I??

No peeks to share with you guys this week…I had the weekend off, which I’m actually really thankful for. I think if it were up to me, I would shoot 50 weddings a year and never be off (I’m terrible at saying no) but I think sometimes the universe gives you what you need…and I really needed a little time off to rest and recover.

I actually had a session scheduled but thanks to Andrea, it had to be postponed:( Instead, here are some iPhone pictures of our adventures yesterday!

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With the past month or so being so hectic, I’ve come to rely on a few new favorite things to make my life easier/add enjoyment. Here are a few of them!

1. Ludens throat drops. I have really bad spring allergies and it just so happens that my job requires me to be outdoors often…especially in the spring/early summer! I have been seeing an allergist for some long term solutions but these Ludens drops are pretty much a lifesaver! Allergy meds make my mouth super dry so I’ll pop a Ludens to help with that. Or if my throat gets scratchy I’ll eat one to keep from coughing a lot. They also taste great, which is a bonus!

2. Pandora comedy channels. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when my friend Jen told me about these that I even knew Pandora had comedy channels! I have really been loving the Aziz Ansari channel. John and I listen to it together on our way to out of town weddings. It makes the car rides go by so much faster!

3. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy. I actually prefer the Fall/Winter Lemon Berry Shandy to the Summer Shandy, but the Summer Shandy is so so good. I’ve made it to my pool twice since it opened and I snuck these in both times:) If you aren’t familiar with the Summer Shandy, it’s basically a beer and lemonade mixed together. It’s perfectly refreshing for a hot day at the beach or to enjoy at a cookout:)

4. Target Bali sunrise soy candles. I used to be a huge fan of the Bath and Body Works candles, but since they aren’t soy candles, I would get headaches a lot when I was burning them. I found out Target sells these awesome soy candles now in a bunch of  awesome scents! Maybe they have been selling them a while, but I just found them a week or two ago! My favorite is the Bali Sunrise. It has kind of a fruity undertone that I really love! A few people have said it reminds them of a popular Anthro candle, but I have never bought a candle from Anthropologie so I’m not sure!

5. JCrew chino shorts. I feel like I’m getting to that age where I’m really in between two different stages of style. I still own and wear a lot of stuff I’ve been wearing since I was 18…but that was seven years ago and I’m starting to want to dress more like a grown up! I’ve noticed that a lot of my old shorts just feel too short now. A month or so back I wandered into the Jcrew outlet while they were offering 50 percent off EVERYTHING. I snatched up four different colors of their 3 inch chino short and I’m so obsessed with them! They are the PERFECT length for me, they come in lots of great colors, fit well, and they aren’t as low rise as I was wearing seven years ago…haha.

6. Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif bars. These are the perfect wedding day snack! I’ve found that I work best on a moderate sized breakfast and then one or two Clif bars in between breakfast and dinner for energy. Sometimes we go 8 hours or so in between meals, so we need something substantial like Clif bars! I love the Coconut Chocolate Chip flavor because they remind me of my favorite Girl Scout cookies..Samoas!! Seriously they are so good!

7. Essie polishes. I’m always obsessed with these, but my recent favorite colors are: Bikini So Teeny, Cute as a Button, and Butter Please. Also, if you’re looking for a great top coat to try, Seche Vite is the best!! Dries fast and is super shiny!

So those are just a few of the things I’ve really been loving lately! What have you guys been obsessing over? Leave a comment with something you have been loving and I will pick one person and send them a Target Bali Sunrise candle!!

The post Things I’m loving – Summer edition appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.

The day started with Julia getting dressed! Seriously, does she not have the most beautiful smile??

Julia, you are STUNNING!

First Look time! Loved this part of the day!

Julia hand painted a pair of TOMS for each one of her bridesmaids!

Julia and Sean had a bell choir playing as their ceremony music! So unique!

The toasts were the BEST! The best man had a flag flown over the state capitol in their honor! And the bridesmaids performed a song they wrote for Julia and Sean!

Vendors:

Venue: The Winery at Bull Run
Florist: Flowers and Plants etc
Ceremony Music: Carol Ringers of St Matthew UMC
Event Rentals: DC Rentals
Reception Music: Aaron Hahn
Catering: Hill Country BBQ
Hair: Side Street Hair Design
Bride’s gown: David’s Bridal

The post Winery at Bull Run Wedding | Julia + Sean appeared first on Modern & Fun Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer | Katie Nesbitt Photography.