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I loved everything about this glamorous, fun, heartfelt wedding day, shared by one of the NICEST couples I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past seven years. These two lawyers met in New York — both were working at law firms, and his officemate dated her friend. Eventually she moved to DC, and he followed. Fast forward to their wedding day, and we had so much fun. Sam had the prettiest bridal details — her GOWN had me SPEECHLESS — and we had so much fun in the gorgeous hotel spiral staircase and National Portrait Gallery atrium for portraits, before we headed to the venue in Ivy City. The two judges the groom clerked for officiated, and the reception was one of the most colorful, love-filled parties I’ve documented. Before the night ended, we headed outside for a few bonus portraits. They’re my favorite!
A few seasons ago, I actually stopped asking my couples how they met… because the lovely souls who are drawn to hire me all seem to have met on a dating app. Which is great! Fine! Awesome! I’m so glad we’ve removed the stigma of apps! But needless to say, it’s not too often I get to photograph the wedding of two high school sweethearts! I was delighted when another of my favorite Baltimore couples, Amy + Alan, sent these two my way. Julianne went to an all-girls high school, and Phil to an all-boys school. Their schools held Senior Prom together… and well, this gorgeous day you could say is the result! The couple officially started dating on a college trip to visit Alan. Between then and their wedding last fall, Julianne + Phil have been together 7.5 years, 2.5 of that long-distance.
There’s no agreement among wedding photographers on this… but personally, I LOVE photographing the weddings of friends and people I know. I think it’s because I got my start in photography snapping candids of friends at parties, and because the thing I love most about photography is connecting with people through my lens… all of that’s amplified when I’m photographing for people I already know! Of course, I get to know all my clients, but it’s nice to skip ahead and really dig deep with people I love.
It seems timely to share this lovely, intimate elopement on the blog this week! When you get a call from a client in the Florida Keys… who’s planning to come to DC for the Independence Day holiday to elope in a city they love… and who proceeds to trust you entirely in visioning the celebration…. well, this is what you get! And I’m pretty pleased with it, if we’re being honest with ourselves. Elizabeth and Daniel, who you can follow online as the Florida Fishing Couple, are so sweet, so trusting, and so enthusiastic!
When I met Erika + Jordan, I found out the sweetest things about them! They met their freshman year of college in Minnesota, and have been dating in the 11 years since… and for the last five yers before getting married, it was long distance, as they both pursue PhDs in history. “I knew I wanted to get married to Erika soon after meeting her,” Jordan told me. But the couple, who are pragmatic and realistic, decided to put their careers first until they were established. For all that they’re practical people, both Erika and Jordan said they’ve never met anyone else like each other, or had such chemistry as they had with each other when they met.
I love all my clients… but sometimes the stars align and things get really special. That’s Lauren + Peter! They came to me through another of my favorite past couples, Karen + Matt. They joke that they met the old fashioned way… through OK Cupid. 😂 All I can do is laugh and laugh as a still-single gal who’s had to learn how to “swipe,” and who sees far too many groomsmen photos I myself have taken crossing the screen of my app. The couple met in October 2014, and got engaged a little over two years later. Fast forward to their wedding day, and these two introverts (another reason I love them!) hosted a heavily local-DC wedding day, right down to the DC flag-themed coasters that were their favors!
Talented guitar-playing boy meets talented, booking loving girl at a party thrown by mutual friends. Boy’s amp is too loud, and the police come by the party on a noise complaint. The amp gets turned off and guitar gets put away for the night, and boy and girl start talking. The rest is history! When I met this charming couple, and learned…
Rachel + Ben tied the knot this past weekend at City Winery, and I had so much fun with them! I should’ve known, after the time we had together for their engagement session last fall. Rachel + Ben met a few years ago playing kickball (apparently, Rachel “wasn’t very good, but made up for it with enthusiasm at the happy hours afterward”), and today they live over on Capitol Hill. We decided to stick close to home for their engagement session, going to one of their favorite neighborhood spots, Pretzel Bakery (did you know they do weddings? I recently spotted their pretzels as a late-night snack at another wedding) for a snack before heading over to the boardwalk at Kingman Island, one of my favorite hidden oasises in DC!
What does it look like when a talented former competitive gymnast, about to earn her doctorate in psychology plans to tie the knot to a smart, savvy environmental law student, and they plan a wedding that is less traditional all-about-her, and more a laid-back, stylish celebration with family and friends? This gorgeous…
What happens when you combine a favorite childhood park, a summer thunderstorm, and one of my all-time favorite date night activities? As it turns out, a super-fun engagement session! Last summer, I headed up to Gaithersburg to meet Hilary and Mike for their engagement session. The skies looked a little ominous while we were at the park, but…
Home is where the heart is… no, really! My couples ask me over and over the best way to have a unique, memorable engagement session. My answer is a no-brainer, but it usually surprises people — have your session at home! No, this doesn’t have to involve cleaning your place from top to bottom and hiring an interior designer for a swoon-worthy living room… all I’m saying is, you picked where you live for a reason, so let’s stay in the neighborhood! The streets, alleyways, nooks and crannies of your neighborhood have a magic that can unlock some really personal-feeling photos. On a rainy and relatively
As someone without a particularly big or particularly close family, I always love and am fascinated when my couples have a wedding day that pulls in dozens of relatives from all over the world. To have cousins you’re close to! Who will travel to celebrate…
My last trip (which I still haven’t blogged! oy!) was a mini-vacation to Miami last August… and with it was wonderful, it wasn’t long enough or far enough away to really be restorative to me. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to travel as often as I do, but my last 18 months or so have been intense . Given that I hold down a demanding full-time job as deputy director of a nonprofit AND a full-time photography practice, I really needed a break! I started planning this trip, almost by accident
Happy New Year! I hope however you chose to ring in the new year last night/this morning, whether it was hygge at home in your jammies or with sparkles and a hundred of your best friends, that it was everything you wanted it to be! Congratulations to Katie + Jon on their first wedding anniversary! They threw a KILLER NYE party at Pinstripes (bowling + bocce!) in Georgetown on the C&O Canal, and oh hey, happened to get married while they were at it.
Hooooooooly wow, it’s been a big year! I’m incredibly grateful to all of the couples and clients who trusted me to capture meaningful images for them… being a wedding photographer is being trusted by complete strangers to capture a huge milestone in their lives… and hopefully somewhere along the way, for me, becoming friends. I shot the most-ever weddings this year, clocking in at 18! (I posted 17 to Instagram a few weeks ago… only to realize I had miscounted.) It’s been quite a year for growth, reflection, and figuring out exactly what I want this little business (that maybe isn’t so little anymore) to be.
I’m lucky to have some of the very, very best clients. Looking back at my whole 2018 for my year-in-review post (stay tuned early next week!), Shelly + Ryan’s lovely day at Linganore Winery in Maryland was SUCH a great wedding day for such great people! This isn’t the first time I’ve worked with Shelly…
What’s sweeter than a surprise marriage proposal? A surprise marriage proposal during a craftily-planned family trip to Washington, DC… so that your family and friends are at hand to celebrate with you after “yes”! When Brett reached out to me this spring to say he’d be taking a trip with his love, Kendra, and their family to DC, and he wanted to propose, and could I help… what is there to say but “yes”?!
Y’all, as my fall slows down enough for me to BREATHE and catch up on some blogging, holy cow do I have some great engagement sessions for you! Today’s couple, Julianne + Phil, tied the knot in August in Baltimore, but before we get to that, I’m super-excited to share their colorful and classy Annapolis waterfront and State Circle engagement session! I LOOOOVE working and living…
It used to bother me that with the seasons, the color palette of my photos changed. These days, I try to embrace the changing temperatures and the impact they have on my photos. (Plus, I have enough photos from over the years to keep my Instagram grid looking balanced!) Cooler temperatures mean more earth and jewel tones in my photos, and more hikes and campfires in my leisure time. So I was intrigued when…
Have you been to a DC Shorts show? I have, and they’re fantastic! So have Angela and Caleb — they met at a DC Shorts afterparty in 2012! Angela is a joyous, cheerful, thoughtful woman, and Caleb is a wonderful match for her — incredibly kind, and up for adventure with her…
Can we talk about the fact that it's September already? Starbucks says it's pumpkin latte season and kids are back in school, but it's still 95 degrees outside today, I'd barely gotten to the pool and a baseball game, and it rained the whole first half of the summer. I love fall, but I'm NOT ready for it this year! But, I'm bowing to popular opinion (even if I disagree!) and so I'm excited to share an early fall wedding on the blog today. Last fall, Laura + Dave (friends of Amy + Alan's family!) tied the knot with just the faintest early hint of fall color at Hillendale Country Club outside of Baltimore.
Alison is the friend of a dear, dear friend... we've known each other a bit for years, but to get to truly know and work with her was a joy! Alison is part of that crazy-wonderful tribe of DC women who are kind, generous, talented, driven, and hardworking. So basically, exactly my kind of human. Her husband, Barrett, is real life leading-man material -- exactly the kind of human who Alison so entirely deserves! Alison + Barrett's wedding day in April at Toolbox was my first of 2018, and oh buddy did they set the standard…
It's been FAR too long since my last blog post! My only excuse is that for the past two weeks, I was taking some much-needed personal vacation time (a week at home, and then a whirlwind trip to Miami), and things have been crazy-busy since I got back! But today I'm super-excited to share a gorgeous wedding. Rachel is a longtime personal friend and former coworker. She's also KILLING IT as an incredibly talented instructional designer and podcaster, so if you need help in that direction, definitely check her out.
When you find a doctor this gracious, smart, and beautiful you should put a ring on it! That's exactly what he did this past Saturday! M+J's family hosted ~180 friends and well-wishers at a gorgeous traditional Kenyan ceremony at Mt. Airy Mansion. After a quick wardrobe swap, M+J joined the most joyful wedding reception I've ever been a part of!
Can we talk about amazing humans making modern wedding traditions work for them? Shawn is a college friend of mine from Tulane, and one of the most interesting people I know... and he met his match when he found Bailey! I LOVED getting to reconnect, and document such a cool point in their lives! Before moving to Germany together, Shawn and Bailey tied the knot in front of their closest DC friends and family at one of my favorite parks in Georgetown... then, hosted a house party reception! Love these two a lot, and I wish them all of the happiness.
Our own modern-day fairy tale! A group of humans meet and become fast friends in graduate school. School ends, lives continue, and one friend moves to Arkansas to further her career. Her friends in DC miss her terribly, but make do through calls, emails, and frequent visits. Then, the BEST news: she is moving back to DC, and marrying the most amazing person!
Get out of town! Head west! That's the lesson I (re)learned from Dan and Tom at their gorgeous, sunny wedding at the Barvarian Inn in Shepherdstown, WV! A little under two hours from downtown DC, Shepherdstown is a charming college town, and Dan and Tom (and their family and friends!) had gorgeous mountain views, a charming historic downtown to stroll, and a wonderful, cozy resort-style experience at the Barvarian Inn. I didn't stay the night after the wedding, but once I saw the views and the pool, I sure wish I had!
I don't know about y'all, but with this muggy summer weather, some snow actually sounds great right about now.... and wouldn't you know, that on the literal first day of spring, that's what we got for Leah + Brent's engagement session? But these two were total good sports, and we made use of their adorable front porch (hooray, new homeowners!) when things got too wet and cold at the park! They really killed it in less-than-ideal conditions, and I cannot WAIT for their wedding tomorrow at Toolbox in Dupont Circle!
Lauren + Peter are the most lovely humans... I'm so excited to have gotten to spend a beautiful afternoon exploring all the nooks and crannies of one of our mutual favorite neighborhoods, Capitol Hill, with these two! We found beautiful alleyways, hung out outside Barnaby Books, and finished up with the most beautiful light on the columns at the Supreme Court. What a perfect DC afternoon!
To make it onto my personal recommended vendors list isn’t an easy feat — I abhor the idea of ever recommending someone to a friend or client and not having them reflect anything but the absolutely top-notch service and experience that I try to give to my clients. Needless to say, my preferred vendors list isn’t very long, but the vendors who manage to land a spot on it are pretty heckin’ amazing, I’ve had a vendor crush on Suzanne Eden for AGES. Suzanne is a makeup artist, and has provided makeup for literally hundreds of weddings and a laundry list of corporate and commercial clients — I can almost guarantee you’ve seen her work in print in DC media… and if you’ve spent more than .25 seconds following me, you’ve seen it in my photos.