Archive for March, 2011
Matt and Alison can inspire songwriters to easily write love songs…seriously. Five seconds with this couple and you can see how much Matt adores Alison and he’s one lucky guy because Alison, is head over heels for him. If this engagement session could be wrapped up in a few words, it would be lots-o-love, lots-o-laughter, and snake skin, say what?! Yes, more on that a little later (ugh, I shudder at the thought)!
I must note that Alison is one of the most detailed brides I know! She is all about the small details and I absolutely.love.that. It was wonderful to see how this gorgeous couple came up with ideas to incorporate in their shoot. Their genuine affection in front of our lens was magic and we feel humbly honored to have been able to capture those moments. I can’t begin to describe how amazing it feels when a couple trusts you to capture who they are and everything comes together perfectly in those moments to help you achieve that!
Saying that we are excited for Matt & Alison’s October wedding would be a huge understatement! I know with this couple’s attention to detail and confidence in making their special day uniquely their’s…it will be absolutely lovely!
Matt and Alison are also the winning couple from our Most Unique Proposal Contest last year! You can see their entry here and our (fun little attempt at stop-motion) announcement here.
Oh, and before I forget, about that snake skin, ugh…did you know that snakes climb up trees to shed their skin?! I definitely didn’t know that, until Matt kindly pointed that out to me as he pulled the skin off the tree next to us. Snake skin on a tree?! This city girl quickly had visions of snakes eating us alive and all I wanted to do was save my camera! It took every ounce of courage I had in my body not to run off screaming, although I probably screamed just a bit anyway.
Thanks for the adventurous day, Matt and Alison! See you soon (in the city)! ; )
What can I say about this sweet 16 year old, in addition to the fact that she stands at a stunning 5 feet, 10 inches and is absolutely gorgeous? Probably enough for 100 blog posts! Shooting with Elise was such a great experience! When Elise’s mom, Trish called me up about shooting Elise, I was excited to finally work with both of them and Ashley of Integrity Model Management. Ashley had contacted me a few months back about shooting some of IMM’s models, including Elise, but with mutual busy schedules, we had yet to coordinate a date. Hopefully, we can meet Ashley in person sometime in the future!
Elise is a young and super-determined model already rocking the modeling scene! You can be sure to find her gracing the runways during fashion weeks, most recently in Miami, walking exclusively for Zula Studio and Jacksonville. IMM is currently booking her appointments for NYC and Europe and we can’t wait to see all the exciting events in store for Elise! We had the pleasure of spending the day with Elise, her mom and her yiayia and we felt we were with family! Elise is definitely blessed with much love and support! The day was full of laughs and creative ideas! Elise truly worked hard and was open to trying some creative poses that I am sure left her a bit sore!
We were excited to get to work again with Holly Nazario of Collective Creations and she did an amazing job with Elise’s hair and make up! We puffy heart Holly! Elise and Trish brought some fabulous wardrobe pieces and we combined some of the looks with jewelry from my personal collection. I must admit, it was fun having a life-sized barbie to dress-up! ; )
Elise, we had a great time with you and your sweet family! We know your journey is full of success and we look forward to seeing your dreams become reality! Big hugs to you, Trish, and your yiayia. Hope to see you all very soon!
To get to know more about this beauty and stay up-to-date with her news, be sure to check out Elise’s page.
This week, Khaled and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. It is amazing how quickly time passes. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were preparing for one of the most beautiful days of our lives! As many of you may know, Khaled is originally from Saudi Arabia. His entire family lives there and it is difficult to see each other often. It was a blessing to have Khaled’s mom at our wedding but we were saddened that his father and the rest of the family could not be there with us. This year, our anniversary day was extra special because we were able to Skype with Khaled’s father! It was our very first meeting and the first time in 4 years that Khaled saw his father. It was such an amazing experience and a very emotional moment. I am so thankful to technology for giving us a way to make the distance a little less painful.
We wanted to share a little highlight of our wedding day with our readers, so please enjoy this slideshow that we created just for you!
To continue our wedding anniversary celebration, we’re including some extra love on all booked weddings between now and March 31st! For more details, contact us by clicking on the Contact tab on the left!
wedding images in slideshow taken by: Samantha Wacker 3/14/09
When Patricia tweeted me regarding her family shoot and told me it was 12 family members that would be at the same place, at the same time…for once in a really long time- I was thrilled with the idea! Patricia, is a talented makeup artist in Jacksonville and one of the sweetest people I know! And her little boy, Sebastian will melt your heart with those gorgeous big, brown, eyes! You can smell love and unity all over this group of lovely people! One of the benefits of working with large groups of family, is seeing the different character of each family member and how they all come together in perfect harmony. We feel blessed to have been able to photograph such a special day for Patricia with her husband, son, grandmother, siblings, father, niece and nephew! We had so much fun and laughs with Patricia and her family, we felt we were part of the family!
We really couldn’t pick favorites from their session, all the images are so full of emotion and unique in their own way! But here are a few that our readers can enjoy-full of the family’s laughter, energy, and yes…more LOVE!
And just for kicks, we thought we’d start the images with a cute little idea we had while shooting!
One of the fun perks of being a wedding photographer is working in an industry with some amazingly talented creatives! There is nothing better than to see a bride’s dream wedding materialize while capturing the beauty of it all with our cameras and vision! I love to share inspiration, the newest trends, and creative ideas with our brides so that they may learn more about their own unique wedding style. Besides keeping up with the best wedding magazines and blogs, I aim to experience and learn from the wedding experts in our ever-changing industry! That is one of the reasons I called a fellow photog friend, Johnna Brynn of Johnna Brynn Photography and we headed down to Miami, Fl for the weekend (truth be told, I will find any reason in the world to head down to one of my favorite spots!)
Invitation designer and innovator, Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York is pure inspiration to me and I had been following her gorgeous work for a while. When she announced the Town and Country Magazine‘s Ask the Experts event, a personal, one-on-one and Q&A showcase, I was beyond excited for a chance to meet her and hear some great advice from Ceci and the other experts! Joined by gown guru, Mark Ingram of Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier; cake designer extraordinaire, Ron Ben-Israel of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes; event planner, Eyal Tessler of In Any Event; Shai Tertner of Shiraz Events, event designer and organizer of the Miami event; and fabulous designer of linens, Pablo Oliveria of Nuage Designs. These experts discussed how important a couple’s own wedding theme and style are to the success of their day, answered questions and gave advice on where brides should start first in their planning. Surprisingly, it was not the wedding gown! ; ) It was almost unanimous that a bride start with her invitation designer. The invitations and Save the Dates set the mood and style of a wedding event, it is the first impression guests will see for the event, and takes time to create, keeping in mind that they must be mailed within an appropriate time frame. These experts gave priceless information and I am so thankful for their time! I look forward to working with them in the future and I know our brides will have an amazing experience with each and every one of them!
Now I can’t end this blog post without sharing some of the gorgeous details of this event! I was even able to snap a few photos to share with our readers and brides! Warning: Be ready for inspiration overload!
The event was held at Villa 221, a beautiful venue that is pure eye candy for photographers! A stunning piece, using orchids and acrylic greeted the guests as they arrived. Models wore stunning gowns from Rome based designer, Peter Langner, Jenny Packham, and Monique Lhuillier and carried a cascading orchid bouquet to accentuate their bridal style. I absolutely adored Kathryn Parrish of Parrish Designs‘s organic table setting, which included grapewood branches, birch accents, succulents, airplants and natural ferns. A lovely white wedding table showcasing a “glam” look had an arrangement of flowers that included orchids, tulips, sweet peas and anemones. My favorite table featured a whimsical, avante garde look using phalaenopsis, vanda orchids and hyacinths with a plethora of floating candles and glass accents. The striking and vivid hues of purple were mesmerizing! The music by DJ LEEOR had a irresistible vibe and superb quality! And I can’t forget to mention the yummiest cupcakes ever by Robert J. Onuska, owner of Stella’s Sweet Shoppe in Miami. Be sure to check out Atlas Party Rental and Ring Finger Studio, they were also at the event and had lovely displays! Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone! It was such a fun-filled and inspiring Saturday! A huge thanks to everyone who was a part of this great event!
