Just a Few Ideas...

This morning the alarm didn't go off - I don't know if Geoff just didn't set it or if it was a clock malfunction. Either way, Ellen saved the day. Jon and Lauren were coming to our house to pick us up to make the 7 hour trip to Fairfax, Virginia for David and Lara's wedding. If it weren't for our little dog running circles on our bedroom floor this morning, we surely would have been late.

Tomorrow is the long awaited wedding day for David and Lara and we couldn't be more excited to shoot it. It seems like so long ago that they were getting engaged and we were shooting their engagement pictures!

Arriving at the hotel this afternoon made me appreciate the thought behind all of the details of wedding planning. We were welcomed upon check-in with a bag of fun stuff - a map, homemade cookies made by Lara's mom - Becky, bottled water, and a list of local restaurants. This is such a great idea to welcome out-of-towners and thank them for making the trip.

Also in the bag was an invitation to a dessert reception the night before the wedding in the atrium of the hotel. SUCH a great idea. For those of you who have yet to get married, trust me when I say that the day of the wedding is SO busy and will fly by in what seems like minutes. It is so hard to spend time with your guests as you are whisked around all day and night from one thing to the next. An arranged gathering the night before is brilliant, as it gives the bride and groom a chance to really spend time with their wedding guests.

Finally, I just had to share these stamps that Lara's mom had made for their invitations using one of David and Lara's engagement pictures. Cute idea, right?

Alright - it's off to bed I go - tomorrow will be here soon! :)

Dear Bahamas: Please come back into my life!

Three weeks ago today Geoff and I were boarding our little plane that fit 6 people to head to Cat Cay Bahamas. As I've expressed in prior blog posts, I have a teeny fear of flying. Flying in this plane was like none other that I've experienced. As embarassing as it is to admit, I was absolutely terrified - of course, I flipped out on take off....one second I was laughing from nervousness and the next I was just trying to find balance between my crying and partial hyperventilation. Oh yeah, I was a mess.

As soon as we landed on the island we saw Mary and 3 of my other sorority sisters (Megan, Andrea, and Lexi) who I haven't seen since 2003. Seeing them again made me VERY happy. It was so great to catch up with them and hear of the fabulous things they are doing these days. So much has changed in our lives over the past few years, but it felt just like old times hanging out with them.

After we checked into our room, Mary gave us a golf cart (there are no cars on the island - only golf carts) to explore the island a bit before the rehearsal festivities. After mere minutes in the passenger seat, I was squealing with excitement as this chicken ran in front of us. There were animals everywhere!

Geoff and I drove all the way to the end of the island and were able to spend a few minutes chilling in the sun and taking it all in of where we were. Man, it was nice.

When we got back everyone was showered and ready to hit the rehearsal. We got to meet Niall at this point - Mary's fiance. I can't tell you how very nice this man is....the whole weekend he was so concerned about everyone but himself - constantly checking in with us to make sure we had everything we needed. I truly couldn't be more happy for Mary that she found him.

We also got to meet a lot of Mary's family at this time - including Jane - Mary's mom. Jane took care of a lot of the details for the wedding weekend...and let me tell you....she is ORGANIZED. If I could have, I would have flown her to Charlotte to plan my wedding! Complete with her accordian binder with labeled tabs, she was all set for the weekend.

Here's a few shots from the rehearsal.

I like this shot of Lexi.

How cute little Mary is!

Mary and her dad practicing going down the aisle.

Mary and Niall....don't they look great together?

After the rehearsal we headed to the poolside BBQ dinner - it was so low-key and relaxing for everyone.

The cakes tasted SO GOOD.

Since we didn't get to do an engagement session with Mary and Niall, Geoff and I snuck them away for a few shots. They really surprised me with how comfortable they were in front of the camera from the get-go.

This is Mary with her brother and sister - cute family, right?

Not really sure what is going on here, but a great shot nonetheless! The look on Lexi's face is hilarious to me.

Stay tuned - wedding day pics coming up soon!

Andrea - gettin' married!

There are words to describe how special I think this woman is. Andrea is such an inspiration to me and I am beyond blessed to have her in my life. She joined our Lifegroup a few months after the rest of us did - I can't imagine what it would be like without her.

Andrea and Aaron are getting married in late February - just a few short weeks from today! Their love story is amazing - a story I will never get tired of hearing. These two are a true testament to God's will.

A couple weeks back was her bridal shower, at which she allowed me to bring along my camera to snap a few shots. The shower was at Vinnie's Raw Bar on South Blvd. in Charlotte.

Another shot of the raw bar...


Wings and chicken strips - yum - my kind of shower!


I thought these were cute.


Beautiful Andrea.


I had some fun with these - I didn't have a macro lens, so I took my 50mm OFF the camera, flipped it around, held it in place on the camera, and moved the body until it was in focus. Pretty cool, huh?! And p.s. I'm obsessed with her engagement ring. :)





Congratulations Aaron and Andrea!!!

Bridesmaids at Brick Street

As promised, here are the pictures from Tiffany's Bridesmaid Luncheon the morning of her wedding day. It was held at THE CUTEST restaurant - Brick Street Cafe in Greenville, SC.

The lunch was complete with Mimosas and the cafe's famous "Love Muffins," which are big, fat, and jelly-filled. Yum.

Not only was the cake was phenomenal in taste, but it was filled with charms that each bridesmaid got to pull out.

Tiffany was calm and collected....not to mention that she looked fabulous (P.S. - I loved her dress and want it for my own).


















Here's me with Tiff - first picture with my new haircut since I chopped it!

The Taylor's Rehearsal Dinner

Tiff and Scott's Rehearsal Dinner was GREAT. It was held at the Green Valley Country Club (hence the photo above) in Greenville, South Carolina, which had plenty of cool features for me to photograph!

Um, yeah...love this shot of Tiffany. She's so cute!

This little girl was CRACKING ME UP with this toothpick.

What we thought would be a nice, quiet moment during the prayer for dinner turned out to be quite funny. Right as the prayer started, so did the upbeat background music at the restaurant. We all couldn't help from laughing.

This next sequence of shots is of Tiffany and Scott revealing their wedding gifts to one another.

Scott had kept the honeymoon destination secret from Tiffany throughout the engagement - the running joke was that they were going to Alaska. She couldn't WAIT to find out where they would be heading to after the wedding! He prepared a photo book full of pictures of.....

ITALY!

They are currently tracking around this fabulous European country - which I've never been to....hint hint, husband of mine. :)

So yeah, here is Scott revealing the secret. I love the expressions on Tiffany's face. Makes me smile.

Who would have thought one could have topped a gift to go to Italy?! Tiffany managed to do so. She gave him an old Mustang that he can fix up (which apparently he likes to do!). Here are the pics of her giving him a miniature version of the car.

Again, expressions on their faces are simply priceless.

Here is the first of the three cakes we ate over the course of the weekend. And let me tell you - they were all made by the same lady and they were all FABULOUS!

Seriously, it was some good cake-eating.

Bridesmaid Luncheon images coming up next! Check back soon!