ceremony and reception: kure beach, north carolina
catering: bon appetit, wilmington nc
flowers: island florals by roxanne
officiate: reverend jean rowe
cake: sweet t’s cakes
brilliant second shooting provided by: betsy cole photography
Click to continue reading “lindsay + joe | kure beach, north carolina”
location: downtown wilmington, north carolina
This was just a quick session to grab images for their Save the Date cards. The “real” engagement session is coming up in the next few days!
Click to continue reading “whitney + alex | save the date session”
my currently commissioned wedding and travel schedule for 2009:
March 20-22 : Milwaukee WI
April 4 : Richmond VA
April 28-May 3 : Wilmington NC
May 23-25 : Yakima WA
June 13 : Outer Banks
June 26-28 : Richmond VA
July 11 : Greenville VA
July 18 : Charlottesville VA
August 15 : Wilmington NC
September 26 : Hot Springs NC
October 10 : Edenton NC
October 11 : Richmond VA
October 17 : Wilmington NC
October 25 : Charleston SC
Bear with me as I get the kinks worked out of the new blog!
Coming soon: New logo! New splash page! New website colors! New posts, with my Bride’s Choice Favorite Images from 2008! Lots of good stuff now that winter’s ending and a new wedding season is starting! So… stay tuned!
It snowed a whole INCH in Wilmington on Tuesday! Absolutely treacherous conditions, causing schools to close and leaving us stranded in our homes to watch the snowfall and hope for the best. 
Ellie was THRILLED – she’s never seen snow, and I had been planning on a trip to the mountains for skiing this winter (a surprise broken big toe might screw up those plans…). Sometime Tuesday afternoon, Ellie asked me to grab the camera and take pictures of her in the snow. We didn’t have enough snow to make snowballs, snowmen, or snow angels… but she caught a few flakes on her tongue and danced in it like Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands. Cool kid.
Here are a few shots from Ellie in the blizzard…
Do you know Tom Rhodes? If not, you should. His music is *awesome*, you totally need to buy his CDs, add his dates to your calendar, and be a groupie.
Morgan is a *fabulous* graphic artist – she’s currently working on my new logo for me, and I really could NOT be happier about it – she’s so talented, and intuitive, and everything you want in an artist.
I could not imagine a more perfect couple. I’m not just saying that for free tickets to his shows, either.
We met up tonight at the Cape Fear Fair & Expo here in Wilmington, and just goofed off for a couple hours. Can I just tell you – it is NOT EASY to hold on to a camera, focus, expose AND shoot while going practically vertical on a carnival ride!
Anyway… I had tons of fun with you guys! I’ll see you next week!
(putting on lipstick to take the “what kind of kisser are you?” test at the Mary Kay booth. Tom is a Divine Diva, and Morgan is an Expressionista. I didn’t take the test.)
In 14 years she’ll be old enough to vote.
Today, she’s just enjoying a day off of school. 
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, right behind Cinco de Mayo. So I was pretty pumped about carving a deliciously spooky jack o’ lantern with the bean this year. She had never carved a pumpkin before… so she had no idea that it was so MESSY. She opted out of the cleaning part, but we decided she was the best person to design the spooky face. I carefully carved it exactly as she drew it, pig nose and all.
Happy Halloween!
after a VERY long day of updating all my image galleries on my website, it was time for a break.
ICE CREAM!!!!!
Ellie flirted her way into a pineapple-coconut-something-something sherbet, and she picked out a scoop of pistachio for me. After all these weeks of nonstop travel, shooting, and editing… it was pretty cool to hang out at Baskin Robbins with the bean, talking about how tall grandpa is and how he’s probably at least twenty-one years old. Good times.
Finally! A wedding in my backyard!!! After all these months of driving no less than four hours for almost every wedding of the year, I finally had one that I could get to in under fifteen minutes! I didn’t know what to do with myself all morning!!
So, you may remember Danielle and Trey from their engagement session and her bridal. I got to spend a lot of time with these guys this year, and I’m really psyched about that, they’re just cool, easygoing, fun people.
After having perfect weather for their engagement, and a beautiful but windy day for the bridal session, OF COURSE the weather turned for the absolute worst on their wedding day. It was like 50 degrees and rainy all day long, just miserable. Naturally, Danielle and Trey weren’t even phased by it. If I remember correctly, Danielle shrugged and said, “so it’s raining. I’m still getting married!” She rocks.
The ceremony was at my all-time favorite Wilmington church, Saint Mary’s Parish in downtown Wilmington. This is one of the most beautiful churches in Wilmington, I wish I could work there at least once a month. It’s so much fun to photograph.
The reception was at the Coastline Convention Center, and was catered and coordinated by Occasions Catering. It was a *crazy* fun reception, tons of dancing (Trey likes to “dance like Beyonce”, which was a treat in itself), drinking, laughing, good food… four hours of straight partying, the way a Wilmington wedding should be!
Danielle and Trey win the Low Maintenance Couple of the Year award, for being so laid back and easygoing about *everything*. They were so easy to work with, and I really loved being able to be around them so much this year.
Blaire and Michael got married at St Mary’s Chapel in Charlotte NC. The chapel is SO cute, I’d never been there before… it’s sort of nestled right in the middle of all these off ramps and traffic, but you forget its urban setting when you’re there… it’s a great spot, I definitely recommend.
The ceremony was uniquely sentimental, with the pastor and his wife translating a beautiful song into ASL (american sign language). The entire service was both spoken and signed, which was a new experience for me. The wedding party was a delightful mix of characters that were clearly very close to the couple, and it was so nice to be a part of this day with them.
The reception was held at Pewter Rose Bistro, which is one of those restaurants you wish was in your town. The decor, the service, the food, everything was impeccable. Blaire and Michael had this lovely dinner party, where their family and friends couldn’t seem to stop toasting them. Their families were experts at making you feel like you really belong… it’s no mystery where Blaire and Michael get their charitable passions from! I wish I could go into more detail, but all I would end up saying, over and over, is that this wedding was truly one of the sweetest, most sentimental, most moving weddings I’ve ever photographed. I’m so glad Blaire found me!
When Dodi and I first talked, she described her vision of this idyllic vineyard location overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, with her closest friends and family there to celebrate her marriage to Larry… she wanted almost no formal shots at all, and just wanted a photographer to capture the essence of the day. I loved her vision, and was so excited that she decided to trust me with bringing it to life!
Sometimes a bride’s vision of the way her day will go doesn’t exactly mesh with reality. Not in Dodi’s case. She described the location and the “feel” of the day *precisely*. It was absolutely stunning – serene and picturesque, with a small group of very close knit family and friends sharing memories and laughs. I had the best time!
Hillsborough Vineyards, in Purcellville VA (north of Tyson’s Corner), is this hidden little vineyard drenched with character and mountainy-goodness. Between the natural scenery, the amazing flowers by Scott Design, Lisa Hazell’s coordination efforts, and Dodi’s natural charm and beauty… the day was amazing. Dodi should have been a model, the way she moved was completely fluid and always perfect for the camera. I could photograph her for DAYS. Larry was an absolute pleasure to be around… actually, the entire group was, I felt like a part of their intimate family, and not a hired vendor. Dodi did such a great job of conveying her ideas for the decor to Scott, who translated her need for drama and elegance into the most unique arrangements I’ve probably ever seen… oh, I can’t say enough about how beautiful it was, and I would recommend any of these vendors in a heartbeat!
Dodi and Larry, thank you SO much for having me there on your big day!
Dodi and her daughter, Tiffany. And no, it isn’t fair that Dodi has a grown daughter and still looks so damn good.
After Genelle and Forrest’s wedding in Corolla, NC, Michael and I drove straight up to Washington DC. Along the way I had a slight freakout over getting gas – remember when there was, like, no gas in North Carolina? Well, on top of the gas shortage, they apparently don’t believe in 24-hour gas stations in the Outer Banks, so it was a little white-knuckley for a little while there. But I got over it, we got gas, and all was good in the world.
Andrea and Pete got married at Saint Mary’s Church in Old Town Alexandria. Oh, it was so pretty… old, and ornate, with fabulous stained glass and traditional decor. Just beautiful.
The reception was at the Hotel Monaco, which is an awesome place for a reception. It’s a beautiful hotel, and the staff really seemed to be on top of everything. During the reception, Andrea’s brother presented this hilarious slideshow he created about how Andrea met Pete. It kept the whole room laughing for a good thirty minutes… and I definitely think you should hire him if you need a satirist, because he’s hilarious.
This was a really sweet wedding; Andrea was adorably happy all night, and Pete was all smiles the whole time. We had a great time working with you and visiting Alexandria! Thank you for having us!
