Kathy and Mike were married this past Saturday. I’ll be back with more…we’re on our way to Atlanta by way of Charlotte!

BRB!

In the midst of packing and getting ready to leave the D of C I shot Linder and Jeff’s engagement session at Sugarloaf Mountain and Vineyard in Maryland, which was awesome because it’s AMAZING there and I really really REALLY wanted to see some fall foliage, and it seems every fall for the past few years I’ve been too busy to take a drive someplace desolate and be like OOHH LOOK AT THE REDS AND YELLOWS. Of course, a fear of spiders and bugs and stuff that has more legs than I do also kept me from enjoying the great outdoors. I’m really proud of myself though; despite the warning pamphlet that stated a black bear had been spotted in the woods and the spider the size of Texas that sauntered across a winding road that lead to the top of the mountain, I had no nature freakout whatsoever.

But I digress. Jeff is an engineer, and set his eyes on the very gorgeous Linder at work. The two hit it off and they’ve been together ever since. Linder is an classically trained singer, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough glasses wine to make her belt out a few notes, and get this, my Blackberry doesn’t freakin have video on it so I could record this monumentous occasion and put it on Youtube. It would have been awesome though. I figure we could have done a duet, and Jeff could have ad-libbed, but…maybe another time

My faaaavorite:

Linder and Jeff, thanks for such an amazing day! Linder…when you’re ready to do that duet album…call me. I made all-county chorus while in middle school…that’s almost like American Idol.

So…I am laaaaate with this entry but you’ll see why! I had a hard time picking a few photos for this blog so be prepared for a million! Leonard and I had a great time gettin our shoot on

Some details

Janis’ brother is deployed and he called just as she was about to put her dress on (great timing!). Here she was peeking out of the window at Joseph, and I remember her saying ‘Ohhhhh! He looks SO handsome!’

Janis saying ‘Don’t cry!’ (But she did anyway LOL)

Um, yeah, DAPPER!

Okay much better!

Some more details

Their first dance. I think I read in a Hallmark card that if you find a man that can make you laugh, he’s a keeper.

Her brother in fact, was at the wedding. Janis’ mother says that these are his Birth Control glasses. For obvious reasons

The toasts were HILARIOUS:

And heartfelt:

Janis and Joseph first met because of NCLR, at the 2004 Conference in Phoenix. They struck up a friendly conversation, fled from the Banda room (yes…at Conference we try to cater to all genres of Latino music…banda included.), and ended up closing down the bar.

True to form, Joseph modestly failed to mention why he was at NCLR.  I mean, tons of people attend Conference, but Joseph was there for two reasons. As a Marine from Texas, he was wounded while deployed and was receiving an award the next day for his commitment to our country. Oh, and guess what? I think it was totally written in the stars, that he was supposed to meet Janis there.  In her own words, Janis was ‘never a uniform girl…until then.’

Joseph called her as soon as he got back to California. But Janis had gone on vacay right after Conference (trust me, I’ve survived Conference twice…vacations after it ends are NECESSARY)…when she returned home, her answering machine was blinking and it was Joseph, saying he had to see her again.

Their wedding was sooooo them! Low key, but elegant, an intimate gathering of friends and family to celebrate their union. The ceremony and reception were held at Eagles Nest, a beautiful 17th century home that overlooks the Chickahominy River (try to say Chickahominy 3 times fast!). It was totally worth the 2 hour drive, the scenery was AMAZING!

Janis and Joseph, I’m glad that your move to California went smoothly, and I know your marriage will totally rock. Thank you for letting us capture your day! We had SO much fun!

To view more photos click here!

I shot this photo last night, and eventually went to sleep…

I woke up this morning and had to run to the TV just to make sure that last night wasn’t a dream.

Phew. It wasn’t!

more to come.

UPDATE: BACK!

I’m going to have to bribe him with promises of cookies and stuff to not do anything cute while we’re in Atlanta. I might have to have him sign a contract of perpetual Toddler-ism inked in mashed potatoes.

Oh…I realized his favorite song in the world…has lyrics. I realized this at least 10 times. Over and over again. Hot dog.

And I also realized my father randomly yelling out ‘TOODLES’ in falsetto isn’t so random. See for yourself.

Apologies for not updating sooner. We’ve been horribly busy packing! Yes, that’s right! We’re moving to Atlanta in NINETEEN DAYS! I can hardly believe it. I’m going to miss DC and all the lovely friends I’ve made, but I’ll BRB I have a few very cool weddings in the D of C in 2009 so I can run up to the Washington Monument and kiss the cool marble and go to Julia’s Empanadas and enjoy a warm Jamaican Patty and go to the Corcoran and Hishhorn and stare at art for hours up and DEFINITELY catch up with errybody (yes, DC slang right there)!

Anywho, I’ll save my reminiscing for when I’m actually gone and tell you about Becca and Adrian’s big day. This was a wedding shot for Julie Napear, my buddy and awesome photographer, and when I met Becca I knew we’d hit it off immediately. She and Adrian are such a sweet couple, and we counted down the moooonnnths to their big day with lots of emails back and forth and much needed happy hours

Finally the big day came and I gotsta snapping

She got the nicest gifts for her bridesmaids; a sterling silver bracelet with their names engraved!

Lovely shoes by Kate Spade, something borrowed from her mama’s jewelery box, and the lovely lovely (heavy! Becca is a TROOPER, because it had lots and lots of gorgeous layers!) dress. Hair and makeup were done by Cynthia and Courtney of Earth Diva.

One of my favorite shots of the day!

Becca and Adrian, it has been awesome to get to know you two this year congratulations!

Whooo catching up but marking my territory! (Wait…this is my blog…so isn’t this my territory? Bah.)

Anyway, check in the next few days for some blog posts on two awesome weddings!

Here’s some sneak peeks from Rebecca and Adrian’s wedding, which I shot for Julie on 10/11:

Annnnd the wedding of Janis and Joseph, which I shot with the awesome Leonard on the 12th!

BRB!

Did I say I’d be back this weekend? Okay I really meant this weekmiddletowardstheendSaturday

John first met Ida-Laurinda eight years ago, and was taken aback by her beauty, her fabulousity and overall flyness. They started as friends, and their friendship slowly blossomed. Slowly

Eventually, Ida-Laurinda realized what a great man stood in front of her, and that’s where I come in! YEAH!

They were married at Stonewall Golf Club in Gainesville, and the day couldn’t have been more perfect.  Ida-Laurinda and I started the day at MAC in Fair Oaks Mall. Claribel did a fabulous job on Ida-Laurinda’s makeup.

Soon I met up with Leonard, my assistant shooter and we went to town with the details. No really, we did. There were so many details that Ida-Laurinda and John put into their special day and our cameras just couldn’t stop snapping!

More details…the lovely green inserts you see were designed by April of Stem Creative. And those gorgeous flowers? Fifi Flowers, of course :) 

Then onto a lovely ceremony.

Followed by probably the most lively reception I’ve ever witnessed. Liberians know how to rock a party! They do a Grand March at the end of the night, and it’s like the best thing ever. I’m really going to need all my future brides to incorporate this into their wedding somehow.

Oh and the garter grab was theeeee best one I’ve ever seen! John had everybody cracking up!

No shoes were harmed in the grabbing of the garter. He took them off to make sure.

Annnnd a repeat but one of my favorite shots of the night. John was singing along with their first dance and I said ‘awwwwwww’ to myself like 12395953788 times and snapped away I love how they look at each other in this photo!

Ida-Laurinda and John, thank you so much for letting us hang out with you on your special day! I wish you nothing but blessings in your union.

Oh and to see the slideshow, click here

Oh and PPS I’m probably going to add more photos to this entry…I had so many favorites!

I’m currently in Atlanta gettin my apartment shop on, but I just wanted to share a sneak peek from Ida-Laurinda and John’s wedding that I shot on Oct. 3! I am STILL picking out my favorites from their special day and PROMISE I’ll be back to update it this weekend!

Promise promise PROMISE PROMISE!