It wasn’t long ago that Michelle asked me to meet her on this chunk of land and take a picture of a floor plan. Sounds a little silly right, but they me explain. It was THEIR floor plan! It was the floor plan for the home that they would one day build right there. I took those pictures of she and the kids, holding that framed piece of paper, for her to give Chris. This had been a dream of their’s for so long!! And here it was, about to come true.

Wedding’s are extremely detailed these days. If you have planned or been in a wedding (especially in the past couple years), you know what I am talking about, right? I am just blown away by it all! Bride’s have to remember so much! You can NOT do it alone. It takes a village, that’s for sure. Taylor had her family & friends there every step of the way! And they did it ALL themselves! I am not even exaggerating. Taylor was icing her own cake just 2 nights before she said “I do”!! This wedding is the definition of DIY.

You remember this beautiful lady, right? Erin married her high school sweetheart, David, just a few weeks ago. They had a beautiful wedding, complete with appearances by doves, their puppies, and even a little bit of a hurricane {check it out here}. A few weeks before the wedding, I met Erin for a bridal session at The Battersea in Petersburg. This place is a gorgeous! The property is so beautiful. Every time I shoot there, I find new spots I love! From the huge trees to rolling hills, it was perfect for Erin’s bridal session. Her romantic style up-do and lace dress were stunning and fit perfectly with the location.

Elizabeth found me simply by fate, I’m sure of it! She won a giveaway through my Facebook page a few months ago, then, through messaging back and forth, told me that she had recently gotten engaged!! So exciting!! One thing led to another and here we are! Elizabeth had also told me that finding a date to do engagement pictures would be tricky because Zach is a football coach. It is RARE for him to have a free evening in the fall so we jumped at the one weekend he had a night off! And where else would we meet up but….a football field!

I remember the day I met Carley and her mom at Starbucks. Instantly, I felt so at ease with them. They were super easy to talk to and had me laughing right away! My husband grew up with Carley’s family, going to the same private school. However, I had never met her or her family before. I quickly came to see that they are wonderful people! We just talked and talked about anything & everything! After that initial meeting and hearing about all what Carley had planned, I was so excited for the wedding day to come!

Hurricane Hermine was threatening to ruin the beautiful weather for this wedding day! While driving to the salon early that morning, we all saw black clouds in the sky and could feel the cool air blowing. Honestly, the cooler weather was definitely welcomed over the crazy heat Virginia had been experiencing just the week before. The moment I saw Erin, though, she was completely calm. There is nothing you can do about it at that point, so why worry, right? Right! David & Erin were both so positive and upbeat all day! Their wedding party was the exact same way, which is so helpful on the wedding day. When there is something happening that could POSSIBLY cause any worry or anxiety, your job as a bridesmaid or groomsmen is to ease the minds of the bride & groom (just a little bit of advice from yours truly). After random rain showers and gusts of wind, the sun ended up coming out and giving us the chance to get so many great pictures!

Happy Tuesday!!! Also, for all of you mamas & dads out there – happy back to school day! I dropped by oldest baby off at Kindergarten today! How is this possible? How do I have a kid old enough to be in SCHOOL!? I’ll be honest with you…I don’t think I’m totally okay with it. She was ready though! I know she will do great! Okay – enough about that! I am sure Hayley will have a post all for herself soon. Today, I want you to meet Zack & Sarah! I met them both a few months ago at Zack’s sister’s wedding. I remember talking to Zack during the reception and he was telling me how he was going to propose soon. Of course I told him that he knew who to call when he needed a wedding photographer! Well, sure enough, his sister called me to tell me Zack & Sarah were getting married & could I be there. I said ABSOLUTELY!

It has been a WEEK with no blog post here – I am so sorry!! I have had LOTS of bridal portrait sessions the past few weeks so I can’t share any of those pictures. Such a bummer for you, but they will be up soon enough. My fall wedding season kicks off THIS Saturday and I can not wait!! My brides are amazing women…every single one of them. I love hearing them tell me new details they have added to their day, the things they are most excited about, little secrets they have planned, the delicious cake flavor they chose, or ANYTHING else. I love being one of the people they text about new ideas or email pictures to when they want to change something up. The wedding day is always amazing! All of that planning leads to a beautiful day filled with joy, love, laughter, and so much more. But it is also sad because it means I say goodbye to my bride. I sound so sappy, I know!! Okay, okay…that’s enough! I just love my girls!

I was so excited when Casie’s mom contacted me a couple months ago about doing senior portraits! I have seen this girl go from a little middle schooler coming to see her sisters compete on the competition cheer squad, to now being a senior in high school! I coached Casie for a couple of years and I just love seeing how she has grown & changed as a young woman. I love these sessions (as you know). I also love cheerleaders (of course) so this was an all around WIN!

I love senior sessions! They are one of my favorite kind of shoots. High school seniors are at such an amazing place in their lives and most of them don’t even realize it! Ohhhh to be that age again (okay, okay…now I sound old). I feel for the mama’s at these sessions, though, and I know that it has to be the start of what’s going to be a very emotional year. My oldest is about to start kindergarten in less than a month so I can not even imagine what I am going to be like when she is starting her senior year. Emotional wreck sounds about right!