Jess and Charlie’s wedding took place on a beautiful private farm in Goochland, Virginia belonging to a family friend.  With a tented reception overlooking the property and a ceremony on river, it was a dream wedding.  Antique buggies shuttled the wedding party to and from the remote ceremony site through a clearing in the woods.  The trees lining the bank of the river were so tall that they must have been hundreds of years old.  Everywhere you turned there were nods to nature, nods to history and nods to the timeless powers that guide both.

Check out this swatch of chocolate browns, lime greens and bright purple accents.  Jess and her gals carried bouquets artfully reminiscent of wildflowers.  If there’s one word that sums up the tone of their wedding celebration we well as Jessica and Charlie themselves it would be “authentic”:

I got in one of the buggies with Jess and Charlie to head back toward the reception and the poor vehicle started to sputter while climbing the steep hill towards the tent.  We rolled all the way back down (I believe Charlie likened the experience to doing the Rebel Yell backwards) but the newlyweds were unphased – Jess just hiked up her skirts and they proceeded to walk the hill to the tent on foot.  Guests cheered them on from the tent and encouraged Charlie to pick up the bride and carry her so she didn’t have to walk… and he did:

It was a casual, summery reception.  Guests could sit underneath the tent and enjoy the breathtaking view of the river or lounge by the pool at the pool house.  A tiki bar made its way onto the scene as the day progressed and we know that the party went on long after we were gone.  

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the day and if you would like to be notified when their online gallery is available for viewing, click here.  Congratulations and thank you for inviting us to be part of it!

 

Posted by Mel @ 7:20 pm, in Weddings | 1 comment | Permalink

…Not today exactly, she’s been working on walking for awhile, but its no less fun to watch her move and groove.  Auntie Carolyn joined us once again and we started out at the house before taking a walk to the local park to play.

Portrait sessions are the opposite of weddings and other momentous events in that they celebrate the ordinary day, a day that doesn’t necessarily stand out on a calendar but taken collectively with other days like it, makes a life.  This session in particular makes me look forward to the every day joys of parenthood – I know its not always easy but I have no doubt that Catherine and John live for Caroline’s smiles.  And there was no shortage of those in this session.

Caroline has the cutest habit of hiding between Catherine’s legs and peeking through her legs:

We set up Caroline’s big girl chair in front of the TV, thinking we would get a shot of her “reading” her books.  Well, we did get a few book shots but when she reached for the remote instead and I couldn’t help posting this picture, it was just too real:

This was Caroline’s first encounter with bubbles.  At first it looked like she might try and blow them too but I think she was more interested in seeing how they taste!  (Answer: pretty much like soap)

Here’s a slideshow from the shoot and if you would like to visit her online gallery, click here.  I’m looking forward to putting together a book of year and a half journey from that tiny 3 week old baby to this fun loving sprite a year and a half later!

Posted by Mel @ 8:15 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

Karina and Allan’s wedding brought us back to the College of William and Mary in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg where the couple met, fell in love and became engaged.  The ceremony took place at historic Wren Chapel with a reception across the way at the Hospitality House.  The weather was mild and sunny (for Virginia May, anyway) so we took advantage and strolled across campus for a few shots following the ceremony.

I loved Karina’s old world-style veil and rosey color scheme.  Photos themselves were a theme: each table had a year and a photo of both the bride and groom from that year, save the date cards were sent out with photo booth style pictures, guests had a blast with the photo booth at the reception and even the couple’s photo guest book fit right in (we’ll have a whole other post on photo guest books soon).  Ryan Hall with Williamsburg Weddings and Events made sure the day went off without a hitch. 

Here’s a slideshow with some of our favs from the day and if you would like to be notified by email when their online galley is available for viewing, click here.  Congrats to Karina and Allan!

 

Posted by Mel @ 11:12 pm, in Weddings | 3 Comments | Permalink