This was my first wedding back from maternity leave and it was surprisingly refreshing to shoot again.  Jaymi and Jeremy were married at Mechanicsville Advent Christian Church with a reception at the Hanover Arts & Activities Center in Ashland on October 11th.  They added their own signature to their ceremony by playing a slideshow just as the ceremony began and a video as Jeremy waited for Jaymi’s father to bring her down the aisle.

We took a few photos on the campus of Randolph Macon and around downtown Ashland before the reception.  Train tracks go right through town and we took advantage of a passing train.  Much to our surprise it was hauling some rather fragrant garbage through town, I promised the couple I would mention that here so you know how adventurous they were to have posed in front of it!

Jaymi and Jeremy’s reception celebrated a passion that we share with them: beer!  The groomsmen received engraved beer mugs as gifts and the favors were pint glasses reading, “I stole this glass from Jaymi and Jeremy’s Wedding”… we were pretty excited to add that pint glass to our collection.  One fond memory from our own wedding was when the wedding coordinator grabbed the bottled microbrew I was drinking at the reception right out of my hand exclaiming, “ladies don’t drink out of bottles!”  I quickly snatched it back and growled that I was no lady.  Sam put his arm around me and beamed with pride: that’s my beer loving bride, he thought.  Had I known you could get a beer coozie that said “Bride” like Jaymi had, I may have been drinking from a glass and that awkward exchange may never have happened.

Check out the fallish spin Jaymi put on baby blue by pairing it with deep browns, I loved her bouquet that included soft hydrangea, fragrant eucalyptus, and what looked like wheat (a nod to brewing, perhaps?).  The bridesmaids wore flattering brown gowns with lace bodices tied with velvet ribbon, one of the most unique choices I have seen in awhile.  Check it out:

Now that I have a son I have a whole new appreciation for mother son dances.  I was trying hard not to tear up…

There was a bit of confusion during the exit…  Jaymi and Jeremy were navigating through the pitch black dark while being pelted with birdseed and understandably made a wrong turn, missing the getaway car and running smack into me as I tried to get out of the way… it was pretty hilarious.  My husband, photojournalist extraordinaire, managed to capture an extreme action shot of Mel demonstrating the hidden dangers of wedding photography…

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the day and if you would like to see their online gallery, click here.  Thanks to Jaymi and Jeremy for hosting such a crazy party and for having such a wonderful sense of adventure and humor.

It was great to get back to shooting, I only called home once, I was so good!  And it was even better to get home and love on that baby boy.

Posted by Mel @ 5:59 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink

Lots of new things have emerged in the life of Baby Jasper since I saw her last: she’s been crawling, walking, and awaiting a baby sister too!  Not to mention celebrating her very first Christmas.  We took these photos the week after the Christmas holiday while decorations still adorned the house.

She loves reading giant picture books with her dad by the tree while Bess hangs out on her favorite chair:

Jasper’s nursery has a new, bright color with big paper flowers that hang from the ceiling.  I love her tea table too!

Jasper loves to splash around in the tub, I was lucky to be around for bath time!

Here’s a slideshow from our shoot.  I can’t believe its almost been a year since Jasper was born, I’m glad we have one more shoot to go!

Posted by Mel @ 4:27 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

While fishing star Mike is accustomed to the spotlight, Becky was clearly the star of this show… she looked just stunning.  Becky and Mike were married at The Mill at Fine Creek on October 3rd under a beautiful fall sky.

The day did start with a little fishing on the James river for Mike and the groomsmen.  Sam was invited to join for some photos and it was definitely unusual to see a bunch of guys in waders rolling around in a limo.

Sam said that this shot was the fishes’ point of view, taken from under water:

Blue hues with bright accents set the scene for an elegant affair with only the slightest nod to fishing.   Check it out, we thought the fishing pole arch at the end of the ceremony was particularly clever.

Becky and Mike’s wedding drew attention from the local media and was written up in the Richmond Times Dispatch.  Despite gorgeous details and celebrity appeal, it was the pure joy in Becky’s face that made this wedding stand out for us.  Check out the pics and you’ll see what I mean, the happiness and humor was infectious and it was a celebration I was truly sad to miss.  Tasha Tolliver jumped in once again and shared her talent with us, thank you so much T!  Here’s a slideshow with some of our favorites and if you would like to see the gallery with all the photos, click here.  A big congrats to Becky and Mike.

Posted by Mel @ 8:18 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink

I decided to switch things up a little: rather than updating our blog with each sequential shoot since Fiver’s arrival, why not mix in a few recent shoots here and there to keep it fun?  This blog is more of our story than our chronology, afterall…

Maya Hayden was born on December 4th to proud parents, Liz and Greg, weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 10 ounces and 21 1/4 inches.  Maya is still in the 97th percentile on height!  Sam and I shot Liz and Greg’s wedding in beautiful Cape Cod back in the summer of ‘07 and we’ve become good friends since then, I was so excited when Liz confided that they were expecting a baby just a few short months after we were.

Liz and Greg wanted to keep the sex of the baby a surprise and did an awesome job preparing a gender neutral nursery without making it lemon yellow or drab.  Its hard to feel anything but happy amidst the bright aqua walls with orange and yellow details including window treatments that Liz sewed herself.

I don’t often use the word “radiant” to describe much of anything, its a word used too frequently in shampoo and skincare commercials, but its the best word I have to describe these images of motherhood.  Liz is radiant.

Liz and Greg are so in love with this little girl.   When I look at these photos I am reminded that parenthood is the purest kind of love we have the privilege of knowing as human beings.  It doesn’t matter how much you prepare yourself intellectually for a new arrival: no matter how much time you spend on the nursery, how many classes you take or how many books you read, the world stops at the moment of a birth and slowly realigns into something brand new that you were incapable of imagining until it actually came to be.  I’m so happy to be documenting this new world for Maya and her family as they journey through her first year.

Here’s a slideshow of my favorites and if you want to see their online gallery, click here.  Congrats to Liz and Greg and a warm welcome to beautiful Maya, we’re so glad you are here.

Posted by Mel @ 7:24 pm, in Newborns, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink