“Welcome to my big, fat, Lebanese wedding”, moaned Jackie, exasperated and propped up in the limo on the way to the church.  I felt her pain: the thermometer was topping 100 degrees, the salon experience had been a major disappointment, getting into the dress proved logistically challenging, various family members coordinated posed photos with every step she took towards the front door and the noise level was over the top with so many people talking excitedly and no one really listening.  The look on Jackie’s face was definitely of the “Calgon, take me away” variety as that limo pulled away, late to the church, making Jackie crazy because she is never late.  ”See, this is why I’m never having a wedding, its too crazy”, chimed her sister Christina.

Fast forward to the reception.  The room is lit in purple hues with hundreds of votive candles hanging from the ceiling, dance music blares through the speakers and a lone drummer follows the couple as they dance their way into the crowd to make their first appearance as husband and wife.  I know that I can’t speak for Jackie but if these photos have a story to tell and if that story is true, I would have to conclude that all the craziness is well worth it.  Because by the looks of it, nothing beats being a Lebanese bride or groom…

And if you can’t actually be a Lebanese bride or groom, partying with one is the next best thing…

Jackie and Ramzi, congratulations and thank you for making us part of your big, fat, Lebanese wedding.  Family is the best kind of crazy there is!  Enjoy this slideshow with our favs from the day and if you would like to be notified by email when all the photos are ready for viewing, click here.  We can’t wait to share the rest of these, there just isn’t enough room here for all of it.  Fly high, you two!

Posted by Mel @ 8:27 pm, in Weddings | 1 comment | Permalink

How great is your job when you get to go to the beach for work?  I met up with Trey, Ellen and Tim one afternoon in Sandbridge where they were vacationing with Ellen’s brother T, his wife Greta, and their kids Alice and baby Sadie.  It was a beach party, family style.

Alice, Trey, Tim and T walked the kids to the park to get the wiggles out while we waited for the sun to dip a little lower in the sky.

The kids hitched a ride on the way back…

I loved this shot of Trey walking back with the pier and surf board in the background.  Will Trey be a surfer dude someday?

Alice was all about posing on the beach with her little sis.  Trey, not so much, but I did manage to get one pic snapped before he popped back up!

You gotta love kissing cousins, how sweet is Alice?

And Sadie’s eyes, just captivating, oh my goodness…

We got a few shots with everybody:

And then some with both families:

How’s this for an ocean view?

And finally, sweet pics of Ellen and her son.  What’s great about these photos is that Trey is running to his mom to hide from his father, who is chasing him towards the ocean.  It was a great tactic for getting cuddle shots out of Trey…

I loved this photo, a little boy exploring, what is that?  A sea shell?  I zoomed in to find that it was a plastic soda cup lid and I completely deflated… my idyllic shot was of Trey exploring a piece of garbage.  Ahw.  But I got over it and posted it here anyway because I loved the muted colors and the spirit of the photo so much.  We can channel the spirit of a two year old and just pretend that its a seashell, right?

Then it was time to get the kids in for dinner and a bath and I got Ellen to myself.  Ellen is awaiting a baby girl any day now and looked stunning against the ocean backrop.  The light was warm and beautiful, the breeze was cool and comfortable, it was the perfect evening to be out and overlooking water.

Here’s a slideshow from our shoot and and the gallery if you would like to visit.  Thanks so much for inviting me to tag along on your vacation and stay tuned everyone, there’s going to be more photos of this family very soon when Trey’s little sis arrives!

Posted by Mel @ 10:15 pm, in Bellies, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

I’m not sure if a wedding can get more “Richmond” than this one, from our transplant point of view anyway.  You could say that it starts with the names Lee and Marshall, names with a familiar ring here, steeped in local history and memorialized through monuments and city streets.  But to us its Lee and Marshall’s style, creativity, charisma and love of all things old and industrial that makes this wedding quintessential Richmond.  We were originally drawn to this city because of art and aesthetic but we stayed here because of the people we met.  Any groom that does the robot with his mom during the mother-son dance and any bride that encourages us take family portraits underneath a train trestle is, simply put, pretty dern cool.

Both the ceremony and reception took place at our favorite venue in the city, Main Street Station.  The trains that pass over, through and under the building delight guests young and old.  We love the dramatic architecture and, of course, a little trainspotting…

Bright yellow accents against silver and grey dresses and suits bounced beautifully with the concrete and streetlights directly outside.  And you gotta love the contrasting nail polish, these gals had it going on from head to toe, literally!  Again we had the pleasure of working with… take a wild guess… the amazing Windy.   It was no surprise that the day went off without a hitch…

It was fun to shoot for Lee, an art director for R Home Magazine , who encouraged us to play a little bit with the seating area where people wait for their train.  I promise to share her bridal portraits next week…

Afterwards we took a quick jaunt to the site of Lee and Marshall’s engagement in Church Hill.  We took photos on and around the bench where Marshall proposed to Lee with the grand city view before us.  How perfect that the crepe myrtles, such a prominent symbol of Richmond summers, were perfectly blooming right over the bench…

Here’s a slideshow of our favs from the day and if you would like to be notified when all the photos are ready for viewing, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 9:39 pm, in Weddings | 1 comment | Permalink

I go way back with this family, back to the beginning, back to Rorie and Stuart’s wedding a few years ago.  I was honored to photograph Maddie over her first year of life and was so thrilled to be invited back to meet the newest member of the family, sweet  baby Jackson, who was just a baby hair over two weeks old when we took these photos.

Call me a sucker for awkward love but I’m smitten by these photos of Maddie holding her lil’ bro.  Maybe another photographer would have deleted them since they are less than ideal but Maddie is just so excited about her little brother, who wasn’t quite as fond of all her rocking and jostling but give him time.  Rorie was telling me how Jackson likes to stick his tongue out just like Maddie did as a baby, so I was especially pleased with the tongue shot…

Maddie wanted to show me her room and recliner and these might have been my two favs from the shoot.  It was completely unscripted as Stuart joined Rorie and Jackson on the bed and I caught a little kiss in the mirror, a quiet moment captured in the background of Maddie’s silliness.

You can see, from how well Maddie is taking care of her baby doll, that she is going to be a very good helper in the months to come.

We took a few shots of Jackson in his room and on a very special alphabet quilt that Stuart’s grandmother made for him.  J isn’t just for jelly…

Why are crying baby shots so dern cute?  The lack of sound, probably!

Sleepy baby shots make me smile every time.  We took some very similar to these when Maddie was a baby, it was nice to do it again.  Here’s Maddie’s shot in b/w, followed by Jackson in color.  They look a lot alike in sleepy shots!

There was a lot of family time on the couch, this family definitely knows how to snuggle close and ham it up!   Its deceptively simple, isn’t it?  Happiness?

Congrats to Rorie, Stuart, and Maddie on the arrival of Jackson.  I can’t wait to come back when he’s 6 months old or so to play again and see how much he has grown!  Not too fast though, Ok little guy?  Take your time.  Here’s a slideshow from the day and an online gallery to check out too.

Posted by Mel @ 5:10 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink