If such a thing as the quintessential Washington, DC wedding exists, it would be Cortney and Andrew’s.  Who, by the way, couldn’t be two nicer people if they tried!

We met the couple downtown at Hotel Monaco where they were getting ready and would meet.  Then it was off for a quick stop for pictures by some well know local attractions…

…before arriving at the amazing Andrew Mellon Auditorium across from the National Portrait Gallery, where both the ceremony and reception would take place.  The auditorium was transformed into a magical, cathedral-esque ceremony space.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails in the Green Room while the ceremony site was flipped for the reception.  Table assignments hung from ribbons on trees.

Lois of The Party Portfolio did an amazing job planning the event and managing all the things that need to happen to transform spaces.  For the reception, the auditorium was nothing short of breathe taking and included lounge seating and a 4 sided bar.  Each table was a wonderland of gold trimmed china and crystal against deep purple linens.  As if that wasn’t enough to love, there was a gelato stand and a photo booth as well… which turned into fun picture taking for us too!

There’s really only one word for the night: amazing.  Cortney and Andrew, congratulations to you both and thank you so much for choosing us to be a part of it!   Here’s a slideshow of our favorites and if you would like to be notified by email when the gallery is available for viewing, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 5:47 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink

Remember Jessica and Kim?  Their adorable son, Kellen, made a rather big entrance into the world at close to 10 pounds!  He was the baby that the nurses liked to wheel around the delivery ward and show off… “look at how big THIS one is!”  At two weeks old, he is a big deal indeed.

I love Kellen’s room with its bright, cheery aqua walls and handmade accents.   As a mom, I definitely think that decor that hangs from the ceiling of a nursery trumps anything you can put on a wall since babies spend so much of their infancy looking UP…  the wall stuff is more for us than for them.  So of course, I love the handmade balloons above the crib with colorful, matching stars above the changing table.  The bright green dresser and modern rocker make perfect accents:

Speaking of handmades, check out this blankie made by grandma.  Be still, my crafty heart.

The leaves on Kellen’s rocker seem pretty appropriate for a fall baby!

We tried so hard to get Kellen to sleep.  So hard.  You wouldn’t believe the tricks we pulled.  And finally, after much cradling, rocking, shushing, swinging, eating, and then more cradling and rocking and shushing, he was out.

And then he was up:

Pretty short lived.  But don’t worry, he got lots of cuddles:

The nice thing is that I got to take a crack at cuddling Kellen to sleep myself, which was by far the best part of my day.

Congratulations to Jessica and Kim on such a beautiful little boy, I loved catching up with you both.  Here’s a slideshow and the online gallery, I’m so happy I get to watch this little big guy grow!

Posted by Mel @ 7:00 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

Warning:  This post rates HIGH on the sweetness scale.  So if you can’t stand gorgeous, happy, very-much-in-love couples then move along now… this post is not for you.  Hannah’s smile is so infectious.  And anybody who can jump that high as Scott did in a tux is tops in our book.  Honestly, we haven’t had so much fun shooting a wedding in a really long time!

Hannah and Scott’s wedding brought us all the way down to Greensboro, North Carolina on a glorious fall day.  Scott is a local photojournalist so we felt especially honored to be chosen, its a really big deal to us when fellow shutterbugs get married and ask us to pull the trigger.  The ceremony took place at First Presbyterian on Elm Street, a gorgeous, cathedral style church that is Hannah’s home parish.  Then it was on to the Grandover Resort for the reception, where trees were a bit of a theme.  The cake was a big hit with guests, who loved searching for the couple’s initials carved at the base of the tree trunk.

I’ve written and then rewritten this post about seven different times now, you would think I would learn.  Sometimes the photos say more than I can and these are so genuine that they make anything I write about them sound hollow.  Which is not what I am going for since this is a couple that we hope to hear from when they are coming through town. (At the risk of sounding desperate, pretty please do!!!)

So, without further ado, congrats to you both, H&S, and thank you for your trust and your hospitality.  We felt so welcome and so happy for you both.  Here’s a slideshow of our favorite favorites (there were too many favorites so we had to have favorite favorites) and click here if you would like to be notified when the gallery with all their photos is ready for viewing.  I shall say no more, I’m zipping it, mummmm…..

Posted by Mel @ 8:26 pm, in Weddings | 2 Comments | Permalink

I love shooting for Amber and Justin.  In addition to the fact that their son is Adorable (yes, with a capital “A”), they are amazing parents who have no trouble loving on their son as though I’m not even there.  Which makes capturing that love a piece of cake.

How’s this for the definition of “Little Boy Blue”?

If there’s a problem with having a smiley baby, its that you come to expect that winning grin all the time.  I learned that Eli is an uber smiler at our beach shoot not too long ago so I think all of us came into this session expecting to see dimple.  Eli, on the other hand, wanted to mix it up a bit and show us his more serious side.  And this wasn’t a bad thing…

…because it made us play harder.  Which made everyone else grin a little bigger.  Well played, little man.

Most of the time I edit out the drool.  But in this session, there were two drool shots so impressive that I couldn’t bring myself to Photoshop a thing!

Perry the cat made cameo appearances throughout the shoot.  And as cat people know, you just can’t make this stuff happen:

Just like baby chub peeking out through summer dresses on little girls, I’ve got a special love for tiny feet hanging out of pant legs on baby boys.  Baby pants might be the most ridiculously adorable invention.  Especially when they have functional pockets so that babies have a place to keep their keys and their smokes.

Here’s the shot where I said to Eli, “So, man, what are you in for?”

Then he got the joke:

Eli still naps best in someone’s arms.  So nap time became a special photo op.  I especially like the suitcase in the corner, it makes me wonder where slumberland took him.

Here’s a slideshow and the gallery and many, many thanks to Amber and Justin for their hospitality, especially the “broken” sugar cookies.  An accident?  I think not but I was clearly a beneficiary.  Be good until the next shoot, you three.

Posted by Mel @ 6:48 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink