The forecast was not looking good, all week long it was rain, rain and more rain in the forecast.  Not that it seemed to worry Meris or Jimmy much and wouldn’t you know?  Sunlight poured through windows and doors at the beautiful Grace Covenant Church on Monument Ave, formerly the historic Grace Street Church.  The sun stayed with us after the ceremony, giving us a window to take a brief walk up Monument Avenue.  I was so glad we could get outside to take some distinctly Richmond photos of this couple, who currently live in Texas but have their own version of history here in RVA.

Then it was off to the Dominion Club for the reception where the lovely blue hues of the bridesmaids dresses and flowers carried into the tablescapes arranged downstairs.  Oh, and Meris’ sisters made the hydrangea displays with the votives, how cool is that?

The skies started making threats but the wedding party wasn’t daunted as they made a very fun entrance via golf cart.  Almost on cue, guests returned indoors for their first dance and the rain came down.

(nice pan, Sam)

After dinner, quite the dance party commenced among kids and adults alike… including a pretty fierce limbo competition!

I wonder if Jimmy is scheming in this shot, perhaps?

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the day and click here if you would like to be notified by email when the gallery with all the photos is available.  Congrats, you two!

Posted by Mel @ 1:18 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink

Erin and Kasey tied the knot at First Presbyterian Church and celebrated at the CCV James River Clubhouse.  It was a gorgeous spring day, Erin looked gorgeous, everything was perfect.  Or pretty close to it, anyway – the story is much better the way  Erin tells it so I’ll just say that we really bonded with everyone at the church.  Once the ceremony was over and the dust settled, Erin, Kasey and their crew were ready to move on and celebrate but there was one itty, bitty problem – the cups for the champagne never made it onto the trolley.  Problem solved, easy peasy…

The mood of the event was bright, set off by hot pink details and best of all, a table stocked with every kind of candy imaginable and stocked with take away boxes so that guests could nourish their sweet tooth both during and after the reception.

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the day and if you would like to be notified by email when the gallery is available for viewing, click here.  Erin and Kasey, congrats and thank you for choosing us to shoot for you.  We hope to hang soon, I think we owe you a couple margaritas… and I’m definitely ready to get in on that!

Posted by Mel @ 6:50 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink

In case you missed the story of Katie and Lee’s wedding last August, Windy Jennings blogged about it yesterday as a feature for Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book.  Like all good stories, its one that should be told again and again so check it out.   Sometimes great opportunity masquerades as impending disaster and it was great to be part of a team that knew how to pull off the disguise!

Posted by Mel @ 8:54 pm, in News, Weddings | No comments | Permalink

I know, this blog has been all baby lately and some of you are wondering if we still shoot weddings at all… indeed we do!  While warm weather months continue to be more popular for nuptuals here in Virginia, there’s a lot of opportunity in a winter wedding:  we’re still waiting for just one snowy wedding, we have yet to get snow once in over 10 years of shooting so its only a matter of time.  While it didn’t snow on February 11th, the date itself was significant and it was a perfect, mild winter day to get married.  Hailing from South Dakota, Rebecca wasn’t too concerned with cold anyway so we took all their portraits outdoors.  The couple met before the ceremony on the balcony outside Rebecca’s suite and sweet it was…

The ceremony took place at historic St. John’s Church just a couple blocks from our home in Church Hill.  This is the spot where Patrick Henry gave his famous, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech and the irony of getting married there has been pointed out once or twice by those more cynical about marriage than we are… we defend St. Johns as a truly special and beautiful place to tie the knot if not outright patriotic.  After getting ready and taking family portraits at the Jefferson Hotel, the crew arrived at the church a little early, giving us time to take a few photos outside the church and in the neighboring Mews: a garden tucked away in an alley just to the right of the church.

Ceremonies at St. Johns are unique events that take you back in time and end with the church’s bell being rung by hand… we were surprised to see our neighbor Joe climb up into the balcony with us to perform the task!  After the ceremony it was off to the Jefferson and the couple took a sweet ride in a bright yellow Ferrari, the sound of its engine unfamiliar on our  historic streets…

OK, only a photo geek is going to point this out.  See how Rebecca and her father, who are moving, are still and sharp in the photo while all the people in the audience, who are still, are blurry as if they are moving?  That would be my hubby’s technical prowess: he did a subtle pan from the balcony (moving the camera with Rebecca and her dad’s movement, creating the illusion that Rebecca and her dad are frozen while their surroundings are moving).  Totally cool trick and pretty hard to pull off successfully so I had to brag on him just a little…

Everything about the wedding honored elegance and history, from Rebecca’s stunning lace dress to her bouquet modeled after her mother’s wedding bouquet.  Check out the swatch…

Thank you, Rebecca and Michael, for inviting us to be part of your wedding.  Here’s a slideshow with our favorites from the day and if you would like to be be notified by email when all the photos are available online, click here.  Congrats!

Posted by Mel @ 3:48 pm, in Weddings | No comments | Permalink