VANESSA & GREG - ONE YEAR!

Vanessa and Greg were married one year ago today, in a wonderful ceremony here in Lexington, KY. This is the first in a series of posts in which I'm going to ask some of my clients to answer a couple questions about their photography sessions or graphic design projects I've done for them. I'm so glad that Vanessa and Greg get to be the first!

(1) What was your favorite thing about your wedding?
Vanessa: Wow, this is a tough question. We had to go back and watch our video. Probably my favorite thing about the ceremony is that all the prelude tunes were Disney love songs, and our unity candle-lighting music was also Disney: "[I'll Be Your] Candle On the Water" from Pete's Dragon (a childhood favorite for both of us). We didn't make programs for the ceremony, so only people familiar with the movie would understand the meaning behind the song at the lighting of the unity candle. I consider it my subtle little touch that is meaningful to us, whether anyone else recognized it or not. My other favorite thing about our wedding is that our reception was at an art gallery. I loved that.

Greg: My favorite part of the wedding was during the reception, when we cut our cake together and drank champagne. It was the first time after the wedding when we actually got to relax a little and start taking it all in. And, the cake was really good!


(2) What is your favorite wedding photo? Why is it your favorite?

Vanessa: I love everything about this photo; it was posed, but it was one of those "reality" moments as well, where you can see the passion (especially his) in the kiss. I especially love the way my dress curves outward and you get to see the profile of some of the buttons that lined the back of my dress and my train.

Greg: I feel that this image captures us as a couple. No cheesy smiles or "will she push the shutter button already?" faces. We're both content and happy: we're married!!! The best part of the picture is, of course, Vanessa. Her eyes, her smile, her features,everything about her comes together into this "WOW!", which I think you can see on my face.


3) How are you celebrating your first year of married bliss?
Well, I'll be honest: sticking within our budget has been one of our biggest priorities since we got married; we have a lot of debt from putting ourselves through college and paying for our own wedding. Our goal is to get out of debt for good! So, to celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we'll be going on a "stay-cation." Greg, who currently works 7 days a week, has the entire weekend of our anniversary off. We'll be taking advantage of all that time together to get out and explore, taste, and experience parts of the bluegrass we haven't experienced before. We've learned that life isn't about the money we spend or the grand places we go (though we both love to travel!) -- it's about cherishing and relishing every moment we have together.


(4) What's the biggest piece of advice you can give a future bride?
Enjoy your wedding. Go with your heart; don't be afraid to bend the rules a little to do things the way you want to. Don't forget to look into his eyes and remember what it's all about :)


(5) How has life changed since you've been married?
The biggest thing we've discovered is that things often don't go the way we plan, even when we think we've got it figured out! But, our relationship is always growing and deepening; our communication with and understanding of each other is always reaching for the next level. It's good. We recently moved to a larger, nicer apartment in a quiet, beautiful community where we really feel like it's HOME. New friends have come into our life and old friends have become more special. We're looking forward to the changes the next year of our marriage has in store for us!

Vanessa and Greg: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a couple questions. I hope that you are having a wonderful anniversary, and I can't wait to hear more about the ways your lives are progressing together in the future. You two were simply wonderful wedding clients from beginning to end.

I can't leave this post without giving you my favorite image from their wedding, can I? Most of you know this, but I absolutely love this image of Vanessa getting her make-up done before the ceremony. Also: I absolutely love that they got married on 06.07.08.. Cute and easy to remember!

LAUREN & JOHN-MORGAN - PART ONE

You may have seen the post before this with Lauren's boudoir session. That was pretty much all about her. This post is about the day before their wedding. Kevin and I love to go to the rehearsal to introduce ourselves and feel out the crowd. Their rehearsal was in the morning, and it went so well. Lauren and John-Morgan didn't take their eyes off of each other, and they were both wearing huge grins all day.

Lauren asked if we could grab a few shots of them before their rehearsal dinner at Dudley's in Lexington. We said yes, and met them on Mill Street for a few quiet moments before their families arrived at the restaurant. Dudley's is located on the corner of Mill & Maxwell in Lexington, and if you've ever been to Lexington you'll know that this is one of the most quaint streets in the city. Somehow, though it's right next to downtown Lexington, it's quiet. We were so happy to give Lauren and John-Morgan their only "alone time" that day.

I'm pretty sure they're laughing at Kevin. When they kissed, Kevin called out, "Gross!" from across the street.. He's so good at breaking the ice.

I love this tree. I love this kiss. I love this Love.

And then we found a ladybug.. They're considered good luck, you know. Even better luck the day before your wedding, of course.

Oh. My. Gosh. Her expression.. His expression.. It's almost too much.

Lauren and John-Morgan were great sports about this entire short session before dinner. They acted completely nature the whole time, and they were hardly even aware of our shutters clicking happily to catch all of their wonderful expressions. They are so in love.

Just wait until you see the wedding photos. Just. Wait.

LAUREN - BOUDOIR

This weekend, we had the pleasure of photographing a wonderful wedding. Before I start posting pictures from the wedding, however, I wanted to post a few from Lauren's boudoir session.

After booking their wedding with us, Lauren contacted me about doing a boudoir shoot as a present for her fiance, John-Morgan. I could not have been more excited. Lauren is gorgeous, and I think that boudoir photos are one of the most perfect wedding presents ever for a groom. I can not even tell you how hard it was to keep these boudoir photos a secret until this weekend.

If it was hard for me to keep them a secret, I can't even imagine what Lauren was going through. She told me that she had hidden the album away in her desk at work, and that she had wanted to talk about it so many times with John-Morgan. (Lauren, I can't believe we both kept it a secret!)

If John-Morgan only knew.. We were super sneaky, and used their apartment one Saturday afternoon while John-Morgan was working. These pictures are the result.

This is my favorite. Lauren said, "I'm feeling adventurous.. Let's go to the balcony." I have never seen Lexington look so Connecticut-in-the-country-on-a-Sunday-afternoon before. And Lauren.. Call Tyra. You are too gorgeous.

John-Morgan opened his album this past Sunday, and he was blown away. He gave me one of the biggest compliments ever when he said, "You captured what I see every single day, but you took the 'everyday' out of it. She's beautiful." Here's a look at him opening the album on the wedding day...

Lauren: Thank you for being such a great model. You worked it all afternoon! I can't wait for you to see your wedding photos.

John-Morgan: Your reaction to Lauren's boudoir photos was exactly why I love this job. I'm so happy that my photography can bring such amazing expressions to the face of my clients.

Be on the lookout for their wedding photos later this week. I told them this on Sunday, but I think that their wedding is so epic that it might need more than one blog post! It was just such a beautiful display of the love they have for each other.. I'm so excited to blog about it!!

DAWN & JOSH - WEDDING IN COVINGTON, KENTUCKY

I really have no idea where to begin. I shot an amazing wedding last weekend with the amazing Amanda Donaho. Seriously, she's wonderful... Check her out.

In case you can't tell, I love the color green. I also love chartreuse. This wedding was full of some amazing green details.

Like the flowers... Seen here with the bling, of course.

A maid of honor's duties are never done.

One of the flower girls looking for the engraving on the inside of the ring.

I don't think the guys could look any cooler in this photo, do you?

I was hanging with the guys before the ceremony while Amanda hung out with the girls. I have to say, they were a pretty good group to be around. I asked Josh who the best man was, and he said, "They're all the best man." Heck yeah! Here they are hanging out outside the church/art gallery.

Wait... Did I say church SLASH art gallery? Yes, I did. Dawn & Josh got married at the Leapin' Lizzard Art Gallery in Covington, Kentucky. Their wedding was the first wedding there EVER. How ridiculously cool is that?

Josh, seeing Dawn walk down the aisle... Could he look any happier?

You know what else is cool? Green shoes in a chartreuse chair. WHAT.

Here are a few of the ridiculously good looking couple after the ceremony.

Dawn, you looked amazing.

Um, hi... Could we lean on your cab? This was quick thinking on Amanda's part!

Josh, continuing to be James-Bond-level cool at a local bar, playing pool.

This might be my favorite.

Dawn & Josh, thank you so much for being so cool. Seriously, your wedding was filled with so many amazing details and amazing people, and the love between you was so apparent all day. I'm so lucky to have been there!! 

By the way, I freaking love my job.

DAWN & JOSH - PREVIEW

I had another fun-filled weekend shooting with Amanda Donaho, and I'll have a better blog post soon. I just had to share this one, though. It makes the guys look so mysterious/James Bond squad. I love it. I also love that all I had to say was "James Bond" and they all immediately looked cool.

Be on the lookout for more soon!