We started house shopping in February and finally bought our home and moved in, in March! We absolutely love it and are so thankful that we found the perfect place for us.

Also in March, Matt applied for a really great job. And we’re both so excited to say that starting this Monday, he’ll be working full-time at our church- Elevation Church. He’ll still be shooting all of our weddings and sessions with me too, so no changes to our business.

But we’ve got some pretty BIG changes coming up soon.

It was in February, in the midst of job searching and house hunting, that we found out we had a little something else coming up this year…

To say we’re excited would be a ridiculous understatement. We are THRILLED! It’s been so hard to keep it a secret this long! I’m currently 18ish weeks along and we just found out today that we are having a little girl!!! We absolutely cannot WAIT to meet her! I’ve been very blessed so far with an easy and awesome pregnancy and we’re just both beaming with excitement :)

We also have another project in the works that will go right along with this big shift in our lives coming up soon- can’t wait to share that as well! Until then, I’ll be sharing more about our new little addition throughout the next few months on the blog! :)

Shalynn & Scott are getting married at The Point this fall- Yay! Can’t wait for all of our weddings there this year :) We decided to do their engagement session around Lake Norman- starting at Jetton Park, one of my favorite parks to shoot at :) Then onto Beaver Dam – another favorite around our area. We really enjoyed getting to know these two during their session. They had just bought a house from the same builder we bought from and found out they also go to the same church as us, so we had lots to chat about :)

A huge thank you to Sarah at Delightfully Engaged  for featuring Hillary & Travis’ Point Club wedding! You can see the entire feature here.

Photo by: The Schultzes

Two years ago today, we were married on the MOST beautiful spring day. It was warm but not hot with a breeze off the lake. Wedding was all that was on my mind. I stayed up the night before doing seating charts. I was there the morning of to oversee the flowers being put together, the japanese lanterns being hung, the lights being strung and to make sure everyone was properly fed. I was a little wedding machine :)

And here we are two years later. With nothing more than our own memories, the photos and a few leftover favors to prove it actually happened. I loved my wedding day, but it was just that- a day. It’s been the last two years that really mattered. The ups and downs of real marriage and adulthood. Jobs, school, businesses, mortgages and so many other things. Taking risks and staying safe. Enjoying the little things while we work for bigger things. We have our good days and our bad days, but there’s no one I’d rather do my days with.

Here’s to the next two years and a million more after that! :)

Big big thanks to The Wedding Row for featuring Ashlie & Clay’s engagement session at Magnolia Plantation! You can see the entire feature here.

Elise and Mark are  seriously one of our favorite couples we’ve ever worked with. I can’t even begin to describe what a wonderful, bubbly personality Elise has, and Mark…well he’s British AND he’s funny so he’s just endlessly entertaining to listen to :) We knew when we met with Elise last year that we would be great fit and we were proven right at their engagement session. They are both so kind, so easy to work with and just the sweetest couple. Cannot WAIT for their August wedding! :)

Now onto their story- Mark and Elise met when they were both counselors at Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie- how cute?! At our first meeting with Elise, she already knew this was going to the spot for their engagement photos and I’m SO glad she picked it. The camp was empty and it was an absolutely beautiful day- just couldn’t have asked for a better shoot. Enjoy!

Here’s a little of what’s coming up!

Kayleigh & Frank’s Seabrook Island Club Wedding:

Kristin & Matt’s Uptown Charlotte Wedding:

And Liz & Dave’s Cramer Mountain Country Club Wedding:

Enjoy part 2 of Hillary and Travis’ Point Club Wedding :) You can see part 1 here!

Excuse the crappy iPhone picture :)

Yep, we were asked to photograph Mitt Romney’s photo line at an event here in Charlotte. Let me explain…

If nothing else, this is a crazy story on the power of the referral. Some of you may remember seeing Melissa and Andy’s wedding last year. Melissa’s dad referred us to a friend who was having a birthday party and wanted to do a photo booth. At the birthday party, we met a lady named Karen who does the events for Myers Park Country Club. So a few weeks ago, while strolling the aisles at Target for our groceries, I received an email from one of the Romney campaign people saying they needed a photographer for the photo line at this upcoming event. The email said we came highly recommended by Karen at Myers Park Country Club. The referral engine is a powerful thing!!

Anyway, we agreed to do the event and off we went on Wednesday. We only arrived at the club about 5 hours early to make sure everything was perfecto. This was something we did not want to be responsible for screwing up. We adjusted and readjusted the lights…got asked by secret service to move our lights…readjusted some more. We saw the bomb squad and about a gazillion security and police. Our room was swept by dogs. We were frisked a couple of times. It was a little on the intense side…but also intriguing. We’ve never been this close to any political figure so it was definitely an experience. Secret service really do talk into their arms, just in case you were wondering :)

We finally got started around 6pm. We were asked to take  ”120 clicks,” (i.e- 120 people needed to get their picture taken.) They never called it a photo-in this world it is called a click. When in Rome! So we were instructed to move 120 people through the line in 35 minutes. Sounds a little impossible, but I have never seen my husband work so furiously. In fact, at one point I timed how many he did in a minute and it was 6. One group coming up to shake hands, say hello, get their photos and say goodbye, every 10 seconds. It was one of the more intense things we’ve ever done. But we got through everyone, allowing a little extra time for the volunteers and staff to grab a photo as well…including us! A secret service fellow offered to take our photo. We didn’t think he’d know how to use our camera but he said he sure did… and see for yourself!

Not too bad for a secret service guy :)

The most humorous moment to me was Mitt asking Matt if he didn’t need to use a flash. We used all video light for this, and his people told us they’d never seen it done like that. Go figure we do the set-up that has never been seen by these people. Haha!  He was very nice though and Matt told him that no flash was needed and we were all good :)

And just to be clear, I don’t want anyone to think that we are in any way trying to bring politics up. This blog is a place where we share our business and our life and this was a cool experience to be a part of, no matter what side of the line you fall on. We have a respect for ANYONE running for office, especially the highest office of all and all politics aside, it was an honor to be asked to photograph this event.

All in all in was a very cool experience. Gov. Romney and his people were very kind to us and the staff at Myers Park Country Club was wonderful to work with. It was certainly a night we will remember forever!

Hillary and Travis were married a few weeks ago at The Point in Mooresville. It was such a sweet and beautiful wedding. Relaxed and on-schedule too, with lots of friendly folks everywhere- my kind of wedding :) Enjoy part 1 of their day!

Hillary and Travis’ Wedding at The Point

Elise and Mark’s Camp Thunderbird Engagement Session:

And Shalynn & Scott’s Engagement Session around Davidson

Something I haven’t done in SO long is write a wedding related post, and I miss it! I love to be of any help I can to our brides. So today I want to write about something all of us girls love…shoes! Your wedding day is your time to splurge on your shoes and have fun. You can go all out and wear something you might not usually wear. For me, I went the Kate Spade route and I love them. I actually did flat sandals for my wedding so I can still wear them throughout the summertime! Double bonus! Below are some of my favorite shoes from our past brides and some fun ideas for our future brides!

PS- Read all the way to the bottom for a little giveaway! :)

The classic white:

Your shoes are a great place to bring in your something blue:

Coordinating your shoes with your wedding colors is one of my personal favorites:

Our bride Lauren had one pair for the ceremony…

And then one for the reception!

You can’t go wrong adding a little sparkle on your feet!

And you can’t forget some dancing shoes for the second half of the day:

I also think it’s so fun to get creative with your soles:

So you’ve got your wedding shoes picked out. And you want them to stay pretty and clean on your wedding day or your bridal portrait day, right?

Look closely at this picture of our bride, Elizabeth:

You may or may not be able to see it, but she’s wearing something called a SoleMate- a genius little invention for keeping the heel of your shoes clean. A lot of times when we do bridal portraits or even when doing your wedding day portraits, we  may ask you to walk through the grass or a field. And without fail, heels sink in and get a little dirty. But with these little guys, you’re protected and will have clean wedding shoes after the day is done :) They’re super easy to take off too, so if we want to get a shoe shot without them, no big deal!

Because we think SoleMates are such a handy little thing for a bride to have, we’re giving away 1 pair! All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post giving us the skinny on what you’re planning for your wedding shoes! If you’re not a current bride, you can just tell us what yours were like or hope to be be like! All comers are welcome :) I’ll pick a winner Friday at midnight!

Kristin & Graham are getting married at The Point in November- yay! I’m so excited with how many weddings we are doing there this year. It’s definitely a favorite place for us to shoot :) We decided to shoot their engagement session at The Dairy Barn-also a favorite spot for us! These two were SO easy to work with and photograph. I can tell pretty quickly after we get started if a couple is going to be breeze and these two totally were. Graham is a hoot and had Kristin giggling the whole time- my favorite kind of shoot :)

Enjoy!

These two had such a cute engagement story- it involved a 1.5 hour mystery ride for Kristin, a cute bed and breakfast proposal and a visit to a few wineries the next day. Love! So fittingly, we had to include a little wine and cuddling in the middle of the orchard :)

Amy & Danny will be married this coming September at The Peninsula Yacht Club. I just love lake weddings so we’re excited for theirs :)

We did their engagement session at Freedom Park, and then a few around South End. And you know what’s crazy? How fast everything bloomed this year! The last session I posted, Liz & Dave, was also done in Freedom Park and they were done 1 week apart exactly. In that one week, it went from barren trees to these bursts of white flowers everywhere! Awesome for pictures, not awesome for my allergies :) I was a sneezing fool by the end of this session. Nonetheless, I think these turned out really cute and we can’t wait for their wedding!

How fun is this!? I knew about these garage doors when I suggested this location, but I didn’t know how perfectly it was going to work out with what they were wearing!

Hillary and Travis were married this past Saturday at The Point. They had such a beautiful wedding and I can’t wait to share it! But till then, here are a few of our favorites from Hillary’s bridal session, also taken at the Point :)

Happy Friday everyone! Liz and Dave are getting married in JUST a few weeks!! Luckily we had great springy weather for their shoot a few weeks ago at Freedom Park and NoDa. Enjoy :)

In case you missed it last week, Matt and I closed on our first house and moved in last Tuesday-yay!! Pictures to come soon :) It’s been exciting and exhausting and SO very busy around these parts lately, just trying to get settled in and organized. But we’re almost there and I can at least say that we’re about 75% finished and it’s starting to feel like home.

In between house buying, packing, moving and unpacking, we had a few shoots recently as well! Here’s a little of what’s coming up soon :)

Kristin & Graham’s Engagement Session:

Liz & Dave’s Engagement Session

 And Amy & Danny’s Engagement Session:

Jessica and Brian are getting married at one of our favorite venues in May…The Point! For their engagement session, we headed up to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. We’ve always wanted to do a wedding or shoot there, so we were super excited when we heard about their idea :) It was a little on the cold side last weekend during their shoot… ok, maybe a lot on the cold side. Cold like I couldn’t feel my toes by the end. But they were such troopers and hung in there in the chilly temps and made our job super duper easy!

Huge huge thanks to Elizabeth Anne Designs for featuring Lauren & Matt’s Ballantyne Hotel Wedding last Friday! :) You can see the whole feature here!

In the meantime, while I have no pictures to blog, I thought I’d share something that’s been really useful for us lately when it comes to our cooking!

Matt and I try to eat at home as much as possible, especially for dinner. It’s way cheaper and much better for us…win-win! What I’d been having a problem with recently was planning out my meals, buying all my fresh produce and meats, and then just winging it based on what we felt like eating that night. Without fail, every week we would end up wasting something that went out of date and that’s just so discouraging and counter-productive.

So, my husband came up with this idea that I’m about to show you, and then I made it pretty :) The first few weeks, I wrote it on a little piece of scrap paper and stuck it to the fridge, but that’s just ugly and unacceptable! :) So I made these little sheets for myself in three colors that I print out every time we get back from the store.

I write down all the meals I’ve got planned first, then I check all my expiration dates on my meats and fill that part in. Lastly, I just sit down with my calendar and piece it all together so I’ve got a clear plan! I always know what we’re having each night and nothing goes out of date. We’ve only been doing this for about 5 weeks and it has seriously helped us so much!

If you’d like, you can grab any and print them out for yourself! :)

I was so excited to see Danielle & Brent’s Wedding featured on Every Last Detail this past Friday! A big thank you to Lauren for the feature!! :) See the whole feature here.

Today is a sick day for me- I’ve caught a nasty little cold so I’m resting and taking it easy today so I can fight this thing off! However, I haven’t blogged in a week and that’s just unacceptable! It’s partly because we are in the off season and I’m running out of things to blog :) And partly because this past week has been CONSUMED with us looking at houses.

Holy cow- I can honestly say I never imagined how difficult this would be. Neighborhoods, schools, tax values, counties, square feet, interest rates….My WORD!! It’s been overwhelming and to call it a roller coaster ride would be an understatement.  I know it will be all worth it in the end and hopefully we can make up our minds soon:) But who knows!

Here’s just a little peek at our kitchen counter at the moment… Just filled with papers upon papers from what seems like every home builder in our area! Wish us luck :)

Yesterday was my 29th birthday! AAGGGH! one.more.year. Then I cross into the number that comes next :/ We won’t talk about that just yet. I have an entire year to relish in my twenties :)

I had a great birthday yesterday and even celebrating in the days before as well. A couple weeks ago, I got my main birthday present. My shiny new iPhone 4S. I have been rocking the 3G since 2009 and it was a little (or a lot) worse for the wear. So I was excited about this, and me and Siri are now BFFs. I got really upset when Matt called her stupid when she didn’t answer one of his questions. I’m oddly attached to my little phone robot :)

My mother-in-law got me two really awesome gifts as well! An immersion blender and space heater! I have been using my little heater by my ask every day. I sit in the coldest spot in our house, so this has been so nice. And my immersion blender works like a champ! So far I’ve only made smoothies but this week’s menu includes a sweet potato soup and I’m excited to try it out for that :)

The day before my birthday my parents took us out to a nice dinner at Red Rocks Cafe, coincidentally the same one where Matt and I had our first date! :) And yesterday, after my Panera breakfast date, I got a free pass to take the day off from work. So I watched a girly movie, read a book, took a walk and ate cupcakes.

I also listened as my phone completely BLEW UP with happy birthday texts, tweets and Facebook messages. At some point in the day, I realized…SO MANY of the people wishing me a happy birthday were people I’ve met in this industry! Photographer friends, wedding vendor friends, former clients and current clients. It really made me remember what a great blessing this business has been for us. We’ve been lucky to meet SO many wonderful people and they just keep on coming! So thank you SO very much to all my wedding peeps and clients for taking time to wish me a happy birthday yesterday. We’re so lucky to know you all! :)

They turned out SO good! They tasted only slightly healthy, so we’ll definitely be making them again and I would highly recommend them! :)

A couple of weekends ago we packed up our car and headed out to Charleston for our first wedding of the year! Sarah and Billy were married at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity and had a gorgeous reception to follow at the South Carolina Aquarium. An awesome way to start off the year :) Everyone was so great to work with and really welcoming to us…and we were in a beautiful city!! What more could we want?

Vendors

Caterer: BrickLane Catering

Florist: Ooh Events

Cake: Tammy Holevas

Dress: Maggie Sottero

DJ: Arista Entertainment

Just a few from Sarah & Billy’s Photo Booth :)

Our fabulous September bride-to-be, Sharon Albach!!!  YAY! I’ll email you today, Sharon, to get your gift card sent! Congratulations and you better let me know what you get!! :))

We were so fortunate in 2011 to have our work featured in so many awesome places. Some of our favorite blogs and magazines were kind enough to feature our images and we can’t thank them enough! :) In no particular order, here are our 2011 features!

Melissa & Andy’s Charlotte City Club Wedding was featured on Wedding Row Charlotte.

Natalie & Jeremy’s Point Club wedding was featured on Every Last Detail.

Lauren & Jeff”s Peninsula Club wedding was featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs

Lauren’s gardenia bouquet was featured on Southern Weddings

Melissa & Andy’s Engagement Session was featured on Glamour & Grace

Shauna & Dan’s Ballantyne Hotel Wedding was featured on Wedding Row Charlotte

Lindsay & Andrew’s Rocky River Vineyards Wedding was featured in Charlotte Wedding Magazine

Sara & George’s Engagement Session was featured on Brooklyn Bride

A fun moment from Natalie & Jeremy’s wedding was featured on Moment Junkie

Chris & Christine’s Duke Mansion wedding was featured on Wedding Row Charlotte

And Jamey & Chris’ Pine Island Country Club was just recently featured in the newest Charlotte Wedding Magazine.

Again, a huge thank you to the publications who featured our work last year!

PS- Today is the last day to enter our giveaway for a $100 J.Crew gift card!! Be sure to do so before midnight tonight and we’ll announce the winner tomorrow!

We were SO excited to see Chris and Jamey’s wedding featured in the newest issue of Charlotte Wedding Magazine. This is one of our favorite local magazines and a great resource for Charlotte brides, so if you’re still planning,  definitely go pick one up!

And a huge thank you to the Charlotte Wedding folks for the feature! :)

Matt and I decided that something we’d like to do this year is to share some of our favorite things with you guys; our readers, clients, friends and fellow wedding industry peeps!

Over the course of the year, be on the lookout for new giveaways- we already have SO many great ideas of things that I would TOTALLY want to win myself, so definitely check back if this one isn’t your cup of tea-although I just don’t know how it couldn’t be!! :) It didn’t take long to decide what we’d like to share with you first….my favorite clothing brand in the WORLD… We’re giving away a $100 J.Crew gift card! Yay!! :)

You can enter either of the following ways: You can do #1, #2, #3 or all three! The more you do, the more you’ll be entered :)

1) Like our business page on Facebook, and then link to this post in your status. Be sure to tag our “Elizabeth Scott Photography” Facebook page in your status when you do :)

2) Follow me on twitter and link to this post ( be sure to tag me, @leslie_keener,  when you do)

3) Leave a comment telling us why you love J.Crew as much as we do :)

You have till next Wednesday, 1/18 at midnight to enter. Then we’ll choose a winner randomly and I’ll announce the winner on the blog next Thursday! :)

In semi-related news, I had a project over the fall that required me to scan in a bunch of old J.Crew catalogs from the late 90′s to mid 2000′s. I’m going to be sharing them over the next little while because I think they’re fun! I really gathered so much inspiration from these in my teens and early twenties so I just want to share where a little bit of my artistic inspiration comes from :)

We just got in a new sample album recently so I wanted to share! I realized today that I’ve actually never shared any of our albums on the blog! Not even one! I always mean to take pictures of them as we get them in, and before we send them back out, but I always forget.

So this year, the first thing on our list was to replace our 9×12 sample. We chose Melissa & Andy’s wedding from this past October, and got it done with a beautiful photo cover. Can’t wait to show this guy off :)

So in 2002, I went off to the big city of New York for 4 years for school, and I had an absolute blast! Well when I came home after college, I was kinda spoiled. In school we had big rooms of dress forms, heavy-duty sewing machines and giant cutting tables. I had learned how to do this thing the right way, and now I was lacking all of the tools I was used to. So sadly, I just stopped. I stopped sewing, & stopped designing anything.

And lately, I’ve been feeling the urge to have some other creative outlets. As much as I love photography, it’s my job and it’s also only one creative outlet. I need more than that and I also need something that’s not work and doesn’t have a deadline…and that’s just for me :) I needed a hobby.

So I’ve borrowed a fancy schmancy sewing machine from my step-mom-in-law, bought myself a dress form, and pulled out all my old tools that I held onto from school. Over the last week, I jumped right back into my new/old hobby with a simple little skirt. Nothing too crazy or creative. In fact, I made a version of one my favorite J.Crew skirts.

Here’s the original… (please excuse the horrible wrinkles!)

And here’s mine finished….

Yes I wore this outfit yesterday to the bridal show…so if you were there and  it looks familiar that’s why! :)

Truth be told, I screwed up several things along the way and I figured I would. I was under no illusion I’d just hop right back on the sewing train with no mistakes. But, I was pretty proud of myself for being able to even pull this off. Ya’ll, it’s been almost SIX years since I made an article of clothing…SIX!

So hopefully I’ll have more to come and more to share on my endeavor soon, especially over the slow winter months. Next up…I’m planning to drape and sew a jacket all from my own design! Wish me luck! :)

We have lots of exciting things coming up in 2012-  I think it’s going to be great year!

• On the business side, we have booked so many wonderful couples that we just can’t wait to work with. We have some amazing weddings lined up for next year- so thankful for that!
• We also just started working with the wonderfully talented Erica, from The Summerhouse on a rebranding project. We are SO excited to see what she comes up with. So far in our business, we’ve done most everything for our brand ourselves, and well…we are not graphic designers :) I’m so excited to finally get some professional help and polish to our look!

Erica sent us this cute little ceramic “summer house” a few days after we sent in our contract. So cute and clever :)

• In addition to rebranding, we’ve got some other exciting projects in the works that I can’t talk about yet…. and I hate it when people are so vague like I just was-haha! But seriously, there are some neat things we’re working on both for clients and photographers and I can’t wait to share!
• Also, Matt is reworking our blog from the ground up. There’ll be lots of neat features on the back end for ME, but also some cool features on the front end for you guys! Can’t wait for that as well :)
• On the personal side…we are moving this year- maybe even twice! Our lease on our town home is up in February. And we are starting to look at buying a home! So if all works out, we could be looking at 2 moves this year.
• Matt is starting back to school next week! Yes indeed, I will be a grad school wife for the next two-ish years. We made the decision earlier this year for him to apply to a software engineering Masters program and he starts next week! Wish him (and me!) luck!

We don’t know what else 2012 will hold, but we are excited and ready to take it on!

Anyway,enjoy our last post of 2011! See you next year, friends :)

One of my FAVORITES! I had to lay my head down on a sidewalk for this one, and for a germaphobe like me, that is a big deal :) But it was worth it!

Sara & George were our last wedding of 2011! And we got to finish up with a great one :) We arrived that morning at the Westin, where everyone was getting ready to find an incredibly calm bride and groom. After a couple hours of prep work, we did a first look, some portraits, then headed off for the ceremony at St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church. I just have to give a shout to the church for being the EASIEST to get along with church in the history of our career so far. Lovely place and lovely people :) After a beautiful ceremony, everyone headed back to uptown for the super fun reception at The Mint Museum. Erica from Sweet November Events did an awesome job planning the event and kept the whole day running smooth as silk. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end out our year :)

Other Vendors:

Florals: Party Blooms

Cake: Cake Lady Jill

Dress: San Patrick purchased at J.Major’s

DJ: Raffi Chamoun

Catering: Something Classic

Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss

Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

Sara & George: We wish you guys the very best!! Thanks so much for letting us be a part of your day! :)

Ashlie & Clay are getting married at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston next October, so they decided to do their engagement session there! It was our first time there and it. is. GORGEOUS! I can’t wait to go back for their wedding :) There are only about a million pretty spots to shoot and I think we barely scratched the surface.

Their little chihuahua, Jackson joined us for a few shots throughout the day. He was THE most well behaved little guy ever and I want a chihuahua now :)

Eldren & Stachia are getting married in April, and we cannot wait! They’re working with wedding planner, Page King and we’re super excited to see what she comes up with for their big day :)

Eldren actually lives in New Haven, Connecticut and Stachia lives here in Charlotte. It just so happened that they were going to be spending a weekend in Charleston back in October and it just so happened that we were there the same the weekend! So, we decided to shoot their engagement session there, starting out at Folly Beach.

Matt and I are usually not ones for stopping off the side of the road for a shoot, but we saw this grove of moss trees as we were driving down the beach, and we just knew we had to make a quick stop here on our way. I LOVE these and this location :)

We ended our session just walking around downtown Charleston- one of my favorite places in the world :)

Just a few our favorites from Kirstin & Jeremy’s Photo Booth! :)

We were super excited to meet Sharon & Jonathan after I had received their initial inquiry. They’re planning to incorporate a travel theme into their wedding because of how much they’ve traveled together and how much they’ve had to travel to see each other over the course of their long-distance relationship. It was only fitting that we started their engagement session at the airport, where they’ve spent so much time going back and forth! :)

After the airport we headed to NoDa where they live…Love these next few :)

Laura & Dale are getting married at The Point next July, one of our favorite places to shoot :) We’re super excited for their wedding, planned by Anne from Favor Me Events!

Laura & Dale decided to start their engagement session there at the Point, on the golf course, since they are both avid golfers! We shot a bit on the course, then grabbed a few by the lake to capture the fall colors going on at the time before heading off to Carrigan Farms. Enjoy!

Danielle & Brent were married in October at Providence Country Club. It was our first time shooting there, and we really loved the venue! We had awesome weather that day, great light and lots of fabulous people to shoot, so all in all…this was an awesome wedding and I’ve been so excited to share it! :)

Cake: Cheesecake Etc.

Florals: Lily Greenthumbs

Dress: Sottero & Midgley purchased at Poffie Girls

DJ: Z Brothers

Hair & Makeup: Carrie Gabard, Meghann Cenci

April and Jeff are getting married next June and we are really looking forward to their wedding! They have been so sweet in the time we’ve been working together, so I’m sure their wedding, being planned by Erica from Sweet November Events, will be an awesome one for next year :)  For now, their uptown engagement session!

We started out by getting a few with their doggy, Captain. He was such a sweet boy!!

After Captain had enough, we took him home and headed back out for another couple locations. LOVE these next ones :)

My favorite…

Just a few from Danielle and Brent’s Photobooth! Stay tuned for their wedding coming up soon :)

Daire & Rob’s wedding was truly one of our favorites this year :) It was in Lake Lure at the Rumbling Bald Resort, which has a completely beautiful view of the lake and they had so many cute, creative touches infused throughout the wedding… we just loved it all! Not to mention they are such a super sweet couple and such a pleasure to photograph!!

Cake: Icing on the Cake

Dress: Wtoo purchased at Victorian Rose

DJ: All the Right Grooves

Groom’s Attire:  J. Crew

Hair & Makeup: Ginger Wise, The Finishing Touch

Daire made her bouquet from fabric from her mom’s wedding dress! How cute and creative?!

Love, love, love cute socks on the boys :)

Congratulations you guys!! We wish you the best!

Happy Thanksgiving friends! I hope everyone has a truly AMAZING Thanksgiving and everyone has tons to be thankful for :)

Today I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my in-laws.. Aaahh! I can’t believe I’m brave enough to take on the task. However, I’ve eliminated dessert thanks to a local bakery’s fabulous pumpkin cheesecake, and I’ve eliminated an appetizer thanks to Panera…yes you read it right. We stopped by Panera last night to get some soup and little biscuits that are going to serve as our appetizer. If there’s anything I’ve learned about preparing these big meals for people, it’s not to take on too much. So this year I’m taking my own advice!

Also on the menu…chicken cordon bleu, a warm spinach and bacon salad, and potatoes au gratin. If you can’t tell, we’re not into traditional Thanksgiving fare :)
What we are into is good quality time with family, so that we will be sure to have plenty of.

And because I just love making lists and I think it’s good to share, I’m also thankful for…

-God’s grace & many blessings on our life
-My husband
-Mr. Gizzleflop, aka Gizmo
-Our little home
-Our job
-Our absolutely wonderful clients
- Our family and their safety
-Cooler weather
-Chocolate…just anything chocolate at all
-My Le Creuset Pot that’s coming in handy today
-Taylor Swift songs- do not laugh at me, she’s my favorite

Beth & Mike’s wedding took place at the Birkdale Golf Club. We had not shot a wedding there till this one and we really loved it! Photographer-wise, it’s completely awesome with white walls, white ceilings and lots of windows..just how we like it :)

This was a really fun wedding for us to shoot. Beth, Mike and all their friends and family were so relaxed and easy-going and we had gorgeous weather AND they did a first look! What more could we ask for? :))

Vendors:

Ceremony and Reception: Birkdale Golf Club

Florals: Lily Greenthumbs

Cake: Nona’s Sweets

DJ: All the Right Grooves

Hair/Makeup: Jillian DiNatale Studio

Dress: David’s Bridal

Just a few from Mike & Beth’s wedding at Birkdale Golf Club :) Full wedding post coming soon!

This is the LAST of the sneak peeks, I promise! :) This past weekend was a whirlwind for us- A Saturday wedding, Sunday engagement session in Charleston, and then 2 more sessions on Monday and Tuesday back in Charlotte. Woo! I can’t believe we made it, but now it’s time to buckle down and edit, edit, edit! :) Here’s what we’ve been up to!

Ashlie & Clay’s Magnolia Plantation Engagement Session

Laura & Thomas’ Day After Session

Shannon’s Senior Session

Sara & George’s Mint Museum Wedding

Enjoy a few from Melissa and Andy’s Photo Booth! :)

A HUGE thank you to Lauren at Every Last Detail for featuring Natalie and Jeremy’s beautiful Point club wedding!

You can see the entire feature here :)

For now, I have a couple more sneak peeks for you from the past few days… and then I promise that soon I will start actually posting full posts and not these little teasers :)

Eldren & Stachia’s Charleston engagement session:

Kirstin & Jeremy’s Folly Beach Wedding:

And Laura & Dale’s engagement session at the Point and Carrigan Farms:

We’ve had a such a busy month so far and we’re not stopping anytime soon. Today we drive to Charleston for an engagement session and wedding. We have a couple more shoots next week, and then our last wedding of the year next weekend! We’re a little exhausted but hanging in there and so happy with all the awesome weddings and shoots we’ve got to do :) Here’s what we’ve been up to this past week!

First up is Danielle & Brent’s Providence Country Club wedding from last weekend…

Next is April & Jeff’s Engagement Session in Uptown Charlotte…with special guest Captain the dog! :)

And lastly we have Sharon & Jonathan’s travel themed engagement session

Lauren & Matt’s October wedding was one that we were really looking forward to. They booked us almost exactly one year before their wedding, and came to us by way of one of our other former couples, Mason & Michelle (who since have started their own photography business! )

When we first met Lauren, she told us that her mom, herself and sister-in-law had a floral business and would be doing all the flowers for the wedding, so we were excited to see what they put together. They certainly didn’t disappoint! They made the prettiest, most unique arrangements with magnolias and roses (and I’m sure several other things I can’t identify :)) All the details of the day were all really elegant and classy, and it was such a pleasure to be there to photograph everything!!

Vendors:

Venue & Cake: Ballantyne Hotel

Florist: Ta-Da’s

Dress: Pronovias purchased at New York Bride & Groom

Band: Anita

Videographer: Rick Hinson

Makeup: Ariana Loredo-Johnson

Hair: Dorienne from Varji Varji

Bridesmaids Necklaces: Kathleen Murphy

Bridesmaids Bracelets: Alexis Bittar

Invitation design: Three Little Birds

Invitation Printing: Copy Cat

We didn’t shoot Hayley’s wedding this past weekend but we did get to shoot her bridal session in Charleston a few weeks ago. I have been SO excited to share these since we shot them. It was a beautiful day in one of our favorite cities and we had the most gorgeous bride…couldn’t ask for any more!! :)

This past weekend we had TWO weddings, so that means a double sneak peek! :)

Saturday was Beth & Mike’s wedding at Birkdale Golf Club:

Then Sunday was Daire & Rob’s wedding at Rumbling Bald Resort in Lake Lure:

I can’t wait to share more of these weddings!! They’ll be coming up soon :)

Jessica & JR’s wedding was SO fun and everyone was SO very nice to us. I got to see two more girls I went to high school with that were in the bridal party and it was just an all-around fun, relaxed evening. Both the ceremony and reception took place at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in downtown Mooresville :))

Cake: The Icing and the Cake

Catering: Nancy Brody

DJ: Split Second Sound

Hair: Megan Bayko

Jessica & JR; thank you SO much for letting us be part of your day!! :) We had a blast!

Just a few of our favorites from Daire’s bridal session :)

Melissa & Andy’s wedding was seriously one of our favorites to date. We both just loved how clean and classic it felt…everywhere we turned just oozed class and simplistic beauty. We also fell in love with the rich plum and cream color palette. Funny enough, we woke up this morning to see a similar color palette featured on Southern Weddings. How fitting!! :) Enjoy!!!

Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering: Charlotte City Club

Florals: Flowers from the Cellar

Cake: Wow Factor Cakes

Dress: Paloma Blanca purchased from Mecklenburg Bridal

Bridesmaids Dresses: Jenny Yoo

Band: Swinging Richards Band

Videographer: Vittorio Video Productions

Hair: Orange Olive Hair Gallery

Makeup: Ashley Looper for Mac

Groom’s attire: Jos. A Bank

These shoes?! I was SO in love! I actually almost got these for our own wedding before deciding on some sparkly Kate Spade flats instead :)

Melissa & Andy, thank you SO much for allowing us to be a part of your day!! We had a wonderful time! :))

Just a few from Jessica & JR’s Photo Booth :) Enjoy!!

A big huge thanks to Ami at Elizabeth Anne Designs for featuring Lauren & Jeff’s beautiful wedding today :) Go check out the entire feature HERE!!

Laura & Thomas are seriously 2 of the sweetest people we’ve ever met.We were so happy to be a part of their wedding day at Parkwood Baptist Church and the Mount Holly Citizen Center :)

Flowers: Carey Roberts

Cake: Splat Cakes ‘N Such

Dress: New York Bride and Groom

DJ: Ricky Collins

Videographer: Lovelace Productions

Hair: Melissa Petty

I do believe this was our biggest wedding party yet. 11 on each side! :)

Laura & Thomas did a first look in the church. I just think these are just the sweetest moments! I wish Matt and I had done one after seeing so many :)

Thomas sang Laura a song right after her dad handed her off. One of the cutest things we’ve ever seen :)

Congratulations you two! :)) We had a blast!

Just a few from Lauren & Matt’s wedding :) Much more to come!!

So, I haven’t posted a recipe this entire year, so far!! Oops! Last year, I was posting recipes all the time, but I guess we just got crazy busy this year and it’s fallen by the wayside. There were so many times over the summer, we thought “That would be a great recipe to share on the blog!” And then we just got slack. But we’re back with a really good one today.

If you know us, you know we frequent Panera A LOT. Probably, way too much even :) But one of our favorite things there is the broccoli cheddar soup. I found a recipe for it last year in my Food Network Magazine, and while ours doesn’t taste quite like Panera’s it’s still really yummy and not too hard to make!

Here is the link to the recipe: Almost-Famous Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I’ll walk you through how we did it and some of the shortcuts we took :) All in all this took about 1 hour and makes enough for 4 servings. Which means we’ll be enjoying some for lunch today! Oh, and we skip the bread bowl altogether. For the two of us eating dinner on the couch, ceramic bowls will do just fine :)

So the first thing to discuss is that we don’t have an immersion blender. And really, unless you’re an actual chef or really fancy…who does?! So I made sure to chop my carrot pretty fine so I won’t have to deal with big carrot chunks when it comes time to mash it at the end. ( Same with my onions which you can’t really see)

This is the butter and onion mixture- the first step in the recipe. I had a stick that was 5 tbsp so I just tossed it in and I didn’t miss that extra tbsp :)

I spent a little extra on organic chicken broth…Possibly silly, but I try to support the happy chickens when I can. When it comes to cheese, Matt’s favorite is Cabot. I got the mildest white cheddar I could find instead of the combination of white and yellow like the recipe says. Ours is a little tangier than if we used the yellow, but I didn’t want to buy two blocks of cheese :)

This is after step two; adding the flour. We’ve made a roux! You’ve got to keep the whisk going at this point so your mixture doesn’t stick.

After our roux is looking good, we added in our half-and-half and chicken broth

Then the nutmeg and bay leaves. Whatever you do, don’t skip that nutmeg!! It really adds a little something to the flavor.

After that cooked about 15 minutes and looked more like this, I added in my carrots which you cannot see- they sunk in :)

Then here’s where I really broke the rules. Instead of using fresh broccoli, I used steamer bag broccoli! I cooked it 3 minutes instead of the usual 5 so it didn’t get too soggy. I didn’t want it to cook all the way through anyway, so it was perfect. Soft, but needed a little extra cooking time. Be sure to strain it really well though if you do this because you certainly don’t want extra water in your soup!

Ok- breaking the rules again here. After about 20 more minutes, you’re supposed to use an immersion blender or blend in batches in a regular blender. The first time we made this we blended it in the blender and made the most catastrophic mess EVER. I avoided making this again for awhile because of it. So this time, we broke out our potato masher and just mashed it up. We had a chunkier soup that we both didn’t mind at all, and no big mess:))

And lastly…the cheese! If you don’t like tang, definitely do half yellow and half white. It will probably taste more like the original.

And done!! :) Seriously not that hard and no crazy ingredients to buy!

Good luck in your cooking!! Please let us know if you make it and what you think :)

I went a whole week with no blogging! Oops! I do have an excuse sort of….Matt had a small little oral surgery procedure last week so I’ve been spending my time doctoring him up and making lots of soup, mashed potatoes and any other soft foods I can think of :) This week we are back in action as we prepare to get completely slammed for the rest of the year! It’s going to be crazy but I’m looking forward to it. 7 weddings, 6 weeks…here we go!

Onto the real reason for today’s post though: Kristin & Matt :)

Kristin & Matt will be married next spring in an uptown wedding that we can’t wait for!  We did their engagement session around uptown as well in a  few of our favorite spots. Enjoy! :)

As of last Friday, I’ve been in my Uggs or wellies only and I’ve even broken out some scarves. YAY!! I know it gets to the 70′s in the middle of the day, but I like pretending :)

Matt has started to let me make soup too. I would eat soup all year round but he can’t do it when it’s hot out, so I’m super excited about that! We even have some chicken and dumplings in our near future :)

I’ve had two pumpkin spice lattes so far. So good!

Fall TV! It’s back!!! We don’t have cable  because we don’t have much time to watch it. So summer TV is pretty brutal on us as we count on the major network shows for entertainment. So far we’ve enjoyed Ringer,  Secret Circle, and Vampire Diaries last week. This week we’re looking forward to old favorites Grey’s Anatomy & Fringe. SO happy that good TV is back!

Even Gizmo decided it was time for his argyle sweater ;) Happy Fall week!!

Just wanted to share a few from Jessica & JR’s wedding this past weekend :) We are going to try and start posting a few from every wedding the week after. The first four are a couple of my favorites…

These next four are a couple of Matt’s favorites…

Much more to come in a full blog post soon!!! :))

Natalie & Jeremy were married at The Point a few weeks ago. Obviously, we always love shooting there and this was no exception! :) If you’re new to the blog, The Point is where Matt and I got married! It’s always fun to go back and be on the other side when we get the chance.

Natalie & Jeremy’s wedding was really fun and easy-going. They were both so chill and relaxed and their family and friends were so kind to us. Plus they used my most favorite color all throughout the wedding! Yay! :)

Hair & Makeup- Kymm McLean

Dress- Modern Trousseau purchased at Hayden Olivia ..see more of her gorgeous dress from her uptown bridal session :)

Bridesmaids Dresses- J.Crew

DJ- Z Brothers

Flowers- Farmer’s Market

Cake- The Point

Natalie and Jeremy chose to do a first look before the ceremony…LOVED this cute moment between them :)

I was so excited when I got back Natalie’s wedding worksheet and saw they were leaving on a boat…this was our first boat exit and it did not disappoint!

Hold on tight- HUGE baby post coming up ahead!  If you have the baby fever like me, you may not want to continue :)

Let me introduce you to Lucy. A few weeks ago, we went to visit little Lucy and her family at the beach. Lucy is the daughter of one of our best friends…and SUCH a cute and good baby! She’s very alert and smart for her little 3-month-old self :)

A few days after the beach, Lucy and her momma came to stay with us with for a night. We had a fun night of pizza, chatting, and playing with Lucy. The next morning we did a little shoot at our house. LOVE the way these turned out :)

And we got just a few of us with Lucy. Her momma actually left her with us all alone for a short bit!

Laura was married this past Saturday so I finally get to how off her bridal portraits! We shot these at Belmont Abbey College. It was the first time we had shot there and I loved it! Didn’t hurt that Laura is gorgeous and so super easy to photograph! :)

I have lots and lots to share this week including a bridal portrait, a wedding and cuter-than-ever baby! But first, just a couple from last night’s wedding :)

Hillary and Travis will be married next March at The Point!  We obviously can’t wait since we are just a little partial to their venue :) For their engagement session, we headed to Raleigh where they now live to do their shoot on the NC State golf course!

And although it was just a tad hot on their shoot day in August, they were such troopers and we had beautiful light all evening. Thank you guys for hanging in there with us in the heat and the weeds! :) Can’t wait for your wedding!!

I know it’s not really fall yet, but Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer. I hate to be a downer but good riddance to summertime! I will not miss you and your humidity and bugs and muggy weather for awhile :)

We have a crazy busy fall season ahead of us, but I’m ready! I’m so ready for the cooler weather. I’m ready to wear my boots (and not have people stare like today when I wore my rain boots to take Gizmo outside.) I’m way ready for the Pumpkin Spice Latte to hit Starbucks already. I heard rumor of them over the weekend, but the one I visited didn’t have it yet :(

And I’m ready to shoot all of our wonderful fall weddings and sessions and not have to bring my mosquito fan! Yay! Bring it on! :)

In other news, I’m finally back in action after my computer debacle! On Saturday we got the call that they replaced the hard drive, but that didn’t fix the problem. SO I got a whole new machine from the shiny new Apple Store at Northlake Mall! :)  A few things I learned through not having a computer for ELEVEN days…

1) I rely on my computer way more than I thought. I tried to get as much done as possible, but as I told Matt, I felt like I was living in someone else’s home when I was working on his computers.

2) Thank the LORD for ShootQ! I would have lost A LOT of information, email addresses etc if I didn’t have ShootQ.

3) I should have backed up my personal stuff :( Although I didn’t lose any client pictures or anything of great importance, I lost some personal stuff that I had been meaning to do something with, but kept putting it off. boo! Now I know better :)

4) I love my Macs! It was so easy to transfer everything over and get things back and running with the new machine. And I love easy things :)

Lastly, we got some pretty new DVD packaging from Kraft and Jute a couple of weeks ago! I love the way it turned out and they were great to work with! I mostly love not spending 30+ minutes making those jewel box cases anymore :)

Kate and Mike’s wedding at Davidson College Presbyterian Church was so very pretty. We just loved the fresh summery colors they picked, and the sweet, simplistic look of the wedding. These two actually attended and met at Davidson College several years ago! It was so fun to watch a couple get married on their college campus where they met and fell in love! :)

Reception: The Pewter Rose

Flowers: Ta-Da’s

Cake: Tizzerts

Dress: Mikaella, purchased at J. Major’s

Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew

Hair: Planet 21 Salon

Our third shooter for the day: Michelle Murchison

They chose to do a first look and it was SUCH a sweet moment :)

Kate and Mike- it was such a pleasure photographing your day! Best wishes to you both!! :)

Many thanks to Brooklyn Bride and Glamour and Grace for featuring two of our favorite engagement sessions from this year!!

Melissa and Andy’s Peach Orchard Session on Glamour and Grace

And Sara and George’s Uptown Engagement Session on Brooklyn Bride

Natalie & Jeremy were married Saturday at The Point! I’ve been really excited to share her bridal session since we shot it a few weeks ago in Uptown Charlotte. I was absolutely in love the moment I saw her dress. SUCH a fun dress to shoot! :) Doesn’t she just look stunning?!

Dress: Modern Trousseau purchased at Hayden Olivia

Hair and Makeup: Kymm McLean

Our first stop was The Fox and Hound- where Natalie and Jeremy met! :)

After we grabbed a few shots there, we headed off to a parking garage for a view of the city…

The past couple weeks, we’ve been very blessed to see some of our work featured on some great blogs!

This past Monday, Lauren and her beautiful magnolia bouquet was on Southern Weddings.

See the whole article here.

And last week, Shauna & Dan’s Ballantyne Hotel Wedding was featured on Wedding Row Charlotte.

Check out the full feature here

A very big THANK YOU to Wedding Row Charlotte and Southern Weddings for including our work!! :)

Lauren & Jeff’s wedding a few weeks ago, was such a fun one for us to shoot! We had such an amazing team of vendors to work with, and the whole wedding was beautiful from start to finish. It was so pretty, I had a very hard time narrowing down the pictures, so settle in for a long one! :)

Ceremony: St. Mark’s Catholic Church

Reception: The Peninsula Club

Wedding Planner: Favor Me Events

Cake: The Wow Factor Cakes

DJ: Split Second Sound

Videographer: Crown Alley Films

Florist: Carey Roberts Design Company

Dress: Vera Wang

Hair and Makeup: Kymm McLean

Our third shooter : Jere Dotten

Lauren & Jeff did a Polish money dance during the reception- something we had never seen before. Anne’s mom made the monogram bag for the money, which turns into a pillow case for the bride and groom! How cute?!

Lauren & Jeff- Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your day!! Best wishes to you guys! :)

Some of you may have noticed on our blog, our website, and our fancy new letterpress business cards, that we added a little piece to our logo that says, “Charlotte + Charleston” a few months ago. We haven’t gone into much explanation on it yet, so I guess now’s as good a time as any to explain what’s going on! :)

If you’ve been reading the blog awhile, you know it’s no secret that we want to start a family soon. And NO I’m not pregnant! Not yet :) But we’re already thinking ahead to what we want for our kid(s) and what kind of life we want him/her/them to have. And one of the most important things to us is for them (and us for that matter!) to be close to family.

A few weeks ago I did a post of my family who live down in Murrells Inlet, SC- about 1.5 hours from Charleston. And just this past week, my parents moved there as well! So a few months ago, we made the decision to branch out and start marketing to Charleston. Now just to be clear, we are still going full steam ahead in Charlotte, so nothing in Charlotte will change. But, we’re very excited to expand our business to a new market, not to mention one that happens to be one the prettiest Southern cities around! Ideally, we’d love to move there permanently within the next year or two and just travel back and forth to Charlotte, instead of the other way around like we’re doing now :)

And just FYI! For any Charleston work, we are not going to be charging any travel fees, as we’re considering it our second local market :)

SO…now that we’ve explained that, let’s get on to the pictures! After we left my family a few weeks ago, we headed down to Charleston for one night just for fun to hang out- just the two of us. And oh my goodness did we have fun!! It was our perfect kind of trip.

We stayed at an AWESOME hotel, called Restoration on King. I highly recommend it! As I understand it, the place was built as luxury condos but not enough sold, so they made it into a hotel! Now, it’s certainly a little pricey and was a splurge for us. But we believe in quality over quantity :) Thats’s the hotel, right above the Lucky Store on King St.

And this was our room! It truly was an entire apartment…

..with a big fancy kitchen and everything!

See that hallway? It led to the bedroom and bathroom which I sadly didn’t take a picture of. But the shower had not one but TWO shower heads! That’s how awesome it was :)

Since the Restoration on King was not meant to be a hotel, there’s no kitchen. But they still take your breakfast order that you put on your door at night, and get stuff from a local bakery and put it in this precious picnic basket and deliver it to your door! How cute!?

During our time there, we did a lot of walking around, taking photos for fun and eating of wonderful food. Just my kind of trip.

Don’t judge- It was HOT! :)

The day we left, we checked out of our hotel and went to visit Boone Hall Plantation before we headed home. SO pretty!! Shooting a wedding there would make me happy :)

Kayleigh & Frank are getting married next April at Seabrook Island Club just outside of Charleston. We are SO excited for their wedding! :) For their engagement session, we headed off to Atlanta where they live. The first location they picked was this really pretty, gigantic park a few blocks from their home. It was a like a miniature Central Park!

How cute is Kayleigh’s dress?! I loved the bright color!

They showed us this one part of the park that gave us this awesome view of part of the Atlanta skyline. Love these!

For our second location, they took us to a wine bar that they frequently visit. This was really fun for us to shoot as it was such a change of pace from what we usually shoot.

The image below is one of my favorites- It’s so different from what we usually shoot, but I just love the way it turned out!

Kayleigh & Frank- thanks for an awesome session! Can’t wait for your wedding!! :)

Just wanted to share a few of our favorites from Lauren & Jeff’s photo booth :)

And lastly- a little vendor fun from the photo booth!

Vinny from Split Second Sound, and Alan from Crown Alley Films

Our fabulous third shooter for the day, Jere! 1/2 of the photography team, Jere & Ashley

And us, with Anne from Favor Me Events

Jessica and JR are getting married next month here in Mooresville! We decided to shoot their engagement session at Beaver Dam, the Davidson greenway, and downtown Davidson- three of my favorite spots :)

And an interesting tidbit…Jessica and I actually went to high school together for one year- she was a senior when I was a tiny little freshman! :) It’s so crazy to be photographing her wedding so many years later!!

Thanks for a great shoot guys! Can’t wait for your wedding!! :)

Mindy and Travis are our first 2012 couple to hit the blog! :) They will be married next June, having their reception at Bentley’s- We can’t wait!!

They wanted to do their engagement session around the UNC campus, where Travis went to school. I had been around campus a time or two before but hadn’t spent that much time there before. It’s SUCH a pretty campus and gave us plenty of fun spots to shoot!

One of Mindy’s ideas was to shoot a few at this little cupcake bakery on Franklin St. I LOVED it! And she was so sweet she even bought us a cupcake! :)

Thank you guys for a great shoot and for the cupcake :) Can’t wait for your wedding!!

Lauren & Jeff were married on Saturday in a beautiful ceremony at St. Mark’s Catholic Church followed by a gorgeous Peninsula Club reception. More to come later on their wedding, but for now…Lauren’s bridals.

This just so happens to be one of our favorite sessions ever. I was SO in love with her dress and her two different looks she put together. We had such a fun time at the Duke Mansion with Anne from Favor Me Events and Lauren’s mom…we could have seriously just stayed all night shooting her! :)

Hair and Makeup: Kymm McLean

Daire and Rob are getting married in Lake Lure in October. We shot their engagement session in Raleigh at two very cool locations that I loved.  We started at NC State where they both went for college…and where Daire majored in Fashion- just like me! :)) First stop… the free expression tunnel on campus. I LOVED all the colors in these next few shots in the tunnel.

Little know tidbit…I actually attended NC State for all of one semester :) This was the first time I’d gone back since my last exam many years ago!

After shooting around the campus for awhile, we headed to the NC Museum of Art. I LOVED this location! It was so fun to have some different scenery, since we shoot around so many of the same places here in Charlotte :)

Thanks for a great session guys! Can’t wait for your wedding!! :)

We photographed Megan & Scott right around this time last year…and now they’ve added the cutest baby ever to their family-Baby Maddie! We did their family session around Downtown Concord and also Memorial Gardens in Concord. Enjoy! :)

Right now, I’m sipping on some peach tea from The Charleston Tea Plantation that I swiped from our hotel last week. And missing our vacation big time! Last week, we took a a little trip to SC- It was WONDERFUL and much needed. For two days, we visited my brother, sister-in-law and nieces in Murrell’s Inlet. Then we spent a day in Charleston- more to come on that later :)

But first let me introduce you to the stars of today’s post! In the above photo, Scarlett is on the left, and Vlada is on the right. We followed them around and captured a full day in the life- something we’ve always wanted to do with a family and kids. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for letting us use their girls as our guinea pigs! :))

Kerri & Manning are just two of the sweetest people ever. I even have proof! At some point in the wedding day, Kerri’s mom handed me an envelope and when I opened it a couple hours later, it was a “Thank you for being our Photographer” card! How sweet is that?? I had no idea they made such a card, but now I have one of our very own :)

Enjoy some of our favorites from their Rock Barn Wedding :)

The groom is a big Red Sox fan…get it?! :)

After the wedding, they had TOMS for the whole wedding party…

Kerri &  Manning did a Cheerwine Toast because her dad is from Salisbury! How cute?!

Kerri & Manning-thank you SO much for allowing us to capture your day. It was such a pleasure working with you both! Best wishes! :)

Graham & Samantha are our buddies from Justin & Mary’s Walk Through a Wedding Workshop. The four of us were models for the workshop back in March- Matt and I were the bride and groom, and Graham and Samantha were our best man and maid of honor :) We had such a fun time getting to know them that day, so I was SO thrilled when I got an email from Graham asking if we were available to come shoot their rehearsal dinner!!  Luckily we were and we got to spend a tiny bit of their wedding weekend with them!

These two are also really great photographers based in the Raleigh/Chapel Hill area. Go check them out!

Venue: The Farm

Band: Swift Creek

This was the first time we’d ever photographed other photographers- I must say, I was a little nervous! But they made it so easy :)

Graham & Samantha- thank you SO much for asking us to come photograph your rehearsal dinner! It was such a pleasure, and it was GREAT seeing you both again and meeting your families! :))

Jamey & Chris were married at Pine Island Country Club a few weeks ago. We had never shot there before until the wedding, and I have to say- the staff and everyone there was SO nice to us!

This was such a fun wedding to shoot- Everything coordinated PERFECTLY! I loved that the color scheme was carried throughout everything. Makes for an easy job for me :)

Jamey & Chris- thanks you so much for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day!! Best wishes to you guys!! :)

Natalie and Jeremy are getting married next month at The Point, which is also where we decided to start their engagement session! I felt SO bad, because as we left our house, the skies started to look pretty nasty. We thought maybe it would pass over, but literally as soon as I raised my camera to take the first shot, I felt a rain drop. Shortly after, the skies opened up!!

They were such troopers though, and let us shoot them for awhile under a covering by one of the buildings :)

We finally got a little break so we could come out into the pretty cobblestone streets…

And then it started to rain again! :( So we headed to our second location and when we got there, had a little bit of clear weather…

After a few photos outside, we headed into the barn we where we were doing the rest of the shoot.

So, 2 days before their session, Matt had this crazy idea that we could use our string lights from our wedding INSIDE the barn. I thought he was nuts! But we talked to my Dad who said he could make it work, and lo and behold….

Natalie & Jeremy- thanks for putting up with our crazy ideas!! Can’t wait for your wedding!!

Mom & Dad-thanks for stringing the lights and running them off your car! :)

Someone is ready to go the the lake this weekend!!
And, as you can see, he is THRILLED with his new life jacket ;)

Oh well, he’s going to have to tough it out, because this weekend we head to the lake for a little much needed R & R! And maybe possibly a stop at a certain outlet that starts with J. and ends with CREW!! :))

We’ll be back on Sunday night, but in the meantime will have limited access to phone and internet, so if you call or email, we’ll get back with you Monday!

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!

Elizabeth & Chris’ wedding at the Point stirred up lots of memories for us. It was almost 13 months to the day from our wedding, that we were back and on the other side of the camera! And I have to say…we LOVED shooting there. It feels a little like home, compared to the other venues in town :)

LOVED Elizabeth’s dress from NY Bride & Groom

Beautiful cake by Karen’s Cakes.

Peonies are my FAVORITE bouquet flower :)

So this was a first for us- the fire alarm went off in the middle of the ceremony!! Thankfully it wasn’t a super loud one, it didn’t last very long, and Elizabeth and Chris laughed it off :)

That looks familiar! :)

Congratulations you guys!! Thank you for letting us capture your day!! :)

The past two weeks have been NUTS! I have SO much editing ahead of me, I gotta get to it. Thankfully July is looking like it’s going to go easy on us- praise God!! I need the break for sure!

Here’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to:

Two weeks ago, we drove to Chapel Hill for Graham & Samantha’s rehearsal dinner. Do they look familiar?! If you’re my facebook friend, then they just might…The four of us were models for the Walk Through a Wedding Workshop last March in Charlotte!

The next day was Kerri & Manning’s Wedding. How much do I LOVE the matching TOMS ?? :)

The next day was this cute little family with their new addition, Maddie!

A few days later, we were back in the car, headed to Raleigh for Daire & Rob’s engagement session at NC State and the NC Museum of Art.

A few days after that, it was back to Chapel Hill for Mindy and Travis’ engagement session at UNC…with cupcakes!! :)

And then yesterday, we got to stay close to home! We shot Jessica and JR’s engagement session around Davidson and Beaver Dam.
Interesting tidbit: Jessica and I went to high school together!

We are sooo excited that Lindsay and Andrew’s Rocky River Vineyard wedding is featured in the newest Charlotte Wedding Magazine! Be sure to check it out :)

Big thanks to everyone at Charlotte Wedding! :)

Lauren & Ryan were married on Memorial Day weekend in Lake Lure, NC.  Their ceremony was held under an outdoor gazebo overlooking the mountains and the lake- SO pretty! They had their reception at the Lake Lure Inn & Spa- which turned out to be great venue! The staff and everyone at the Inn were wonderful to us, and it’s a gorgeous location as well. Hope you enjoy a few of our favorites from the day!

The little gazebo in the corner is where the ceremony was held!

Lauren & Ryan, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your day!! We had a GREAT time at your wedding!! :)

Kerri and Manning were married on Saturday, so I finally get to show her bridal portraits! These were taken around Davidson at Bradford Store & Beaver Dam. Enjoy!

We have been wanting to get some letterpress cards for awhile now, but just never got around to it! So finally in May, we bit the bullet and did it. Matt designed these, with the help of the wonderful folks at Dolce Press, and we got them in last week! I love the way they turned out!! :)

Each card got edge coloring- LOVE!

Shauna & Dan were married a few weeks ago at St. Matthews Catholic Church, with a beautiful reception following at The Ballantyne Hotel. We had SO much fun at their wedding! Dan is a doctor and Shauna is a nurse- the met in the ER at the hospital where they work! I just can’t help but think of Grey’s Anatomy every time I think of these two. They assured me their life is not quite like the show, but it’s all I can imagine! :) Shauna & Dan- Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ceremony: St. Matthews Catholic Church
Reception: Ballantyne Hotel
Flowers: The Place For Flowers
Cake: Ballantyne Hotel
DJ: Split Second Sound
Videographer: Crown Alley Films
Hair: All About You

Shauna & Dan, best wishes to you both! It was SUCH a pleasure working with you!! :)

TWO posts in one day?! Yes, I am because I have a lot to blog this week! So I may as well get started now :)

Before we got all outdoorsy yesterday, we had a full shooting weekend, with a wedding on Saturday, and an engagement session on Sunday. Here are a few previews of what’s coming up!

Jamey & Chris’ Wedding at Pine Island Country Club

And Natalie & Jeremy’s Engagement Session: