A Wedding at Silverbrook Farm

This past weekend I had the honor and privilege of documenting the wedding of Elizabeth Blair and David Kowalewski. Silverbrook Farm is a beautiful setting for a wedding. It is near Purcellville, Virginia about 30 minutes away from Washington DC. You would never guess the city is so close, because it is so peaceful out there. I drove up on Friday morning and the traffic was so bad I didn't quite make it to the rehearsal. I normally attend all rehearsals to get an idea of what is going to happen on the day of the wedding. I do not like surprises! I arrived out at the farm about 11:00 on Saturday morning and had a good look around the farm. I had been up there in March to shoot Dave and Beth's engagement photos but nothing was blooming and it was a misty rainy day. What a difference a few months and some sunshine makes! Dot Shetterly (the owner) had done an outstanding job bringing the farm to life with lots of flowers. It was beautiful. There was a threat of thunderstorms but they held off until after the ceremony. The ceremony was quite beautiful with Dave and Beth taking their vows overlooking the valley and mountains. The rain held off until the reception which was under a tent and the thunderstorms just skirted around us so we didn't have to worry about running from lightning. It actually was quite perfect, it rained just enough to give Dave and Beth a rainbow. It was quite faint - but it was a rainbow! Dave and Beth are a great couple. They were up for anything - including climbing into an old antique tub for pictures in the outdoor bathroom. Yep, that's what I said - the outdoor bathroom. Not to be confused with an outhouse - it was a quaint little area of the farm and has a working shower and tub. Dave and Beth - I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon!

Meredith and Derek's Wedding

On Saturday, I was there to witness and document the marriage of Meredith and Derek Price. It was a beautiful wedding. The ceremony was held at Freemason Baptist Church in Norfolk. We then headed over to the Ladies Shrine off Woodlake Drive in Chesapeake for the reception. The ceremony was sweet and one of the flower girls and one of the ring bearers cracked everyone up by picking up the rose petals on the way to their seats. The reception was decorated beautifully and the guests had lots of fun dancing and of course eating. The cake was beautiful and most importantly tasted quite yummy! Meredith and Derek, I hope you enjoy your "sneak peak".

My Beautiful Daughter

I do a lot of photo sessions but I also make time to do photo sessions with my own kids whenever I get the chance. My daughter is a dancer - a beautiful dancer. What mother wouldn't say that though? But, I give you the proof -

Charles and Yemzie

I had a blast with this couple on Monday night.  They were introduced to me by one of my previous brides, Ahisha Gore, who is now a wedding coordinator (signaturesofelegance.com).  Ahisha came along on the shoot and we absolutely had a fantastic time.  The weather was beautiful and Charles and Yemzie were awesome to work with.  Their wedding is in August and it promises to be quite the event!

A Real American Hero

I don't think George would like the title of this post because it might embarass him but he is truly a hero to me and probably any one else who has met him.  I went to Annapolis, Maryland  this past Saturday for a very special portrait session.  Back in March, a couple of weeks after my husband returned from being deployed on the USS George Washington, I got a letter from a girl who saw my website and found out about Oplove Reunited through my website.  She was sad that she didn't know about it sooner to have pictures of her family taken before her husband left for Iraq.  He had just returned from Iraq and she was asking if I would consider coming up there to do a session and if not, could I recommend someone. Brad and I had been to Annapolis a few years ago for a wedding at the Naval Academy and we loved it so I told her I would definitely think about it, Brad and I are usually up for a road trip. At that point she wrote to me and told me a little bit more about their family and George's time in Iraq.  After hearing their family's story there was no way I wasn't going up there to meet this young family and do a session for them as a small token of my appreciation for their military service.  And, yes, I said THEIR military service.  George spent 15 months in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Infantry, but Carolyn spent 15 months at home with a baby keeping "the home fires burning".  Carolyn's desire was to have some nice pictures of their 3-year old son with George in his dress uniform so Zach would know how special his dad is.  Even without all the military background this family is super special.  I had a great time with them and it was well worth the drive up there.  I won't go into details here because I don't think that Carolyn and George would want me to, but just be assured the man is a hero and I really wish our children today were growing up with pictures of heroes like him plastered on their walls instead of pictures of sports and entertainment stars.  Men like George are the ones who deserve to have their pictures on children's walls!  (Click on the picture and you can see a larger version)