Weddings are almost always viewed as the beginning of a beautiful life with your partner. It's exciting and special, and most of the time our imaginations build a spectacular day full of sparkle. But our imagination rarely takes into account the stress leading up to the day or the cost of that dream wedding. Both stress and money together can lead to a lot of heartbreak throughout the planning process if you aren't well equipped. Tonight's blog is about strategies to remaining sane when you are in the thick of planning. A few of our brides touched on this topic, and I found it fascinating how each couple dealt with things differently. From organizing finances to just remaining calm, the advice in this installment is very unique to the couple that wrote it. I must say, though, one of the common factors across the board is that at the end of the day you are marrying your perfect person. Even if the cake gets dented, or there is an accident which backs up traffic and delays your wedding, you still get to say "I do" and start your new beginning.   April & Corey "Really consider your dream wedding plans. It's so easy to feel pressured to find things that fit your theme, but really think about it because halfway through the planning process that probably won't matter to you anymore. Really all that matters is marrying the person you love."  ...

If rain on the wedding day is lucky, than a hurricane on your wedding day must give you luck for this lifetime and the next! Rain and wind aside, this beautiful fall wedding took place at Celebrations at the Bay in Pasadena, Maryland. The decor of the wedding was -- fittingly -- nautical with the main color being navy blue and pops of orange showing up in the flowers, centerpieces, and Josh's ring. The storm brewing outside, in a weird way, added an extra layer of excitement to this bayside wedding. Shawn and I had the best time watching everything come together perfectly for these two. They were surrounded by so many great people, and their bridal party was incredibly fun and kept the couples' minds off the weather. The affectionate term for the day became #StillJoaquinDownTheAisle, haha! I loved capturing their day and I'm still blown away by how gorgeous Jaclyn's dress looked, how touching her dance with her dad was, and how much fun Josh had learning the Whip and Nae Nae.   ______________________________________________________________________________ All of the amazing vendors that made this day the best day ever! Ceremony & Reception Venue: Celebrations at the Bay Caterer: Uptown Catering Florist: Rose Squatrito  Makeup: Valerie Hammer Hair: Sally Canterna DJ: Dave from Event Entertainment Dress, Designer: David's Bridal Tuxes: Men's Wearhouse ...

I met with April and Corey in October to go over some of the details of their August wedding. In just one meeting I could tell that they were one of the loveliest couples I've had the pleasure of meeting. They had a few places planned out for a shoot, and the two that we decided to go to were Federal Hill and Patterson Park. I had shot at Federal Hill a couple times, but I hadn't ever had a session at Patterson Park, so I was pretty thrilled. We started just before sunrise at Federal Hill and this was the morning to be out in Baltimore. The clouds were amazing, and it stayed dark long enough that the lights of the city lit up the background. Don't even get me started about the color of the sky: it was perfect! Since we were out so early, there was barely any traffic and no crowds, so we had the location to ourselves. We stayed at Federal Hill for about an hour and took full advantage of the city overlook and the beautiful fall colored trees. Our next location was Patterson Park, which was easy to get to at 7:30 am. This park was wonderful for a morning session. The only people that were out were joggers and dog walkers - people that speed out of frame quickly and people with adorable puppies. April had looked up some facts about the park, so as we walked she talked about some...

A few weeks ago I traveled up to Mount Airy for Jessica and Thomas's wedding! I was super excited and had been looking forward to it since the day I met with them way back in May (before I even knew if I passed their interview process :P). The day started at a salon on the main street of the town, where the girls were getting even more beautified than they were naturally. Jessica was mostly calm, except for occasionally showing her excitement with a huge smile and a laugh with her girls. I don't know how she got through the day without being stressed out at all! It certainly helped that the day ran incredibly smoothly, since both Jessica and Thomas had everything timed and organized perfectly. Before the ceremony, Jessica and Thomas did a first look that was accompanied by the wedding party and most of their family. It was and incredible build-up, with people were cheering and laughing and shouting when Jess was near, Thomas was turning around, when the big reveal finally happened. Just typing it makes me giddy all over again! During the ceremony, the sun created a gorgeous pink and orange sky, and there was plenty of laughter, as well as emotional readings from both the bride and groom's mothers. It was only the ceremony, and the day already felt like it couldn't get any better. But there was still the night-time photo session! After some wonderful buffet selections (quesadillas, meatballs, and 7...