I have been waiting for this day ever since I met with Sam and John a full year ago! These two are the absolute sweetest, and they are getting married tomorrow at one of the prettiest locations, Shoemaker Homestead. Shawn and I got the pleasure to see their gorgeous wedding location during their engagement session, and I was just blown away. There are horses, a beautiful barn and gardens that have the most colorful flowers. If you want to check out their full engagement session feel free to head over to their original blog post. It is truly going to be amazing to see this homestead all ready for Sam and John to be married. Tomorrow is going to look like it's totally out of a magazine! Getting to know these two and their location over the course of their e-session was one of my greatest joys. It really did make this waiting game for tomorrow almost impossible. Leading up to this day, I do have to mention how incredibly organized Sam has been as a bride. I mean, she has been on top of her timeline and her family group shots, which is rare. It's been a total dream to have this super sweet bride keep us in the loop with everything. We get to attend and shoot a little bit of their rehearsal tonight, and I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am to see these two again and meet their families! If their families are...

This blog has been such a long time coming. I have been wanting to formally introduce our dog, Pony, for a while now. I'm kind of glad I waited, though, because over the past 7 months we have gotten to know all of his goofy quirks and build up a semi-obsessive photo collection of him.  We adopted Pony (formally known as Indie) from a wonderful organization called PapAdopters. Our journey to puppy-hood was not easy, because we fell in love with a dog on the opposite side of the country. Shawn and I had always said "we'll get a dog when we have a house", but that never stopped us from Internet window shopping different local rescue sites, or making lists of what the perfect dog would be. While Internet looking, I came across Indie's photo. Something inside me just knew, and as soon as I showed Shawn, he knew as well: this was our dog. Reading what he had been through was heart-breaking. Indie was a 2 year old Papillon mix from California. The organizers at PapAdopters told us that they believe he was in a hoarding situation with almost 200 other dogs. He was malnourished, dirty, and his tail was stained yellow from having to sit in his own mess. Our hearts broke for him and I cried after hearing all that had happened to him since no animal should suffer through that. We carefully filled out the application, and heard back the next day...

Shawn and I finished August with April and Corey's Alice in Wonderland inspired wedding at Liriodendron Mansion. It was a breathtaking day, and most of the decor for the day was made by April, which was even more amazing. On top of the Wonderland details there was a huge surprise for their guests during the ceremony when a live hawk flew in and delivered their wedding rings! I had been looking forward to their wedding day since I met these two last Fall for their engagement session, and I knew then that they are the perfect pair. Getting to read their engagement story just solidified that thought even more "Corey knows I have a love for animals. One day he took me to the Maryland zoo in Baltimore and surprised me by telling me that we were going on a behind the scenes tour of the penguin exhibit! We were able to go in the penguin exhibit and be surrounded by dozens of curious penguins. The zoo keeper giving us the tour asked if we wanted a picture, which we definitely did! So when we got together to take the photo Corey got down on one knee and proposed. Of course I said YES!!! Even the penguins were excited for us; both Corey and I got little nibbles on the leg from our penguin audience!" How adorable! April and Corey are two of the sweetest people with the biggest hearts. I loved getting to know them and...

On Friday, Shawn and I photographed Melissa and Joe's "Christmas in July" wedding at The Mansion at Valley Country Club. It may have been a hot July day outside, but as soon as we stepped into the mansion it was a cool December evening. Melissa and Joe's guests were blown away at the attention to detail and many mentioned that all that was missing was snow. One of my absolute favorite details from their wedding was their guest book: their amazing florist (Raise Your Glass Event) set up a full Christmas tree in the foyer outside the ballroom with some red and white Christmas bulbs, markers, and hooks set up along side it. Guests were instructed to take a bulb, write their well wishes for the happy couple on it, and then hang it on the Christmas tree. By the end of the night, all that was needed were Christmas gifts for Melissa and Joe's daughter, Eleanora, to open :P. I am absolutely ecstatic to be sharing some of the wonderful images from their day. It is a wedding that Shawn and I will both remember for a lifetime. Thank you to Joe, Melissa, and Eleanora for allowing us to capture your beautiful day!   ______________________________________________________________________________ Melissa's mother made the cake and the delicious smell filled the entire mansion! So good! After their first dance, Joe and Melissa brought their daughter out to the dance floor :) A nice sweet cake cutting and then.... A second round of...

On Sunday, Shawn and I traveled to the Shoemaker Homestead in Taneytown, Maryland for Samantha and John's wonderfully rustic engagement session! It was quite possibly the hottest day of the summer thus far, but that didn't stop these love birds from wrapping each other in sweet hugs. I was able to get glimpse of what their wedding day will be like since Shoemaker Homestead is where these two will be exchanging vows and dancing into the night. It is a breathtakingly gorgeous location and Laura, the owner, is as sweet as can be. I cannot imagine a more perfect place for Samantha and John to be married! Samantha and John both attended York College in Pennsylvania where they actually were neighbors for a bit. However, it wasn't until they ran into each other in Baltimore that they started talking and eventually dating. Being so close to one another, but never even realizing it until your paths cross in some fateful way, is really an amazing thing. I adore when love stories begin before either person even realizes it!   ...

The morning of Hannah and Terry's engagement session was absolutely gorgeous. The sun covered the entire venue in a beautiful gold, which made every corner of Emory Grove breathtaking! The greatest part was that Emory Grove is where Hannah and Terry are going to be having their wedding. It was such a special morning and seeing these two in their wedding element just made me even more excited for their big day. I'm fairly certain that I hit a new record in awwing, which I'm sure everyone will be doing when they get a glimpse of Hannah and Terry's adorableness. These two are just too cute, and I adore the way they both look at each other. Their moments together during the session were so sweet and genuine that I was constantly doing internal happy dances, haha! I cannot wait for their September wedding! :D   ...

At the end of August I had the great pleasure of photographing Jillian and Jack's wedding. It was such an amazing day with this beautiful couple, and I am so happy that I got to capture these special moments for them. These two truly compliment each other so well, and one of the sweetest moments was when Jack saw Jillian coming down the aisle. Seeing his eyes well up with tears and excitement took this wedding to a totally different level. There was not a dry eye in the church when these two were announced as husband and wife. Even nature decided to shed some happy tears! There were a ton of precious moments during this wedding, especially during Jillian's dad's speech to the newlyweds, which I couldn't help but tear up. The amount of love that was incorporated into this day was one of the most beautiful things I have seen and I am so excited to be sharing some of these special memories! Jillian and Jack, I'm so happy that I was able to be apart of your special day. Your love is an amazing thing and I know you guys are going to have a wonderful life together! :D   ______________________________________________________________________________ Watching Jack and the rest of the guys cross the street with my second shooter (and husband) Shawn! Commencing the pocket square challenge While the guys came back to the hotel and hid, Jillian had her amazing first look with her dad :'D. Then the...

I adore these photos. These two women are the best. It was so easy to photograph them because they just make each other so incredibly happy. I'm pretty sure all I did this whole session was smile after every click. Their session was my first one in DC and I do not think we could have had a better time. We didn't get chased off any monuments, we had a squirrel audience, and we checked out the Library of Congress - an all around fantastic first shoot in the city! The squirrel was literally the most entertaining animal I've ever seen - it was so interested in what we were doing that I thought for a second it was going to climb up Jenny's leg for a close-up view of their posing. Thank goodness that it didn't, but I did get some pretty funny shots to remember the moment by :P.   ______________________________________________________________________________ ...

When I crossed the bridge into Chestertown, MD I was transported to a place I was not expecting. Washington College is set among a quaint little town right on the water with sailboats and fishing happening all around. I passed little shops and many people out and around a little fountain in the heart of the town. The campus is made up of classic architecture, which fit the name of the president the college represented. I understood why Thomas and Jessica picked the school that they attended to be the backdrop for their engagement session. Thomas and Jessica are not just normal alumni, that graduate and never look back, they told me facts about the campus and stories of their time there and really showed me how much they loved the school they hailed from. I enjoyed listening to all of their stories while they giggled to each other and made silly faces at one another. As the sun set, they showed me an area away from the campus that had views of the beautiful water. As I was snapping my last few images a lone, colorful, sailboat wandered into the shot. Perfect. Thomas and Jessica, you both have so much love for each other and I can't wait to celebrate that in just a couple months! ...

On June 1st, I had the pleasure of traveling up to Massachusetts to meet Lindsay and Stephanie and shoot their engagement photos. I had been in contact with them for a few months, but we had never gotten a chance to meet because of the distance in our home states. When my assistant (my fiance :P) and I arrived at their house (that they so graciously opened to us) I felt like I had known these two for years. They are absolutely wonderful and two of the nicest people I think I could ever have the chance to meet. For their engagement session, they had two locations planned out, the first was very close to their wedding venue in Bradley Palmer State Park. The park was gorgeous, vibrant, and the sun coming through the trees just made everything so warm and comforting. After about an hour at the park we ventured to our second location, which was Crane Beach on Crane Estates. The beach was absolutely fantastic! The weather was clear and perfect, the crowds were not overbearing and there was this great mansion on a beautiful green hill in the background. I cannot thank Lindsay and Stephanie enough for allowing me to shoot their engagement photos. If this was any indication of how their wedding is going to go, well, I am ecstatic and looking forward to their wedding more than anything else!     ...