Janaye & Brady - Woodville, TX Wedding Photography

As always, I love a wedding I get to travel for! Janaye and Brady's was especially fun because I got to see a few friends from way back when AND I also returned to the great state of Texas (which, if you know me, you know I love.) Admittedly, my love of Texas derives not only from the sense of nostalgia it brings (I grew up there) but more importantly, the FOOD! Driving the two hours from the Houston airport to the small town of Woodville, I stopped at an exit with a Whataburger AND a Taco Cabana. Ah! Decisions, decisions!

But anyway, back to the wedding.... Janaye and Brady are so freakin' cute together it's crazy. They share something special I don't see in just every couple, and their excitement for the day was contagious! Did I mention easy to photograph? They pretty much just posed themselves - everything was very natural, and I hope that shows in the photos.

I was nervous about shooting this wedding, because Janaye is the sister of my friend and fellow professional photographer Stacie Tatum - she does really AWESOME work so I felt like I had a lot of expectations to meet (especially after seeing Janaye and Brady's engagement photos she shot).

Nerves aside, the wedding was lot of fun because it was the second Danley wedding for me. I also photographed Janaye's sister Lera three years ago in Idaho. (If you've seen my wedding party jumping shot against the blue sky, then that's the wedding I'm talking about.) I felt a little like the "family photographer" which was pretty cool, because people remembered me and I remembered them.

Janaye and Brady were such great sports - they even climbed up a ladder to sit at the top of a barn for photos. And that makes for a good wedding. What else can I say?

Matt & Kyle - EnGAYgement

The "fun factor" of this session did not disappoint. These guys told me they would be my guinea pigs and were up for anything, and I have to say I definitely took advantage of that statement! Since they didn't have any locations around here with any particular special meaning, I suggested we go to Sykesville, MD. I'd driven through Sykesville earlier in the month and was simultaneously intrigued and charmed by the town. I scouted online for few locations prior to the session, and even made a new Flickr friend who helped me with some ideas and directions.

I guess you could call this the session gone wrong, but in the end, it all worked out beautifully.

For starters, we almost rescheduled because it was raining on and off all week, but decided to just go for it, clouds and all.

Driving there, I had a blowout and ended up on the side of the highway with a flatter-than-flat tire. (You should have seen the size of the hole in that thing!) I called Matt and Kyle and they very generously offered to drive back - they were 10 miles ahead of me - and help me change it.

(Side note here so I don't seem like a completely wimpy girl: I know how to change a tire, I was just physically unable to get the lug nuts off.)

At this point, a very nice man stopped to help me (if I knew your name I would write you a thank-you note!) and I was on my way again in under 15 minutes. Matt and Kyle kindly followed me the remaining distance, which was a laborious process since I couldn't drive over 50 mph on my spare.

So we got a little bit of a late start, and I was a little dirty, but none the worse for the wear. Sykesville has this super-cool old abandoned blue caboose on the tracks behind the train station and it was awesome for texture and color! We started there and then walked a little farther down the tracks to see what we would find.

Turns out it was a snake.

I've never seen anyone move quite as fast as Matt did to avoid that snake. Ha! I only wish I had been quick enough to snap a photo of that. (In my defense, I'm not sure they make shutter speeds that fast.)

Aside from the minor setbacks and strange looks from the townspeople, we had a great time and I think the photos really reflect that. I'm really looking forward to shooting Matt and Kyle's wedding in September!

Kristen & John - Overhills Mansion Wedding Photography

I think it was last November or December when Kristen and her mom contacted me about shooting Kristen's May wedding. I remember it quite clearly because it was one of the first meetings I had after deciding to actually put some money into advertising and marketing my business. Up until that point, I was relying on word of mouth (a great technique, but not so effective when you have just moved to a new city). They commented repeatedly about the impression my photos left, saying how striking and different they were from everyone else's. I can't tell you how encouraging that was! As a photographer, I constantly struggle with questioning my own abilities as they stack up against others. And it's always been my goal to strive for a little uniqueness in my photos, so it was definitely a well-placed comment at a much-needed time for me. Kristen and her mother earned a special place in my heart after that meeting, so by the time the wedding rolled around, I was pretty excited!

Also, a big thanks to Odil Ruzaliev for helping me out as a second photographer. He was so generous with his time and I'm super impressed with the images he got!

It's hard to tell the story of a wedding day in ten photos, but here ya go:

Monica and Marcus - Engagement

I met Monica and Marcus in Baltimore's Inner Harbor for their engagement session on what was probably the windiest day of the year! Fortunately, they were both great sports and didn't complain at all. It often took waiting a few minutes for the wind to die down before I could grab the shot I wanted, but all in all, I think things worked out pretty well!

I especially enjoyed this session because Monica and Marcus are fellow Texans! (I don't know that's proper terminology for me anymore since I haven't lived there in five years, but I think I'll always feel a kinship with Texas.) They are both from Dallas, and even brought along their Cowboys jerseys for a few photos.

To see more photos from the session, visit my flickr page.

Anna & David - Brookside Gardens Wedding Photography

I absolutely loved this session! Anna and David were so great to work with, and totally up for whatever I suggested. I was introduced to them back in January, when I met David's brother and fiance to talk about their upcoming May wedding. Although the brother and fiance didn't end up booking me, Anna and David did. The unique part? They're already married! The biggest regret from their wedding day three years ago was not paying a professional photographer to take pictures. So we picked a date, they put their wedding clothes back on, and we went to Brookside Gardens for some nice post-wedding wedding photos. Anna even bought flowers and re-created a bouquet for herself and a boutonniere for David. Pretty impressive!

  

Lisa & Nate - Wrightsville Beach Wedding Photography

Beach wedding!! I love photographing at the beach - especially when it's for an awesome couple like Lisa and Nate. Lisa's family and my family go way back, although I haven't seen them in probably over a decade. After reconnecting on Facebook, I was super excited when they hired me to photograph their wedding in Wrightsville Beach, NC. I flew down the day before the wedding, which was great because that extra day gave me the opportunity to get reacquainted and snap some awesome candids that really captured Lisa and Nate's personalities. Instead of just showing up the day of the event, I was able to be a part of all the weekend's festivities AND enjoy a little sun and sand. :)

I love this photo -  it's my desktop background right now!
 

Check out the awesome flowers at this wedding - they were all so fresh and colorful. Beautiful flowers by June did a great job, and she was so sweet to work with too!

To see a different selection of photos, visit my Flickr page.

Custom Wedding Invitations? Yes, please!

So if you've got all these beautiful engagement photos and you're not too sure what to do with them, consider letting me design your custom wedding invitations. You can have something completely unique and original for a very affordable price! I'm a big fan of incorporating photographs into all parts of your wedding, so I'm more than happy to help you make this happen. Even if you don't know where to start, talk to me and we'll work up a rough draft you can make changes to.

Prices:
5x7 size, set of 50 (includes envelopes): $125
5x7 size, set of 100 (includes envelopes): $175
5x7 size, set of 150 (includes envelopes): $220