It’s always exciting to see one of my favorite weddings on a great local blog like District Weddings!
Becky + Harry’s gorgeous and elegant spring wedding at the Fairmont Washington was featured this week. Check it out here and you can also peek back at my full blog post. Happy almost one year anniversary to this wonderful couple.
In my many years as a wedding photographer, one thing I have not done is a year end round up of my favorite wedding photographs. It’s a new year so I thought I’d start it off right but trying something new!
I decided to make the task even harder by limiting each wedding (that was allowed to appear online) to five images. These are often my favorites or ones that I may have overlooked in previous blog posts. As hard as it is to narrow down each wonderful day into so few images, it was great fun to look back over the past year and the great couples I had the pleasure to work with.
Here are the full blog posts from each of the weddings below but enjoy the five images I’ve chosen from each! And stay tuned later in the week for part two from the second half of 2016.
Meredith + Lindsay at the Park Hyatt in Washington, DC
Becky + Harry at The Fairmont Washington DC
Brenden + Sarah at Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicott City, Maryland
Kate + Justin at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland
Brandi + Mike’s Georgetown DC elopement
Scott + Chris at Meridian House Washington, DC
Alicia + Chris at Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA
How appropriate was it that Ali + Peter’s wedding fell on a World Cup soccer Saturday? Ali is the JV soccer coach at my daughter’s high school and runs a successful soccer coaching business. And it was definitely the first time I saw a bride (and her bridesmaids) kick around a soccer ball to relax before the day’s festivities. I really loved working with Ali and Peter and their families. In particular, it was such a joy to watch Ali’s closeness with her mom Wendy. Sometimes weddings put stress on even the closest family ties but it was evident from the moment I walked into the hotel suite as Ali was getting ready that she and her mom are best friends. The Fairmont was the perfect backdrop for their ceremony. It was gorgeous and sunny outside for their first look and portraits and then elegant and classic for their evening ceremony under a chuppah with a chandelier. I loved the Seinfeld references throughout the night—both in the ceremony and toasts, and the popcorn bar was a huge hit. The dance floor overflowed, even until the last dance. I don’t always stay until the very end but I’m so glad I did. The photos start to get pretty interesting by the end of the evening…And a special shout out to my fabulous former bride Kathy who was Ali’s MOH and recommended me to her. I love, love, love seeing my former brides & grooms at their friends’ weddings!
Event coordinator Sue Gould 240.778.5453
Wedding + Reception site Fairmont, Washington, DC
Site coordinator Bob Mikolitch 202.429.5599
Florist DaVinci Florist
Hair Marcella 240.731.4118
Makeup Sue Ellen Kaye 301.785.2612
Band Sound Connection Andy Kushner 301.646.5151
Cake Fairmont
Videographer Jeff Schofield Washington Talent
One last post before Thanksgiving is officially upon us! Katie + Jake got married on one of the most popular wedding dates of the fall–November 3. Not sure why…no numerical reason a la 9.10.11…but there is something special about the first weekend in November in DC or maybe it’s because it’s the last weekend before the time change. The couple now lives in Richmond but they had such a fun and elegant and thoroughly DC day. Beginning and ending at The Fairmont Hotel Washington, we only had to make a quick trip to the church near GWU. The first thing that struck me about the church was the massive stained glass wall over the front door. I’m so glad we had a few minutes to make what has become one of my favorite photos of the year. The day was just a tad on the chilly side (OK, it was cold!) as we headed out to Upper Senate Park to make some iconic DC photos. The bridesmaids were troopers in their short strapless dresses as the wind whipped through them…one shot made by my fabulous 2nd shooter, Mark Gail, was the girls scrambling for their coats as soon as I told them they were done. The other shot from there that I love is how the groomsmen all gathered around the bride while I shot the groom + the bridesmaids. Just that natural protective instinct! Back to the hotel for a very fun party and my 2nd favorite photo of the day…the amazing courtyard at night and a spontaneous kiss that to me just summed up Katie + Jake’s happiness.
Ceremony Saint Stephen Martyr Church, 2436 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Reception + Catering Fairmont Hotel/Mark Medrick/202.429.2400
Florist Yellow Door Floral Designs/703.734.1137
Hair and makeup Bride – Alexandra Wear/240.463.4234 /Bridesmaids – http://www.bridalartistryDC.com/Barbara Hill 703.380.9961
Band 10 Spot /434.321.4779
Cake Fluffy Thoughts 703.942.5538
On the eve of the royal wedding it seems only appropriate to do a wedding blog post. Marina and Sean’s wedding didn’t quite attract the media attention that Kate and Will but they had a beautiful day and a classic Washington wedding. The day started at the Fairmont Hotel followed by a ceremony at Georgetown’s Dahlgren Chapel. It was a little cool and very overcast but the rain held off. In spite of the it being prime cherry blossom time, a lot of the rest of DC was not quite in bloom on April 9 but the Georgetown campus provided a very pretty backdrop for the couple and the bridal party. We had a lot of time built in after the ceremony to do portraits and in what is definitely a first for me, the bridal party had time to warm up and play hangman in a classroom on campus! After our Georgetown adventure we headed back to the Fairmont Hotel and found some magnolia trees still in bloom so that turned out to be a group formal bonus! I knew it would be a fun and dancing crowd early in the day when the bridesmaids and Marina were dancing in their seats in the limo on their way to the church. It was a great party. a fabulous send off for Marina and Sean as they headed off for their honeymoon in Thailand and then home to San Francisco.
Here’s who wonderful vendors who helped them with their day:
Event coordinator Emily Dionne
Site coordinator Bob Mikolitch at the Fairmont Hotel
Florist John Duffy at Yellow Door Floral
Hair and makeup Hair: Julie Jackson, Makeup: Kelley Epps-Woods
Band/DJ Aaron Platt with Chris Laich Music Services
Cake Alexandria Pastry
Videographer Blue Sky Films
I am a believer a destiny (and that often we make our own destiny but that’s another story) and I firmly believe that when a couple chooses me to photograph their wedding that destiny plays a part. I know, it’s a little corny. But when I met Susie and Gabe, I think there was a little more than luck at work. Maybe it’s that Susie grew up in Potomac where I now live or that my son Wyatt and Susie’s nephew Teddy are now in the same 4th grade class. Whatever the reason, I was excited to be with Susie and Gabe at the Fairmont Hotel on December 12 for my last wedding of the year. It was a rainy and grey day but it didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm. Of course, it was December so everything was inside anyway. I’ve had a few large bridal parties but I think this one took the cake. I believe including the two junior groomsmen, flower girl and ring bearer there were 23 in the bridal party not counting the bride and groom! That made for a crowded scene under the chuppah. The couple’s nieces and nephews were everywhere stealing the show. One of my favorite photos from the day was one taken by the fabulous Michael Connor who was my second shooter. I just love the photo of Susie’s niece looking out over the Christmas decorations in the courtyard of the hotel. Another favorite of mine is Susie walking into the ketubah ceremony. You can just see her excitement and things were getting underway. One funny photo happened as I followed the couple for the yehud (private time) after the ceremony. As they entered the bridal suite, a maid was in there cleaning. They had to ask her to come back later. In the shot below you can see the maid peeking around the corner as Susie and Gabe are kissing! The reception included a rollicking Hora and a very cute toast by the nieces and nephews with Susie’s parent singing “Happy Talk” from South Pacific. And then Gabe’s father introduced the couple as Mr. and Mrs. Freeman (Susie’s name). That got a good laugh.
And a special treat for me, I got to work with some of my favorite wedding pros:
Flowers: Petal’s Edge –Susie’s bouquet was especially gorgeous with rich purple flowers (can you tell I’m not a florist??)
DJ: Chris Laich. It was a pleasure as always working with Chris and Aaron. I think I shot seven or eight weddings with them this year alone.
Fairmont Hotel: Such a pretty hotel and the events run like clockwork thanks to Bob Mikolitch
Ceremony music: Sage String Quartet
I’ve got some restrictions on what I can show from Christine + Michael’s lovely wedding at Holy Rosary Church and the Fairmont Hotel but I wanted to share some of Christine’s portraits. They had a very small bridal party so we had time built into the schedule to do a half hour session with just the bride in the lobby of the hotel. She had a pretty reception venue with lots of natural light. It was a gorgeous day but we did everything inside and just had fun with it. It was a treat for me because I usually grab my bride portraits before we leave the hotel or they wait until later in the day when I’m doing the couple solo photos. I loved her big poufy blush-colored dress. She looked like a princess and we did several shots that maximized the volume of the dress. So allow a little extra time for a nice bridal portrait–you won’t regret it!
