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Kathy + Evan’s Mayflower Hotel wedding – Washington, DC – April 28

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When I first met Kathy I could see we had a lot in common. She was a Potomac girl (OK, technically I’m a Bethesda girl but transplanted to Potomac) and she teaches at the elementary school I went to until 2nd grade. I thought we had made all our connections before the wedding but I was very surprised to walk into her suite on her wedding day and to be recognized by her mother. Turns out she was one of the nurses in the allergy office I went to for years! Kathy + Evan’s wedding turned out to be on one of the most popular wedding dates of 2012. It also was on the same night as the White House Correspondents Dinner which caused a huge snarl of traffic on Connecticut Ave.  in front of the hotel. Luckily we were happily ensconced in the Mayflower by the time all that hubbub started. Their day was elegant and just gorgeous and classically DC. The rain held off for our trek to the Capitol where we made some of my favorite photos from the day. The hotel ballroom and all the details were lovely as well…from the menu cards to the Georgetown Cupcake giveaways. And the party rocked. I loved the balcony in the ballroom that allowed us to make some very fun dance photos.

 

 

 Wedding and reception The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, Washington, DC, 202.347.3000

 

Event coordinator Bridget Newby of SoCo Events 240.498.5146

Florist DaVinci Florists 301.588.8900

Hair and makeup Victoria Stiles/makeup 571.265.7138 Paula/Hair 240.687.7006

DJ Chris Laich 202.997.2514202.997.2514202.997.2514

Videographer Blue Sky Films 301.775.5478

Photography Deb Lindsey Photography 202.412.8909

 

Ginny + Barrie’s Hotel Monaco wedding – April 21 – Washington, DC

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Ginny and Barrie officially kick off my spring wedding season. I was very excited to be back at the Hotel Monaco after a couple years. Such a cool hotel. The biggest problem is narrowing down the great places to make pictures. Despite the dire predictions of rain, the weather held and we were able to inside and out and take full advantage of being right in the heart of downtown. Their first look took place on the hotel fabulous staircase. They were beyond excited to see each other. We had to remind Barrie to stop looking up the stairs before Ginny arrived and the look of joy on Ginny’s face when she saw her intended was just wonderful. They ceremony was well documented by me and my team but also by Barrie’s mom and stepdad who had better-than-the-average-amateur cameras. Canons, of course. Some of my favorite shots of the day came just after the ceremony. We went outside in front of the National Portrait to take a few more portraits and it reminded me why I like to take some photos after the ceremony. Ginny and Barrie were much more relaxed and even though it finally looked like it was going to rain, it made for just beautiful color. Finally, I need to give a shout out to Barrie’s brother’s who gave a thoroughly embarrassing best man speech. It resonated with me in particular after finding out that Barrie survived solely on toaster waffles and fake maple syrup as a kid. There’s a little boy in my house who could totally relate to that. And Barrie is living proof that you can eat that day in and day out and grow up to be a productive and healthy adult!

Wedding and reception and catering Hotel Monaco  Buddee Clinton /202.449.7014

Florist Barbara Von Elm/Growing Wild  540.364.6246

Hair Hair Salon Revive   202.232.1008

DJ Steve Hoffman/Good Note DJs  202.213.1977

Cupcakes Baked and Wired  202.333.5506

Photography: Deb Lindsey/ Mark Gail/Linda Wang

 

 

Jennifer + Nate’s windy winter wedding – Thorpewood – Thurmont, Maryland

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Planning a wedding in February in the DC area is risky. This winter, not so much. Temperatures were regularly in the 60s in January and February so I was really excited and optimistic for Jennifer and Nate’s winter wedding. OK, it was 20 degrees and frigid when we did their engagement shoot on an early January morning at Eastern Market but the signs looked good for the wedding day. And then came the winds. And the fact that Thorpewood, where they were getting married is up in the Cacoctin Mountains near Thurmont, Maryland. Maybe the wind would hit the other side of the mountain. Maybe the weather forecast would be wrong and 40-60 mile per hour gusts were just a figment of their imagination. No luck there unfortunately but Jennifer and Nate were troopers. From their first look outside the venue to the fabulous rustic barn on the property, they posed without complaint. Although I think I did overhear someone worrying that the barn would collapse as we kept shooting while the sides of the building literally flapped in the breeze. It was totally worth it. Those barn photos were some of my favorites from the day.

And once we got back to Thorpewood proper it was nice and toasty in the main room as they were married in front of a roaring fire. I loved all the little touches that really made the wedding reflected Jennifer and Nate as a couple. Takeaway gifts were shawls for the women and hot sauces and whisky for the men. At each place setting was a little birds’ nests and my personal favorite detail—the lovebird cake toppers! The dance floor stayed crowded all night after the couple’s choreographed first dance and it was a particularly sweet moment late in the evening when the groom danced with his great aunt.

The fabulous vendor team:

Wedding and Reception: Thorpewood, Julie Parleman

Caterer and Cake: Canapes Catering

Florist: Blossom & Basket Boutique

Hair and makeup:  Aisha Therese Alves, Picture Perfect Makeup DC

DJ: DJ Trayze

Photography: Deb Lindsey Photography with Michael Connor

Nicole + Brian’s downtown DC wedding – St. Francis Hall

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Before I begin my last blog post of 2011, I just want to take a moment and reflect on what an amazing year it’s been. Thank you to all my wonderful brides and grooms for being such great people, so fun to work with and for planning fabulous events that created lovely photographs. I’ve learned so much from the variety of weddings I’ve shot this year and while it’s artistically fulfilling for me to improve as a photographer, more importantly it means better photos for my couples. I’m really looking forward to 2012 and the wonderful couples I’ll be working with and those who just got engaged and haven’t hired me yet!J

Nicole and Brian were my grand finale for 2011. As anyone living in Washington knows, December can be 65 degrees and sunny or 20 degrees and snowing. We hit it at about the halfway point. It was a beautiful sunny day but deceptively cold due to a lot of wind. I’m especially grateful for Nicole and Brian for being such troopers for a couple reasons. First, they arranged their day to factor in the lack of light in mid-December and we did their first look and all their before photos at their very cool reception site—St. Francis Monastery in NE DC. This is one of the city’s hidden gems! The grounds are amazing and the archways that run around the perimeter of the churchyard are about as good as it gets for photos. Nicole gets a special shout out for taking off her wrap and standing outside for a few minutes in her sleeveless gown. Good thing Brian was standing nearby to warm her up! I loved all the creative touches for the wedding, particularly the paper flowers. I knew Nicole was planning on no live blooms, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had a vision of the tissue paper flowers I created when I was a kid. But the bouquets and bouts and centerpieces were beyond cool! Another touch that I know was special to Nicole was their cake toppers. They were a surprise for Brian and they were an exact replica of the couple, down to the paper flower bout on Brian! They were adorable. Their whole day was warm and fun and low key…just want you want on a cold winter day!

 

The vendors making their day:

Event coordinator  Hong-Nhu Mai (she created the flowers as well!)

Church: Universalist National Memorial Church, NW DC

Reception Site: St. Francis Hall, St. Francis Monastery, NE DC

Caterer: Main Event Caterers

Hair: Essam at Fringe Hair Studio

Makeup:  Azi Niroo, Cristophe Salon

Band/DJ Chris Laich Music Services

Cake. Olivia Doherty

Photography: Deb Lindsey and Michael Connor

 

Happy New Year to all and we’ll be blogging again in 2012!!

Marisa + Raimonds wedding – Rockville, Maryland

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I first met Marisa a couple days before she left for St. Petersburg Russia where Raimonds is posted for the State Department. That takes long distance wedding planning to a new level! So I didn’t get to meet the groom until the wedding day and when I did he and his groomsmen were holding the biggest beer mugs I’d ever seen. That made for a fun picture and unfortunately there wasn’t a videographer along to capture the song (in Latvian I assume) that went before the drinking. We lucked into a gorgeous mid-November day but a lot of the beautiful foliage had already passed it’s peak. Except for one glowing orange tree right in front of the church. I think you can see by the photos that I took full advantage of the pop of color. The ceremony was in Latvian and the highlight for me was Marisa’s walk down the aisle. She was so anxious to see Raimonds that she was peeking around everyone standing up as she made her way down the aisle and the look on Raimonds face as he saw her was priceless. He was literally beaming. I have to say that the reception hall was really lovely. They made full use of draping and uplighting to make the room colorful and glowing. The dance floor came alive for polkas and mid-way through the reception came the traditional stealing of the bride. Friends of the couple took Marisa to an undisclosed location until Raimonds came up with an appropriate payment to get her back. Which I believe included Maker’s Mark Whiskey.  He then serenaded his bride and they were happily reunited!

Wedding and Reception venue: Latvian Lutheran Church of Washington, DC

Caterer: Tracy Toth at Quite A Stir Catering

Florist:  Maryann Sheridan

Hair and makeup: Jessica at Alchemy Hair Salon,

Band: Last Train

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Deb + Drew’s Omni Shoreham wedding

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In the spirit of the holiday I’m offering my Black Friday blog post.  And stay tuned to the blog in the next couple weeks (if not sooner) I’ll be unveiling some design changes and a spanking new website!

There’s a fairly unusual reason that Deb and Drew came to me when they were on the hunt for a wedding photographer. First was Deb and then there was her sister (and Matron of Honor) Lindsey. When she saw my name she had to get in touch. And then it turns out that my parents grew up with her parents so it seemed we were meant to work together! Their wedding was my first at the Omni Shoreham and what a wonderful venue! Full of history for those born and bred Washingtonians like myself. We lucked out with the weather, it was a gorgeous sunny day which allowed us to use the grounds of the hotel for first look and family photos before heading inside for the ceremony. There was a certain amount of chaos during the day courtesy of the adorable flower girls all under age 5. The ceremony started with the four girls coming down the aisle and stopping dead at the top of the runner where they proceeded to studiously drop all their flowers there. Eventually they made it down the walkway but it was a pretty funny scene. Another funny moment came courtesy of the groom. Deb and Drew are at the cake table doing the usual cutting and when it comes time to feed the bride some cake, Drew calls an audible and feeds himself! It caught everyone by surprise but Deb was laughing the hardest. The whole day was filled with tears and laughter.

It’s always a pleasure to work again with Janice Carnavale of Bellweather Events who made the day run so smoothly!

Wedding planner Janice Carnevale www.bellweatherevents.com

Omni Shoreham coordinator  Haydee Gamez/202-756-5164

Caterer Omni Shoreham Hotel

Florist Dever’s Design www.deversdesign.com

Hair Jessica Sarno/ Headlines Hair Design

Makeup Suellen Kay Totally Polished

Ceremony music Tim Metz- www.Timmymetz.com

Reception music Prime Time/Bialak’s Music

Cake Pastries By Randolph

Kate + Matt’s Carnegie Institution of Science wedding – Washington, DC

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It’s tempting to say that the third time was the charm for me at Carnegie Institution of Science but really each of the three weddings I’ve shot there this year has been wonderful and different. Kate and Matt were the second part of my Columbus Day weekend doubleheader, and like Carla and Ed’s wedding the day before, the weather was amazing. That is one significant difference from the other weddings I’d had at Carnegie. We actually go to go outside! One of the most memorable parts of the day for me was when we left the building after the ceremony to head to Meridian Hill Park for photos. There was supposed to be a car waiting to take the three of us up the street. Kate and Matt waved goodbye to their guests and rounded the corner on P St. and found no car so Matt hailed a cab and we were on our way. I was impressed by the fact that they went completely with the flow, didn’t sweat a small snag and that Matt had money with him on his wedding day! As we approached the park we heard noise but I assumed it was the drum circle that happens on weekends at the park. Turns out it was the start of the Occupy DC march that was heading down 16th St. towards the White House. We couldn’t get right in front of them but close enough to see the police car escort and parade in the background! Another of my favorite photos that was a special request from the couple is the ring photo. Kate’s work for the Dept. of Defense takes her often to Afghanistan and so, of course, that’s where we put the rings on the cool globe that sits in the Carnegie library.

Wedding and Reception: Carnegie Institution of Science, Washington, DC

Caterer: Uptown Catering

Florist: Gretchen Wade

Hair and Makeup: Barbara Hill and Sonia

DJ: Mike Bell from MyDeeJay

Cake: Sugarbakers

Carla + Ed – St. John Neumann Catholic Church + Belmont Country Club wedding – Virginia

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Carla + Ed were the first of my two Columbus Day weekend weddings. And the weather was finally cooperating. What an amazing day for a wedding!  I made one of my favorite photos of the day 10 minutes after arriving at Carla’s parent’s house in Virginia. Usually I’m the one taking the wrapping off the wedding dress and arranging it somewhere with pretty light. When Carla’s dad climbed up on the bench to hang the dress I just had to laugh—and shoot! Carla + Ed were married at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Reston. I had been there in June and it’s a lovely bright church. It was sweet that Ed was so enthusiastic that he gave Carla a kiss when she arrived at the altar…I’m pretty sure he was supposed to wait until the end of the service! And as it turns out, he was right to get one in early. The service which was performed by 3 (!) priests had a little snafu when they forgot to have the couple present their gifts to the statue of the Virgin Mary. Once that was taken care of, they never told Ed he could kiss the bride—so he didn’t! From the church we headed to Belmont Country Club in Ashburn.  A lovely manor house is attached to a more traditional country club facility so of course, we took all the fun portraits outside the house and with the rolling hills of the golf course as the background. And did I mention how gorgeous the light was. I think my favorite photo of the day is Ed + Carla from behind, full length with the rays of sun shining on them! And the party was tons of fun with awesome DJ Aaron, one of my favs!

Annie + Scott’s River Plantation wedding – Queenstown, MD

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It’s not a stretch to say that the Wye River in Maryland will always hold a special place in the hearts of Annie + Scott. They got engaged while sailing on the river and got married on it’s shores at River Plantation’s Pintail Point on October 1. Would it have been great if the weather had been sunny and warm? Sure, but the overcast skies and early fall chill in the air didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Especially true for the happy couple. Except for a few sprinkles as Annie made her long walk from the manor house to Scott waiting by the river, the weather cooperated.  Tears were flowing early as Annie’s 86-year-old Irish grandmother pinned on the veil she made for her granddaughter. Annie’s Mom was in on the action as well and it was a special point of pride that some of the beading from her wedding dress was now on Annie’s veil. I loved the cute sailing details that were everywhere throughout the day including the name tags hung on a nautical chart, cookies shaped like sailboats and their A&S logo. I have to admit that my favorite part of the reception (other than the sweet first dance and toasts) was the Brusters ice cream bar. Scott’s family owns a couple of stores in Richmond and yes, the detail shot of the cup of ice cream I shot was delicious! The day was filled with lots of Annie’s Irish relatives and my one regret was that there was a mention of Irish dancing that never came to pass. It would have been fun to shoot! As I was packing up to make the journey home, a guest pointed me in the direction of the last shot I took—Annie’s mom reading “The Pokey Little Puppy” to one of the adorable flower girls. It made such a sweet photo and was not a scene I see often at a wedding.

Wedding and Reception venue and catering: The River Plantation

Bouquets: Homestead Gardens

DJ  Rusty with DJ D-Mac

Cake Julie Bakes

Yuan + Jonathan’s Rockville wedding and DC reception

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When I first spoke to Jonathan and Yuan on the phone from their current home in Atlanta I was intrigued by their wedding plans. In 10 years of wedding photography, I’d never shot a civil ceremony. They were married on a recent Friday at the Rockville Circuit Courthouse surrounded by their immediate families. It was such an interesting scene there, watching the full bridal parties come and go for their quick service. Jonathan and Yuan’s nuptials lasted maybe five minutes but it was very thoroughly documented, not just by me but by everyone of the nine people there to witness for them! Day two of the wedding weekend started at the National Cathedral for their first look. We found a spot not affected by earthquake damage and Jonathan saw Yuan in her white dress for the first time. She had worn a fabulous red dress for the civil ceremony as part of her Chinese heritage. After some sweet photos there we headed to La Maison Francaise at the French Embassy in Georgetown for their reception with family and friends. The night was filled with fun little details like the colorful postcards that friends and family used to wish the couple well and the adorable cake toppers for the wedding cakes made by the bride’s sister Julia.

 

Site coordinator French Embassy Catering – Cindy Fuller

Caterer Sodexo, Henri Lubet

DJ DJ Atticus (Patrick Miranda

Cake Julia Shu