caitlin & keith engagement session

caitlin and keith are getting married this saturday at the chesapeake bay beach club and we decided to do a session for a signature board photo. the location of the shoot was at keith's parents house - outside of st. michaels. this particular location was extra special because it is where keith proposed - at sunrise no less! on this day however, the sky was more than ominous and it was already beginning to sprinkle. the three of us ran out to the dock and took one of the speediest sessions i've ever done. but when you have a couple who are so crazy happy and looking forward to their big day, every shot seems to be a good one. if this session was any indication - saturday is going to be a blast!!

nikki & dave's delightfully damp day!

In an earlier post - I blogged about my friends jenni & tim. we did a maternity shoot with their son rogan and we've been friends since their wedding 4 years ago. well jenni's brother dave married his longtime love nikki last month. the wedding was held at poplar hill mansion and initially the weather wasn't too promising. the rain would shift from heavy to light without a patch of blue to be seen. then I remembered that I could get radar on my blackberry (lovin' my blackberry!!!!) and hopes were raised as it appeared that we might get a break at ceremony time - and we did - just in time!! it was an emotional time for nikki - not only getting married, but her father had to stay in florida to recover from recent surgery (he heard the whole ceremony via cell phone which was great) but the whole day ended up being beautiful and so much fun. tim gave the best toast I think I've ever heard and rogan was a trooper!

caitlin's big day arrives

In an earlier post, I had my cousin caitlin's bridal session - well her wedding went off without a hitch. Perfect weather, perfect flowers - perfect shoes!! Her mother Laura knows how to throw a bash. In addition to it being a fun wedding - it was great to see family members I don't see that often - even if they are only in the next town! But Caitlin & her husband Jamie had the day they wanted and planned for and now I know that they're excited to start their lives together. CONGRATULATIONS!!! xoxo

love & laughter in spite of a hurricane

as I drove to easton for casey & jason's wedding, I looked at the sky and thought "here we go..." hurricane hannah was coming ashore. when I got to the house, I didn't see much of casey - she was in her room making the final decisions that had to be made, as much as she didn't want to. they had planned the wedding at the easton club where the ceremony and the photos were to take place - which is an outdoor venue. the reception was at the krystal q hall and she made the tough call to move everything to the reception site. Lori, her event planner came to the house as casey was getting her makeup done to ensure that everyone had been notified of the change - but once we got the the krystal q and saw how beautiful everything looked - spirits lifted. Actually, as soon as she made the final call - casey was a lot more put together than a lot of brides would have been - laughing and having a great time with her friends and family - and when it was time for the ceremony and she saw jason - all the rain in the world couldn't have dampened their smiles.

crossing the bridge for karen

It's been a while since I've blogged - september and october have been wedding madness - I'm grateful to be busy, but it's been crazy. In August, I went to shoot my cousin Karen's wedding. Karen is a cousin from the Gillette side of my family - down here on the shore there are Gladding's (Mom's side)everywhere, so I always relish time that I can spend with Dad's family. Plus I also got to see and spend time with My aunt Karen and cousins Jeannie & Lorie who are the coolest women ever... Back to the Bride!! Before this wedding planning, it had been years since I had seen Karen. I remember years ago when we had a Gillette women reunion up in PA and Karen was a little girl! Well, she's met this amazing guy named Kevin and the wedding was one of the most romantic that I have ever witnessed. Karen even serenaded her groom with guitar help from brother Cameron (also grown up - Damn! I am getting old) But the whole weekend was great and just what I needed