I’m getting married in January, and so my girlfriends decided to surprise me with a “bachelorette” trip to Maine! Yes, not the typical place for a bachelorette trip, but we are not typical women! My photographer extraordinaire friends Diana Lott and Stacy Sodolak planned the trip along with my good friend and wedding planner Gina Whittington Wilson, and with the help of our non-wedding industry friend Jenny Isenberg. We had an a-MAINE-zing (Stacy came up with that!) time. The weather was perfect, the hurricane decided to go in the other direction (thank goodness!), and the leaves were just beginning to change. And best of all, there was lots of lobster to be had! I had steamed lobster, lobster caesar salad, lobster risotto, lobster chowder…the list goes on. I heart lobster! Now back to the treadmill!

 

 

 

Jenny (aka Jenny by the book) looking cute!

 

 

A Maine self portrait

 

 

 

I am in love with all of the fall colors in Maine!

 

 

Stacy took this shot first, and I copied her But I said I would have seen it anyways, she just got there first!

 

Jenny, Stacy, Gina, and Diana…

 

Gina’s perfect fall leaf

 

 

 

 

This is the bay in the town where we stayed, Camden. It was perfect!

 

We took a sunset cruise (freezing cold!) on this boat, the Appledore.

 

 

Gina looking pensive. (and cold!)

 

 

Gina trying her first whoopie pie. You can see she loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm lobster.

 

 

 

Last month, I traveled to Georgia and North Carolina to photograph Laura and Michael’s wedding. I photographed Laura and Michael’s good friends wedding (Meridith and Todd, which was featured in The Knot Real Weddings Texas magazine) and so when Laura and Michael inquired about by ability to travel out of state for their wedding, I jumped at the opportunity! Being able to leave Texas and travel to such a beautiful place with amazing weather for that time of year was so great and I was so appreciative! We made it a short weekend vacation and I brought along my fiance Mike, and my good friend and amazing photographer Stacy with SMS Photography as my second shooter.

We flew into Georgia and had some time to explore the Blue Ridge mountains before we started shooting for the weekend. On Friday before the wedding - we took a drive to view the scenic waterfalls of the area, and went toboganning (normally done with snow - this was improvised with fake grass and inner tubes!) A pulley took us up the hill and then we slid down. It was really fun to act like we were 8 years old again - and now I can say I am one of the few who has been toboganning! We also went panning for gems - and this was much more of an eventful experience than we would have thought! We didn’t really expect to find much of anything, but we found tons of gemstones including rubys, amethysts, aquamarine, emeralds, topaz, etc! It was sooo much fun - so much in fact that we did it twice

Laura and Michael’s wedding was gorgeous and the change of scenery and cool breeze was so nice! Laura and Michael let us spend lots of time taking advantage of the beautiful scenery for portraits, and then everyone at the party had a great time and it shows in the photos. Congrats Laura and Michael - thanks for having us out!

VENDORS

CEREMONY Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Highlands, North Carolina

RECEPTION Old Edwards Farm, Highlands, North Carolina

COORDINATION Ann Tate

FLORIST Dutchman’s Designs

CAKE Aimee Silver

BAND Kingsized

 

 

 

This is Stacy panning for gems, finding something great!

 

Here I am looking very surprised!

 

We had to take a touristy photo in front of the view. My fiance Mike and I…

 

 

That little spec on the righthand white slide is Stacy! I wish I could add a sound byte, she was giggling the whole way down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stacy volunteered to wear Laura’s veil so we could take it off for a few photos. I think she just wanted to wear a veil

 

 

 

 

Stacy again, wearing the veil. I think she would have worn it all night if no one objected

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natalie and Lance were married at Azul Beach Resort in Puerto Moreles, Mexico (Riviera Maya) recently. That area is one of my favorite areas to travel to, and coincidentally where I am having my own wedding in January. My good friend Diana M Lott and I were hired to photograph the wedding together, and we had a great time with Natalie and Lance and their family and friends. Natalie was such a good sport - she suffered a tailbone injury in a fall just a few days prior to the wedding while out on an excursion, but she powered thru and didn’t even show that she was in pain! Despite a freak rainstorm right as the ceremony was supposed to start, the wedding went off without a hitch thanks to Carmela with In Style Weddings and Destinations. Also, very funny - Natalie’s aunts later told Natalie that they thought Diana and I were competing photographers (one independent and one with the resort) and that they were afraid we might fight! Too funny!

Congrats Natalie and Lance.