I am finally putting to use one of the golden gems of advice I received from Justin & Mary Marantz from their Spread the Love Tour.  They mentioned they send their brides & grooms little notes, packages, gifts, etc., throughout the year as their wedding approaches.  Well, I decided to try the “movie night” gift since I thought I could pull it off.  I grabbed two lovey dovey movies from Target, some Crunch ‘n Munch, and a little handwritten note & put them in these boxes.  They are just a little gift to remind my couples who will be married soon to relax, take a break from planning, and enjoy a movie night with their love.  That’s all.  Hope they enjoy them.

PS – I haven’t mailed them yet, so hopefully this doesn’t spoil the surprise.  No one reads this thing anyways, right?

The Ceremony….

Mandy & Kelvin are married!  They got married like 3 weeks ago & their wedding photographer is being a lame-o & not posting.  Who is that girl?  Oh yeah, its’ me.  I’ve decided for this wedding blog post to do it a little differently.  To make it more manageable for me, and to showcase more photos for them, I’ll do a 5-part series of their wedding.  These first shots are in my “Bride & Groom” section.  This couple is gorgeous!

Mandy’s parents live on a farm in Glen Arm, Maryland & she told me she & Kelvin are planning on opening up an organic dairy part.  They have big plans!

They tied the knot on New Year’s Day.  It was probably the warmest day in a few weeks and I was very grateful.  They opted not to have a “first look” so I sent my trusty assistant Tim to photograph the guys while I stayed with the girls.

Check out Mandy & Kelvin looking all fabulous….

Next up:  The Ceremony!

This has to be a quick post because….drum roll…Josh & I get a date tonight!  AHHHH!  So exciting!  And I have to get the girls ready and out the door in 30 minutes.

Anyways…this photo is from our lunch trip to McDonald’s in Arnold today.  They apparently give out kiddie cones for free which I think is pretty nice of them.  I’m glad they had them too because it was what I used as leverage to get Brooke to stop talking & eat!  As you can see, my girls LOVE ice cream!  (I think they get that from me)  Thanks McDonald’s!

(PS – we are going to see AVATAR in a 3D XD theater at Arundel Mills – Josh says its the BEST one to see it in, besides IMAX.  I’ll let you know what we think)

Images I looked at:  Honestly, I’ve only looked at my own!  I’m editing about 200+ little kids head shots for a special surprise project that I can’t talk about & I’m awful at keeping secrets & I really just need to blab to someone, but I can’t!  So, hopefully once the project is unveiled, I can share with y’all!  (shhh…but maybe if you ask me personally I can tell you, or not)  Anyway, looking at my own images (sounds conceited,right?) makes me realize that I love shooting children & I think I have almost cemented in my mind that a “Portrait” photographer is what I want to be right now.  Weddings are great, & lovely, & wonderful…but maybe just not for me currently.  Doesn’t mean I won’t shoot them, but I am not going to label myself as that.  I can’t be an everything photographer.  I want to be a one thing photographer, and be really good at it.  There, I said it, so now it’s final!

See y’all later!

Whew!  Just barely made it for image 2!  I’ve been battling another headache today & my dear sweet husband went & got my pricey medicine & told me, “No matter how much it costs, if it helps you feel better, it’s worth it.”  Sigh…he’s the best!

This photo is from last night’s wedding.  It is the bride, Mandy, getting her first look at her daddy.  She was very calm & collected up until this point when her dad saw her & she saw him.  I think it hit home at this moment for daddy’s girl that she was on her way to be Mrs. Kelvin Castillo.  A bittersweet moment for her dad, but the joy on his face when he saw his little girl look at her husband made it all worthwhile.