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Get ready for some face-melting awesomeness today.  Meet Katie and Jamie, one of my 2012 wedding couples.   They are beautiful, cool and funny people.   And they seriously have the world’s cutest baby girl.  ever.   We decided to do their winter engagement session in downtown Winter Garden, one of my all-time favorite locations!  Although it seems they’re constantly modernizing it these days (why do they do that?!) there are still dozens of really neat, hidden little alleyways, nooks, crannies, and walls that have great color, texture and dimension to them.    Pair that with some seriously fabulous wardrobe selections (hello yellow rain boots!)  and bam! face-melting awesome engagement session ensues.    Since this was pre-Christmas, we were also able to take advantage of using the huge tree in the center of downtown for some fun holiday shots.   Thank goodness Katie is an extremely patient bride as she waited over a month for me to blog these (I swear my new year’s resolution is to be a better blogger!)  Between morning sickness, the madness of my holiday schedule, and an unexpected death in the family, December nearly did me in.  But, January is a fresh start and thank goodness my energy tank is filled back up to 100% for the upcoming wedding season.   Speaking of which, I truly can’t wait for Katie and Jamie’s wedding in April.  I won’t give away too many details, but I know it will be FULL of eye candy and will have some very yummy food!   For now, enjoy a few of my favorite images from their engagement session, and stay tuned for more bloggy goodness in the coming week as I try to catch up!  Have a lovely, relaxing long weekend everyone!

Today I bring you the sweet wedding of Amanda and Chris.   Theirs was a perfect day – beautiful blue skies, gorgeous weather, and just a touch of the cool breeze we call “December” in Florida.    I really enjoyed getting to know Amanda and Chris in the months leading up to their wedding.   Clearly, it was a match made in heaven (me + them) when at our first meeting, Amanda was describing her wedding palette and said “actually, it’s almost exactly like your shirt!”  And then we realized we had the same shoes, but in different colors; I found out they both love coffee and great music, they both love serving the Lord….they’re just all around cool people, the kind of people you love to be around.    That, and their love and devotion to each other, made capturing their wedding day so special, fun and sweet.   Amanda has the most bubbly personality of anyone I’ve possibly ever met, and Chris just clearly adores her.   In fact, there may or may not have been a line in his vows that mentioned she was “super hot and sexy”.  BEST. VOWS.  EVER.  (obviously not just because of that, but I am sure he earned some points there!)  I also just have to gush a little about their reception venue – The Summerlin House.   This was my first time shooting there and I fell in love.  It’s so charming and pretty – a perfect backdrop for portraits and getting ready photos.   I am already somewhat obsessed with Thornton Park lately (another thing I have in common with Amanda and Chris!) since I just opened my amazing studio there a couple of months ago (I’ll post more on that later) and it seems that every day I find something, someone or some place that just makes me love it more and more.    Amanda and Chris chose a really beautiful, vibrant, and bold color palette, which was very different from the softer, more vintage hues that we saw so much of in the Spring and Summer months.    The bold colors were punctuated by the bridesmaids black dresses, which contrasted beautifully with their bright flowers.   OK, now onto the eye candy (note: please don’t drool on your compute when you get to the pictures of the cupcakes.  Believe me when I tell you this was only a fraction of the deliciousness.  I think they had close to 20 different flavors – all made by friends and family in lieu of a traditional wedding cake, yum!!)

Congratulations Amanda and Chris!  I know you are blissfully enjoying your happily every after with each other.  It was such a privilege capturing your beautiful day!

I know a certain little bride who has been anxiously awaiting this sneak peek of her engagement session!   Amanda and Cory are just absolutely SO fun to work with.    They have a very sweet and affectionate love and I just adored watching them interact with each other at our session.    Amanda is certainly no newbie to the wedding field – she is, in fact, a wedding coordinator with At Last Wedding +Event Design.  It was clear from our initial meeting that she has a vision for her wedding and some awesome ideas up her sleeve!   As a wedding photographer, I love, love, love creative couples who aren’t afraid to come to me with their ideas and then trust me to execute them.    And, just so I don’t exclude Cory, I have to give him kudos for asking me some tough questions, and making me laugh during their session!  I also had the pleasure of meeting their sweet pup, Rascal, who just stole my heart and totally worked the camera.

I am so excited for these lovebirds as they continue to plan their 2012 Cypress Grove wedding, and I am thrilled to be able to capture this happy time for them!

Well, hello old friend… It seems like it’s been years since I’ve blogged!  I’ve got lots of new and fun stuff to post, but wanted to first catch up on a few of my favorite weddings from this spring and summer.  Sarah and Phil had an absolutely gorgeous May wedding at the Grand Bohemian.   Both their ceremony and reception were on the roof top terrace, and despite a deluge of rain during the reception, everything went off without a hitch and we thankfully did a first look and bride & groom portraits BEFORE the wedding!  I loved all of Sarah’s personal and DIY touches, especially the Julia Child cookbook carried by the ring bearer (the bride and groom are both foodies!)  These two have since moved to Boston and both working hard in medical school.    With fall on it’s way out the door, and “winter” (ha) moving in, I am loving re-living all of these warm, summery romantic weddings!

The bride and groom had their guests sign puzzle pieces in leu of a traditional guest book.

At the end of the night, they surprised everyone by jumping into the pool, fully clothed!  Definitely a wedding exit I will never forget!