elizabeth & vince are married!

last weekend i witnessed the beautiful marriage between two charming individuals: elizabeth and vince. rather than professional photographer duties, i was performing bridesmaid duties, but i still got a few shots on the side. eliz and i were childhood buds, tagging along with our parents for an annual conference ever since we were babies. twenty-five years later, i asked eliz to be one of my bridesmaids, and i had the privilege of serving as a bridesmaid in her wedding. i flew up to norfolk, virginia earlier in the week and got to participate in all the fun pre-wedding events, including bridal showers, getting nails done, and getting our hair done! although i missed phillip terribly (the longest time we had been away from each other since we got married), i had a ton of fun catching up with eliz and rebecca (eliz's sister and maid of honor) and getting to know vince a little bit better. you've found a jewel, vince. i'm so happy for you two and am excited that we get to experience this stage in our lives together :). congratulations!








rebecca trying to avoid spray in her eyes:


a moment of recollection before re-entering the reception hall:


this cake is probably one of the most gorgeous ones i've seen:






father-daughter: eliz's dad singing "sunrise, sunset" as they danced


mother-son dance:


isn't she such a radiant bride?






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now i'm off to our second thanksgiving celebration this week, this time with phillip's family. how many of you can say you got to have two thanksgivings, two days in a row?? mmm... yummy!

just to let you all know, we will be in europe (england and france) from dec. 2-16 visiting family and friends. and don't worry, we'll be posting LOTS of pics when we return. till then, happy thanksgiving and happy christmas shopping!

may in november

tuesday was cold. so cold, in fact, temperatures reportedly reached a record low for this calendar date in georgia. so cold, that my nose was dripping on the back of my camera, and eileen -- attempting to give instruction to our subject -- gradually became incapable of enunciating both explosive consonants and rounded vowels. ("awkay, now phut yar hand uf on yar hiph.")

but in some ways, we couldn't have been warmer. so what if we couldn't feel our fingers on our shutter releases. we barely noticed; because someone -- namely the stunning college grad you see below -- had suddenly brought the warmth of may into our cold november day. (...and get this: even her name is actually "may." what are the odds, right!?)

may contacted us after seeing our work on facebook.com, and told us she had hoped to commemorate her graduation from uga this semester with some senior portraits on the campus of her alma mater. both being journalism grads and english fanatics, we had a lot to talk about. but mostly, eileen and i just loved this gal's outgoing personality and love for life! you know, one of those people who you instantly feel you've known forever.

we had a blast "chillin' " with you, may. happy graduation!

no more pencils, no more books...

...well, maybe if it's a really good book. (and it is. jane austen in this case! i was pleased to hear may is a fan.)

according to tradition, students ring the university's victory bell to celebrate events like graduation and football games... unless we get our bell rung by the other team, that is.

 

gretchen & steve are married!!!

despite an uncommonly wet week and still a threat of storms for the weekend, saturday showed up all aglow in brilliant colors. i should know. i was there when her rays first fell on the orange-brown and yellow foliage outside my borrowed bedroom window. (and, believe me, that early in the morning not even that picturesque scene looked as lovely as it sounds.)

saturday came especially for gretchen and steve. it was their wedding day. eileen and i drove down to atlanta the night before to document its every moment. like the bride and groom, we were going to need lots of energy to make it through the 15-hour workday. so naturally, also like the bride and groom, we barely slept a wink.

after an early friday morning here in athens, eileen went ahead of me to design and draw the giant chalkboard menu for her brother's coffee shop, land of a thousand hills. (his is the location at walton on the chattahoochee. highly recommended for quality and ambiance.) i followed after work, and we pulled an all-nighter at the home of eileen's other brother, andy, and his wife carrie. (thanks for putting us up -- and putting up with us -- you guys.)

unhappily, eileen and i are both something of perfectionists. so our pre-wedding planning takes way longer than it should, what with all the equipment cleaning, multiple itinerary reviews, and analytical discussions about image ideas. but, hey, that's the way we get down; whatcha gonna do? we just wanted the day to go as smoothly as it could. so we did what we could, and got up early to say a prayer for our friends "che" and steve on their very important day. all is in God's hands.

in the end, if we did our job, the result should be honest images that capture a history-making saturday and -- if we're really lucky -- capture that glowing brilliance of a bride and her beau that even such a saturday cannot outshine.

below: with help from mom, gretchen slips into her wedding gown at the last minute. the gown was a little late. luckily, everyone was willing to wait on her before starting the ceremony.

calla lilies make beautiful bouquets -- if you're looking for ideas.

holy spirit catholic church made a grand stage for the wedding -- the opening act of what will be a wonderful story.

gretchen's grandfather earned a kiss, probably for his role in helping walk her down the aisle. or maybe she just thinks he's a great guy. (my feeling is that both are true.)

i hesitate even to tell the story that accompanies this next photo. it's rather gory. so you sensitive sorts probably should skip this part so as not to ruin the simple elegance you associate with this beautiful dove -- who DIES!

okay, now that we've lost those people... it all began when somebody had the bright idea to release two doves preceding the wedding reception. the release was inspiring, as you can see. inspiring, that is, until a hawk flew in like a bat out of hell, attacked one dove, and then settled down for dinner in his nest -- all within the viewing of shocked wedding guests. the humanity! (or is it "dove-anity"?) a bad omen, you say? i think not. what does the scripture say? something about many waters cannot quench love -- and dove-eating hawks shall not overcome it!?

the groom-and-mother dance was one of the sweetest i've seen. a very proud mother -- and a very teary moment.