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Category Archives: bridal portraits

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Casey’s Bridal Session ~ Old Town Winchester
Winchester, VA Wedding Photographers

October 5, 2009 – 9:08 pm

No need to tell you how much I LOVE it when my brides schedule bridal portraits… unless you’re new here of course (in which case you’ll want to check out my posts here & here on why bridal portraits ROCK!). So, you know I was THRILLED when Casey wanted to do a 4 hour session in downtown Winchester! Most brides want the pretty backdrop of greenery, flowers & such, so we don’t get to do many fun things… so having a bridal session downtown was a great change of pace for me. Not only did we have an absolute blast playing around downtown, but we got a ton of gorgeous images that are going to look great in her wedding album

We started at the salon…

… and we found this radical red door behind the building!

Of course we had to turn some heads on the walking mall

If you’ve been to Old Town Winchester on a nice weekend, you’ve no doubt seen the jugglers outside of Incredible Flying Objects. As soon as I saw them, I knew I just HAD to get this next series :) Props to Casey for braving the incredible flying objects whizzing by her face… and super-props to the talented guys at IFO for not hitting her!

And who ever said you can’t find a beautiful green background in a dirty old alley?

By Lori | Comments (6)

Exciting News for Me

April 5, 2009 – 4:17 pm

Most everyone who follows my blog knows that I also have a full-time dayjob, and those of you who are friends of mine know that having a full-time dayjob and a 50+ hour a week business has been somewhat stressful on me over the past few years. I have always had multiple jobs at once since I was at least 21, and at one point I actually had TWO full-time jobs, and three part-time jobs at the same time (this only lasted for 3 months when I realized that sleep deprivation could cause some serious mental side effects, lol!!! So, I quit one of the full-time jobs, but still had the other 4 jobs). My reasoning over the last couple years for keeping my dayjob was that I needed my health insurance. To buy insurance on my own for Jon & I would cost at least $500 a month, and I just wasn’t pulling in that kind of income to justify the expense.

Well, two weeks ago I was a victim of the current economic crisis, and was laid off from my dayjob that I have grown so attached to. Those first few hours after I left were filled with a rollercoaster of worries and thoughts, including a slight panic attack, and then I realized something…. I would be okay. No matter what, I have Jon & two wonderful families that will always be there for me. One big concern was the fact that we are trying to start a family, and that I would definitely have to pay for COBRA (which is $694 a month… Ouch!) so that we won’t have to deal with the account collectors for the local hospital (VICIOUS, let me tell you). Luckily, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act will take my COBRA payments down 65% for the next 9 months (a big HOORAY for the government!). So, now would be the perfect time to try having only one job, while also helping Jon get his company off the ground (I’ll fill you in on that soon). I have high hopes that this is going to work out, and I’m SO excited to see where we are a year from now.

So, long story short, I will FINALLY be getting my blog posts caught up that have been waiting out there for so long now! All of these posts are from 2008, so they aren’t sneak peeks that you’d normally see on a blog, but more of “flashbacks”. Hey, that’s what I’ll call them… Flashbacks

Gary & Staci’s e-session
Wesley & Heather’s wedding
Matt & Laura’s wedding
Geoff & Jennifer’s wedding
Rob & Jen + Two!
Matty & Jessy’s wedding
Sean & Kathy’s wedding
Kara’s maternity session
Gary & Staci’s wedding
Manda’s generosity
Keith & Jessica’s wedding
Brad & Casey’s e-session
David & Jacki’s wedding
Jaxson Ray - newborn

I’ll mix in some sneak peeks too, because some of my recent sessions are just too irresistable to wait!

Wish me luck on my new adventure!!!

By Lori | Also posted in business news, little ones, personal | Comments (0)

Jennifer’s Bridal Session ~ Historic Jordan Springs

February 24, 2009 – 12:26 am

I’ll say it again & again: A bridal portrait is so worth the small amount of time and effort you put in! Not only do you get a dress rehearsal, but you get a hair & make-up rehearsal to try out your entire wedding day look. Plus, you get to really know how your dress is going to wear the day of the wedding… I can’t even begin to count how many times I see brides fiddling with their dress after wearing it for an hour or so. These types of things can be fixed by a seamstress if you know they will happen. Spending an hour or so in front of the camera will definitely identify these issues, so you can get these fixed BEFORE the wedding day!

You may remember Jennifer from the engagement session I did for her & Geoff. Jennifer is so beautiful and utterly sweet… I’m so proud to have her as a friend! I thought she looked absolutely perfect for her bridal session, but she ended up not being completely happy with her hair and make-up. Since she had plenty of time before the wedding to look over the pictures, she was able to let her stylist and make-up artist know of the changes, so that her wedding day look was flawless (and trust me, it was indeed… you’ll see those later!).

We were able to use the grounds of Historic Jordan Springs, which was the site of her wedding ceremony and reception. The grounds are so pretty, and can make for some pretty dramatic images.

Up next… (one step at a time)

Jennifer’s bridal session
Matt & Jessie’s wedding
Rodney & Tiffany’s wedding
OUR WEDDING - pt.1
Khimaira Farm - Vendor Spotlight
Gary & Staci’s e-session
OUR WEDDING - pt.2
Wesley & Heather’s wedding
GS Productions - Vendor Spotlight
Matt & Laura’s wedding
Geoff & Jennifer’s wedding
OUR Day After session w/ openField photography.
Rob & Jen + Two!
Matty & Jessy’s wedding
Splitpine Studios - Vendor Spotlight
Sean & Kathy’s wedding
Kara’s maternity session
Gary & Staci’s wedding
Manda’s generosity
Keith & Jessica’s wedding
Valley Pig Pickin’ - Vendor Spotlight
Brad & Casey’s e-session
David & Jacki’s wedding
Jaxson Ray - newborn
Nicole’s maternity session
Sophia - newborn

By Lori | Comments (5)

Marie’s Bridal Session

November 24, 2008 – 2:15 am

Marie & her family have always been so special to me. I went to high school with her & her brother way back in the 90’s (yeah, I’m THAT old… LOL!). They have a reputation for being so kind, and willing to help anyone who needed a hand. When I spotted Marie & her beautiful mom at the Blue Ridge Bridal Showcase last January, I was so excited to see them. They just bring warm energy wherever they go, and I definitely needed it on that cold winter day! I was so happy when Marie booked me as her photographer for her summer wedding, and even more so when she wanted a bridal session. As I’ve said before, bridal sessions are great for so many reasons:

Becoming more comfortable in front of the camera
Trying out your hair & makeup (and testing how long it takes to do both together, since that is what makes the day become delayed almost every time)
A chance to move around in your dress for a longer period of time than in the dress shop to make sure no more alterations are needed (in Marie’s case, a loop on the back of her dress was weak & broke very easily during this session, so she still had time to take it back to the shop & have it fixed for her wedding day!)
And who wouldn’t argue with having more time in that beautiful dress that you probably paid lots of money for, and looks so good on you?!?!

Honestly, it makes perfect sense to have a bridal session done… and that’s one thing I wish I would have done for my own wedding. I could have prevented ALL of my “I wish I had done this instead” feelings that I have now (don’t get me wrong though, I still had the BEST wedding EVER!!!). If I would have had more time this year for myself, I know I would have had Shelby do my bridals too.

Back to Marie now! We did her session at the Shenandoah Valley Golf Club, where she booked her reception. Since her fiancé is the Head Pro there, and was working that day, we had to be very careful not to let him see her. It was quite interesting!

Can’t you just feel the radiance shining through when you look at her?!?

Gorgeous…

Here’s a shot of Marie with her mother & sister. I love it, love it, LOVE it!

This is the bridal portrait being displayed at her reception. I saw people constantly going back to look at it throughout the night.

Next up is her wedding post! Stay tuned for…

Marie’s bridal portrait
Richard & Marie’s wedding
Ryan & Jenny’s wedding
Wedding Window - Vendor Spotlight
Jennifer’s bridal session
Matt & Jessie’s wedding
OUR WEDDING - pt.1
Khimaira Farm - Vendor Spotlight
OUR WEDDING - pt.2
Rodney & Tiffany’s wedding
Gary & Staci’s e-session
Wesley & Heather’s wedding
GS Productions - Vendor Spotlight
Matt & Laura’s wedding
Geoff & Jennifer’s wedding
OUR Day After session w/ openField photography.
Rob & Jen + Two!
Matty & Jessy’s wedding
Splitpine Studios - Vendor Spotlight
Sean & Kathy’s wedding
Kara’s maternity session
Gary & Staci’s wedding
Manda’s generosity
Keith & Jessica’s wedding
Valley Pig Pickin’ - Vendor Spotlight
Brad & Casey’s e-session
David & Jacki’s wedding
Jaxson Ray - newborn

By Lori | Comments (0)

Donnie & Christian ~ Shenandoah Valley Golf Club

August 11, 2008 – 9:45 pm

When it rains, it pours, that’s what they say… and this year has been crazy for rainy day weddings. Of course, they also say that it’s a blessing to have it rain on your wedding day, so that’s good news! Luckily, Donnie & Christian were married inside at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Strasburg, VA, and their reception was at the always-elegant Shenandoah Valley Golf Club. You may remember them from their engagement session that I did last fall. I’m so glad that Christian hired me to do a bridal portrait a few months ago at the golf club, because we got some terrific shots of her in her beautiful wedding gown in some yummy sunlight. This also gave her a chance to try out the hairstyle that she wanted, which she ended up not wanting for the wedding day after all… still gorgeous, just not exactly what she wanted.

Let’s start with the bridal portraits, there’s quite a few…

Check out those awesome clouds!

This is just plain cute

Anticipation of the big day!

She had one of these enlarged to display at the front entrance to the reception. I’ve also had brides order large canvases of their portraits to display, and the parents usually keep the portrait to hang on their wall.