Making Use...

Liz and Paul

Liz and Paul were married on a sunny fall evening at Cove Presbyterian Church.  After signing their marriage contract, greeting every guest in the churchyard, and smiling through a handful of pictures, they were off to Farmington Country Club for their reception.  

I have been eyeing Cove Church from my journeys up and down 29 South for years--old brick, tall windows, steeply pitched roof, lots of historic charm--and was so excited to confirm that it is just as appealing in person as it is from the car window.  Abundant light streams into the little sanctuary through those tall windows.  Photographing inside could be so pleasant...  Church policy, however, prevented me from shooting during the actual ceremony.  

Jacquelyn Collmus skillfully arranged all the flowers.  Jan Smith Band set the tone for an easy, swingy dance floor.  Liz and Paul's "tree" theme inspired many of the event's details, from our portrait locations to the pattern on the paper bag votives to and the take home gift for their guests: seedlings wrapped in tulle!

Anne and Brent

"This is, like, your dream wedding, isn't it?"  Leise asked me while we photographed Anne and Brent's end-of-summer wedding and I kept gushing about what I was seeing.

Hmm...  Dream wedding?!  That sounds like a trick question to me.

(Note: as much as I love attending and photographing weddings--and I do love that!--I have something of a hard time picturing my own...)

But I did really enjoy photographing this event.  I loved the laid back elegance of the bride and groom and their friends.  I loved the way Anne's Nicole Miller dress caught the breeze.  I loved how the brown and blue color scheme brought out the same shades in the mountain view.  I loved the geometry of the long, white dinner tables.  I loved that the Jangling Reinharts kept the crowd going with tunes by Ryan Adams, The Grateful Dead, and Billy Bragg, among others.  And I really loved the blue light after the sun set.

My dream?  I don't know.  But I was having fun.

Anne and Brent live in San Francisco and had a destination wedding in the Virginia Wine Country.  We started the afternoon with a "First Look" in a back courtyard at Farmington Country Club and then headed out to King Family Vineyards in Crozet for an outdoor ceremony and dinner and dancing in the Carriage House.   

Brent reacted very sweetly after he and Anne were married.  Instead of rushing to seal the deal with the usual kiss, he first grabbed his new bride, then pulled her close, picked her up, spun her around, kissed her cheek, kissed her lips, and held her close again.  They were thrilled.

And yes, there was the whole pyramid-on-the-dance-floor episode.  Which is actually kind of a good story...  As was the groom's toast to his new wife, which included the recounting of a European adventure, references to 6-year old journal entries, and the conclusion, "I didn't ever want to be apart from her."  Oh, I could go on...  Good times!

Scenes from the field...

Last week I photographed Montague, Miller & Co. at their annual awards luncheon at Farmington. Just like last year, we did the shoot in the lovely, sunny Jefferson room, where I can stand in the balcony and look down on the crowd.

This year Jackson loaned me some equipment and came along to help me set up beforehand, though he had his own job that afternoon and couldn't stay to watch me in action. I've assisted him several times since the fall so it was fun to have him along on my shoot for once.

"Can I get a meter reading, please?"

Jackson, as the cheeky assistant:

Jackson, as the professional assistant:

Kimberly and Paul

Although they live in Los Angeles, Kimberly and Paul chose Central Virginia for their October wedding. The entire event took place at Farmington Country Club and the afternoon could not have been more beautiful.

The wedding was full of special and thoughtful details, from the copper wiring on the floral arrangements to Kim's custom satin wedding boots, to the incredible diamond accessories that flew in from Texas to adorn the bride. My favorite unique element, however, was probably the spontaneous and raucous Irish step-dancing performance given by the young ring-bearers during the reception. PRICELESS!