The fab team:
Ceremony venue: Sixth & I Synagogue
Reception venue and catering: Hotel Monaco DC
Planner: Sara of Bella Notte
Cake artist: Fluffy Thoughts Cakes
Ceremony musicians: Cherry Blossom String Quartet
Band:  Ground Control
Lighting: John Farr Lighting
Video: Dolce Studio Films
Make-up: Leah McKay
Hair: Rudy Rodriguez
Gown: Paloma Blanca

Bill’s fave images of Anne’s:

For their first sight, Lindsay walked up behind Charles and put his bow tie over his shoulder before he ever saw her. She had learned just for him!

Anne’s fave images of Bill’s:

Love the woman doing a double-take as she crossed the street!

Loving this beautiful scene-setter from our assistant Karen:

More eye candy!

L&C, here are a few of our favorite moments from your wedding:

Your dad’s fluency in Portugese, Lindsay, as he welcomed your family and friends to your reception. The way your cake topper clutched that MacBook Pro as if that was your life (good thing you don’t use a Dell). The fist pump in the air as your rabbi announced you married! The wide variety of crowd reactions as you walked hand-in-hand through the throngs in Chinatown from the synagogue to Monaco. The uproarious laughter, especially during your brothers’ toasts. Your dedication in getting that bow tie tied, Lindsay, even if you couldn’t see what you were doing! The way your parents stood together, with your dad’s arm around your mom’s shoulders, listening to the string quartet when the synagogue was still otherwise empty. The gentle way you held your heads together, as if you were momentarily one person. And yes, the dancing.

Thank you for your trust in us, l&c and Mazel Tov!

xoxo…
…a&b

Our first year of marriage has been fantastic! We settled in to the whole husband and wife thing quickly, and a few months after the wedding we expanded our family by bringing home a little puggle puppy, Piper. We are still living in and loving DC.

We celebrated our first anniversary by going back to Frederick where the wedding festivities took place, and we actually spent a morning walking around the Strong Mansion grounds. Still absolutely stunning! We’re celebrating a bit further by leaving for Italy in two weeks. Italy was where we got engaged so it is a special place for us, and by total coincidence we’ll be there exactly two years from when we got engaged!

Emily’s faves:

I think this picture most aptly catches the rawness of emotion that Scott and I felt on our wedding day.  This was the moment right after we saw each other for the first time, during our first look.  All of my excitement and anticipation seemed to come to a head right here.  I still choke up sometimes when I see this, as I can so clearly remember the overwhelming amount of love and happiness I felt in this moment.

The wedding day was really special for my dad and me.  I was feeling nervous to walk down the aisle and I paused for a moment to look at him right before he walked me down the aisle.  He was gazing out into the ceremony site with this amazing look of happiness and pride. 

Scott’s faves:

This is one of my favorites because it captures the pure and unfiltered happiness we both felt.

I love this picture because it captures that moment where all nervousness had melted away.  The ceremony was incredibly special and emotional; here we are in a transition from a moment that was so much just between Emily and I, to joining the people we love to celebrate.

Their joint faves:

Here we are walking into the Mansion right after the ceremony wrapped up. Emily already has a glass of wine in hand, and everyone is so happy!

We’re so glad Anne & Bill pulled us away from the ceremony momentarily to take some photos by the pond.  We entered our own world when we stepped on this bench, danced like crazy, and ignored any sort of instructions A & B provided (sorry about that!).  It was so fun to have this moment to ourselves while the ceremony continued in the tent just a few yards away. 

[Emily, we're so glad you just went off and did your own thing. It really made the photo.]

Congratulations, you two!

Back at their apartment, there was some “studying” going on.

M&R, you two are perhaps the sweetest, fun loving soon-to-be-lawyers we know! What fun we had with you guys–we hardly noticed the biting wind that reminded us that even thought the calendar said it was Spring, we were in Boston. You didn’t either, right? ;-D We seriously can’t wait for your wedding this Summer in DC! Pretty sure we won’t need the hot chocolate then.

xoxo,
…a&b

Talent:

Venue: Clifton Inn
Planner: Kate Harlan of Simply Chic Events
Florist: Beehive Events
Make-up: Lora Elaine
Hair stylist: Bridal Hair by Remona
Band: Hot Sauce
Stationery: Taylor Street Paper and Fig. 2 Design
Calligraphy: Meant to be Calligraphy
Transportation: Albemarle Vintage Limosine
Lighting: Skyline Tent Company
Gown: Judd Waddell/Hitched

B’s Faves of A:

A’s Faves of B:

Eye candy:

Here are a few of our favorite moments from your wedding:

The look your niece gave you as she watched you put on your tie, Mike. How Coty “presented” your shoes to you for donning, Jenn. The way, when you first saw each other, you each held your arms out identically for the other. Watching each of your moms laugh together outside the chapel just prior to your ceremony. How your dad, Mike, watched with tears in his eyes as you met your bride at the altar. Your grins! How the late afternoon light fell on and around you as you walked to your cottage for the first time as husband and wife. The unending smile on your dad’s face, Jenn, as he watched your husband toast you. The sheer and touching determination your dad showed during his toast, Mike. The way you held Mike’s face in your hands while dancing later that night, Jenn, as if to wordlessly say, “We did it!”

Indeed you did. And we were sooooo happy to have been a part of it all. Thank you and congratulations, you two!

xoxo…
…a&b

When we were going through my aunt Marcia’s items, Annie found an album filled with professional photographs from my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary party, held when I was two. I was in several of the photos, interacting with my grandparents (my dad had passed away one month prior, so I never really knew him unfortunately). Seeing those moments of levity and celebration, especially in light of my family’s recent loss, was an incredible feeling. This album, along with another my grandmother had put together featuring their travels to China early in the last century along with photos of many of my ancestors, is now one of my most cherished possessions. My new MacBook Pro is pretty great, but it doesn’t stand a candle next to that.

So while we’re always happy when our clients invest in albums for themselves, we know deep inside the greater value is going to lie in our clients’ descendants viewing of these images many decades and perhaps centuries down the road, and the connections they’ll be able to place to our clients. It’s also why we spend so much time at a wedding focusing on those little moments with family. The photo of me on my granddad’s lap with a broad smile on my face at their anniversary party is perhaps my favorite photo of me, ever.

I’m expressing all this not to say you, dear client, need to have us create a Feature Album for you, even though we choose our craftsmen based on their talent, experience, and ability to create a piece of art that will withstand the test of time. It’s best to create something…even if it’s something you create yourselves. Create it not just for yourselves, but for your own kids and eventually, for theirs.

Many of you already know, but we’re so excited to officially announce that this Summer we’ll be moving out to Colorado! While we love Charlottesville (and always will) and all our dear friends here and in the surrounding areas, the sunny skies of the Rockies beckon us toward new adventures. The west has always felt like home and we’ve fallen in love with the endless bright blue skies, low humidity, vast open spaces, gorgeous snow-capped mountains, and some of the most friendly people around.

Now we know what you’re thinking and the answer is we are absolutely still going to be shooting weddings. We love documenting couples’ love stories and honestly don’t see that changing anytime soon. However, we will be significantly cutting back on the number of wedding commissions we accept in 2014 and beyond to allow us to pursue other passions. (This year, we have a full schedule of weddings here on the East coast and look forward to returning many times this Fall to photograph those and see friends. Hmmm…anyone have any frequent flier miles they’d like to donate? ) So this isn’t a goodbye; just a see ya later. We wouldn’t want to get all teary eyed on you now.

Having said that, we would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to acknowledge how much the local professional relationships we’ve formed over the past ten years have meant to us. Of course, there are way too many wonderful people to list here now, but we trust you all know who you are.

We want to thank each of our talented teams of planners, event designers, florists, cake artists, stationers, calligraphers, hairstylists, and make-up artists for helping make us look so good over the years. And to the bands, DJs, officiants, and others helping create such a compelling celebration, you have helped make our “job” so much more than simply work. To our fellow photographers, we’ve been blessed to be a part of such a welcoming, talented, and all-around fun bunch.

Last but certainly not least, without our lovely clients we’d not only have nothing to do, but would have been left emotionally unfulfilled in work. To the contrary, our hearts are overflowing with warm memories of each of you and the incredible moments you openly shared with each other and with us.

We’re constantly inspired by you all and so appreciate your trust and support with your continued referrals. We look forward to working with you all again soon. Since we’ll be doing fewer weddings in the future, that will only make our time together that much more sweet.

We’re incredibly excited to be closer to our family out West and about moving from wine country (relax, California, we’re not about to take over) to beer country (even though we have some very solid breweries just down the road). Anne is also looking forward to decorating a new home, while Bill can’t wait to hike and ski more. Needless to say we’re both very psyched about all the new photographic opportunities, as well–both personal and professional. In that vein, if you or anyone you know is marrying in Denver, Boulder, Vail, Aspen, Winter Park or hell, really anywhere for that matter, and love the moments we capture, we’d love for you to keep us in mind.

Please know you are always welcome in our new neck of the woods. We’ve already grown to love Boulder, our intended new home, and can’t wait to show you around when you visit.

Much love,
…a&b

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P.S. We love our C’ville house too, so instead of selling it, we’d love to open it to a couple or small family who will appreciate it as much as we do. It’s a lovely, peaceful manor home overlooking a small lake and while it feels a world away, is just minutes from downtown Charlottesville. Shoot us an email for details. In the meantime, here’s a photo of the lake taken yesterday morning from our living room. Feeling more peaceful already, aren’t you?