graceful weddings

Amanda and Adam's Westin Alexandria Wedding!

Happy Friday, everyone!  Today I'm blogging on two very awesome people, Amanda and Adam!  Amanda and Adam were married at the Westin Alexandria in Alexandria, Virginia on one of the hottest days of the summer, so you can imagine how excited I was when the entire celebration was indoors!  Of course, I'm sure they (and their guests) were equally as excited! Amanda and Adam wanted to start their day off with a first look, and since it's been quite a few weddings since I've actually had a first look, I was thrilled with theirs!  I've never done a first look with a couple perfectly back-to-back, and I thought their reactions were just so cute!  You could tell how happy their were to see each other and it definitely created a calm over them before their ceremony.  Also, can I just say that I love Amanda's wreath that she wore? I haven't seen a bride wear a wreath/veil combination before, and I thought she looked amazing with it!

Amanda and Adam's wedding ceremony was simple and beautiful.  They both were all smiles during the entire event which made for some super cute photos.  After their ceremony, we did make the brave decision to go outside for a few photographs in the courtyard in front of the Westin.  Even though it was incredibly hot, we were in the shade and were mayyyybe outside for 10 minutes max.  But I think it was worth it because Amanda and Adam just look so darn great in their photos!

Once we were back inside it was clear the party was on!  Everyone had an incredible time dancing and letting loose.  At the end of the night I decided to take a shot with one of the Westin windows that had a clear, beautiful view of the George Washington Masonic Memorial (a staple view in Alexandria) and I was really pleased with how the photo turned out!

Many thanks to Amanda and Adam, their family and friends for having me along for the ride!  Also, I have to give a huge shout out to Graceful Weddings who kept the day moving along smoothly and who were always willing to step in as my test subjects when I needed them.  Enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

Amanda and Adam's Westin Alexandria Wedding - Sneak Peek!

This past Saturday was a scorcher!  Luckily, Amanda and Adam's wedding was all indoors at the Westin Alexandria in Old Town.  Although we did make it outside for five minutes (and no more...the heat index was 110!), I really loved some of the photos we were able to get inside with the two of them.  The first shot in these sneak peeks is from their first look, and I just adore it.  More to come from these two lovebirds!  Enjoy! Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

 

Julia Turns One - A Falls Church Family Session!

So you may remember my previous post with Anne of Graceful Weddings (I did a family session with her son, Cole, and husband, Ben!).  Well meet the other part of Graceful Weddings, Anna!  Anna scheduled a session with me recently for her adorbs daughter, Julia.  Julia just turned one recently, so we had to take some photos of her looking super cute and also very birthday girl-like!  :)  So I met with Anna, Dallas and Julia at their home in Falls Church for a little photo shoot to commemorate the occasion! Julia is soooooooo cute and ridiculously high-energy!  We took some shots of her outside on a blanket first, and of course after sitting for a bit, she had to crawl around.  Do not think that Julia likes grass from these photos, because she does not! We did try and put her down in just grass and she just hated the texture, so back on the blanket she went!  She did stand up all by herself like a big girl until she decided to crawl again.  I'm told that Julia has actually taken her first steps since these photos, which is just incredible!  We did get some other family shots while we were outside before it actually started crazy storming, and I love the family shot of Anna, Dallas and Julia all together!

Inside the house, I got some shots of Julia playing with her toys.  I don't know what it is about kids and their toys, I swear, I could watch them play with toys for hours.  Maybe it's their little hands and big eyes trying to figure everything out, but I just become mesmerized!  Julia apparently is very good with round objects at the moment, and has memorized the slots that they belong in.  She's so smart!  After playtime, we went upstairs to the kitchen to commemorate her birthday with a Georgetown Cupcake!  At first, Julia looked very wide-eyed at it, like she really wanted it, but then she kind of had a meltdown and we didn't know why.  Turns out, Julia really wanted supper, and not in the form of a cupcake.  So, Anna fed Julia with some peas and carrots first, and after that Julia moved on to the cupcake for dessert!  She looked awesome eating her cupcake, and the second to last photo of her made me laugh so hard I almost cried.  Every kid deserves to smash a cupcake up and get it all over themselves!

Many thanks to Anna, Dallas and Julia for letting me come over and photograph the fam!  I had such a blast and I hope you like the photos.  And if anyone out there is in the market for a wedding planner, definitely contact Graceful Weddings!  Anna and Anne are two amazing ladies, and actually just added a third gal to their biz, Lauren!  I met all of them last night to see Bridesmaids together, and we had a blast.  They're just really great people!  :)  Enjoy!  And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIA!

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

Cole Turns Two - An Old Town, Alexandria Family Session!

One of the perks of being a wedding photographer is getting to meet so many great vendors along the way.  I first worked with Anne of Graceful Weddings two years ago (wow, I can't believe it's been two years!).  I've seen she and her sidekick, Anna, at events in 2010, and we just finished one in January of 2011 as well!  They're two of the nicest, most organized women in the industry, and I'm so glad I get to work with them! I knew both women had kids, and Anne recently contacted me to see if I could do portraits of their stinkin' adorable son, Cole!  Cole just turned two over the weekend (happy birthday, buddy!) so Anne and husband, Ben, decided they wanted to document Cole turning the big 2 and also get some family shots in!

We decided to meet on a warm day in Old Town, Alexandria, and just walk around to see what Cole liked.  It turns out that Cole really likes going up brick steps, hiding in wrought iron, going up to doors (of the blue variety) and knocking, and he likes running toward people!  He's a very social little guy, and it completely shows in the photographs.  We circled around some blocks in Old Town, but Cole knew the end result was going to be...ice cream!  As a little birthday celebration, we stopped in at Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream so Cole could eat some delicious strawberry ice cream.  I have to say, watching Cole eat was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.  Anne and Ben had to help Cole with his giant bowl (he's only two, of course), and I think we got some really great shots of the three of them as well!

I asked Anne last night if she had any thoughts on Cole turning two, and this is what she said:  "Ben and I are so proud of the hilarious and sweet little boy he is becoming!  He was a month early (born on tax day and came home from the NICU on earth day) and he is still in a hurry all the time, to this day, always a step ahead of us.  :)  Oh yeah, and we triple puffy heart love Lisa Boggs!  :D"

So cute!  Thanks to Anne, Ben and Cole for such a fun day in Old Town!  Happy birthday, Cole!  :)

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

Ellen and Steve’s Rockwood Manor, Potomac Maryland Wedding!

I recently had the honor of photographing Ellen and Steve's weddding at Rockwood Manor in Potomac, MD...and their wedding was nothing short of amazing! It had so many elements to it, that it's really hard to know where to begin! First off, Ellen was totally into the DIY mindset, especially because's a graphic designer and knows how to run with a theme. She incorporated lots of colorful patterns and fabric that were echoed in everything from her wedding tree poster to her cupcakes! They also added the element of music into the color scheme, which you'll see in the place cards that people had corresponding to different music equipment manufacturers (Gibson, Pearl, Steinway, etc.). Not only that, but they had a grooms cake that was a banjo! It was genius! And of course they had plenty of bands play at the reception (Steve included in one!), which really brought the whole night together.

My favorite part of the night was probably when the whole wedding was over and we went down to a bonfire that was on the grounds! All the guests got to bring their wedding favors, which were boxes with s'more ingredients inside! In the boxes were some super creative s'more recipes that I had never seen before (you know, I'm your typical plain Jane when it comes to s'mores), along with some unique candy and marshmallows...and people loved eating them at the bonfire! People also broke out cigars for the occasion, but the biggest surprise at the bonfire was...wait for it...fire breathers! *gasp!* I knoooooooooooow! Ellen's step-brothers are actual fire breathers, and one of the guests just so happened to get exactly what they needed in order to put on a little show for us. How cool is that?! You'll see in the shots below that it was pretty amazing. Especially when they pass the fire to one another (the three panel). Just incredible!

I could go on and on about how much I loved this wedding in terms of the people and the photographic opportunities, but I won't! I just want to say thank you to Ellen and Steve, their families, and all their friends who made the wedding so wonderful and such a pleasure to photograph. Also, many thanks to Anna and Anne of Graceful Weddings for keeping the day running smoothly for everyone. Enjoy the photos below!

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa