Rachel contacted me more than a year before her wedding day and then I didn’t hear from her for over a month, which made me think that she had picked another wedding photographer. It felt weird cause we immediately got along, so I decided to send her a follow up email. Her response will always be one of my favorites! She said, I’m sorry if I didn’t get back sooner, we were getting the last details together before booking you, I would die if I didn’t have you as my wedding photographer! She seriously made my day, my month and whole year! lol

Rachel & Chris’s wedding was seriously like a fairytale… They exchanged their vows in front of family and friends having the woods of Four Fillies Lodge as their background. Rachel’s bouquet was a stunning cascade made out of roses and greenery and her bridesmaids had little lanterns filled with the same greenery and red roses. The forest was filled with white lilies based out of “Aladin”, Rachel’s favorite Disney movie. Their three tier cake was an almond cake with raspberry buttercream, and a red velvet cake with white chocolate buttercream. Every little detail was picked with so much attention and love, up to their first dance. “We wanted to pick a classic song and have a fun choreographed dance. Chris always complained that he couldn’t dance and the only dance I knew was the box step, taught to me by my father as a little girl. One evening , the song “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran came on and we began singing it to each other. While the song was playing Chris took my hand and we began dancing; He asked me to teach him the box step. From that moment on, every time the song played we would practice the dance. It not only became our song, it became our dance. Our first dance felt flawless because it was purely us, nothing else mattered; it was just the two of us.”

Here is a little more of Rachel & Chris’s story…

When you think of an engagement session different than other ones and out of the ordinary, well this is it!
When I met Sarah & Alex I knew immediately that they would be fun, but never did I know that they would push me outside my comfort zone…

We started the portraits with their super cute and very suspicious puppy, Kali. She could not get comfortable for pictures.. Seeing her expressions was hilarious! Like why did they bring me out here?! And why is that lady following us around?! I can’t get over with how cute she is..

They then went for a romantic canoe ride and the light was just perfect. They had told me their story and even though I am terrified of any kind of reptiles, I knew it would make their day to include some sort of lizard in their pictures, so I asked them and their faces literally lit up…

We ended up hiking and chasing a beautiful sunset overlooking the Appalachian Mountains…
Here is more about them!

Pink is almost every little girls favorite color and what’s better than pink is having different shades of it in your wedding details. Add some greenery and a pop of wine and you get this elegant and colorful look that Heidi had on her wedding day!

Of course, when you hire a professional wedding planner & design artist, like Caroline la Rocca that translates your ideas in beautiful designs, then you know you can’t go wrong!

Heidi & Dizzy’s day started at Hotel Roanoke, where they got ready with the wedding party, then moved to Virginia Mountain Vineyards for their ceremony & reception.

When I first Skyped with Emily & Chris I knew that we would get along… One of their favorite things to do is cooking! And coming from an Italian family cooking has always been a big thing for us. Dinner time, as most of my friends know, is very important to us. It’s the time when, after a full day of working, running errands, my son’s thousands of activities we finally get to sit together and chat while we enjoy a meal.

The evening we were Skyping, Chris was cooking meatballs!!! A match made in heaven!

We started off their engagement session picking apples at the Carter Mountain Orchard , then we headed towards the University of Virginia which is where they both went to college. Here is a little more of their story…

Most of my engagement sessions are scheduled about one hour before sunset, working with the best light of the day. But sometimes it happens that your couple is from out of town and the weather is calling for a thunderstorm after 2pm, so what do you do?!

Like most portrait photographers, I was terrified to shoot in harsh light, especially with the temperatures being in the 90s, but I was up for the challenge and I love every single shot from this session!
So when I found out that they were going to dive in the lake after the engagement session, I asked if I could capture that part too and I am so glad I did!!! 

How they met: Brooklyn & Bryan met at Radford College through a mutual friend and actually didn’t like each other when they first met. They hung out together a few times, then went separate ways for about a year, until he decided to contact her again which ignited communication between the two for a few months.

How he proposed: One night after having dinner together, Bryan asked Brooklyn to be his girlfriend at the Mill Mountain Star! I am so glad he did because the connection between them is so intense, as you can see in their engagement pictures that I took at Smith Mountain Lake – the place where they spend most of their time now and that they made their peaceful place.

Chelsea & Mitch’s wedding day was perfect in every aspect. When she walked down the aisle, in her elegant gown by Essence of Australia, it was a really emotional moment for everyone and especially for Mitch. The ceremony and the reception took place in the classic and charming wedding Patrick Henry Ballroom. After the first dances, the amazing band took over and the whole night was just filled with dancing and fun!

How they met: Brielle & Getulio were both new teachers to the International school in Colombia. That morning the school picked up the new teachers to take them shopping for home essentials and as soon as Brielle got on the bus, they caught eyes right off the bat. While shopping they playfully started arguing about pillow selection. Three days later they were both at a dinner and after a night of dancing and flirting they had their first kiss. A week later they had their real first date.

How they met – Amy and Brian were out with friends in downtown Roanoke and met at Lucky’s. They were in a big group and were introduced but they didn’t actually have their first date until months later,  when Brian asked Amy for coffee, on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. 
Their first official date was at Local Roots. 

I started traveling when I was 8 with my family and my mom always made sure that we enjoyed the journey not just the arrival to where we were going and the more I travel the more I realize how much I love it and how it defined me as an artist.

This was my first trip to Pacific City, Oregon and even though, I wasn’t there for long I loved it!  The views from our little hotel room, the walks on the beach, even getting stuck in the sand with our rental!!! lol