Natalie & Michael are another couple that because of Covid, they had to rearrange their plans and reduce the size of their wedding because of Covid.

They opted out with a small intimate wedding, with just family and close friends at the beautiful Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.

Where was your first date? : It was at Mill Mountain Coffee downtown. We sat and talked for three hours about anything and everything. I think that was the moment we both knew.

I first met Adrienne & Ricky at another wedding I shot. Ricky was one of the groomsmen. So when it was time for them to choose a wedding photographer, they knew they had to contact me! Right from our first call we knew we were a match and I couldn’t wait to meet sweet Madison in person!

“We can all get knocked down and bad things can happen to anybody, no matter how high they might be riding at the time.” Cameron

“Thinking back at my life changing experience, I don’t know how I would have survived it without him.” Erika

Getting to know who my couples are, goes way beyond knowing how they met and how he proposed. It is part of a process that goes way deeper. It’s about building a relationship, a trust. Only then they can truly feel comfortable during their engagement sessions and in front of my camera.

Wedding days are long days, but for us, Wedding Photographers, they feel like they go by fast.

Between capturing our couples during their time getting ready, ceremony, reception, portraits and all the in-between moments one thing that often gets overlooked are the details of the day.

Our couples spend so much time picking out every little detail and most times they don’t even have the chance to enjoy them on their wedding day.

It’s up to us to make sure these details are archived for them so they’re able to go back and relive their day in its entirety!

Here is a list I put together that I make sure I capture for all of my couples.

What was your favorite moment of your wedding day?: Bride: I had so many favorite parts it’s so hard to choose. Overall, the love and just plain happiness we felt from everyone on the dance floor at the reception stands out to me the most. I couldn’t have pictured a more perfect day.

Groom: My favorite moment of the day was finally being announced as Mr. and Mrs. Mele when we walked into the venue and everyone we love was there cheering us on with genuine happiness their faces.

While Covid this year hit the wedding industry badly, what I hate the most is the extra stress it put on our couples. Planning a wedding can be stressful enough and Zoey & Eli had to postpone their wedding day twice!

Even though they have a big reception planned for mid 2021, they decided to elope, together with their closest friend and family at their parents house and I have to say I am really starting to love these small intimate weddings.

A few months ago I received an email from Rangefinder, saying that I was nominated to submit my images to the 30RisingStars contest.

Most of you might not know what that is. It is a contest that you can only submit if you are nominated by a previous winner of the contest or by Rangefinder itself. A contest that wedding photographers from all around the world strive to be part of. I could hardly believe that I was being nominated. I actually reached out to a few photographers that have won in the past to make sure that the email wasn’t a scam, haha.

When Covid hit in March, most of my couples at the beginning of the year immediately postponed their date. Nobody thought back then that even the ones that were booked for late fall had to consider it as well!

Sunny & Mike’s wedding date was scheduled to be at the beginning of November 2020, but when in August they saw that things with Covid weren’t changing they decided to put their guests safety and health above all and they postponed their big wedding to November 2021.

Planning a wedding is easy task said no one ever… Have you tried planning one in the middle of a pandemic crisis? Just the thought of it gave me chills….. Well, until I shot Kara & Tim’s wedding!

When they first started planning out their big wedding, they never thought that anything like a world spread virus would push them to make big changes! Many times during the planning they felt like they were sacrificing a lot. Changing their date was not an option, so they decided to reduce the guest list and focus on everybody’s safety.

As most of my photographer friends know, we go through multiple phases in our carrier. From excitement and loving our whole shoot, all the way to doubting everything we do.  I believe that part of it is because, as artists we strove for perfection, and while that pushes us to become better at our art, we sometimes lose sight of appreciate the beautiful moments we have captured. This past year I have particularly struggled with this. But a wedding that began as a literal natural disaster, that erased all of the hard planning for their perfect day taught me to seek the beauty in what is in front of us.

I am beyond honored to have one of my images win one of the biggest photography contests in the wedding industry. When I started this career I never considered I would win awards, I just wanted to capture beautiful pictures. While I was growing as an artist I didn’t realize that I was growing as a person too. These are the images I aspire to capture for all of my clients. Images that tell their story, photos that they will look at twenty years from now and recognize themselves and all the special details, photographs that will make them relive every emotion of their special day.