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 

You have your wedding photographer booked and it’s time for your engagement portraits. So you start thinking “where should we be taking them? What will we do?!” That’s when you pick up the phone and call your wedding photographer.

It’s really important for me to showcase my couple’s personalities and hobbies through their engagement sessions. So I always recommend doing something that they would be doing on a fun weekend.

That was the case with Chelsea & Mitch. One of their favorite thing to do is eat & enjoy a glass of wine, so why not make it a picnic in the Blue Ridge Mountains?!

Emily & Danny are one of a kind, kinda couple. After shooting their engagement portraits I knew their wedding was going to be unique!

While most couples getting married in December stay away from Christmas colors, Emily went all the way in! Starting with her bridesmaids dresses, her flowers and she even had snowflakes lighting throughout the ceremony!