The sun was bright and the heat at times sweltering but the light island breeze brought with it the coolness of the ocean. It was a tropical paradise and an amazing location for two people to get married. Izabella and I stood on the villa balcony over looking the beautiful ocean. Talking about weddings and the one she looked forward to planning when she and Dave decided to tie the knot.

We had that lucky chance meeting a year ago when I was photographing Synda and Alex’s wedding on Canouan Island. The wedding had been picked up by the Style Network’s “Married Away” show and Izabella was there as the assistant for the show’s wedding coordinator, Linnyette Richardson-Hall aka- the “Wedding Diva”. I remember all their hard work and how Synda and Alex’s dream wedding became a beautiful reality under their guidance.

Fast forward to a December afternoon, I’m walking with Izabella and she is the beaming bride. We are in her home town of Baltimore and on the campus of the University of Maryland. As we walked, we talked again of weddings and the one she has planned for she and Dave the next day.

“This wedding is definitely going to be emotional on all parts. Dave and I have been together for 8 years, and we're finally getting married. My parents are taking this pretty hard.  I've lived with them all of my life (even through college), so this is going to be a big change for them. Even Linnyette said she's going to get a little emotional at this wedding... "Her little girl is growing up!"”

The sun this time was hiding from us but with good reason. The chilly wind brought with it one weather element I absolutely love, snow! As they stepped out of the church for the first time as husband and wife, light little snowflakes danced around in the light breeze. It was again an amazing location for a wedding.

Izabella and Dave, I can’t tell you how honored I am to have been asked to photograph such a special and emotional time of your lives. It was a fabulous way to end a great year. I hope you have a great new year as husband and wife!

Wedding- St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Reception- University of Maryland, Riggs Alumni Center
Event Design- Premiere Event Management, The Wedding Diva- Linnyette Richardson-Hall
Lighting- EventEQ
Wedding Dress-Demetrios

Also Thanks to Amy Martin for coming and second shooting with me!

You can see a slideshow of my favorites here. All of the images form their wedding will be available for viewing here (If they aren't released yet, sign up and you will receive an email once they are available.)

Linnyette looking for some luck

Izabella's rosery which was blessed by the pope

Izabella's flute choir

The snow at this point is coming down just a little harder. Izabella and Dave where such sports to hang out in the snow with us.

Again my favorite image from the sneak peak

Christmas eve when Todd and I got home this is what I found at my door step! We had been hard at work at the studio for almost 10 hrs and I was so excited to see this box of Harry and David goodies from Izabella and Dave. I tell you it was exactly what the Doctor ordered after 10 hrs on our hands and knees staining floors. Thanks guys so much for thinking of us, your the best!

Just a little something from my last wedding of the year. Lots more images to come from this fabulous wedding!

Everyone keeps wondering where I've been. I know I've been sort of, okay way out of, the loop the last two weeks. I have to tell you I have logged over 4000 miles in my travels and spent way to much of that sitting in a car! Last weekend I flew to Baltimore to photograph Izzabella and Dave's wedding, more on that snowy trip later. When I arrived back home that Sunday I had less than 12 hours to repack for a road trip to South Dakota with my hubby. He needed a copilot for the long trip and asked if I would come along. In a crazy moment, I said yes and off we went. It was an insane whirlwind trip with lots of treacherous roads layered in ice and snow, over 100 wrecks involving cars and trucks of all sizes. I can tell you, we both looked at each other like “are we insane” when the car thermometer read 2 degrees and we were sliding on ice. But I’m super glad he didn’t make that trip alone and even happier that we made it out before the blizzard hit the Dakotas. I'm telling you, we have never driven so fast to get out of a place before a storm hit, heck I've moved slower to get out of the way of a hurricane. One day while there I took off in search of old barns and neat things to photograph. Below are just a few of my favorites. I should have photographed my horseback riding trip out to the Missouri river but I was too worried about carrying gear and managing the mountian slopes all on horseback.One thing about the Dakota's. They have this interesting wheat colored light we don't see back home, maybe it's from all the praire grass.