Katie and Logan chose to begin their trash the dress session in Sedona and end it in Jerome ... two of our favorite spots to conduct these types of shoots :-).  We had a fantastic time and got some great shots!  Thank you Katie and Logan!

Katie and Logan were married January 21st, 2012 and we just couldn't let this wedding slip away without being blogged!  Simply put ... it was STUNNING!

Katie is studying at Virginia Theological Seminary and is a Deacon working toward priesthood in the Episcopal Church.  They were married at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Litchfield Park (Phoenix) by the Bishop of Arizona.  This was such an honor for Katie and Logan as the Bishop only conducts a couple of weddings a year.  This was our first Episcopal ceremony and it was so lovely to watch!

The reception was held at The Raven Golf Club at Verrado, also in Litchfield Park and was quite a party.  And don't get us started about Katie and Logan's photo session ... AMAZING!!!  Take beautiful landscapes and a spectacular sunset and add in a healthy dose of wind and what results are images that are intensely dramatic in nature.  It was a joy to be part of this wonderful wedding!

For Kennesha's bridal session, we headed to Washington D.C.  We first stopped by the capital to grab some shots (I was surprised by the amount of seagulls hanging out around the frozen water feature out front :-)) and then moved on to the mall to finish up with more emblematic monuments used as backdrops, including the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (Nesha was so excited about those photos :-).)  It was cold for sure that day in early January, but it was so much fun!!  Thanks for playing along Nesha ... you were stunning!!

I just had to make sure and blog this wedding!  I first met Kennesha (I call her Nesha) a couple of years back while photographing my friend, Brittany's wedding in Orlando, Florida.  Nesha is one of Brittany's best friends (she traveled from her home state of Maryland for the wedding) and she tagged along with us for Brittany's bridal session.  It was memorable for Nesha because it was the first time in her life she had ever been to the ocean!  I thought it was so sweet how excited she was ... just like a child seeing it for the first time :-)!  I told her when it was her time to get married to call.

Fast forward a couple of years and sure enough I got that call!  I was soooo excited she remembered.  Kennesha and her wonderful husband, Ben, were married at their church on January 7th, 2012 in Maryland.  Afterwards we headed over to the University of Maryland Campus to take formal photos.  The campus grounds were beautiful and made for a stunning backdrop.  The couple also got very lucky in the way of weather!  It was unseasonably warm that day and felt almost spring-like.

Thank you Nesha and Ben for having me as a part of your wedding day!  It meant the world to me :-)!

Love you guys :-)!!!

Jamie and Jeremy were married March 24, 2012 at the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, Arizona!  This was a wedding all about the details.  There were so many beautiful details we didn't even know where to begin.  One of the most significant details was also one of the smallest, but not in what it represented .... the tiny yellow bumble-bee that is attached to Jamie's shoe.  Jamie lost her brother the week prior to her wedding and that sweet bumble-bee represents his presence.  Truly beautiful!

Jamie and Jeremy were referred to us through a couple we photographed a few years back (and who still grace our website :-).)  We were so glad to have the opportunity to visit with Shannon and Adam again (you might recognize them from a very snowy winter trash the dress session) and to meet their two beautiful children ...something this wedding had no shortage of.  We also have to recognize Kathy Baggett of Thee Wedding & Event Warehouse for her superb job coordinating this event and the magnificent job she did with the flowers!  Breathtaking!!

Thank you for having us and we can't wait for the trash the dress shoot!  Enjoy!

So finally, here it is  - the BEST OF 2011!!  I know this is late in coming, but quite frankly it was a hell of a year!  I really am at a loss for words to describe a year like the one we had in 2011.  It was amazing, enlightening, surreal, beautiful, humbling, tiring, frustrating and maddening all rolled into one, but if I had to describe it in one word it would be ... SPECTACULAR!!

To be honest I can't imagine there being another year quite like this one.  We had 51 weddings in 2011, 3 of which were multi-day cultural events, 7 of which were destination weddings (in other words, not in the state of Arizona) with 3 of those taking place in Mexico, 1 in Europe and 1 in Africa.  All told we traveled to Moab, Utah for a rustic, wild-west wedding, Napa Valley, California for a lovely wine-country wedding, Puerto Penasco for an authentic Mexican wedding, Riviera Maya (Cancun) for a colorful Nigerian/Indian wedding, Cabo San Lucas for a spirited Eritrean wedding, Rome for a romantic wedding at the Vatican and finally Nigeria for a spectacular three-day long Nigerian wedding event!  On top of that we had weddings throughout Arizona including Tucson, Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff, Lake Powell and Monument Valley.

The only way I knew to narrow the selections down for this posting was to choose one photo per wedding or event day ... no easy task I assure you.  The following consists of 72 photos, taken from each wedding or each day of the wedding event and also includes an image from each trash the dress shoot and personal shoot we did relating to weddings.  For the sake of keeping the number of images under control we did not include engagement shoots and portrait shoots.

To sum things up simply - 2011 for us was what we have always dreamed of ... doing what we love and in the process having the opportunity to experience new and exotic locations and learning about new cultures and how they celebrate one of life's most joyful events!  What a privilege :-)!

Thank you to all our amazing couples from 2011 for enriching our lives in so many wonderful and varying ways!

 

Feels like we haven't posted an engagement shoot in forever!  We have been so busy that E-shoots have fallen to the wayside as far as blogging goes, however we are pretty caught up now and couldn't resist posting Kendell and Chris' vintage-inspired session in Old Town Scottsdale.  Oh, and did we mention the hot pink vintage 1937 Ford Kendell's dad lent her as a prop for the shoot ... WOW!!  Can't wait for their wedding in San Diego this May ... the 1937 Ford will be there too :-)!!

Natalie and Gabriel were married this past October at the Sanctuary Resort in Scottsdale.  This was an extraordinary wedding and that is the main reason it took us so long to post it ... we knew it would be hard to narrow down!  At the time we were extremely busy in the thick of season and then our blog got hit by a hacker, but now we can finally bring you this stunning wedding!

This wedding was all about the details and they were beautiful!  Oh, and did I mention the rowdy crowd ... oh yes, these people knew how to party!!  Thank you to our Partner Photographer, Angie Gomez, for shooting this wedding with me.  Great job as always!

Angie's Photo.

Angie's Photo.
Angie's Photo.

Angie's Photo (Left.)

Angie's Photo (Left.)
Angie's Photo.

The fifth and final day of Ami and Jeremy's incredible Indian wedding was held at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix.  With nearly 500 guests in attendance it was truly a grand event!  We also would like to point out how stunning all of Ami and Jeremy's outfits were for this wedding.  Ami took much time putting them all together and choosing just the right accessories to compliment each one and it really showed!

Thank you Ami and Jeremy for including us in your spectacular wedding event!  It was a true privilege.  Congratulations to you both!!

Day four of Ami and Jeremy's Indian wedding was held on 11-11-11.  This was the official day of their Hindu wedding ceremony and in order to keep true to tradition it was held at the Shreenathji Temple in Phoenix.  Silly as it may be, we were so excited that Jeremy rode in on a horse (and a very beautiful one at that) during the baraat.  Of all the South Asian weddings we have done so far this is the first time the groom has entered on horseback :-).

Day three of Ami and Jeremy's Indian wedding was the Garba.  It was held at the beautiful Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix and was a night of lively celebration and vibrant dance!

The second day of Ami and Jeremy's five day long Indian wedding event was the Mehndi Party.  Ami loves animals, especially turtles ... a girl after my own heart :-) ... therefore her choice of venue seemed charmingly appropriate - the Phoenix Zoo!  As this took place in November, Phoenix Zoo Lights, a months-long display of holiday lights adorning every square inch of the zoo, was ready and about to open to the public and we got first dibs at seeing it!

We all had a great time wandering the zoo before the guests arrived talking shop about every animal and animal fact we knew, and we even got a few critters in the shots :-)!  Ami was later trying to tell her friends about our shared love of animals and about the mini zoo Kevin and I keep at home :-).  She said she thought we could be good friends in every day life if given the chance ... I agree!

 

Ami and Jeremy's Indian wedding event took place the week of 11-11-11 and it was a stunner!!  Ami wanted to have a traditional Punjabi Wedding and pulled it off in grand style.  The entire event took place over the course of five days and was by far the longest and largest South Asian wedding we have covered!

The first day was set aside for portraits, an engagement session of sorts.  We conducted the shoot at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix and the setting along with the beautiful sunset skies we were graced with that evening provided the perfect backdrop ... oh, and the giant bug sculptures didn't hurt either :-)!