Young love gets a bad rep. We’re pretty sure teenagers don’t know what they want, or if they do, they want the wrong thing. Young love is practically synonymous with Romeo and Juliet… and we all know how *that* ended.

Megan and Christophe met as teenagers – at 15, in fact. Like Romeo and Juliet, they fell for one other fast and hard. Even now, Christophe can still remember how sad and lonely he felt the next day when Megan, whom he had known less than 24 hours, left for France. But unlike those star-crossed lovers, this couple didn’t rush into anything. They waited, grew up together, and let their love mature through high school and college.

There’s another, very significant, difference between that infamous love story and this real life romance. Rather than two families that waged wars against one another, Megan and Christophe’s family seem, in the words of Christophe’s mother, “destined to be together.” If the glimpse I got of the two families at this engagement party is any indication of the truth of that statement, well, then I couldn’t agree more. Most toasts are awkward, dutiful, emotional words directed towards the couple… a few are touching and well-said and funny all at once. But this time of toasting was the best I’ve ever witnessed. It began with lovely words from Megan’s dad, with all the afore-mentioned elements. And from there, began an open season of celebration and merriment. Gracious words were spoken by many about many, and happiness and laughter reigned (by the way, sorry to those near me for that barking sound… that’s the way I laugh when I’m trying to be unobtrusive and didn’t expect to laugh). It was so heart-warming to see these families rejoice together over their children’s upcoming marriage and even though I was there to “work”, I truly had a wonderful time.

My parents met in Junior High, so I’ve always believed in young love making it through. Megan and Christophe, you’re a beautiful and gracious couple. We are honored to be there for your wedding… it’s been a long time coming :-)

Carlton is a hard-working man. He splits his six working days between real estate, bar-tending at Davis’, and serving at the Chart House. On his single day off, he and Emily relax in Annapolis. But more than that, you get the sense that their relationship itself is where they go to relax. I’ve hardly been around a couple that’s as comfortable around one another as Emily and Carlton. They said they were nervous about the shoot, so they decided in advance to just have as much fun as possible… we saw all fun and no nervousness, so mission accomplished on that front.

Emily and Carlton have lived within 10 minutes of each other for years, but didn’t know the other existed. It took the internet to get them to meet, and one reason Emily knew she wanted to go out with Carlton because he had such a cool name. :)

We had a long list of significant places we wanted to stop by, so we had to edit a bit, but we still managed to make it to several of the significant spots in Annapolis. First stop was Luna Blu, where Emily and Carlton had their first date… and where Emily *knew* within minutes that she could stop dating and start a life-long relationship. The next stop was the Charthouse Restaurant, where they had their 2nd date, and Carlton now works. We couldn’t do the session without hitting Davis’ Pub, where Carlton also works, so that was our 3rd stop. Both of the restaurants we went to, Emily & Carlton were warmly greeted by many friends and co-workers. And finally, we finished up by the wharf in Annapolis, which is so lovely at sunset!

Emily and Carlton, we had a great afternoon with you and can’t wait for the wedding this November! :-)

When we began prepping for the Baltimore Bridal Show, we wanted our booth to portray five words about our business, our photography, and ourselves.  The words were “creative, fresh, comfortable, inspired, and authentic.”  Like other brides I met that day, as soon as I met Tiffany, I was convinced that we would be a good fit for her wedding photography. Naturally, of course, I was thrilled when she and Chris agreed and chose us as their photographers. But as I’ve come to know Tiffany better, I see just how perfectly she and Chris embody these words! Her knitting projects and clear vision for the engagement shoot all come from an innate creativity. Tiffany and Chris are both so comfortable in their own skins that they were up for trying anything we suggested on the shoot – including tackle football :-) Their relationship was authentic; while we may have “posed” them in order to flatter, there was no acting on this shoot – they are simply calm and very, very happy in one another’s presence.

And as for fresh and inspired, well – it’s more accurate, perhaps, to say that I find Tiffany and Chris refreshing and inspiring, which is even better. When I contacted Mount St. Mary’s to learn about regulations for shooting in their chapel, they said that Tiffany had a “strong sense of the sacred”. I can truly say, Tiffany has allowed that which is sacred to her to imbibe her and overflow into kindness and compassion. In her professional life, Tiffany is in training for pastoral counseling.  But I can say that she practices graciousness in her personal life too, and I was very thankful for their calm and kind demeanor when I lost Chris’ sunglasses :-)  (Don’t worry – Susie found them pretty quickly, as she’s used to searching out lens caps that I inadvertently leave around.)

Tiffany spent many happy days in the natural beauty of Mount St. Mary’s serene campus.  It’s also been the site of all the major milestones in her life – its where she went to college, met Chris, got engaged, and finally, where she will get married. Was there really any other place to have her engagement shoot?

We love shooting engagement photos, and with the warm weather coming upon us, Becky and I are having so much fun with everyone!   Woodlawn Manor is the perfect place for a relaxed, fun engagement shoot.

We met Michelle at one of the bridal shows we did earlier this year, and somehow we must have stood out, because she booked us for their wedding. :)  Michelle is a graphic designer and we always consider it a high compliment when someone else in the art field wants us to do their photographs!   She’s also did a post titled “Why I Love Our Photographers” on her wedding blog – which is pretty much makes her the sweetest bride ever. :)

**From Becky – also, I think Michelle is particularly sweet because she was very cool when I made the silly and embarassing mistake of sending Michelle an email I had composed for another :-) **

Michelle and Chris are getting married this fall, and wanted to do their shoot with their dog, Harley.  She was a great addition to the photos, and kept all of us entertained with her energy.  I think Michelle and Chris have their hands full with her.  :)  Their wedding is going to be so beautiful this fall – and we can’t wait to see what Michelle does with their save the date cards!

-Susie

When researching bridal shows, we heard one piece of advice that influenced every choice we made – “Go big or go home.”  We knew what that meant for us was creating an attractive booth that stood out and drew brides in.  Given our lack of certain talents, we also knew that meant finding an excellent interior designer and handing over the look and feel of our booth to her.

Enter Cari-Jean.  Poised, polished, professional – outspoken but gentle – and absolutely *brimming* with ideas.  She designed, shopped for, and helped construct two absolutely stunning booths for us.

So naturally, when she booked us for her wedding, we knew we wanted to do something very special for her engagement shoot.  Once again, she was overflowing with ideas, so that part wasn’t hard. :-)  It was just a little tricky because I wanted to make sure that we captured her concepts as perfectly as she got our vision and translated it into our booths.  More than that, I’ve come to know Cari-Jean and Ian personally and really enjoy their relationship, which is comprised of all the things you wish to see in a couple just months away from their wedding date.  They’re comfortable together and share the same values for family and lifestyle.  Cari-Jean and Ian are rapturously in love, sad and lonely without one another, and counting down the minutes until their vows.

With all the pressure of delivering to Cari-Jean the perfect experience that  she gave us, and wanting to represent their love well, you’d think I’d be nervous the day of the shoot.  But I wasn’t – once again, Cari-Jean’s poise and grace carried the day.  She set an easy and graceful tone, and we just sat back and took pictures.  You’ll see four scenes below – her parent’s kitchen, where they cook together on weekends and her parent’s basement, where Ian proposed.  From there, we went to BWI Airport to remember the happy day that they first met, and finally to Centennial to recapture the romance of their first kiss.  Along the way, to tie the locations together, we gave Cari-Jean and Ian prompts to respond to and read to one another on their chalkboards.