the blog

At a bridal show last year that I did solo, a girl and her mom walk up to me and I’m like “no way!!!” It had been YEARS since I had seen Tess, as we went to Bryn Mawr around the same time and graduated high school just a couple years apart. I hadn’t seen her since then. I met Ray that night and we were so excited when they reached out again about hiring us for their wedding. We were so pumped and honored!! 

We’ve never had a bride love her rainy day wedding as much as Tiffany did. And when we say rain, we Lena like down pour. At our final meeting with Tiffany, like most our brides, she said “I totally want rain picture.” Some don’t know what that actually entails until it actually happens. Rain in unavoidable but beautiful rain pictures are for the brave and free.

Let’s just say, William and Tiffany dominated their rain pictures. Like I mean danced in the rain at the end of the night, rung out her dress mid photos, and loved that her bouquet had rain drops all over it.

This wedding was so sweet and unique. William is Jewish and Tiffany is Chinese. Together they created a beautiful wedding woven with Chinese culture including a tea ceremony with their elders and gold flaked red gift envelopes, to a Chuppah and Ketubah signing honoring Jewish law. These guys even had an outfit change to honor both.

It downpoured under the tent during ceremony while friends read readings and the challah bread was broken. It kept raining while folks danced under the rain covered white tent. Sweet toasts were shared and tears resulted as parents and wedding party shared memories and secret admiration of the bride and groom.

If there’s two people that just go together, it’s Chelsea and Matthew. We met these guys at a Bridal Show when Chelsea told me that her photographer bailed. Her dad, little did I know, was watching us from afar and approached me and said “we want to hire you. I’ve been watching and we love how you deal with people.” They literally booked us that night. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. I’m gonna stop for a second and say, Off Beat is exactly who these people are. They aren’t into trends, they don’t care about fame. But what they do care about is those they love, their heirlooms, their music, and of course, their mopeds.

They held hands laughing as they walking through the gardens under umbrellas in between sun and rainfall. Their bridesmaids were prepared with rain boots and smiles. Kevin and Ashley are sentimental and intentional. Kevin’s gift to his bride: a time capsule full of letters for the present and future. Ashley’s gift to Kevin: a love letter, a toast for he and his groomsmen, and a star map of their love story. One of our favorite details was a surprise gift Ashley gave to her mom, an illustration of the two of them on her wedding day. These are just a few of those details that were woven into the day.

We aren’t going to brag, but we think it’s pretty amazing when “friends” (vendor friends) hire us for their wedding! Caitlin is an amazing woman who assists for Elizabeth Bailey Weddings, a Baltimore-based luxury wedding planning team. These women are some of my favorites in the industry. They were cheerleaders for us early on and we are so thankful that we get to work with them throughout the year. When Caitlin inquired and we met her and Joe we knew it would be “love at first sight”… okay maybe not that extreme, but we did know that these guys would be a good fit for us. And we aren’t just saying that.

When I think about this wedding, all I can do is smile. I drove with our Bride and Groom, Jenny and Phil after their ceremony, just moments after saying I Do, and they just said “Thank You.” I’m like, guys, the day isn’t even over and besides, you JUST GOT MARRIED! Woot Woot! This day was such a gem for us this May. We had wedding after wedding of rain, which as you all can imagine, is a wrench thrown into months and months of planning for our couples and their vendors. Things shift day of and everyone has to roll with it. Well, every couple handles it differently and these guys just rolled with it. They didn’t really care what the rain would do to the day because they decided it wasn’t about the rain, the day was about the two of them enjoying their people, their family, and mainly each other. We have proof that they had a blast at their wedding. Even their guests had a ball! But let’s back the day up.

So we were doing the math and we are pretty sure we’ve known Kelly since she was 14 years old!! Oh my gosh! Which is really pretty awesome! When Kelly got engaged and wanted to meet with us we were beyond thrilled. Photographing a friends wedding is so much fun, mainly because we get to celebrate and be with them all day and document one of the most amazing moments (Radiant Moment!) in their lifetime.

the fact that Elliott proposed at a Lighthouse in Cape May at the beach is so incredible and sweet. It’s permanent. That place is sentimental for a number of reasons. The love addiction in us says Lighthouse = A guide, a constant, a place of hope and safety, a place that realigns direction. How awesome that their engagement started at a lighthouse. Amy and Elliot, Patrick and I honestly can’t wait for your wedding. We are excited to come alongside you in the months to come and share life with you and share that marriage isn’t always calm waters, but at times stressful and heavy seas.

Okay, so we’re gonna start off with saying that Robyn and Robert are like our wanderlust couple of the year. I’m secretly hoping that Robyn calls me and tells me that they got permission from their travel excursion dude saying they can take us to ALASKA!! GUYS… listen, these two are Eloping… well I guess whatever you want to call it, they are getting married onto of a Glacier. Just the two of them and their officiant/pilot. They are going in August, their anniversary month, and then when they return we’re gonna have a serious party! Since Alaska is going to be SO COLD,  It was only fitting for us to do a Greenhouse engagement session at the amazing Rawlings Conservatory. These guys were so much fun to work with and we are pretty stoked for their wedding later this year! 

YAH! So Genevieve and Alex kicked off our 2018 Spring Wedding Season with a GORGEOUS wedding at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club!! We have been looking forward to this wedding for months, probably because 1) They were the first of the Spring season, 2) our bride is our WeddingWire sales rep (which is awesome!) and 3) because we knew it would be a wedding packed full of details, details, details!