Monday, January 26, 2015

Washington DC Wedding Favorites - Part I


We are absolutely LOVING engagement season and meeting so many new couples who are starting the greatest journey of their lives!  Congratulations to all our 2015 and 2016 couples and everyone who might be reading this that haven't contacted us yet but recently got engaged!  With as excited as we are, for this upcoming wedding season, we are still having withdrawals for our incredible year last year.  We decided it was time to go through and pick a few of our favorite moments, images, and wedding details from 2014 wedding season.  Every image we take has a story that goes with it, here are just a few of them!

Favorite View/Background


This category is a tie between Marissa & Marco's Wedding at the George Washington Masonic Memorial and Ashley & Greg's wedding.  You could also call this category "Yay, we actually got fluffy white clouds!"  The sky is so much better when we have clouds.  Not full of ugly grey clouds, but those big fluffy white clouds!  When the sky has NO clouds and is completely clear, it tends to give really harsh light and ends up just looking white and blown out in photos, so there's nothing better than these clouds.  Plus, when you add such an iconic building such as the Memorial in Alexandria (which is designed to mimic the Lighthouse in Alexandria, Egypt) or a beautiful country setting with a field of tall grass, it just doesn't get any better than that!


Favorite Cake


We saw some amazing cakes with some even more amazing cake toppers, but the thought that went into Allyson & Jonathan's cake (by Cake Panache)... well... it takes the cake!  (wow, that was a REALLY bad pun and completely unintended)  To really appreciate it you have to know that she is a biochemist who is working on her PhD... in her 20's... during her wedding planning!  Now let's describe this cake a little bit. What most people see is pillars that surround the entire cake, someone who was into chemistry or biology would notice it's one of the most beautiful shapes in science... the double helix!  Even greater than that is the top tier.  Most couples have a monogram or something of that nature adorning the top tier of their wedding cake.  That just simply wasn't enough for Allyson.  If you look closely you'll see something that looks like a chemical diagram.  Well, that's exactly what it is!  But not just any chemical diagram; it's the chemical diagram for Oxytocin, which has been called "The Love Chemical".  It's one of the chemicals in our brain that deals with attachment.  This is just the perfect cake for Allyson & Jonathan and we loved being able to photograph it!

Funniest Father/Daughter Dance


This gem comes from Allyson & Jonathan's wedding as well!  Funny father daughter dances became, kind of, a viral internet phenomenon during this time and when Allyson's wedding came along, her and her father (A retired Air Force Colonel) definitely delivered!  It was a montage of several songs of varying speeds and styles and they did everything from the Waltz to Disco.  The guests loved every second of it with cheering, laughter, and thunderous applause!  This is a moment that Allyson and her father will remember for the rest of their lives, and this style of dance is definitely a trend we hope continues into 2015 and beyond!  The bar has been set, ladies!

Favorite Dip


This category is another tie between Carla & Matthew's Wedding and Mallory & Ron's Wedding! Carla's dip kiss was taken underneath the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria while Mallory's dip kiss was taken in the middle of main street outside the George Washington Hotel in small town Winchester, VA.  Both are absolutely breathtaking! 

Favorite Dress Shot


Fashion & David had one of the most memorable locations we've ever shot at in Maryland. Beaches, boats, sunsets, and flowers were key elements to every image and when we took Fashion's dress on a field trip we fell in love with this Pergola that was full of amazing colorful flowers!  It just looked like the perfect spot to hang a wedding dress.  Ladies, PLEASE allow us to take your dress on a field trip!  We promise, you will NOT be disappointed!  

Favorite Bridesmaids Dresses


We love the color of Mallory's bridesmaids dresses and love when a bride understands that sometimes a single dress just is not going to look the same on every single bridesmaid, so it's good to mix it up a little bit. They flowed well, moved well, and were amazing to photograph.  There were super fun girls to work with, too!

Favorite Exit


We are totally suckers for a good sparkler exit!  They never cease to deliver amazing images to end the night, and when we told Ashley & Greg to stop half way and give us one last kiss, man did they deliver! Wow! 

Favorite Flowers


These are the bouquets from Mallory's wedding and a boutonniere from Emma's wedding.  Mallory's flowers were from our favorite preferred vendor florist, Love Flowers Shenandoah (seriously, she's AMAZING to work with).  They are amazing and their attention to detail and friendly service are unmatched!  We love that they label their bouquet vases with little chalkboard labels.  Emma and Michael were teachers from the Mississippi Delta, so cotton seemed like the perfect added touch to their flowers.  In its raw form, it really is a beautiful little bloom.

Favorite Food


We shoot weddings all year long and have had a lot of chicken and beef wellington over the years (as well as cold turkey sandwiches), but when we saw Maddy & Robin had a Nacho bar in their buffet, we sang to the heavens with delight!  What's better to have at an amazing wedding than some real, feel good, comfort food!  It was oh so yummy!!  

Most Magical


Allyson & Jonathan were down for anything we threw at them that night, so when we said, "Hey, do you wanna go have some fun experimenting with the sparklers?".  We didn't realize that saying "experiment" to a Biochemistry PhD student was pretty much the "magic word"!  It only took a few shots before we had our cameras dialed in to the exact amount of long exposure that it would take to get some of the most amazingly magical sparkler images we've ever taken!  We just started jumping up and down with excitement, and had to show Allyson & Jonathan the image on the back of our camera right away because they were just too awesome!  This image now graces the cover of their heirloom album!  Seriously ladies, want amazing photos? Make sure we have the time to capture them!  

With that, we will end this post.  If you didn't see your wedding in this set, don't fret!  There's a part two!  Everything from favorite ring shot, to fan favorite will be covered.    We hope you've enjoyed our little trip down memory lane!

XOXO
Chris and Brandy

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