Stay tuned for more photos from this beautiful wedding!

Recently, I had the pleasure to photograph Tanya & Ryan’s Engagement Session.  If you remember, Tanya & Ryan were the winners of my proposal contest!  ***CLICK HERE*** to read their romantic proposal story.  After reading their story, I knew that they were very in love and would be a sweet couple to photograph.  Little did I know how cute they were together.  From the moment they arrived, they were so sweet and I could tell that they were so, so in love.  After the session, Ryan confessed that he was so nervous about being photographed.  I was so surprised because I could not tell that he was nervous at all.  With subtle guidance, I think you can tell from the photos that Tanya & Ryan were completely natural and at times I felt as if they didn’t even know I was there.  This is exactly how I want my clients to feel when photographing them.  Capturing their interactions and relationship in a natural and relaxed way really brings out their personalities and everyday personas in the photographs.

We first stopped off at the park, as Tanya mentioned that her and Ryan love to go to the park and read and just hang out.

I loved the light coming through the trees in this photo.

It’s so hard to pick my favorite from the session. This one is a contender because of the sweet expression on their faces. It definitely shows their love and care for each other.

Ok, another one of my favorites. Love the composition.

These locations had beautiful, just before sunset light streaming through the budding spring trees in-between the buildings in Midtown.

Another favorite. Love their natural expressions.

I could not resist stopping for a few shots in the fresh, super green spring grass. It was so lush and so green, it was a perfect backdrop for a few relaxed photos.

FIERCE!!!

Congratulations Tanya & Ryan on your engagement!  I know that your wedding will be just as beautiful and special as your proposal story.  Thank you so much for sharing your story with me!

To see more photos from Tanya & Ryan’s Engagement Session, ***CLICK HERE*** for a slideshow.

After a long, long winter, spring is finally here!  After months of bone-chilling temperatues, a little snow and howling wind, the flowers are blooming, trees are sprouting their leaves and the warm breezes have started to blow.  What a welcome sight!  Not only does this mean that summer is on it’s way, but it is a beautiful time for portraits and the beginning of wedding season.  I will be posting some wondeful spring portraits soon, but in the meantime what a better way to welcome spring’s arrival than to look back at some wonderful flowers from last year.

What can be more beautiful than a simple and elegant all white bouquet with a variety of flowers.

Beautiful and simple hydrangeas.

Last year, I saw so many different types of flowers for flower girls and ring bearers. Florists have become very creative with what the little one’s carry down the aisle. Below are two arrangements that incorporated a moss-covered box with flowers springing out of the top as a bouquet and a ring bearer’s pillow with a simple ribbon. Can’t wait to see what the trends are this year.

There have also been some innovative bouquets and boutonnieres for bridesmaids and groomsmen. No more plain, boring, single red rose boutonnieres. Florists are combining flowers with natural elements such as feathers, twine and small twigs in this case. The twigs were incorporated into the bridesmaid bouquets, the groomsmen’s boutonnieres, the bride’s bouquet and the centerpieces on each table. Although each had different types of flowers, the twig element brought everything together perfectly.

The following boutonnieres for the groom’s also show how natural elements add to the arrangement. The berries, twigs and miniature leaves have some elements of the bride’s bouquet or other flowers at the wedding.

The twigs seen here on the bride’s bouquet. The twig wrap even featured some simple green berries for additional detail to the bouquet. The berries also match the berries featured in the groom’s boutonniere above.

This simple, green leafed wreath hung on the iron gates of the church. More and more couples are welcoming their guests to the ceremony with wreaths or moss-covered initial letters on the doors to the church.

On to the reception! The flowers featured above with the twig detail, were also paired with a simple, square-stacked cake with orange orchids to match the orange detail in the bridesmaids shoes and bouquets. The cake was also decorated with twigs to match the other floral arrangements.

Sometimes, a natural setting does not need much more decoration because the venue itself is so beautiful on its own. This farm wedding featured a drink station to welcome guests to the ceremony with lemonade, iced tea and water. The table later doubled as the bar during the reception. The table was decorated with simple strands of pine garland.

These beautiful hydrangea baskets were wrapped with twigs at the base to match the flowers featured above with twig details.

Most of the flowers that you see here were not even added as part of the wedding decorations. All of the beautiful plantlife on the farm from the arch with vines, wildflowers in the fields to the hanging metal pots with flowers are there everyday to provide lots of natural character to the venue. Anyone looking for a natural and rustic wedding venue should look for these details when touring different locations.