A 75? July wedding day is a gift from nature and this was a beautiful day for a wedding. This was my second wedding with this family and both were gorgeous and fun. What a privilege to be invited back for such a joyous occasion.

I think photographs speak for themselves, but I do want to point out one thing that Kristin and Luke did that I think was a very special touch that I had never seen before. They served their own wedding cake to their guests and their thought was that this was a good way to replace a trend that has long fallen by the wayside – a receiving line. I really enjoyed photographing that part of their evening and how awesome it is to stand in line for a hug and a piece of amazingly delicious tiramisu wedding cake made for them by friends. After cutting the cake they donned a perfectly coordinated white apron and got to work greeting and serving their guests. Nicely done!

Here’s a few of my favorite images from the day and as always thank you Kristin and Luke for having me be a part of your very special day. Cheers to a long happy Life together!

Venue – Sundara
Catering – Blue Ridge Catering
DJ – RSP Entertainment
Ceremony Musicians – @Roanoke Symphony Trio
Photographer – Kemper Mills Fant Photography
Florals and Decor- Kaye Moomaw Florist (Bouquets, Bouts, and some cut flowers),Suzy Bowman Cut Flowers, Arbor, Day-of Florist/Reception Decorating

Meghan and Michael are going to be married this Saturday and I’m looking forward to being up on the mountain with them as they exchange vows at a gorgeous overlook on their family property. Here are a few from their engagement session we shot early last fall.

Here are a few images from Claire and Nate’s beautiful wedding at Sundara. Loved the swing-top bottles that served as water bottle, table markers and menu all in one. What a great idea and with the craft paper printing gave it just that perfect look to coordinate with the gold, turquoise and off-white accents. Kerry McCarty did the usual gorgeous job on florals and really helped me out when the bride had a little trouble finding a florist on Mother’s Day weekend.

Wonderful couple who had really fun friends and family. A little rain never hurt anybody and was it ever a beautiful day.

Catering: Blue Ridge Catering
Makeup: Makeupby Chris10
Event Coordinator: Amy McArthur
Ceremony and Dinner Band: Blue Moonshine
Florals: Kerry McCarty at George’s
Party Band: Jason Adamo Band
Furniture: Paisley and Jade
Cake: Evie’s Wedding Cakes

Update!

We have lots of great prizes as follows:

The first ever Downtown Roanoke Wedding Crawl is a great way to meet wedding vendors, see some of the beautiful downtown wedding venues, and help out the Roanoke Valley SPCA at that same time! I’m going to be the featured photographer at Hotel Roanoke which will be using the beautiful Crystal Ballroom as its centerpiece as well as conducing tours of several other locations within the hotel that are used to host every kind of wedding event.

Hotel Roanoke has a long tradition of hosting some of the most beautiful weddings in Roanoke. They have an excellent in house catering staff that not only prepares delicious food and exciting specialty drinks with gorgeous presentation, but they also are exceptionally attentive to make your wedding guests feel welcomed and cared for. Of course the building, grounds and central downtown location make the Hotel Roanoke a photographers dream. I love the city backdrop and some of my most beautiful bridal shoots are done there. Of course it makes a stunning backdrop for wedding day couple portraiture, too.

Get your tickets here at the RVSPCA website!

Hope to see you there!

Here’s a little sneak peek from Lindsey and Caley’s wedding and reception at Sundara. It was a gorgeous day and so many people came from all over the world just to be there for these two. One came from Nepal where he had just climbed Mt. Everest. How often does THAT happen? More to come!

This was a beautiful day for a gorgeous April wedding with Melissa and Craig. I loved everything about working with these two. I’ve known Melissa for a while now but Craig I had never met. Sitting there chatting in the studio with them on the first day I met Craig I could tell that they were perfectly suited to each other. Both are quickly at ease with others, ready to share a good laugh, and it seemed to me they kind of adored each other. They will easily share a life of love and good times. That’s the best.

Thanks to my friends at Blue Ridge Catering, Creative Occasions, Lux Lighting and Event Design, and Charter Hall in the Roanoke City Market Building for lending their talents and gifts to make this a very perfect day.

When we think about our parents, especially those of us who no longer have one or both of them, there are always certain things we will forever associate with them. A lot of those are material things, simple keepsakes or perhaps heirlooms. They are things we can look at that instantly conjure an image of them or give us  that feeling that  they’re here with us despite the fact they are not. Maybe it’s a piece of furniture,  or something they used in the kitchen or out in the shop. Sometimes it is something very simple, yet permanently tied to our memory of them and therefore cherished.

My mom’s stationary box was just one of those things. As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated with intricate geometric design, and for the most part the more complex and symmetrical the design the more I like it. I love beautiful handmade rugs and tapestries and fabrics with these designs. Pool trim tiles always catch my eye and I am amazed whenever I get a chance to see a quilt show. So, her stationary box naturally attracted my eye. It was just a nicely made cardboard box, nothing particularly fancy but well done, embossed printing with an intricate repeating design on gold foil paper. And it was around for as long as I can remember. Once depleted of the stationary it came with, it was the keeper of paper scraps that I cannot describe other than an assortment of odds and ends that still had some useful purpose. But, it was always around. Never discarded. And for forty some years it sat there where my mom held highest office at household command central. Then I came along with a renewed and now sentimental interest in it.

At first I thought I would just use it to make some type of graphic as a background for my website, but that didn’t really work out. I scanned it and manipulated it every way I could but it just didn’t pan out as I had intended. So, the box just sat on the shelf in my office where I would occasionally pick it up and admire it but was never quite sure what to do with it.

About a month ago I had the annual clean out the office day where all the junk I accumulate is usually discarded. I’m not a hoarder…for long. When I came to the stationary box I once again wondered what I could possibly do with it. I just didn’t want to put it in a box or a closet where it would never be looked at again. I wanted to USE it in some meaningful way where I could remember my mom and admire its familiar design. I put it aside and came to a box of frames that I had laying around and that is when it came to me! I would make the box into a photo mat and in it I would put a photo of me and my mom that I had always loved. It was the one with my dad’s ’41 Chevy pickup in the background. We were out in the back yard in a baby pool and he was home for lunch and snapping a few pics of his new kid. Perfect.

So, this is what happened to my mom’s stationary box. Despite being on the creative side, I’m not a very crafty person so I was rather pleased with myself. It was a the prefect project ending for a simple piece of family memorabilia and the photo that makes it even more special.

Here’s a few shots, the first one showing the scanned box lid, with all its worn edges from nearly a half century of use.

And the finished piece.  I chose a simple black frame and a white undermatting to set the box top mat apart from the photo. I was very careful to preserve the symmetry of the design as best I could, cutting the opening so that it was centered in the design repeat. I love it!

I had a few scraps of material left over that I couldn’t part with so I fashioned a little box that holds all my CF cards waiting to be downloaded. Ok. Maybe I AM a little crafty :o)

I was over at a shoot for my friends at Firefly Media who were having a grand opening at their new digs in Grandin Village. Of course, no eventness on Grandin Road would be complete without James Tarpley and James was there to help cut the ribbon. I never really had the privilege of meeting James, but he came over to me just to say how much he appreciated how hard I was working and we struck up a little chat. At the end, he eagerly agreed to a little portrait shoot and I thought this was the shot that captured him best. What a wonderful person, and a such a handsome guy. I loved the hat.

Once upon a time there was a little girl whose daddy was building a great big building, the biggest for miles around. And she used to climb up to the very tip top with him and look out over the fair land below. She spotted a magical place not too far away where she dreamed one day she would marry her prince. She begged daddy to fix the old place up and make it beautiful for her, so he granted her that wish…with a little help from the Virginia Tech Foundation. And so it was, one day the little girl had her dream come true, and a beautiful wedding took place in the fairest land of them all.

A little sneak peek, but I must get back to reality as life without Photoshop only takes place in fairy tales.