Jenny has always loved elegance and beauty. She wanted a sophisticated engagement session with a sense of fashion and drama and a touch of vintage. We chose Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami for the “vintage glam” set.

After Vizcaya we went over to downtown Miami for a bit of night shooting. I like shooting at night because it lets me play with lights and add drama to the images.

Thank you Jenny and Raul. I can’t wait for your wedding next month!!!

After the gardens I wanted to take some more urban style pictures for them so we went about a mile down the road to a cute street setting.

Thanks, Samantha and Marc. Looking forward to 2014!

I asked them a few questions before the wedding so that we can all get to know them.

Q. How long have you been dating?
A. By the time we say “I do” it will have been 8 years!

Q. How did you first meet?
A. Lauren: We met in college – we were introduced by one of my childhood friends (who had met Sergey in the dorms at University of Miami). She had determined that we would be a perfect match for each other, and had devised a plan to get Sergey to drive her to Orlando so that they could visit me. Sergey was smitten when I gracefully fell through a door – then we stayed up all night talking, only to drag ourselves around Islands of Adventure the next day. Needless to say, Sergey was hooked! =) He returned to Orlando the next weekend, asked me to be his girlfriend (true story! We never “dated”), and the rest they say is history!

Q. When did you first realize you were in love?
A. Sergey: It was a few months after we started seeing each other. I said “I love you” first. We were at Lauren’s house, after a long day out at a festival. After a bad sunburn and napping for a few hours, we both woke up, and I said it, and she was like “Really?” But then she said it back. Oddly enough, when I asked her to marry me, she also said “Really?” I’m sensing a trend.
A. Lauren: I realized that I was in love with him when I knew in my heart that I’d truly be devastated if I lost him. He might have said it first, but I said it right back! The time was right.

Q. What made you choose your venue?
A. We picked the CocoPlum Women’s Club because of its “old Florida” vibe. We both love history, and the venue is 100 years old. Between the high wood ceiling and the Cuban tile in the ballroom, we were in love. We also loved that the staff were so professional, friendly, and accommodating to our ideas.

Q. What are you most looking forward to on the wedding day?
A. We are looking forward to celebrating our day with family and friends. In our case, it isn’t a cliché sentiment. Most of our family and friends live out of town, be it in other cities in Florida, other states, and even across the world. We are really excited to be under one roof with so many of these people, especially on such an important day in our lives!

Lauren and Sergey got ready at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Miami.

Lauren and Sergey decided to do a first look in order to take advantage of the time and not have to do portraits after the ceremony.

The ceremony and reception took place at the Coco Plum Women’s Club.

Sergey comes from a Russian background and there is a Russian wedding tradition where the mom brings out a loaf of bread with salt on it and the bride and groom have to each take a bite, whoever takes the biggest bite will be the head of the household. Lauren took the bigger bite. Sergey was sad.

After the wedding I asked them some follow up questions.

Q. What was your favorite part of your wedding day?
A. Sergey: Any time after the ceremony because all of the pressure was off and we could just have fun and enjoy each other, our families, and friends.
A. Lauren: Just being with everyone. And finally being married!

Q. What was the most emotional part of the wedding day?
A. Sergey: Waiting for the first look and during the ceremony when the Rabbi read the vows we had written for each other.
A. Lauren: There were a LOT of moments. The first look. The moment right before I walked down the aisle. Dancing with my dad. And my sister’s toast – that made me cry.

Q. What was something you are glad you did on your wedding day that not everyone may realize?
A. Sergey: I’m glad I didn’t worry about whether things went right or wrong and just decided to enjoy myself.
A. Lauren: I was so sick with a nasty cold – I’m glad I took medicine and that it worked! On a serious note, I’m glad that I got to include my grandfather in our ceremony. That meant a lot.

Q. What is one piece of advice you would give a bride planning her wedding?
A. Lauren: Realize that during your planning process, there is a good chance that you will get stressed out at some point, no matter how relaxed of a person you are. But on your wedding day, enjoy every moment. Savor every moment. It really does go by too fast!

Thank you Lauren and Sergey for letting me be a part of this day with you. It was beautiful!

Vendors

Special thanks to Stephanie Sonju for working with me!

Coordinator: Rosie Hayden (CocoPlum staff)
Florist: Martha Villar
Make-up Artist: Robin Ryant
Hair: Molly Barney (via Heaven and Earth Salon)
Dress Designer: I don’t know! But I bought it at Leggenda Bridal in Coral Gables
Shoe Designer: M by Marinelli

Being that they were getting ready in Homestead, a family member ran to the famous Knaus Berry Farm and got those addictive sticky buns! If you are from South Florida you know that you can’t resist those sticky buns! I had to take the ring shot on top of the sticky buns, and yes those are black rings made out of tungsten.

The wedding ceremony and reception took place at Homestead’s Red Koi Gardens. The Red Koi is a zen type garden with lots of paths and spaces between overlapping trees and ponds full of koi fish. Its really a serene setting for a wedding.

Cristina and Darwin opted to see each other prior to the ceremony in order to take some pictures. This is the first look.

Darwin’s dad officiated the wedding. Its very special to have your own father be the minister at your wedding.

Cristina wanted to take some sunset pictures and gave me strict instructions that no matter what was happening at the wedding I was to grab her and take some pictures at sunset. I gladly accepted that request. They jumped in our car and we drove to a field a few blocks away.

After their first dance, Cristina and Darwin jumped up on stage to perform at their own wedding! Everyone went crazy to see the bride and groom signing and performing live for them!

Vendors:

Coordinator – Mia Bella Events & Design, Inc.
Photographer – Soul Echo Studios – Alex Fagundo and special thanks to Jessica Savidge for second shooting
Florist (only bridal bouquet and bouteniere) – The Flower Bazaar
Make-up Artist – Makeup by Elvi
Hair – Art of Hair by Claudia
Dress Designer – Maggie Sottero

Q. How long have you been dating?
A. 5 years

Q. How did you first meet?
A. Tina: I had seen him at some music networking events before we formally met. To my surprise, during one of these events he got up on the mic with his guitar and started performing. I was floored by his amazing voice! I just had to meet him to say I knew him before he was a star lol. Unfortunately, I was too shy to do anything about it so he left that night without me saying a word. Later that evening, I was then invited to an afterparty and who’s the first person I see at the door? Mr. Santo Valera himself. I knew right then and there I had been given another chance to meet this stranger, so I did. Best decision I ever made. ☺

Q. When did you first realize you were in love?
A. Tina: I can’t pinpoint when I fell in love with him. It happened organically for me. I remember sometime after dating for a year I went to the beach and read older journal entries about my past heartbreaks. I decided to start a new journal to document our journey because this one is different. That might had been my realization. All I know is that no matter how or when it happened, it indeed happen. And I thank God every day for allowing me to feel that overwhelming power in my life.

Q. What made you choose your venue?
A. Tina: I’ve always dreamed of getting married outdoors and the peaceful lush garden was perfect. We want our guests to enter the space and feel the tranquility for a break from the normal hustle & bustle of everyday life.

Thank you Cristina and Darwin for such an incredible wedding with no compromises! Thank you for having the wedding you wanted to have and letting me be a part of it!

I want to give special thanks to Melissa Caceres for Events on a Budget, who planned this event from start to finish.

The wedding day started out at the Plaza condominiums where Teresa and Scott prepared for the big day.

Scott gave her these lace gloves as a gift. What a beautiful addition to the bride’s dress!

The ceremony and reception took place at the historic Deering Estate in Cutler Bay. I absolutely love working at the Deering Estate, specially on such a gorgeous day!

This is where Teresa gets her smile from!

Thank you, Teresa and Scott for letting me capture these moments for you!

It was 40 degrees that day in Richmond with chance of snow. That weather would make a lot of brides and grooms want to be huddled up by a fire (I’m from Florida, to me 40 degrees is freezing!) but Blakely and Caleb were open to any picture idea. Inside, outside, cold, hot, rain, snow…it didn’t matter to them. They just wanted to spend the day together and take great pictures. I suggested they do a first look so that we could do most of the pictures prior to the ceremony because even though they wanted to take lots of fun portraits I still feel its important to not spend too much time after the ceremony taking pictures since we need to be respectful of family and friends. To me photography is a priority but it should never be more important than the experience of being with loved ones. I think Blakely and Caleb agreed and appreciated that as well. That is number one in my book, always. I was able to manage the timeline with them in a way that allowed for great pictures but still have that quality time with loved ones and plenty of candids.

Special thanks to Joey Pulone who helped me photograph this event and to Elizabeth Palmer Singleton who helped Caleb and Blakely with all the logistics and planning for this event.

Blakely got ready with her friends at the Marriott in Downtown, Richmond.

Caleb got ready with the groomsmen at his house.

Because the streets were wet from rain, Blakely decided to put on the dress at the church instead of the hotel so the dress wouldn’t drag. The church is the oldest church in Richmond, over 200 years old. Monumental Church has the simple beauty of that age period and so much character. I absolutely loved the simplicity yet gorgeous history implicit in the walls of this church.

We “stashed” Caleb in a private part of the church in order to bring up Blakely to him for the first look. It was so special.

Just a few minutes before game time, Caleb chilled with the boys in the back room.

Just a few minutes before game time, the girls lifted up Blakely in prayer.

Just a few minutes before game time, family and friends waited for the ceremony to begin.

The reception took place at another historic site, Main Street Station. An actual working train station with a gorgeous atrium and lobby. Decor

Prior to the wedding, I asked Blakely some questions:

Q. How long have you been dating?
A. WE HAD BEEN DATING A LITTLE OVER 3 YEARS BEFORE WE GOT ENGAGED IN JANUARY 2012.

Q. How did you first meet?
A. WE MET IN RALEIGH, NC WHEN BLAKELY WAS IN TOWN VISITING FOR A 5 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. WE MET THROUGH MUTUAL FRIENDS.

Q. What made you choose your venue?
A. WE DECIDED TO GET MARRIED IN RICHMOND, VA BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST CITY WE BOTH LIVED IN WHILE DATING. WE HAD A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP UNTIL BLAKELY MOVED TO RICHMOND IN JUNE 2011. WE DECIDED TO SELECT MONUMENTAL CHURCH AS OUR CEREMONY VENUE AND MAIN STREET STATION AS OUR RECEPTION VENUE BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH HISTORIC VENUES LOCATED IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN RICHMOND. WE LOVE THE CHARACTER OF EACH PLACE.

Q. What are you most looking forward to on the wedding day?
A. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO CELEBRATING WITH BOTH OF OUR FAMILIES AND CLOSE FRIENDS. IT WILL BE FUN TO HAVE THE PEOPLE CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS ALTOGETHER FOR THE START OF OUR JOURNEY AS HUSBAND AND WIFE.

I then asked Blakely some follow up questions after the wedding:

Q. What was your favorite part of your wedding day?
A. Our favorite part of our wedding day was the moment when we were walking down the aisle after we were announced husband and wife. As we exited the church, all we could think about was how special the ceremony was, and we also looked forward to celebrating with everyone at the reception.

Q. What was the most emotional part of your wedding day?
A. For both of us, the vows were the most emotional part of our wedding day. Saying our vows aloud in front of friends and family filled the moment with emotion.

Q. What was something you were glad you did on your wedding day that not everyone may realize?
A. We are glad that we decided to do a “First Look” prior to the ceremony. It gave us an opportunity to experience a more intimate moment. It calmed our nerves before the ceremony and allowed us to get to the reception quickly since most of the photographs had been taken earlier.

Q. What is one piece of advice you would give a bride planning her wedding?
A. Count on your friends and family to provide support throughout the wedding planning process.
If you’re going to splurge on one thing, wedding photography is a good investment. I may not remember the food we had, but I’ll have the photos to look back on for a lifetime.

vendors:

Coordinator- Liz Palmer Singleton
Venue ceremony- Monumental Church
Venue reception- Main Street Station
Florist- VOGUE FLOWERS
Dress Designer- BRIDAL BLISS DESIGNS
Shoe Designer- BCBG
Bridesmaid dress designer- SWEATER: BANANA REPUBLIC, SKIRT: ANN TAYLOR