Our New House!

Don and I bought a house on Thursday! We are unbelievably excited and equally overwhelmed. This is my first time owning a home, what an amazing feeling. We are feeling very lucky to have sold a house and purchased a new home in this uncertain economic time. Luckily we got in on a good market before things went south.
To mark this event in our life my good friend Ryan came out to the house to snap a few shots of us on our first day. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have such a talented pool of friends and nobody I trust more than Ryan to take my photos! He is also officially the first friend to see the new place.
Over the next few weeks we will be painting, painting, painting, refinishing floors, painting, getting our basement parged, painting, and shopping for appliances. Did I mention we will be doing a lot of painting? I started one room today and I am quite overwhelmed. The labor is overwhelming and the color scheme is overwhelming. We will be having someone else do the floors and basement so that's good.
Ryan sent these teasers my way today and he also posted them on his blog, feel free to go send him some love.

Our new home!

We thought it was humorous that the sold sign says "but we have others".

We have a swing!

This weekend is my first weekend off since August! And it could not have been better timing, actually the timing was quite intentional. I plan to work my butt of painting this weekend. We plan to move in mid to late November. I am excited to get down to some normalcy.
I will keep you all posted as we make progress.

Thanks again Ryan!

Yeah Philadelphia Phillies!

I fully admit I am not a big sports buff, but you gotta feel the love if you are in Philadelphia right now. In celebration of a World Series win I give you Erika and Ryan, we did their engagement shoot on Monday before they headed down to watch the game. We had a fantastic time and Ryan is a huge Phillies fan so we had to spread the love. I will certainly have more on their shoot later, I have other shoots ahead of them in line at the moment. I am sure you all will understand the bump up to the front for this one.

Go Phillies, and go Erika and Ryan!

Fun Family Portraits

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of spending a fun filled Sunday morning with April, Phil and Lucy's family. You may remember the very sweet little Lucy, well she has grown into an energetic two year old! This session was a Christmas gift to Phil's mom last Christmas. So it was exciting to meet everyone after months of anticipation. We had a blast, I can testify to that! The kids gave me a run for my money! Phil's sister Amy and her family were there with their two children Zoe and Oak. This is such a great family and I will give advanced warning that I just finished the slideshow, watched it and found myself tearing up. What a wonderful gift for Grandma, I am so glad I got to be a part of it.
I will introduce the kiddos first.

Little Lucy

Cousin Oak, Oak and Lucy are a few months apart in age.

A very mature 5 year old Zoe.

Fun time with Grandma

Oak, with a tough guy attitude.

Fun time in the fall leaves.

I love this image of Lucy just before tossing the leaves in the air.

I am a firm believer in bringing the true personalities out. We did get some very nice smile look at the camera photos from this series, but I love this one.

The little princess.

Grandma with her Scottie, such a sweet dog and I love this image.

And last but not least my favorite family portrait.

You all were wonderful! Thank you for having me for lunch, you have such a warm and inviting home.

Enjoy your Slideshow

Crystal & Chris Wedding 9-27-08

Crystal and Chris are such an awesome couple. They, like many couple and good friends of mine met on match.com. I really love hearing stories like theirs. Crystal was the only girl Chris went out with, he knew right away she was his match. I would have never guessed they met in this way, they compliment each other so well and their love surrounds them. Don and I got to spend some time with them in NYC for their engagement shoot and they could not have been more hospitable and welcoming. They are a true NYC couple. Crystals family is in the Philadelphia area so they decided to have their wedding here, they did an amazing job planning it from NYC.

They are off on their honeymoon and second wedding ceremony in Korea by now so I know they will be excited to see this post and slideshow along the way. Before I get too ahead of myself here are all the vendors that made this day so wonderful:

PAFA Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Hamilton Building reception site
videographer-Mike Chen
band: The Stingers
florist-Michael Bruce
Baker-Truli Confectionary Art
Lighting-Synergetic
Wedding Planner: Melody from Innove

Crystal's bouquet was just gorgeous.

I love the getting ready and make-up shots.

Miss Jackie Bayne was along second shooting with me that day, she grabbed this sweet shot of Chris.

Crystal and Chris were so excited to go to LOVE park. I love this shot of them.

We played around with some of the "toys" by city hall.

One of my favorite portraits of the day.

I just love this, the excitement right before the kiss!

Bubbles!

Crystal was soo excited for this shot. She picked out the socks specially.

The cake was amazing. When we first walked into the room it was all you could smell.

A nice shot to end with, the bags from the candy bar and the rings.

It was such an amazing day, so beautiful. Thank you so much for coming out with me Jackie, it was a pleasure.
I hope you two have a wonderful ceremony in Korea. I wish I could be there! I can't wait to catch up when you return.

Enjoy your Slideshow

Elizabeth & Kevin Teaser

I feel so lucky to get to be around such amazing people every weekend. Saturday Liz and Kevin were absolutely stunning! It was a gorgeous day and everything went so smoothly we were actually early for the cocktail hour! Crazy.

Here are a few teasers from the portraits.

My favorite

I just love Liz's playful expression here

It was rather chilly. But we braved the wind and cold for a few shots in front of the Ben Franklin before heading inside.

Such a pleasure, more to come.....

Maddy & Logan

I had my yearly shoot with the Westcott family last week and it was so much fun. Maddy and Logan are not only adorable but super fun kids. Like last year they were super excited because when I come over they are allowed to break rules like jumping on the bed.

How about these hovercraft kids?

This shot was all Logan's idea. He wanted everyone to line up in order of height. I'd say it worked out great!

You always have to take some chances to get good shots! I frequently risk getting hit doing photographs like this, but luckily I have not been harmed.
I love this one of Maddy

Family Portrait 2008, love those fall colors.

I love how Maddy and Logan interact with each other.
This is such a brother sister shot.

Logan showing off his Karate moves!

What would the session be with out an awesome shot of Marissa & Jim, happy parents!

Kids will be kids.
I am not really a smile and say cheese type of person, I much prefer genuine personalities to show through.

It was fantastic hanging out with you guys again! I can't wait till next year.

Enjoy your Slideshow

Ashley & Matt Teaser

I have really enjoyed the time spent with Ashley & Matt. Sunday, just like Saturday, was absolutely gorgeous. Ashley & Matt broke the family curse of rain on their wedding day, it could not have been more perfect. Here are a few teasers.

The moment right before the kiss, I could have posted the kiss but I love this moment right before, their excitement was overwhelming.

I just crack up at this, I love it. It speaks both their personalities so well.

A very quick moment as they were waiting to be introduced at the reception. Again, so much personality.

Matt has a great sense of humor and can always make you laugh, but I love love that in this image you can see his total love for Ashley. Such an intense moment. I think both Linette and I cried as this was taking place.

The reception was almost over and they realized they had not signed the marriage license yet!
We got that taken care of.

I know this was a long teaser than usual. I couldn't choose.

to be continued......

Beth & John Teaser

I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful weekend of weddings I just had.

Beth and John were married on Saturday near Pottstown but I swear I could have been in Vermont. Such a gorgeous day. There was a bit of driving between locations but it was the most calming, beautiful drive that it was seriously one of the highlights of my day. Usually if there is driving involved it can be a bit stressful, not on this day though.

The ceremony, oh man one of the most sensitive touching ceremonies of the season. The day, one of the absolute most beautiful days of the year. The couple, so sincere, so in love and what a good looking pair. The party, wow their friends and family can boogie, give speeches from the heart and rally around the new couple with complete love and support.

This is only a teaser post, you can be sure to see more from this wedding very soon.

New Husband and Wife

Just Married

The last dance before they said their farewells.
I loved how everyone formed a circle around them, so much love at this wedding!

Melissa & Mike Wedding

Melissa and Mike were married at Glenn Foerd Mansion on Sept 21 and it was a gorgeous day. I was much more involved than normal in this wedding as Melissa is a very dear friend to me. I have known Melissa for a long time and seen her go through so much over the years. It meant a lot to me to be there and document this special day for her and Mike.

Melissa's dress was stunning

Beke Beau was there doing make-up and I think everyone has to agree she is not only a great person but she did a beautiful job. I believe I can quote Melissa when she said nobody else would ever be allowed to do her make-up.

I love this of Ellena looking at mommy getting into her wedding dress. Ellena was very sweet and told Melissa that she looked very bootiful.

I love this moment that Linette caught during Melissa and Mikes first meeting. The excitement on their faces says it all.

We stepped back to give them a moment alone, I loved this little pavilion.

Gorgeous couple!

I sent this image to Melissa earlier this week. Her dad cracks me up and when I saw this image I just laughed. He is sticking his tongue out at Mike for some reason, I would love to know what was going on. I have other images with them walking down the isle but this one just speaks the personality of this family.

Another great moment caught by Linette, who knew Mike was such a sensitive guy?

I always love the moment the come down the isle together as husband and wife.

We did a few portraits later in the evening and when I told them to get into the bath tub, there was a little hesitation but they were totally up for anything.

Melissa and I did a "special" shoot a few weeks before the wedding just for Mike and in this shot I asked her to give me "the look" LOVE it.

Special Thank You to Linette for shooting with me and covering the reception so I could be a guest, well I tried to be a guest anyway... Always love shooting with you Linette!

Melissa and Mike you guys are awesome, what else can I say? Congratulations!

A few more vendors that did an amazing job:
Catering: Conroy Catering
Florist: Flowers by Janine in Moorestown NJ
Make-up Artist: Beke Beau

Wedding Consultant: Lynne Conna

DJ: DJ Joe Nose
Venue: Glen Foerd Mansion

Slideshow

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Jessica & Karol Teaser

Saturday was about the most perfect day you could ask for. The weather was gorgeous, Jessica and Karol were stunning and the flow of the day could not have gone any smoother. We had plenty of time between the ceremony and cocktail hour for photos and I give myself and Linette a big pat on the back for delivering them to their cocktail hour right on time, all family photos and portraits done!
So as you can tell I am a bit behind on my full blog posts and slideshows and am taunting you with another teaser. I am catching up though and will be back on track before you know it.

Without further ado, I give you two teasers.

One of my new all time favorites during the ceremony

Simple classic portrait, but love the colors the season is bringing!
Not to mention Jessica and Karol make a stunning couple.

Happy Monday!

Christmas in October

The holidays are going to be here before you know it! If you are like me you scramble during the second week of December trying to get your holiday cards in line. This year I decided to start early and offer custom designed holiday cards. They are absolutely gorgeous and totally customizable. Want to say something specific, you got it, want certain colors, you got it.

Below are just a few examples of what you can choose from.

Holiday Card Promotion

All Portrait and Belly sessions booked during the month of October will receive one set of 25 custom cards instead of a print credit. You must fulfill your session by December 1st, I will need time to process your session and order your cards.

If you already had a photo session with me and would like to order holiday cards here is the low down.

All cards are 5x7 and come in packs of 25. (I do have some 5x5 square options)

1 set 90.00
2 sets 150.00
3 sets 200.00

If you had a session already and order your cards before October 31st I will take an additional 10% off your order. If you have not used your gift credits you may use them towards your cards.

All orders must be placed by December 1st.

Contact me for more information and to see more examples.