Asheville North Carolina is such a beautiful place, and Hidden River is one of those beautiful venues in this beautiful place. Tanya and Kyle’s morning started low key, and I was able to stay the night before to get myself acquainted with the land and I just couldn’t help but adore the landscape as the sun rose. Since Kyle’s Family comes from the west coast, they got to do a fun family road trip across the country just for the best wedding ever! Even though I got to see Tanya super early in the morning, I was starting with Kyle in the morning with him getting Ready before going to Tanya for her Shenanigans. Kyle and his family were so cute, were super organized for family photos and they just loved being together. Weddings are the best for Family Reunions!

Omg, I love my couples, but THESE TWO? They’re special. I met them at a wedding I was associate photographing for another photographer and Olivia and I, we became best friends from minute 1, and you know how sometimes when you meet a new friends, you just feel this energy that is on the same frequency and you get each other? That was Olivia and I, Energy Twins, Soulmates, Vibing, whatever you wanna call it, we were on the same wavelength. When I got to meet Adam at that wedding, I just saw HOW MUCH Adam makes her laugh, breaks down her barriers, makes her rethink certain things because maybe she’s overthinking things. I could SEE that breaking a mental cycle that traps you was something that Adam does for her and I couldn’t help but feel like, wow these two, I LOVE THESE TWO.

This was definitely a day of new experiences, new adventures, lots of anticipation, and lots of family (chosen and related)! Kristin and Tj are two sides of the same coin - they both love a good ski adventure up a mountain and they love to party with their friends. The only thing that would make it better would be to have their wedding on top of a mountain, OF WHICH THEY DID. Kristin was a little anxious and ready to see TJ in his full attire and TJ was nervous as all heck - lets just add that they’ll go up to the top to do their first look and some photos and the wait time in between everything. THE ANTICIPATION WAS KILLING ME.

I love adventures when doing engagement sessions, and this one in particular was a super fun day, with GOATS! We got together at Into the woods Farm for a nice team activity of Couple’s Yoga, + Goats - A Couple’s Goat Yoga! Kat is a healer of the body and mind, Chris is an everyday public super hero and they both powerlift and train together. Their synergy together is amazing, a Man who doesn’t take himself too seriously and a woman who cares and nurtures deeply, both who are always looking for fun silly laughs together. THIS DAY was a day for a TON of laughing, and lots of intimate moments.

I’ve been wanting to blog this Engagement session forever! during these crazy times where travel to amazing places is restricted, its good to revisit some of my adventures, especially when accompanied by amazingly funny, compassionate and down to earth people. Haley and Henry have known each other for a very long time, and with the longevity of their together comes with great comfort in knowing and being their authentic selves with each other, and with the world.

I am excited for this long time coming blog of Sarah and Tom! Its been a MINUTE since this point in time. Sarah is this sweet girl who’s always looking out for other people, This is not surprising as she is Alexis’ Best Friend (Shout out to you girl!) who is also super kind hearted and always helping other people. This could only mean that Tom would have to be just as kind hearted, he would have to be fun loving, and he would have to make Sarah laugh uncontrollably – all these things are DEFINITELY true.

Tanya and Kyle are SO silly, Tanya is boisterous and silly and loves to have fun, Kyle is quiet and cerebral and loves to laugh - who am I kidding, they BOTH love to laugh! There was just so much laughing in this session! They laughed the kind of laugh where you’re belly aches one second, and you take the long deep breath to catch your composure and you just melt in someone’s arms as the wave of appreciation fills the atmosphere. THIS WAS THE TYPE OF SESSION I WAS HAVING… IN MAGICAL PORTLAND. Honestly, the day couldn’t have been any better.

Sam and Jeremy are such Sweet people, low key, chill and always thinking about their loved ones - Even on their own wedding day! They honestly just wanted to celebrate their day in the least resistance and more relaxed way possible, and FOR SURE it was a success. They would do anything for each other and have been with each other through some good times and some hard times and whatever waves may come crashing on their shores, they are ready to weather it together (CUE The cheesy alert). But Seriously though, Portland Maine where they live, at a BREWERY with Family, LOWKEY drinks and dancing all night, and an after party at a pub. If this doesn’t say Sam and Jeremy, I don’t know what does!

Okay first off, this is QUITE the story and I pretty much tell this story all the time now and Secondly, if I havn’t already said this, my couples are THE BEST and are worth adventuring for EVERY time. This day was a wedding day of course and what they say is, Rain brings good luck - do you know why? SIDEBAR

Rain brings good luck because a wet knot is harder to untie, when you pull on a wet knot it only gets tighter. For you scientists and physicists, because a wet knot has a more condensed volume allowing the fibers to be closer and tighter etc. etc.

So its an on and off rain type of day and these two were supposed to have their wedding on top of the Hudson 360, but because of how saturated the grounds were, it just wasn’t going to happen, dreams crushed right? Aaaaaabbbbbbbsolutely not! Alexis was determined to get up that hill because it was one of her dreams. Luckily, I packed some trash bags in my bag and some plastic bags because being prepared is my name. She also had socks and boots. THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

We get to Stable gate for first look, and yes its romantic, one of my fav moments, you’ve heard it all before BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

Brian, being the steller guy he is, is ALL IN FOR THIS PLAN. Helps Brooke with putting Socks and Boots on Alexis, pokes holes in a trashbag and has her hop into it to protect her dress from dragging, puts on double bags on each foot to protect his shoes from getting wet, and OFF we trot with Sarah Connor, Coordinator Extraordinaire leading the way to avoid horse “landmines” and UP THE HILL WE GO. The entire time - Alexis is excited, frustrated with the rain yes, but just exstatic that we got to get up on the hill. I mean, talk about magic. Lesson learned from this day?

1. Marry someone who will have these adventures with you

2. Mother nature best beware of Alexis

3. If there is a will, there is a way.

When I think about happiness and love and what couple’s are like when they are at their best together, I think about couple’s like Karissa and John. They laugh together, and I mean they laugh A LOT, they worry about the important things together, having fun, spending time, being happy and loving life. I am so lucky to find people like these two because they make sessions fun, because they keep things REAL with REAL happiness. We had SO much fun that day playing around in the beautiful urban setting and setting sun, and they hardly even noticed all the people just walking right through.

Brooklyn Bridge is ALWAYS packed with people, especially during sunset time and its hardly a wonder why some couples feel unsure about getting photos in these locations because there are so many families there enjoying their day at the park. However, we were in our own little world, and I love that about the city sometimes - we could be entrenched in the middle of a bunch of people, and because everyone is different, nothing is surprising. They felt comfortable just being in love.

I was thrilled to be a part of such a grand event as Richard and Scott's Wedding on the MSC Divinia. There was great music playing selected by Rich and Scott and Re-composed and scored by the MSC Entertainment team. It honestly was a great job. We all had so much fun, I mean just check out some of the 365 Blog and you'll see some Shenanigans that we got into. For this blog though, something a little more intimate. For all you winter readers and viewers, we've brought something warm back for your winter hearts. Here are only some of my favorites!