01.27
2012

More beautiful work from another of Charlottesville’s premier photographers, Aaron Watson of Aaron Watson Photography. I am so grateful to Aaron and all of the wonderful wedding professionals who not only sent along their best work of 2011 but also took the time to share their comments, insights and experiences behind the images. My appreciation for the talent in this town just keeps growing!

Whitney & Logan at Mt. Ida Farm: This is one of my all time favorite pictures. Night photography is very challenging, so when we were able to pull off this fairytale setting with the stars surrounding Whitney and Logan in the gazebo at Mt. Ida Farm I was ecstatic. The fountain in the background creating the angel wing on Whitney was the cherry on top! Huge thanks to Blue Ridge Light Forms for stringing the cafe lights in the gazebo as that was essential to capturing the moment .

Sarah & Matt at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards: I chose this picture because of the gorgeous scenery and the natural awe in Sarah and Matt's faces as they look at each other. Pure Love!

Jing and Jeff at Maymont Botanical Gardens: The overall scene of this picture is awesome. I'm a big fan of reflections, so I asked Jing and Jeff to stand close enough to the edge for me to capture their reflection on the water. Their natural emotions completed the magic of the picture.

Afton & Brian on the Skyline Drive (Blue Ridge Mountains): This picture from Afton and Brian's engagement session on skyline drive is poetic to me. I will remember 2011 as one of the rainiest years ever, but despite so much rain the sun seemed to always find a way to shine through if only for a little bit on our couples' most important day!

Courtney & James on Carter's Mountain: I love when I can capture a completely candid moment between a couple. I had Courtney and James sit in the middle of a row of vines at Carters Mountain, and then James started tickling Courtney, which made for a great (and funny) picture.

Jillian & Chad at Montfair Resort Farm: This picture is so romantic with the bridge and the creek running under it, as Jillian and Chad share a private kiss. I think the colors in this picture are amazing, the greens and blues as well as the purple flowers make it enthralling.

Sarah at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards: When we have a nice sunny day I love using the sun to create a halo effect around people. Sarah's dress was absolutely gorgeous and I love the way that the light surrounds it making it glow.

Jillian & Chad at MOntfair Resort Farm: This picture is one of my favorites because I have never seen a couple escape their wedding in a row boat, and I love the idea of letting go a wish lantern at the end of a wedding to bring good luck to the couple.

Alex & Shannon: This is a picture from Alex and Shannon's fall engagement session at Mt. Ida Farm. I chose it for the golden light coming through the trees and making a starburst against Alex and Shannon standing on the stump. I think it has a majestic feel to it because of the colors and the tall trees.

Jillian & Chad at Montfair Resort Farm: Picking 12 favorites from the course of a great year can be very hard, so I asked Kelsey to help me out. Kelsey loved this picture because of the creative framing of Jillian & CHad in the mirror of this old pickup truck. As Kelsey pointed out "It is so different, and very intriguing to look at, you have to look twice to understand what you're seeing." This picture was taken after Jillian and Chad's ceremony, and it definitely represents them as a couple because after they saw the old truck and immediately wanted to hop in the back to get some pictures!

Dan at Chesapeake Beach Resort & Spa: This picture makes me laugh. I thought it was great when Dan and his groomsmen decided to take a fishing break on the dock before the ceremony. … ok I may have encouraged this a little. :)

Anne at King Family Vineyards: As I reflect on wedding photography as a whole from 2011 I noticed a trend towards creating beautiful images with natural light with bright blown out backgrounds. Now as we transition to 2012 I love to look at what inspires me to create a unique look. One of my biggest inspirations from 2011 was an article on the Knot about fairytale weddings, candlelight weddings, and ballerina inspired themes, which inspired this bridal portrait of Anne at King Family Vineyards.

Contact Information for Aaron Watson Photography:
~ website: www.aaronwatsonphoto.com
~ e-mail: info@aaronwatsonphoto.com
~ phone: 434-962-7143
~ blog: www.aaronwatsonphotoblog.com

01.25
2012

Best of 2011: Sugar Magnolias

by Claire Goodman

You are going to love this best-of contribution from Jenn Pineau of Sugar Magnolias. These gorgeous floral images make me long for Spring… well, that’s only partially true… I actually long for Spring anyway :-) .  As you sill see, Jenn is an artist with anything that grows and has an impressive breadth of knowledge about flowers, plants and herbs. Her narrative with each photo (in the caption) is so much fun to read… she obviously really gets to know her brides in order to reflect their personal style so brilliantly in her work.  I know you’ll truly enjoy the magic of her floral creations!

Maggie & Blair got married at The Haven in Charlottesville then walked to their reception at Random Row Books. We incorporated the reception location by making over 200 paper cranes from the pages of old books. Fun and a great way to recycle! Photo provided by Billy Hunt Photography.

Maggie & Blair at The Haven in Charlottesville - Photo by Billy Hunt Photography.

Ashley & Justin were married at Keswick Vineyards this fall. Turquoise vintage canning jars with pink and white dahlias made for a sweet southern centerpiece. Thanks to Eric Kelley Photography for sharing the beautiful photo.

Catherine & Mike were married at the Inn at Westwood Farm and they were such a blast to work with. They loved herbs, succulents, wood, and oranges (a theme picked up from the fact that they were married in Orange, VA) These wreaths were made for the bride and groom chairs. Rosemary, sage, succulents, rose hips, and clementines.... oh the aroma!! This artistic shot came from Joyeuse Photography.

Christina & Joel were married in Leesburg this November. They came all the way form California and wanted to incorporate some California textures with succulents and artichokes. We enjoyed the wintery feel of their color palette and this bouquet shot by JMK Photography.

Jennifer & Harrison are the proud owners of Brookville Restaurant on the downtown mall in Cville. The restaurant focuses on seasonal, locally grown foods and they wanted the same standard for their wedding flowers. Jennifer wanted a grand, cascading bouquet in which we included dahlias, rosemary, tuberose, sage, mint, and trailing strawberry plants.

Jennifer and Harrison had their reception at Montalto, the event space at Monticello. They wanted something different for their centerpieces and wondered if we could incorporate edible elements. We created entirely edible wreaths with veggies bought from the cville farmers market and scattered chestnuts and persimmons on the table. Included in the wreaths were eggplants, radishes, rosemary, green strawberries, brussel sprouts, persimmons, and pears. Jennifer let us know that the guests at one of the tables ate their centerpiece... probably not a common occurrence! Thanks to Jen Fariello Photography for capturing and sharing these images

Amanda and Gavin were married at the Inn at Westwood Farm this November and we loved working with them! Besides being great, laid back, and fun to work for they also had great style! We incorporated Tallow berries, dahlias, strawflowers, dusty miller, and guinea hen feathers in this bouquet. We loved the result! Cramer Photo took this gorgeous shot.

Hali & Tony were married on a beautiful day in June at Panorama Farms. Hali loves daisies and wildflowers. She wanted to focus on a yellow, green, and white palette for the wedding decor. In this bouquet we used green cone flowers, queen annes lace, helianthus, st. Johns wort, gooseneck loosestrife, rosemary, and autumn fern. Every bit of it was harvested from local growers. Thanks to Aaron Watson Photography for this well executed photo.

Jaclyn and Andrew were married at Veritas Winery this July in a beautiful and traditional style. We made large candelabra arrangements with vintage prisms strung through and silver mercury glass votives at the base. JMK Photography is responsible for capturing this moment.

Leah & Nic were married this September at Wintergreen resort and we had the pleasure of working with them to achieve Leah's vision. Even though the only bits that were locally grown in this bouquet were the berries and smokebush foliage we still loved the end result and more importantly, so did Leah. Thanks to Jason Keefer Photography for zooming in on this bouquet!

This is a bouquet made for a photo shoot we participated in for the Hooks summer wedding edition. I love the garden gathered feel that this bouquet gives, probably even more so because every bloom was harvested fresh from local gardens/growers. This is a perfect example of natures arranging as all these flowers bloom naturally at the same time. They blend together beautifully, clearly they were meant to be together. Stunning photo taken by Jen Fariello.

Contact Information for Sugar Magnolias:
~ contact: Jenn Pineau
~ address: 27 Jacks Shop Rd., Rochelle, VA
~ website/blog: http://www.naturecomposed.com/
~ phone: 540-948-4408
~ e-mail: sugarmagnolias.naturecomposed@gmail.com

Posted in Best of 2011, flowers.
01.24
2012

Many thanks to David of David Jones Photography for this collection from his year past… I have to say that I love the light in David’s images… the one of the couple walking towards the camera on the UVA Grounds is stunning!  A few short words from David on his approach to capturing the day…

I have been photographing weddings for over twenty years. I am not trying to create art when I shoot a wedding. What I am doing is constantly watching for moments…real, beautiful moments. My photographs are not photoshopped.

David Jones Photography










Contact Information for David Jones Photography:
~ website: www.charlottesvilleweddingphotos.com
~ phone: 434-989-3319
~ e-mail: david@charlottesvilleweddingphotos.com

Elegance in Bridal Show Tomorrow at the Omni

January 21, 2012

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, Sunday, January 22, 2012, from 12 – 4 the Elegance in Bridal Show comes to the Omni Charlottesville (235 W. Main St. – right at the end of the Downtown Mall). If you haven’t registered you can click HERE and do it now. I’ll be there wandering around, taking [...]

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Best of 2011 – William Walker Photography

January 20, 2012

Gorgeous pics today from Will of William Walker Photography.  Can I just say that I’m loving the black & white images so much plus the one of Laura having a big laugh… what was she laughing about?  Maybe just blowing of a bit of wedding day tension… or maybe Will said something really funny?  That [...]

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The Hook Weddings – Winter 2011/12 – One Sweet Wedding!

January 17, 2012

Ok, I know I’m really late with this… but I have a good excuse… I have been on a ship for the last 3 weeks traveling thought the Caribbean, West Indies and Amazon and I definitely got a little behind with a few things here in the ‘Ville! But seriously… when I got home I [...]

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Best of 2011: PS Davis Photography

January 16, 2012

What a lovely selection of images I have to share with you today… and, as you will see, Peter and Sarah (PS Davis Photography) sent along a generous narrative for each photo.  So much fun… thanks Peter & Sarah! Contact Information for PS Davis Photography ~ website: www.psdavis.com ~ phone: 434-825-4054 ~ e-mail: peter@psdavis.com

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Jennifer & Demetris at Boar’s Head by David Abel Photography

January 12, 2012

Jennifer & Demetris’ lovely summertime wedding at the The Boar’s Head was an occasion to remember! Their ceremony was very unique, honoring both the bride’s Jewish background and the groom’s Greek Orthodox heritage surrounded by the beauty of The Boar’s Head.  Their choice of various shades of purple for their wedding details could not have [...]

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Best of 2011: Bill Holland of Holland Photo Arts

January 11, 2012

Today we have Part 2 from Holland Photo Arts… this time, images from Bill.  I have to admit my favorite is the trip to 7-11 with the couple he was shooting… not to mention the shadowy cake-cutting.  Well, that probably doesn’t make any sense at all… you’ll just have to check out the images below… [...]

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Best of 2011: Anne Holland of Holland Photo Arts

January 10, 2012

Today and tomorrow I will be sharing the work of Anne (today) and Bill (tomorrow) Holland of Holland Photo Arts. Usually when they send me images to post I never know who shot which photos so I am really enjoying the opportunity to see some of their work sorted out this way. I know you’ll [...]

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Best of 2011: Ward Photography

January 5, 2012

So happy to share Wendy & Jason Ward’s (of Ward Photography) selection of their best work from the year past. My personal fave is the one of Monika (of Monika & James) walking along the range on the grounds of the University of Virginia on the way to her ceremony. It’s just so classically Virginia [...]

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