5 Flights in 1.5 Weeks

Florida to Jamaica, Jamaica to New York, New York to Florida, Florida to New York, New York to Florida! Wow, have you begun to get dizzy yet? :-) Well that was my life from July 23rd to August 4th :-) I enjoyed going to Jamaica for my family reunion, flying to New York for Simone and Nassive's wedding and to visit my god daughter, returning to Florida to then going back to New York a week later for Yvette and Eric's wedding last week Sunday. You might recognize my god daughter from a previous blog entry and on my main website when I did her shoot before I found out that I became her god mother. Since my return to Florida, I focused my energies on downloading photos, editing thousands of images, album designing, creating slide shows, returning emails and calls, ordering products, and the list goes on... Welcome to my life :-) That explains why professional photographers charge what they charge; the engagement session is just the beginning :-) I LOVE my job though as I am able to use the gifts I've been given to bless others with a lifetime of wonderful memories :-) I've included a few pictures below from my trips. I am working on editing pictures to show as slide shows for Simone and Nassive, and Yvonne and Eric's wedding. I will provide more details on their wedding in future blog posts. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

My Experience at Mae and Tad's Wedding

Jovial, bubbly, friendly, courteous, and southern belle are just a few of the words that I can definately use for Mae!! Mae found me through an online search of wedding photographers. It was always a pleasure speaking with her and I had a wonderful time the first time that I met her. I knew that she would make a great bride and a wonderful wife for Tad. I didn't meet Tad until the wedding day but based on how lovingly Mae spoke about him, I knew he'd be a wonderful husband. We checked out the wedding ceremony location and I loved the breathtaking beauty of the private beach on Palm Beach island. I also loved the nostalgic colonial look of Tad's grandmother's home on Palm Beach island where the bride and groom got dressed, and the glamourous yachts at the reception venue, The Sailfish Club of Florida (www.sailfishclub.com). I knew the ceremony would be intimate with only immediate family and the reception would have more friends and family. The theme I chose to focus on with the pictures was an intimate, nostalgic, and glamourous look.

The day arrived and Mae looked stunning in her form fitting dress surrounded by her mother and bridesmaids. We managed to keep her tucked away from Tad who got dressed at the house as well. I also had the pleasure of meeting Tad, his parents, and siblings before the ceremony. They chose to do a reveal meeting each other before the wedding ceremony to take pictures. There cermony was beautiful and the flowers were gorgeous! One of the things that I loved about this wedding is that it defied some misconceptions about weddings. It proves that even though you have a very intimate ceremony and even though there might be a baby bulge, with love, beautiful flowers and a lovely location, you can still have a lovely dream wedding! We made use of the hammock that was already at the beach and enjoyed our time on Tad's cousin's yacht at the Sailfish Club. The reception was lovely and the cakes were not only very beautiful with real flowers to decorate it but it was also delicious! Throughout the wedding I felt like I was in a Martha Stewart magazine or flipping through the pages of The Knot! Congrats again Mae and Tad and it has been a delight working with you!

My experience at Jamilah and Mauratae's Wedding

Hi everyone,

I know many of you have been anticipating the pictures from the new weddings that I've done. Before I go on to those, I've chosen to do what I've done for my other events, give you an idea of how the experience was for me with 2 of my previous weddings. I'll give my feelings about Jamilah and Mauratae's, and Mae and Tad's wedding and venue in the next post.

I was anxiously antipating Jamilah and Mauratae wedding! Having done their engagement session and speaking with Jamilah about her plans for their wedding I knew it was a must see event. What impressed me a lot was that she was excited about the wedding but even more excited about her marriage! It was evident that they really loved each other. I knew Jamilah was going for a Marilyn Monroe look so I did an internet search on pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop to help to bring about that flavor for her pictures. The big day arrived and I met with Jamilah and her bridesmaids, some of whom were her sorority sisters. It was a pleasure meeting them and since many of them were excited about the engagement pictures, it made my job that much easier with them trusting me when I directed them on some poses. While Jamilah was getting ready to start her shoot, I took the down time to take her dress and shoes on a fashion shoot and got some beautiful shots of them by themselves. When I came back in and saw Jamilah, I was happy because she soooo looked like Betty Boop to me with similar eyes, hair, and personality so we definately had the theme going! Her dress was adorable with the cute bow to the back and the absolutely gorgeous tropical venue, The Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale added perfectly to the couple's natural beauty.

The couple added so many lovely touches to the wedding: a treasure chest for the rings, the jumping of the broom to represent Mauratae's African-American roots, and a candle light ceremony. To top it off, the groom and groomsmen wore white Nike Air Force One sneakers and during the reception, Mauratae danced for Jamilah and lovingly took off her high heel shoes and tenderly placed Air Force 1 sneakers on her feet to welcome her to his group! Talk about a creative couple! The song used for the slideshow was one of the songs at the reception. The onsite Director of Catering, Kimyatta Evans was wonderful serving as the day-of event planner. She was always polite, helpful, and followed through with requests with a smile on her face :-) Thanks Kimyatta for making my job that much easier! Do check out Embassy Suite's website at fortlauderdale.embassysuites.com. The awesome thing with that venue as well is that there was a lot of rain outside but you would never know by looking at the pictures because it is an enclosed space with glass at the top that makes you feel that you are outdoors yet indoors! All the best Jamilah and Mauratae and I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!