Our Downtown Norfolk Anniversary Session | Personal

Nathan and I didn't date for a very long time before we got engaged - 11 months to be exact. Six months and one week after we were married. I have always thought of our relationship as short since several of our friends were together for many years before getting engaged and married, but then I realized that this August will mark 7 years of being together with Nathan.

Marriage changes you. Or you change and your marriage grows with it - I'm not sure. Either way it goes I can see more and more that love is a daily choice, and staying married is not something that just happens to anyone. As beautiful as our relationship looks (and is) on the outside, strong marriages are usually built through the fires of testing and trials, both inside the relationship and in our own personal lives.

I'm so excited about this blog! Most of the time, the pictures I take are of other people - and that's one huge thing I love about my job. But this time, I got to jump behind the lens of the camera and be on the other side!

Holly and I have been friends for awhile, so when she asked me to dress up for a day in a wedding dress, get my hair and makeup done, and take beautiful pictures, it wasn't hard to say yes. I got to work with a massively talented team of individuals, who made me feel beautiful! Then, I posed while Andrew and Tianna rocked out their part of the day - the photography.

One big thing I realized is how much a bride and her ladies goes through in a wedding day. Granted, my hair and makeup was probably more extensive than is typical since we were going for a very specific theme, but I was exhausted by the end of it all! The ladies did an amazing job with everything, but just sitting in the chair and keeping my eyes open, then closed, then back open again, and tilting my head this way and that to get the desired outcome was flat out exhausting. I also learned for the first time how to take off false lashes! Ha. I doubt I'll be using that knowledge too much in the future :)

Mostly, it was fun to play dress up for the day and be a part of something that so many people worked incredibly hard on (full vendor credits below). I can't thank the team ENOUGH for all they did to make me look fancy and like a little Cinco de Mayo bride. I secretly hope I get to 'model' again in the future!

See the featured blog post on Tidewater and Tulle here.