It's no secret that I love being an elopement photographer, and Hampton Roads (and the surrounding areas!) offers some of the best places to elope. However, planning a wedding of any size can be overwhelming, so after photographing many elopements (you can see a gallery of highlights here!), I wanted to share some advice on where and how to elope in Hampton Roads...
I never talked about it too openly on social media or my blog, but I shared some on my Instagram stories that I picked up some work in the off-season on product photography. Part of my fear in talking about it was in how much I was learning - and in all honesty, I did not start out doing my best work! Taking pictures of products is a completely different world than wedding and portrait photography, and I felt like I was thrown into the deep end without knowing how to swim.
Eventually, though, as all things go, I picked up a lot from looking at other websites, watching established photographers work, and playing around with different lighting and setups. I also had a great team of people to help with the design and style (not my strong suit, especially at first!) and together we were able to pull off some beautiful work.
Today I wanted to share some of my favorites and 'debut' the Carol & Frank line on my blog because I love it so much! I think if my house could be filled with their product I would be more than happy :) Enjoy something completely different on today's blog!
I can still remember the months I spent engaged to Nathan, 7 years ago in July. On the night he popped the question we enjoyed a date at The Melting Pot, and the next day my family visited so all of us could celebrate together. We were both excited for our future to start and we couldn't wait to finally be together. I was busy finishing school and planning our wedding while he began working at his first full-time job after college.
It didn't take too long for that season to become more difficult than I imagined, however. For the first time, we had to maintain a long-distance relationship, an area in which neither of us was particularly skilled. We would see each other on the weekends as time allowed but it never felt like enough, and I often cried when it was time to say goodbye.
On top of all that the engagement felt so long, even though it only lasted 6 months. We wanted to be married so bad and we had to wait for January 22 - which felt like it was an eternity away at some points. I began to wonder in my mind why there is an engagement period at all - why not just get married right away? Of course weddings take time to plan, but I knew there had to be a better reason...
