Mummy's Little Girl

As you can see, I am a little behind on posting despite the fact that I have shot mucho weddings and engagement sessions since the last post. I got sidetracked when my Mom, who is 82, landed in intensive care unexpectantly for a heart issue. Now that she is much better, I am hoping to be back on schedule with regular postings and new stories, of which there are many.
I want to thank everyone who sent me notes and phone calls wishing us well as my Mom recuperated. My Mom and I have always been very close, despite out rich and steriotypical Italian roots; guilt trips and seperation anxiety both included. (Example- typically when saying "See you later" to her each day she replies, "OK bye, I hope I'm still around." If that's not Italian, what is?! I don't affectionately call her "Mummy" for nothing- :)
Anyway, thanks again. We are so grateful that she is improving and doing well.
Double header wedding weekend beginning tomorrow! Stay tuned-

Puppy Love

I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's pretty well documented that I am a crazy doggie lover. My own dogs Leo and Lilly (along with Cokey The Man Cat) are the loves of my life.

I have shot a couple of engagement sessions over the past couple of weeks where the couples have brought their dogs to join in the photo fun.

Meet Natalie and Rocco and Jen and Mya. I love when couples bring their furry family members for shoots and it's obvious that both Natalie and Jen feel the exact same way as I do about their loved ones. Keep throwing out that "blue steel" Rocco and Mya"!

A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose...

A beautiful location is just that..a beautiful location. The Botanical Gardens in the University Circle area of Cleveland is an amazing place to have a wedding, especially when all of the gardens are in bloom.

Lisa and David held their wedding event there two weeks ago and the venue was spectacular. The ceremony was held in the breath taking Japanese Gardens and we then were able to shoot pics in the rose garden- so fabulous! Even a brief summer afternoon storm only added ambience and glow. Congratulations Lisa and David!

Yatzee!

I LOVE board games. Yatzee is definately one of my favorites. If you have played it, you know that it's almost impossible to roll an actual Yatzee.

As with rolling a Yatzee, it's not often that every detail of a wedding is carried out without any gliches. That's why I was so happy for Cami and Neil when the day was just smooth sailing. It was just one of those days when all pieces and parts effortlessly clicked- we were even able to find an amazing location to shoot the wedding dress and to avoid what looked like some serious rain clouds while shooting the locations images. Congratulations Cami and Neil on your Yatzee Day!

This weekend, another double header! Happy Wedding Eve to:

Shena and Julius

Heather and Anthony

Oh Baby!

This is my new friend, Dominic. Dominic is the new nephew of one of my December brides, Teressa. He is only six weeks old in these shots and was not quite sure if he wanted to be my friend. But after some good food, and a quick nap we became good pals. Thanks to his wonderful parents, Genna and Steve for inviting me to capture this absolutely adorable little man!

Quick Change Artists

It always amazes me how resilient many of my couples are. A wedding/marriage is a huge life change but many not only take on this adjustment but other endeavors as well. Here are a couple of images from the wedding of Kristin and Kevin. Just prior to their wedding day, Kevin and Kristin moved from their prior home in Cincinnati area to a suberb of Cleveland so that he could begin his medical residency this summer. New home, new marriage, new jobs; now that is a lot of change. They also had the time to plan and execute an amazing wedding - so impressive. I'll think of them as I juggle laundry and nail appointments with editing and shooting weddings and I'll tell myself to stop whining!

Happy Wedding Eve to Christian and Trisha! Looking forward to the Line Dancers!

Standing Room Only

Talk about a receiving line! The line went down into the ballroom, into the hall, and out the front door at LaMalfa to greet newly married Gina and Anthony. I believe at last count there were 469 guests, no small party! The couple did an excellent job budgeting their time to greet each person and were actually ready early for their grand entrance- now that's superb time management!

Here are a few pics from their beautiful wedding-

Flower Power

Meet Julie from Blush Weddings and Events. Julie arranged these amazing flowers for the wedding of Meredith and Andrew. The tablescape absolutely took everyone's breath away and was the topic of discussion for their very intimate dinner and reception. Julie's attention to detail was just exquisite. You can view Julie's website at http://www.blushweddingsandevents.com/. You'll love both her work and her!

Another "hemi" Friday and Saturday this weekend! Happy wedding weekend to both Lisa and David, and Stephanie and Chris!

Photo Claus

I have a vivid memory of when I was 4 or 5 years old. It is of Christmas morning, waking up around 4 a.m., rushing downstairs to open my presents from Santa, waking up my parents, and then convincing my Dad to immediately play my new Monopoly game.

This past Friday night, I went to bed around midnight. I was uploading the event of Amy and Jonah so I checked to make sure it was still uploading. It was almost completed, so I went to sleep. The next morning, I checked the upload around 8:30a and not only was it complete, but 4 people had already viewed their event. Later that morning on my way to Saturday's wedding, I ran my car through the car wash and received a fabulous e-mail from Amy that they had already seen all 1500 images! It hit me that the excitment of receiving your finished wedding images, is a lot like Christmas.

Here are a few images from the wedding of Amy and Jonah- two of the most amazing people.

Ho Ho Ho, and Merry Viewing!

Buzzard's Roost

Fall is my favorite season. A lot of my couples take advantage of the beautiful fall colors to shoot their engagement sessions and many select beautiful outdoor parks. Hinkley Park in Medina County is one of my absolute favorites to shoot - it has a beautiful lake, trails to hike, and fantastic ledges to climb. It's also the home of the buzzards- many come to Hinkley in the spring to look for the buzzards who return to their roost every year at Hinkley Park.

Here are some images from the engagement shoot of Neil and Cami taken at Hinkley Park last fall. Happy Wedding Eve Cami and Neil!