Aug 22
0

shilpa & toby are married!

By | Weddings | 6 Comments

saturday was a milestone for us, we photographed our first indian wedding and oh.my.gosh it was amazing! the emotions, the traditions, the colors, the dancing- it was beautiful. shilpa was breathtaking and watching the getting ready process was an incredible treat. her friends and family flitted around her all day each helping in a very specific way and ready at a moment’s notice to grab her a bite to eat, find a specific family member or give their opinion on a piece of exquisite jewelry she was considering wearing.

even though i didn’t know the language being spoken most of the time it was clear to me through glances, attention, gestures and smiles how shilpa’s family felt about her, about toby and about them together- that was amazing to watch. i could go on forever about different portions of this day that were really incredible but let’s get started with the pictures and i’ll explain as we go:

one of toby’s groomsmen sent toby an email letting him know if he didn’t send back a wedding gift idea he would be receiving a brick of nickels, and so:

no one is ever too old for mom’s lipstick residue and subsequent cheek scrub. toby looks thrilled, no? this would be my exact face as well:

the handsome groom looking up toward the room where the girls are peeking from the windows. shilpa dipped back immediately, no chance he caught a glimpse of her!

finishing touches applied by her aunt as her mom looks on:

matt took this awesome shot of the rings on the pillow, the gold diamond ring is toby’s pinkie ring from shilpa’s family while the soft gold ring is his wedding band. 

last minute shilpa added the nose ring (a replica of what her mom wore for her own wedding) and made some adjustments to her incredible jewelry.

the wedding started with a short ceremony with just toby and the priest before shilpa entered escorted by her parents.

the ceremony was beautiful and it was amazing how close we were able to shoot and still be out of the way. these are some of my most favorite ceremony shots ever:

matt and i love this image for all of the different textures and beautiful colors:

toby and shilpa got into a small rice fight during the ceremony. it seemed shilpa knew that placing the rice on toby’s head would turn into a competition- toby did not. after the first few gentle palmfuls of rice toby placed on her head he caught on and really filled up his hands and dumped it on her. just after this she trumped him by picking up the basin and emptying the rest over his head. i like her style.

there was a cocktail hour and a break for the bride and groom to change before the reception got started with shilpa’s dad giving a sweet toast to his daughter and thanking everyone from coming from all over the world to celebrate with them.

the happy couple as they listen to the toast:

…and the dancing began! toby prepared his groomsmen by telling them to just pretend to screw in light-bulbs with each hand. that was great instruction for them because watching this guy right here i’d say this just can’t be taught:

shilpa’s parents breaking it down:

everyone cheered as the newlyweds broke away from chatting with old friends for a few dances together:

i don’t think the end of the night for us was the end for them! as we pulled out at 12:30 there were calls across the parking lot of an after party promising lots more fun to come, whew!

shilpa and toby, you are incredible together. watching you lovingly intertwine your different cultures was a beautiful experience for everyone in attendance. thank you so much for having us and we wish you the best honeymoon ever- how could diving and exploring australia not be amazing with you two involved?!

Aug 20
0

foodie recap.

By | Personal | 4 Comments

more pictures of toby & shilpa’s engagement session are up on the gallery page! sailing was an awesome idea for their shoot!

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it’s 3:25 and i might still be in a food coma from last night. between cocktails, cheese, wine, lamb and the dessert sampler my stomach is still so happy it hurts slightly.

after hearing about the excellent service and food a few weeks ago, matt decided that it was time for us to try repast, a little american bistro in intown. good thinking babe, it was perfect. our waitress was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and wines and cheeses -it seemed like she could even tell when i was just nodding blankly and would give a few more ingredient details- her suggestions helped us put together an amazing eating experience. she kept an eye on us from the kitchen and didn’t put our next order in until we were completely done with the previous- classy.

matt and i had a great night laughing about ‘this time last year’ and casually making a few personal goals for the next. no doubt people thought we were crazy for ordering as much food as we did but like matt said ‘we might as well, this is like christmas, it comes once a year!’ love him for that attitude. we had life to talk about so we just kept ordering things, nothing wrong with that!

the plan was to walk it off and grab gelato -and then walk that off- in the highlands but we couldn’t resist the dessert menu at repast. we sampled three- the dark chocolate terrine being my fave- extra virgin olive oil, smoked sea salt, toasted pistachios and dark chocolate- what’s not to absolutely love? needless to say i fell asleep as soon as my head hit the head rest in the honda. i’m so sophisticated. 

right now we’re in the middle of one of our new experiments- scheduling our time. most of you know that this photography biz has never been a 9-5 job for us; it’s always taken up our evenings as well. when we looked at everything it was clear that we needed some time to ourselves and that scheduling was the answer. that being said, in 5 minutes it will be email checking time and 35 minutes after that we’ll be heading off to work out. so far i think the schedule is working, but really, we’re just on day 2 so what can i say? i know there are tons of people out there in the world who own businesses and work 9-5, but it’s just really hard for us to stop because keeping up with you guys is less like a job and more just awesome. we’ll see how it goes.

Aug 19
0

one year!

By | Personal | 7 Comments

laura and jason’s engagement session has been added to the website! love how comfortable they look together, perfect!

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so woah, matt and i have been married for an entire year! no idea how that happened so fast. we’ve made it through what we had been told would be the hardest year of our lives -and we’re slightly confused why people say that- it was by far the best year of our lives so far! i know it’s trite but really i feel like it was just yesterday we were chillin in athens with all of our families and best friends at our wedding. what a good day that was!

we spent our weekend shooting an incredible wedding and then hanging out on lake oconee with good friends and adorable puppies. the weather was wonderful and the company was even better. we are so sore from tubing -yes, tubing can be intense as proven by my two busted elbows- matt and i are both struggling with everyday activities such as standing, sitting, walking and sleeping. worth it. monday we boated over to lunch at gabby’s and lounged  by/in the infinity pool -expertly pretending we were guests at the lodge- and praying the little man taking drink orders wouldn’t realize we weren’t. after that lunch it wasn’t at all hard to pretend i was asleep every time he started walking toward us. such a great weekend! oh, and! i cannot believe i didn’t mention this sooner, sean taught matt to make crepes! wooo! they were excellent slathered with nutella, peanut butter, strawberries, bananas and powdered sugar -not all at once, gross- but take a second and celebrate with me that my huz has mastered crepes!

so since we spent the weekend with friends we’re celebrating just us tonight. no idea where we’re going, i’ll have to keep you posted on that. i keep begging matt to tell me and then he says ‘ok, you really want to know?’ pause. ‘no, no i don’t. let’s keep it a surprise.’ but then the cycle begins again. so far all i know is matt’s answer to my ‘what ethnicity is it? i need to start preparing myself.’ which was ‘normal.’ uh…thanks. but really, i’m excited to spend a romantic evening with the man, and the promise of quality food is the cherry on top. i’ll leave you now with a couple pics from the lake: