Photography is so important to us.
Before we were even engaged, I attended a bridal show with my sister and a friend (whose wedding is next weekend — yay!) at the lovely Flora Corner Farm. There we immediately met Maggie and Betty, the dynamic mother-daughter duo behind Birds of a Feather Photography. I was so enamored with their soft, vintage-inspired photos and sweet personalities that I immediately came home to show Spencer their work. I felt a little silly, being as we weren’t “there” yet, but I just couldn’t contain my enthusiasm.
It was October, a good two months before he proposed, but we’d quietly gone to “check out” rings the weekend before. I figured it was the first of a few trips, maybe, and that we’d talk a few more times before really broaching the subject of marriage again. I got a funny, puckered look on my face every time we talked rings . . . mostly because I was afraid he wasn’t thinking rings.
But he was.
Unbeknownst to me, Spencer returned to the store days later for the ring I loved. We got engaged on December 16 — but you know that already! Though I’d vowed to wait until after Christmas to really start wedding planning, I couldn’t help myself. I was so excited and eager to start researching venues and colors and dresses, but I knew my first mission: getting in touch with Maggie and Betty.
We met with them just after the New Year, our first “official” wedding-related meeting, and they were the first vendor we booked. We signed our contract with them before we even officially had a venue . . . or a date, really. I just knew their photography spoke to me, and we had to have them. Thankfully, Spence felt the same!
Now just 198 days from the wedding (!), things are shaping up. And feeling really real. We had our official engagement shoot with the ladies back on a brisk day in March, and I was so thrilled with the whole thing that I barely felt chilled. I talked about choosing to keep my hair wavy, and that decision that still makes me smile. It was just a really fun evening!
And after seeing the results, I’m so thrilled we chose Birds of a Feather. The images are exactly what I was hoping for — ethereal; lovely; serene — and if these were so awesome, I cannot wait to see the pictures from our wedding! Though these expenses can be pretty intense, I know we will never regret a single cent spent on photography.
Pictures capture emotion, devotion, love. They encapsulate a day and preserve it in a way our memories, ever faulty, cannot. I’ve never heard someone lament, “Gee, I wish I didn’t have so many pictures of this once-in-a-lifetime event.” Because seriously? You can’t have too many pictures. There is a balance between documenting a day and really savoring it, but that’s why we’ve hired professionals. They will help us remember it forever . . . even as it passes in the blink of an eye.
Here are a few of my favorites from our engagement shoot, held at Jefferson Patterson Park in St. Leonard, Md. If you ever find yourself in Southern Maryland, first of all? Um, call me. We’ll go crab pickin’. And then I’ll direct you to this place, because it. is. gorgeous.
