Baton Rouge Wedding at Mount Hope Plantation

All the weddings, all the joy and happiness one can imagine! Ever been in a place where all is right in everyone's world? Even the bartender? Well, this was the case for Caroline and Eric's wedding in April at Mount Hope Plantation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

Upon arriving we had just had the largest downpour in all of our Spring. The sky falling down is quite common for Baton Rouge. In fact, it's the norm. However, when it's your darling wedding day, nothing could possibly be worse. Well, Caroline and Eric had the favor of heaven shining on them because no more than 3 hours before show time arrives, the clouds cleared out and the blue came with it. It was a Christmas miracle and we were all celebrating for it. 

Ladies just note that when planning that darling day in Louisiana, there is NO guarantee of no moisture! This tight-knit-crew wasn't phased a bit though and everyone dove right into having a blast! There was nothing but merry-making, jesting and champagne toasting. These lifers had known each other since high-school and carried the moments and memories of it all with them. One would ask for help, three would come to aid. Nicknames were thrown around and sweet, sister-like love was covering one end of the room to the other. It was as if they all had been made for one another and I just loved seeing it all unfold. 

They popped bottles and shared memories. They gave hope for Caroline's next season and cheered her and Eric's new beginning on as if it was their own child walking down that aisle! 

The time came for first look. The unconventional to your mother but very modern tradition in the making to see your spouse before you walk down the aisle. There are of course pros and cons to this moment and everyone seems to fall on the "absolutely not" or the "absolutely yes" side of the fence. As a photographer and former bride and lover of good lighting, I always vouch for First Looks. I think the moment of you walking down the aisle up to your forever love will remain sacred no matter if you just held hands and looked into each other's eyes minutes before. 

There is the school of thought that first looks take away from that aisle moment but I honestly think it's so special within itself that it will not be overlooked. Everyone is different though and I always encourage brides to do what they want to do most because it's only their day and their moment to have and share. Caroline and Eric wanted to have First Look to help some of those formal pictures afterwards to go a little quicker. It landed to so very beautiful and special photos of just the two of them. And for someone like me who loves shooting very candid, natural photography it was a perfect little session with the two of them. 

Next they were off to the races!! 

We did some formals with all her girls and got ready for the big ceremony!!! 

Baton Rouge Candid, Lifestyle Engagement Photography

Hey there!!

Been a hot minute, huh? Is everyone else running around like chickens trying to not forget to make dinner or do all the laundry that's been piling up in the guest room. I know they say the day gets ahead of you but I am quite sure the whole dang week does. 

I have been blissfully engaged in the life of my 6 month old, Charlie and in the throes of my busy season- aka wedding season! When I say love is in the air I mean it's pretty much the only air I have been breathing :) Lots and lots of lovebirds have consumed my weekends. I am not complaining one bit! Every couple brings so much personality and fun to my work and I find it challenging in the best way to keep things fresh and make beautiful photos for the each of them! 

THIS COUPLE RIGHT HERE THOUGH. 

Y'all!! Have y'all ever heard of THEWAYWEMET ? No, if not do yourself a favor and enjoy a brain break and read some of these amazing stories they have complied. Well these two are NO exception. I ADORE their story. 

Say hello to Lance and Sarah. Residing in the good ole Louisiana but Sarah a Texan at heart. Picture this... you are dining by yourself at the local restaurant of any passerby's choice- the Chimes on campus. Lo and behold the man that is also dining by himself for the evening approaches your table and asks if you are meeting anyone. You don't know whether to duck and run or to smile and flirt. Good thing for Lance, Sarah decided on the latter. Although, under the guise of being completely harmless, Lance listened to the worn out from a long day woes and even offered to help her with her car that was having trouble recently. 

Y'all- I kid you not, the rest if history! What in the world?! Who does that happen to. I mean Sarah didn't just dive right in to Lance's offer of car repairs. She insisted she drive it back to Houston so her dad could take a look at it but upon the news of that not working, Sarah knew his offer was good when he showed up the next weekend and got everything working again. 

This is the stuff movies are made of. The two began their "dating" with Lance's offer to wine and dine her at his home one evening. Sarah laughed under her breath things this handsome bachelor would surely be wooing her with his best RiceaRoni concoction. To her surprise, she walked into a kitchen full or aromas and a dinner out of a 5 star restaurant. 

The two of them love their food so much we crafted their whole session around their favorite Saturday lineup- the Downtown Farmers Market and making pasta together- from scratch! 

We started at 7:30 to bet the crowds. The two of them continued to pursue the stalls and choose their yummies for the evening. Tasting cheese, choosing flowers, bread choices, tomato options... we did it all. These two curated their afternoon within the hour and we were off to the house to start the process! 

Sarah had the dough made and ready to roll (hahah--- get it) the two of them were like clockwork. They were pros. Everything for pasta making seemed like a seamless, everyday task. I was mesmerized of course because the closest thing to homemade I have been getting these days was a random green smoothie for breakfast! 

Their system was endearing and charming and quick! In no time at all the little strings were hanging on their stand and waiting for the boiling water that was soon to come. 

We finished up in their backyard feeding the chickens some seed. I swear one would think we step back to 1940 but these two just enjoy the simple things in life and I was so thankful to have come along for their "Perfect Saturday Sess". 

“Working a perfect Saturday sess enables the couple or family to do exactly what they would do on a Saturday if they had nothing but time. These sessions allow us to create the memories they want to cherish for the years to come. ”

Baton Rouge Engagement Session- Wedding Photographer

Heyyyyyy party people!!! Is anyone else feeling the Spring happening around here! Just happened to come like 2 months too early but what can you say, we live in Louisiana- the most bi-polar state when it comes to weather conditions!

Spring ALSO means it's WEDDING SEASON!!! So now it's like a mad dash every day to stay on top of edits, keep up with client's timelines and be all around an awesome wedding photographer for so many of my amazing wedding clients! Trel and Steph are NO exception! From the moment I met Trel I knew we would be buddies <3 

This girl right here has personality for days!! Her and Steph met at her most favorite holiday--- Mardi Gras down in New Orleans. Apparently THE holiday of holidays for Trel! Girl loves her some Mardi Gras. More than may beloved Christmas one apparently! Her and Steph met at the Zulu parade last year and have been making lovebird history ever since! 

The set their wedding day for October 21st, 2017! Apparently the most popular wedding day ever of this year! I have received more than 6 inquiries for this coveted day! They are of course getting married in their favorite city of New Orleans-- not because of Mardi Gras, hahah--- but more because that's where all their people live. 

One of my favorites about this Engagement session is that Trel completely trusted my artistic photography skills. When looking for your wedding photographer I would definitely always make sure your style and their style completely gel :) Some girls have very specific desires for their photography needs and meeting the right photographer that shares the same vision is super important! 

Anyways, we photographed at the most perfect time of day- GOLDEN HOUR- the time most people would call dusk. This is a photographer's dream to shoot at. I actually always request this time for wedding and family photography clients because I absolutely adore playing with the light at this time. All of which Trel completely trusted me to do! We made photo magic as I like to term it! 

My Absolute Favorite Wedding and Photography Images in 2016 pt.1

2016 was NOT supposed to be THIS awesome!!! 

When I say awesome, I mean beyond my wildest dreams, insanely above and beyond all I could ask or imagine, crazy awesome! I mean I made a goal for my photography business at the end of 2015 for my upcoming year and al I passed that sucka up by June of the year. What did she say? Yes, JUNE OF 2016 I had made my goal for what I thought the entire year would be. Talk about make you say, hmmm... so there's perspective. Who does that? Not me! I was like last in line in my book for being insanely awesome for 2016! Well, well, well... God's plans are not ours! That's about all I can say about that. 

Not only did I exceed a goal I never anticipated for the year. It was one I never thought I would accomplish IN. MY. LIFE. That is correct. How is that? That one can literally make a goal that one does not even know if attainable. That too, is not on me. I mean, trust me, I hustled. I hustled WAY hard. Like harder than a lot of people thought I should. I was excited. I was living my dream. I was literally pursuing the one thing that I have loved since I stumbled upon it as a child. What a crazy awesome dream come true! And to top it off--- I WAS PREGNANT with our first child, Charles Robert! I couldn't not be any more jazzed about life and what was ahead for us. I really didn't even know how much awesomeness would be coming my way with that babe but I have since found out now that he was born in fall and is now almost 4 months old that he, too, surpassed my awesome-ness-meter.

WE HAVE HAD SOME FUN!!!! 

So to say 2016 was awesome is not quite going to cover the amount of awesome that truly occurred. I mean it touches the surface but that's about it. It was crazy awesome. Awesome-er than any awesome I had ever encountered. And it was all mine. It was all for me and my beautiful little family and that is an amazing feeling. So to get to the point of the post.... Here are some of my favorite, most beloved images for 2016!! 

When your wedding clients want to go somewhere adventurous and do it early in the morning to catch the perfect light and fog <3 

When you get to work with clients for their engagement photos with the most awesome personalities and in the most beautiful Louisiana setting!! 

Getting to photograph a newborn who was delivered almost 3 months before his due date.

(Baby Cason is doing well and getting stronger every day. God is good) 

I had the chance to work with a lot of brides and bridesmaids this year. There were some really special and wonderful ones and there were some that just made me feel just as special and wonderful as they were. It's a beautiful thing to be able to work with beautiful people. 

Working with this girl!!! January Hart Rizzo is a absolute favorite of mine!! I have yet to meet anyone as awesome as her in her field! Honestly! She is sweet as pie and absolutely rocks the world of fashion down here in South Louisiana!!! Girl has got style and amazing legs btw!!! Love this image too much and love the gal in it and all her styles and grace! 

I adore this shot!! I know they all look good but even MORE they rocked their time to shine!!! I adore that!! I rarely meet whole parties that rock their images together!! This group of friends knew each other so well and gelled like it as well!! We had so much fun creating beautiful wedding memories and photos with this crew! 

Apparently I have way too many favorites because I want to post another 10 more! I just decided this will be a part 1 and part 2 blog post! Anyways, this is the apple of my eye, my little chicken nugget, my heart, my soul, my little bit of everything. This is Charles Robert and he has bewitched me mind, body and soul (yay for Pride and Prejudice quotes). He is incredible. He is HAPPY and he is all, all ours and it makes me incredibly and immeasurably happy!!! 

Baton Rouge Family, Children and Maternity Photography

So you want to take some pictures, hey? 

You think, why not? It's July in Louisiana. Like summer July. Like the heat of the day- all day July. But a family can't let a little weather stop them can they? Everyone say God bless the families and weddings in the months of June, July and August. 

I would typically think- no problemo but with Baby Charles in tow these days- and coming to a close of his cooking time- things are vastly different. Apparently it's harder to move like all the time and apparently even if there is AC blowing DIRECTLY ON ME it still feels as though I am in a sauna. I mean you hear all these pregnancy myths but then you actually start living them and they are not myths any longer. They are cold, hard facts. Indisputable facts that you wished you never snickered at because, well, they are awfully true and maybe that snickering really just bounced back on you and you are being double bamboozled for it all. 

Maybe. Just maybe. 

But back to the story. My sweet friends, Sarah and Trice were in town from Dallas to work the Essence Festival and wanted to document their sweet family of 4 that was now about to become a family of 5!!

Their family is living in Covington Mandeville area so I knew just the spot to commence this darling family photography session they were desiring. We went to the Fountainbleu State Park. A fancy little spot that they had actually never been to! Natty Fact: I love being the first to share a first with someone! 

So off we went to capture their darling crew in the sand and there soon after because what kid if not uber distracted by awesome SAND?!? Off to the oak trees! 

Let me just tell you... Photo sessions at 5 in the afternoon in Louisiana still feel like photo sessions at 12 noon. It's just the way it is. Also, if you think that you want a photo session by the water then just jump on it to the outdoors because you are practically in the water just walking outside your door. Everybody together now, "God bless any family or wedding photo sessions in South Louisiana in June, July and August." 

Perfect! 

Nonetheless we got some lovely stuff!!! 

Aren't daddy's the best?!?!? 

It's so refreshing to see dad's loving on they family. I mean it's super common for mom's to be the maternal beings that we naturally are but when you get a dad in there with his funny faces and quirks to make the kiddos smile it's just a special kind of love <3

After we had a ball with the kiddos we got CeCe- grandma- to be awesome and take the kiddos for a rendezvous. It was perfect and by this point it was closer to 6pm which apparently makes a HUGE-O difference around this area! The sun was close to setting and it was just the two lovebirds with their soon to be newborn! 

We made lots of maternity photography magic. I loved Sarah's thoughts to change into a new dress with a pop of color and she had several ideas in mind of what she was desiring. We captured priceless memories for them and they were all over the top gorgeous :) 

So just remember that if you are wanting a family, maternity or any photography session in the months of June, July and August then bring water bottles, hand towels, a change of clothes and a grandma to make funny faces at your sweat dripping kiddos :) 

Ok? Ok. 

Happy Family Photos, Head Family :)