Washington, DC :: Surprise Proposal and Engagement Session!

Yesterday I met up with a few of my photographer friends, Sarah Hodzic, Kip Pierson, and Shawn Reeder for our annual museum trip. After visiting the National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery, we headed over to Sonoma, a fabulous restaurant and wine bar, to continue the evening. When we arrived, the hostess informed us that there was a man planning to propose to his girlfriend that night. The staff was a buzz with excitement for the couple, who'd returned to the place of their first date for the occasion. We stealthy took a few photos from our table when the proposal happened.



We invited the newly engaged couple to join us after dinner for an impromptu session and after introductions and hugs and congratulations, we headed upstairs at Sonoma to start the engagement session.





The streets of DC were just starting to be covered with a blanket of fresh snow, a magical and rare sight. It was to amazing to pass up and we headed outside for more photos.

This is one of my favorites from the night.









I pulled this group image of all of us from Sarah's blog. I just love it!



What an amazing and memorable night!

The Villa in Beltsville, Maryland Wedding :: Andrea & Ben Get Married!

Andrea and Ben were married in an amazing and beautiful ceremony on Halloween at The Villa in Beltsville. Well, actually, make that TWO ceremonies! It was such an amazing day.

Andrea's heritage is Indian and Columbian and Ben is Twainese. They wanted to incorporate all of this into their wedding and did so with charm and love. Many of the decorations incorporated Ben's Twainese heritage, including the beautiful mandap which Ben built for the occasion.

I have known Andrea for many years and I am blessed to call her a dear friend. I just love this picture of Andrea. I think it captures the joy that just bubbles out of her.



The first ceremony was the Indian ceremony. Indian wedding ceremonies are so beautiful, rich with culture and tradition and Andrea and Ben's ceremony was no exception.















Mr. and Mrs! I adore this image of Andrea and Ben exiting their first wedding ceremony.



The beautiful wedding party. My dear friend Ina was the Matron of Honor.



After a cocktail hour and wardrobe change, the guests were invited back to the tent for the Catholic wedding ceremony. Andrea was gorgeous walking down the aisle on her father's arm.









The second ceremony was just as beautiful and full of love as the first. I loved how Andrea and Ben incorporated her Columbian heritage with readings in Spanish during the ceremony.





Mr. and Mrs. AGAIN! This couple is too cute!











I just adore this image.





Because it was Halloween and there were many children in attendance, Ben and Andrea invited them to come in costume. After dinner was served, the passed out trick-or-treat bags and the kids went from table to table to get their bags filled with treats. The center pieces were large bowls of candy and the guests had so much fun filling all the kids' bags as full as possible!



One of my favorite little kids, Espen, the son of my friends' Mynor and Ina who've appeared on my blog many times over the years, looked smashing as a fireman!



And Espen's parents had a great time salsa dancing!









The were lots of fortune cookies on hand for the guests and I used them to photograph the rings.



It was a truly amazing day. It takes a bit of art and imagination to blend all of their cultures and traditions together. They did an amazing job!

It took a bit of team to help them pull it all off. Kudos to Jackie Ducci of The Perfect Event and the amazing staff at The Villa.

For more favorites, check out the Slideshow! Give it a minute or two to load - I promise it will be worth it!

Friends and Family: To see all of the images from the day, click here and sign the guest book. You will then be notified when the images are released for viewing!