DC and Baltimore Photographer - Weddings and Corporate

February 18, 2014

Giant Cupcake – Baby Girl Birthday Cake

Cooking is not really my thing – a little of this, a little of that usually turns out to be a big mess whenever I attempt it. But baking – now that’s a different story. I like the exact measurements and timing required of baking. It’s either right or its burnt, and I enjoy working within a set of parameters. And when sugar is involved – I’m all in.

I made this cake for my daughter Maddie’s 2nd birthday party, and I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out! I have my cake-baking pretty well-established so that I can get a dense yet moist (I hate that word) cake that has a pretty good structure and won’t collapse under a big pile of buttercream. The frosting I used this time was Raspberry Cream Cheese frosting for the top and Chocolate Buttercream on the bottom. With some Sixlets pearls to hide some of the thin spots – it ended up looking as good as it tasted.

January 14, 2014

Maryland Backyard Outdoor DIY Wedding: Stacy and Jacob

I absolutely adore an intimate outdoor, backyard affair like the one that Stacy and Jacob planned. This wedding was completely THEM. Held at their friend’s house, in the backyard, Stacy and Jacob’s friends and family enjoyed a perfect day. Even the weather was perfect – at least in my opinion. Beautiful overcast skies made for flattering light and the rain held off until after they enjoyed their first dance!

Planning a wedding is truly an adventure – Stacy was kind enough to share some of her experiences while planning her wedding:

What was the most stressful thing about planning your wedding?
“The hardest part for us was picking a venue. We agonized over how much we could spend and what kind of feel we wanted for our wedding for months, and we couldn’t make any other decisions until that one was made. When our friends Kelsey and Larry offered to host our wedding on their beautiful property, everything started to fall into place.”

And the most enjoyable part of planning?
“Getting to spend more time with our friends (the wedding was an excuse to come down and visit more!), and generally being surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of generosity and love all of our friends showed us through this process! Our friends officiated, performed a reading, gave toasts, did my makeup and hair, moved chairs around during the reception, fed our cats through our honeymoon and helped us with a million other things to make our wedding a success.”

If you were able to do it all over again, would you do anything differently?
“I don’t think we realized how many last minute things we would need to do in the days before the wedding, like making place cards and ironing tablecloths. If we did it all over we would get some of those things done way ahead of time so we wouldn’t have to stress as much!”

Any words of wisdom for brides who are currently planning their day?
“Ask for help! I was so reluctant at first to ask anybody for help because I was worried that they wouldn’t want to, but our friends were so excited to help!”

Wedding day theme: Casual and fun!
Dress Designer: Bought it at Nordstrom (purchased during a Black Friday sale!)
Bride’s Shoes: Nine West
Hair Stylist: My sister, Alyssa, and her friend, Amanda
Makeup Artist: My friend, Kelly
Accessories: Hair fascinator from Etsy – http://www.etsy.com/shop/PetalVeils
Groom’s Suit: J. Crew
Invitations & Stationery: vistaprint.com
Flowers: We reappropriated the white roses from our rehearsal dinner and got the rest from a supermarket the morning of!
Officiant: Friend of the couple
Catering and Cake: Dream Weaver Catering http://www.dreamweavercatering.com
Honeymoon: Hong Kong and Cambodia.

January 9, 2014

Photo Booth Rental: Birthday Party Selfies for Kids!

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out what was so great about a photo booth, until I got one. There’s something kind of magical about stepping in (with or without props), pushing the button and taking your own photo. Actually, with the rise of “selfies” maybe I do understand it. In any case, this photo booth setup that I did for my little friend Adriane’s 9th birthday party was a HUGE hit! I mean, the party itself was at a jumpy place and the fact that the kids actually took time out of their busy moon bouncing schedules to come over and snap some pix in the booth was a pretty big deal.

The photo booth that I rent for parties (and that I include for my own wedding clients) is an open-frame concept, so it can fit up to a dozen or more people, which is awesome. The best thing is that the whole framework can be set to 2 height levels – the tall one is perfect for standing adults, the low one is perfect for kids! The kids get to push the button themselves to take their own photos, and each image featured on the display screen for instant fun. The best part – each party host receives a bound book of all the images from the booth as a keepsake!

Me and Emmy (my kid). I’m going to LOVE embarrassing her as a teen!

Our awesome AuPair, Julia, and my daughter Maddie

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January 8, 2014

FROZEN BUBBLES : Fun In the Polar Vortex!

Yeah, yeah, I know it’s cold. But seriously – put your coat on, grab a hat and scrounge up a bottle of bubbles (if you have kids, I know you have about 5 gallons worth of bubbles in your home somewhere), then head outside for some deep-freeze fun! When I saw my friend Kat’s post about her frozen bubble experiment today, I had to try it for myself! Even more fun than the fact that the bubbles freeze and break is looking that the amazing crystal structure. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to try this out until after the kids were asleep, but with temps holding in the teens overnight – I’m pretty sure they’ll still be there when they get up in the morning. Motivation to get out of bed on cold days like this is a good thing!

January 6, 2014

Baltimore Engagement Photo Session: Kim & John

I’m so glad that I finally made blog updates a priority, because I’ve been dying to share Kim & John’s engagement session for months! This beautiful couple and I had such a fun time walking around Patapsco State Park and enjoying the luscious evening summertime light. The two of them were so natural in front of the camera. Stay tuned to see photos from their wedding!