Radiant Jewel tone Wedding at The Liriodendron Mansion | Maryland Wedding Photographer

Two years ago when I first began my journey in to photography as a business and not just a hobby I set out to execute a Styled Shoot. My good friend Elena from Belle Imagery Portraits was in the midst of hosting her very first one and invited me to tag along. I was amazed! Watching her behind the scenes inspired me to begin planning my own. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do and after months and months of thinking I finally knew decided on the concept. 

As a bride to be myself, I know that featuring a woman of color was the highest priority for this styled shoot. Diversity and inclusion in the wedding industry is ever growing and I wanted to highlight more of the couples that are underrepresented in various forms (size, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation to name a few). From there I decided that I wanted to play off the richness of the color Emerald as green is my favorite color and BOOM! there was my plan.  

As the brilliant Issa Rae stated, we need to work with our colleagues who are in lateral positions to us; not the ones above- so I called on some vendors who are slightly seasoned in the industry to be bring the full vision to life. 

I am so in love with this first shoot and I am so thankful for those who believed and supported this dream of mine. We were so fortunate to even have a mini feature on Souther Noir Weddings Blog. 

Huge thank you to all the vendors

Bridal gown: K & B Bridals http://www.kandbbridals.com

Cake: Cakes by Kakes https://www.instagram.com/cakesbykakes/

Venue location : The Liriodendron Mansion http://www.liriodendron.com

Flowers:  Roni’s Roses http://www.ronisroses.com

Make Up: Lashing Out Glam by Shayla Reeves https://www.instagram.com/lashingoutglam/

Stationery : Cygnus Studio Designs/AshleyRae Swann https://www.instagram.com/calligraphydame/

Veil/Accessories/Jewelry: Faye Daniel Design http://www.fayedanieldesigns.com

Rentals: Party Plus Tents and Rentals https://tenting.com

Linen: Nuage http://nuagedesigns.com

Model: Charlyn Nater https://www.instagram.com/iamcharlynnater/ 

Here are some of my favorite images below! 

Friendship & Bridesmaids | Maryland Wedding Photographer

Hi Loves!!

One major aspect of the wedding planning process is deciding who is going to stand by your side on your big day and help you turn up on the moments leading up to it! 

Me personally, I struggled so much with this because I have an amazing group of girlfriends! Honestly all my friends are lit and so amazing and I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM. I went to an all girls boarding high school, so my friends from high school are my sisters. 

I knew for sure that my amazingly brilliant and beautiful sister in law was going to be my Matron of Honor. She has been in my life since I was 8 years old! Thats almost 20 years. She's supported me and seen me through lots of major life events. Love her! She keeps me on pace and calm.

After solidifying her and her role- then came the challenging part. I have a group of best friends, a GROUP. As much as I wanted to have all 25 of my closest most cherished friends I had to choose only 8 women to match up with my fiance's fraternity line brothers. So I sat long and hard, thought and thought and thought some more. Who could I not envision my day without? Who can I rely on for this next step? Who is going to keep me covered in prayer?  Who is going to make me laugh? And who would be reliable in the midst of all they have going on in their own lives to make time for me? When I finally stopped and thought about my friends and what they meant to me it became so easy and so clear. 

Choosing bridesmaids is not about who you've know the longest, its about choosing the ones who were/are there for you, the ones whose bonds are the most meaningful, the ones you love no matter what, the ones who don't judge you, the ones who listen, the ones where you see them and don't even have to speak but are communicating anyway, the ones you need for whatever reason, the ones that make you laugh with one word, a gif, a meme or a look, and the ones who are there when you need them no matter how long its been since you last spoke.

In my group of bridesmaids I have everything I need and then some; and  I have an even larger group of best friends who support me through and through! (I LOVE YOU BEAUTIES! -Shoutout to my middle school friends: Sarah!!, Dom/Dani, My Madeira sisters: Bree H, Lina, Justine, Haile, Bree Rob, Andrade, Janet, Renee, Taylor D, Mia, Stuart, (oh my gosh its so many more of you I need to name)-my college friends: Ivon/Aidi, and my work friends- who've become sisters) * just forgive me if I've accidentally missed you*

Say hello to my bridesmaids- #IssaSnackPack

These beauties are everything to me. I love them! They are all so smart, talented, FUNNY, supportive, loving and amazing. So blessed to have them