I attend weddings all of the time! As a Wedding Photographer you can find me at weddings most weekends between the months of March and November. (I will definitely photograph your winter wedding as well, this is just considered more of the wedding “season” here in Virginia.) But I also do my best to live my life with my loved ones and friends to the fullest! Those summer months can get a little tricky with a lot of the cookouts I won’t be attending, the Saturday night get togethers, the beach days that are missed,  and the schedules that are completely opposite of my closest friends. I do my best, but I am a worrier and I often worry if I am showing up enough for them! I worry if they know how much I value and appreciate them, if I am celebrating their life moments just as much as they are there to celebrate mine.

It stems down to the feeling of these women are my family, to me. After my brother passed away, I weighed heavily onto my friendships and relationships and there were a few that strengthened and even grew deeper to feeling like they were family. Now no one will ever replace my sibling, my brother, but I rely onto a couple of relationships to help get me through. I do think that loosing my brother has made me worry more about the relationships that I do have and if I am doing enough for them, if they know I care, if they know that they are appreciated. Which, caring for people is a great quality and endearing but I think it can also make me feel inadequate or faulting, sometimes. Which I think are bad qualities. Hey, I’m only human, right? Going back through photographs on my iPhone, to choose some to share on this blog post made me realize that I think I am doing okay at it! But I am only human so sometimes worrying gets the best of me.

So, not only am I ecstatic to photograph weddings this upcoming wedding season, I have four weddings to be in and one of those includes getting married myself! Looking back at these photographs we have had so much fun celebrating each other and I wanted to share our year so far of having four weddings in one year!

First up on the wedded bliss train is Nicole, my soon-to-be Matron of Honor, currently Maid of Honor. She is the first of us to get married in less than TWO WEEKS! We had her bachelorette party this past weekend and next up is to celebrate her marriage to Tyler! I could write on and on about Nicole, but just know she is the woman who understands me completely and has the most loving heart. She helps keep me girly and has personally grown my love for the color pink! We ran a sorority together as President and Vice President, lived together for four years in college and have been through it all together. She’s seen me at my worst and at my best, and she stayed around to see my best come back after I was grief struck after loosing my brother. She became part of my family and I will never be able to say enough about her.

But lets lighten this up a little bit! I laugh the hardest with Nicole and my happiest memories of friendship are definitely with her! This past year of her engagement I hid in the woods with the mosquitos and the squirrels for her surprise proposal that Tyler, her fiancé, planned perfectly. You can see their proposal here! She asked us to be her bridesmaids at my first cookout at Cory and I’s home! We celebrated her engagement at Waterman’s where we returned this past weekend for her Bachelorette dinner! Us Virginia Beach natives love Orange Crushes! We had a beautiful floral themed Bridal Shower for her and a Beyonce inspired Bachelorette Party! In two weeks her wedding will be stunning and I cannot wait to see her as the most beautiful bride and her and Tyler make it official! 

Exactly ONE WEEK after Nicole’s wedding day is Kathleen’s on the wedded bliss train! She is getting married to Clark in Maryland and I cannot wait to see this special day all come together for them! We grew up as cousins and became best friends. We always told each other that we would be each other’s bridesmaid when the day came. Well it is almost here and I cannot wait for it! We road in barbie jeeps together, attended our first ballet classes, have traveled to Costa Rica together, and have only grown our friendship as we became adults. I was there to see her say yes to her wedding dress at Maya Couture. I photographed her and Clark’s engagement session over Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, Florida. We put together a Fiesta themed bridal shower for her love of Mexican food and Sangria! In about three weeks, I will get to stand beside her as she becomes married to Clark, someone who continuously makes her happy. 

Caitlin is extremely thoughtful and giving us a little lull between ours’ and her’s wedding on the wedded bliss train. 😉 She is getting married in December of this year to her fiancé Paul! I was ecstatic to be asked to be one of her bridesmaids. I wrote in her card when I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids, “From my best friend’s sister, to friend, to sorority sister, to Rose Buddy (secret Sorority lingo) 😉 and best friend, will you add bridesmaid to that list?” You see, she is Nicole’s actual sister or how sorority sisters put it, her double sister! I haven’t used all of this sorority lingo in years! I became close with their family and I adore them all very much, so naturally Caitlin and I have grown a really wonderful friendship over the years. I think we have only gotten closer as we have enjoyed planning fun surprises here and there for Nicole, her bridal shower and her bachelorette through out her engagement. Now we will get to return the favor to Caitlin for her wedding this December! She is kind hearted, easily brightens up a room, and is someone you just feel comfortable with almost instantly. The next several months we will get the opportunity to throw her a bridal shower, a bachelorette party and celebrate her and Paul just as she’s been with us to do the same! 

Have I mentioned that I am getting married too? Oh, yeah, you have probably heard or read about it once or twice! I am including Cory and I on that wedded bliss train and we are only a little less than two months away from our Wedding day! I was completely surprised when he asked me almost a year ago on my birthday and it turned out that Nicole knew for several months! We squeezed in a coffee date that weekend to celebrate just the two of us and she had coffee ready for me and a goodie bag of bride items as my birthday gift! We laughed, we teared up for a few seconds and we celebrated! When I finally asked her to be my Maid of Honor, we forgot to take a picture! She came to my one and only wedding dress appointment with my Mom and I at Studio I Do where I said YES to the DRESS! She planned an amazing bachelorette party for me that involved a winery, Waterman’s (I told you us girls love Orange Crushes), and even a few Drag Queens! We did that way back in the fall but I am so glad that we did because we all are so busy right now! I think you can tell just by the schedule of our wedding day(s).

For my bridal shower, all of my bridesmaids were able to be there which I absolutely loved. We all got to hangout that evening as well and celebrate Cory and I getting married. I cannot say enough about these women. This blog post could go on and on and I would still wonder if I was getting across how much I love and appreciate each of them individually. It has been the busiest but the funnest time celebrating this same event in all of our lives together and I cannot wait for all of our wedding day(s)! 

My advice to other Brides who have several weddings to be apart of in one year plus get married yourself is to try not to get caught up in your busy and make a conscious effort to show up for your friends that are going through this time in their lives as well! Try not to let worrying get the best of you and just try to do your best for all of your loved ones and  your friends! They choose you to be by their side for a reason and you choose them for a reason so hectic schedules and to-do lists won’t get in the way of your friendship when it truly comes down to it! When you are celebrating one another be fully present and most importantly ENJOY IT! These celebrations and moments are once in a lifetime and it is amazing to have these women by your side for  it all!

Soon I will be able to share pictures of all of us on our wedding day as a beautiful bride and marrying our soulmate. Congratulations to all of you ladies that I hold so near and dear to my heart! This has been the funnest ride to be on together and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you all!