Robyn and Michael tied the knot on Sunday at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Merrill Center, one of the coolest local wedding locations CBF is a green building set on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, and it’s a gorgeous gorgeous spot. It was a rainy day, but you all know how I feel about rain (it’s good luck! Really, it is!) - and it didn’t do a thing to diminish the beautiful event

Robyn and Michael were also very laid back about their day (I’m liking this trend of laid back brides and grooms!) and saw each other before the ceremony - partially to sign their Ketubah (which was a really cool piece of artwork that Robyn tells me she got from Ketubah.com!), and partially to have a moment together before all the craziness started. The Ketubah singing was really sweet to watch - and the first one I’d ever seen.

The couple was determined to throw a great party for their guests, and they absolutely did. From the hand-picked menu (OMG the food was sooooooo good!) to the carefully selected playlists (I heard more than one guest comment that the music was the best they’d heard at a wedding!) no detail was left out. The bride and groom danced with their guests right up until the end of the evening - and the sun even peeked out long enough to allow us to sneak in some beach pictures. Fun!

Robyn and Michael, congratulations to a truly awesome couple I hope you two are having a great time in Italy!

Lots of brides and grooms these days are choosing to eschew the traditional DJ or band, and instead put together a playlist for their event on their own iPod. I have seen this at both local and destination weddings, and it is a great way to save on costs in the long run. There are both pros and cons to doing it this way (Pros: More control over your playlist - you can guarantee that there will be no Macarena, saves money. Cons: A DJ often plays a more traditional role in the wedding - such as announcing the couple and events like cake cutting and bouquet toss, etc., a DJ can read the crowd and play music to their liking - which may be difficult for you to do.)

To start putting together a playlist, you obviously need to find the songs! What you don’t have available on your own computer and in your cd collection you need to download - I am a huuuuge fan of Amazon’s MP3 downloader (go to Amazon, type in the song you’re looking for in their main search box… and voila!). I use this more than iTunes, because when you download iTunes you’re actually downloading MP4s, and then if you want to burn a cd you have to go to the trouble of converting them. Major PITA.

Some recent brides have done some different things at their receptions which I think are cool, including:

- At a smaller reception using a Bose Sound Dock with their iPod, instead of renting expensive speakers and equipment to power it. Worked GREAT.

- Changing the song when it wasn’t a hit - so what if you stop mid-song… if no one’s dancing, move along! (I’d plan to have an extra hour or so on your playlist to accommodate for this.)

- Finding obscure, random songs to play - that have some special meaning to the bride and groom or to some of the guests. Quite often DJs won’t have these if you request last minute.

Do you have other iPod reception tips? Post ‘em! Share ‘em! We love comments

I met up with Carrie and Rob for their engagement session on Tuesday - and we headed over to Gibson Island (I was way excited, I’d never been before - it’s so pretty!). This session couldn’t have come a moment too soon, this cute couple is getting married next weekend!

Their proposal story is very sweet - vacation in Cabo, dinner at sunset, dessert with a ring… awwww Love love love it.

I had a lot of fun with Carrie and Rob, the laughs never really stop with these two Plus, they were great sports - the sun that day was really bright, but they put up with it… all in the name of good pictures my friends!

I’m really excited for their wedding, it’s bound to be very personal and fun. Everything will be happening at either their or their parents houses, so everyone should feel very at home (ok, bad joke :)). But be ready to see more of these two, it’s their turn to walk down the aisle veeeeeeery soon!

I’ll see you guys in a couple weeks!

Dates in May of 2009 are proving to be VERY popular!

I just wanted to warn anyone interested in a May 2009 date that there is a lot of interest for these dates, and they will most likely go quickly.  My suggestion - don’t wait, if you know you want to book, do it sooner than later

Well, I thought it was possible Christine and Alan had used up all their hotness posing for their wedding pictures. After all, what could possibly compete with their killer sunset pictures from the day before?

Uh, their day after shots - that’s what!

Bright eyed ready to go at 7 am the day after their wedding (after staying up partying until… well I don’t even know!) these two were ready for some more GQ-type action We hit the beach in Manuel Antonio, and then the pool at Costa Verde where the newlyweds proceeded to trash that dress with style Oh, and um… yeah, there was a little making out. It’s ok, they’re married now - they’re supposed to make out Once again, hot hot HOT!

Christine and Alan had the MOST. ROMANTIC. WEDDING. EVER.

Seriously. A secluded beach, with only their parents and closest friends, waves crashing in the background, saying their heartfelt vows against the backdrop of a perfect sunset… does it GET any more romantic than that? I really don’t think so. And I got to see it!

Upon arriving at the resort in Costa Rica, I knew it was a special kind of couple who could have asked me to come there for their wedding - and I was definitely right! Christine and Alan are cool and fun and goofy and sweet and so very laid back - a remote beach set beside the Costa Rican jungle was just the perfect spot for them to tie the knot. I must have remarked to Phil about a thousand times what an amazing location they had chosen. Their ceremony was so intimate and personal, not only did I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of their day - but blessed to have gotten a chance to get to know them.

After the ceremony we had a few minutes to play around on the beach, and these two got to show off their supermodel skills. I mean seriously, LOOK at them. Hot hot hot! I winced when Christine’s gorgeous dress met with a wave (we were doing a Trash the Dress session the next day with a different dress, but I knew she’d planned to try to keep her actual wedding dress clean) but in her post-wedding glow she just shrugged it off - and said “oh well!” I think that “oh well” was WELL worth it - as we got some absolutely amazing pictures of the two of them in the surf.

I honestly don’t think this awesome couple could have asked for a better day. The bumps in the road (yeah… there was a little rain, talk of moving the ceremony - all water under the bridge now!) made their day that much sweeter in the end, when everything came together just perfectly.

Guys - CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you’re having a blast trekking around Costa Rica

Christine and Alan’s wedding in Costa Rica yesterday was A.MA.ZING. I have a thousand things more I could say about it, but for now I will just leave you with some sneak peeks - two from yesterday, and one from their Day After shoot today…

I always give one piece of advice to all my brides and grooms - if you have fun, your guests will too (especially on the dance floor - the best way to get everyone up and dancing is if the bride starts it off!). Well, Kendra and Theo absolutely did not need my advice at all - not only did they have fun (seriously - they are smiling or laughing in 99.9% of the pictures I have - love love love it!) but their guests had a blast too. The dance floor was a’roooockin’ all night - thanks in large part to Kendra’s amazingly talented dancer-phenom cousins (OMG - those kids need to teach me a move or two… and now I know you’re laughing because you soooo know I can’t dance ;-)) and their gigantic bridal party (9 on one side and 8 on the other - now that’s an instant party!). Their wedding was so romantic and fun - from Theo carrying his new bride down the aisle to the Soul Train-style dance line, every second was memorable.

I honestly couldn’t wait to come home and blog about this wedding, because I had such a great time. Kendra and Theo’s guests were all so incredibly sweet, and everyone was just overjoyed to be at their wedding. The love for these two was palpable. And besides, look at these two - how could I not have fun shooting such a beautiful couple??

Kendra and Theo, from the bottom of my heart - congratulations!! I am so happy for you two as you start your new life together (and woohooooo have a blast in Antigua!).

And a special shout out to my super awesome second shooter Carmen - she really rocked this one

Being a professional wedding attendee, I learn lots of things about the wedding industry, and see lots of fun things and get lots of cool ideas at each and every wedding. I have now started to accumulate a huge mental database of things and ideas to share with my brides (present and future :))… so I decided it was about time to write all these things down!

So, without further ado I unveil my new “column” - Tips for Brides I’ll be writing these whenever I see something I feel like should be shared. If you’ve got a good tip for brides, let me know - maybe I’ll post yours too

(Seriously, send me an email if you’ve got some good advice - I know when I was the bride I needed all the advice, ideas and tips I could get! :-P)