Names:   Quynh Phan + Christian Rosales
They live In:   Fairfax, Virginia
Occupations:  She’s a registered nurse, he’s a systems administrator
Their First Date:   Chart House in Old Town Alexandria
How They Met:   Through friends on a white water rafting trip
The Proposal:   New Year 2011 at home when we first woke up
Their approach to wedding planning:   We wanted to make the day as intimate and fun as possible for our family and friends
Wedding-Day Weather:   Freezing rain, but well worth the pictures
Wedding Time:   3:30 pm
Wedding Colors: Purple & Green
Number of Guests:   160
Wedding Budget:   $20,000
Wedding Theme:   Rustic Garden Party
Special Moments:   Quynh’s dad walked her down the aisle, when we said our vows to each other, and all the beautiful speeches that brought tears to our eyes.
Recessional Song:   A Summer Song – Piano by David Lanz
Dessert:   Wedding cake
Favorite Reception Moment:   How Christian’s brother asked Quynh’s brother on the spot to translate his speech to Vietnamese so her family could understand

What I Loved About Their Wedding:  I don’t even know where to start because I absolutely adore these two!  I really had a blast shooting Quynh & Christian’s wedding.  Despite the pouring rain, they always had big smiles on their faces.  They couldn’t WAIT to get married and celebrate with everyone!  They were completely oblivious to the weather and were more concerned about their family and friends being warm, dry and comfortable.  They took it all in stride and didn’t allow the freezing rain to dampen their day.  In fact, we decided to take advantage of the wet weather and embraced it in every way possible

A feeling of love, excitement and joy filled the room and the camaraderie between the families evoked many humorous moments of playfulness and merriment.  The speeches were original, heartfelt and eloquently delivered that they moved the couple to tears.  I loved the mood and emotion the rain helped set on their Sunday wedding…it was very romantic and intimate.  It was a wonderful day of two families blending together in perfect harmony!  (The perfect Asian/Hispanic celebration!)

Wedding Site – Sunset Crest Manor in Chantilly, VA
Wedding Officiant - Pastor Brian Erickson
Photography – Liz Maryann Photography, Second Shooter: Anna Bruce from Anna Bruce Photography
Florist – Nicole Cui from My Simply Chic Flowers
Makeup – Liz Wegrzyn from FacesbyLiz.com
Hair – Zoe’s of Tysons
Wedding Dress – Ella Rosa
Bridesmaids Dresses – The Limited
Catering – R&R Catering
Wedding Cake:  Le Martin de Paris
Rings – Zales (His) and Fink’s (Hers)
Stationery - Papyrus
Deejay/MC - Michael Cruz of Bialek’s Music

I <3 Quynh!  Seriously.  She’s so friendly and has an uplifting, easygoing and kind spirit.  We meet up for lunch at least once a month to catch up! (We both LOVE Pho Sate)

Beautiful bride with beautiful Mama Phan:

Quynh and Christian are going to have beautiful Asian/Hispanic kids one day! (Quynh is Vietnamese and Christian is Salvadorean)

 

Oh stop it you two…you’re making it look too easy!  :)
Quynh did a boudoir session with me about a month before the wedding and when I asked her to do the classic “boudoir look”, she knew exactly what I was talking about.
I love it.

Anna snapped a photo of me bustling Quynh’s dress  I swear I kind of look like a wedding planner without a camera in my hand.  Not a bad thing.

Some photo booth fun with Quynh & Christian:

1st: I photographed Becky’s older sister’s wedding!  Remember Liz & Cameron’s beautiful vineyard wedding in Ronda, NC? If not, you  can view pics of their wedding here (Becky was the maid of honor, of course)

2nd – Becky ended up catching the bouquet and Steven caught the garter!  Here’s a pic, it’s just too cute not to share:

And now, Becky and Steven are officially engaged!  I’m super bummed though that I won’t be able to photograph their wedding
Becky asked if I was available but unfortunately, their wedding is the day after my birthday and I’m planning to treat myself to a vacation that month and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone (Paris, London or Iceland anyone?!!)
We did however talk about possibly getting together after the wedding to do a Bride+Groom shoot, so I’m excited about that!

We met up at the Manassas Battlefield Park on a really windy day but Becky and Steven were such troopers.  We laughed it off and even with our hair being blown all over the place, nobody complained

So here are some of their engagement pics!  I have a ton of favorites and had the hardest time narrowing them down:

Not only are they a ridiculously GORGEOUS couple but they’re also such sweet, laid back and easy-going people.

rarrrr.

This is definitely one of my favorites.  And yes, I was squealing after I took this shot.
Just a quick note to all my future brides and clients: When I start squealing, that means you’re doing EXACTLY what I have envisioned and I know the photo is going to be amazing.

Becky is a soft spoken and laid back type of person and was a little camera shy at first.
But when she told me that she ordered her dress (yes, that sexy coral pleated dress) from RentTheRunway.com for the engagement shoot, I urged her to have fun with it!  So000, we added a dash of fashion fierceness to the engagement shoot  After all, the wind was already giving her that natural supermodel hair-blown effect.  Needless to say, she rocked it effortlessly and I’m SO glad I have amazing clients that trust my vision and ideas

This reminds me of an Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle ad.
Hey Becky & Steven…if I come across a model casting call for A&F or American Eagle, I’m totally submitting this photo!
Just an FYI

It was a rainy day for Quynh + Christian’s wedding but I told them not to worry because we’d try to do something exceptionally cool in the rain.  So we all went outside in the freezing rain to capture this shot and well, hopefully I didn’t disappoint!  :)

Here’s a sneak peek:

And some photo booth fun with Anna and the lovely couple:

The night before our shoot, I received an e-mail from someone named “Bar Nguyen” with a subject line that read “Tomorrow morning”.
Bar introduced himself as Katie’s boyfriend and explained his grand plan to pop the question during the shoot!  He mentioned that he had been planning the trip for months and wanted Katie to think that they were just getting couples portraits done.  Or in his own words to Katie, “We might as well get our pictures taken with the cherry blossoms while we’re there!”  He asked if I was OK with the idea of him proposing during the shoot and if I’d be able to help him by ensuring that:

a) Katie doesn’t get suspicious
b) we’d find just the perfect spot with perfect lighting and
c) nothing gets in the way…because really, the last thing we needed was for an ambulance to pass by right when he’s about to get on one knee – you know, things like that.

My initial thought was – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Wedding photographers LOVE this kind of stuff.  I mean really, not only would I be witnessing a marriage proposal but I’d get to take photos of it happening as well?!   I squealed.  I was so stoked.  As much as I hate to admit it, I’m a sucker for lovey dovey stuff and I definitely have my extreme girly moments.  I guess you could say I’m a hopeless romantic (hence my affinity and passion for wedding photography!)

So without further adieu,  I immediately responded to Bar’s e-mail and it looked a little something like this:

…yeah, Bar probably thought I was yelling with all the caps and my extreme overuse of exclamation marks.  I was just completely enamored with the idea of a Proposal Session (i.e, having a photographer follow you around paparazzi-style while a surprise marriage proposal takes place).  So thanks Katie & Bar for giving me my first official “Proposal Session”

Notice…no ring YET

How cute is Katie??

And the big proposal takes place…

of course she said YES:

G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S…great job, Bar!

They met in dental school (Bar is an orthodontist, Katie’s a dentist) and they started out as friends
(they both studied hard and had no time to date, let alone maintain a serious relationship!)
After about a year, they began hanging out more and their friendship grew to love.  Now they’re engaged and are planning to wed sometime next year!

I wanted to end this blog post by saying that I absolutely ADORE these two.
Bar and Katie are such down-to-earth, kind and genuine people and I’m thankful that they found me all the way from Oklahoma!
We’re all friends on Facebook and we’re constantly “Liking” each others’ food pics (we all happen to be foodies, what do you know?? )

]]> http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/katie-bar-surprise-cherry-blossom-proposal-session-in-washington-dc/feed/ 5 http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/jessica-steve-just-engaged-old-town-alexandria-engagement-session/ http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/jessica-steve-just-engaged-old-town-alexandria-engagement-session/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:26:18 +0000 lizmaryann http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/?p=5654 It all started with a simple e-mail.  One of my gal pals Liz Wegrzyn mentioned that her fiance’s cousin Steve was planning a trip to DC with a romantic objective: to propose to his girlfriend Jessica!

So when Liz asked if I’d be interested in possibly shooting their engagement session the day after the proposal, I of course happily obliged!

Little did Jessica know what Steve had up his sleeve.  She was completely oblivious and unaware of his grand plans.  Steve planned a special dinner at Plume, an elegant and romantic restaurant located at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington DC.  To add to the excitement, Steve asked the chef to hide the ring in her dessert at the end of the night.  Needless to say, Jessica was completely blown away and jubilantly said YES!   We met up the next day on a windy but beautiful sunny morning in Old Town, Alexandria.  The weather was perfect and the waterfront scenery couldn’t have been more picturesque for their engagement shoot.

It was an absolute joy meeting these two and I enjoyed working with them!  I love Jessica’s positive and lighthearted personality and Steve’s sense of humor really helped set the tone of the session for a very entertaining day.  Congrats Jessica & Steve!

and this is where my boudoir skills come in handy  Kudos to Liz Wegrzyn for doing such a fab job on her makeup

Victor and Lindsay are both JEB Stuart alums like myself and I can’t believe my 10 year reunion is next year.  Crazy how quickly time flies,  I’m starting to feel old!

Anyway, I had such a wonderful time catching up with these two and shooting their engagement!  I shot Victor’s best friend’s wedding last year (remember Lindsey and Tom?) and it’ll be interesting to see the two buddies switch roles for the wedding (Tom will be the best man this time!)

Victor is a police officer and Lindsay is a 6th grade teacher and they just recently bought a house together!  This is truly a remarkable year for them and I’m ecstatic about shooting their wedding in October.

Check out their pics and show them some love!

Well hello there good looking couple…

Lindsay is going to be a beautiful bride!

In the meantime,  I wanted to share this fabulous engagement session with you all.  Meet Jen & Erik – they’re a sweet, fun-loving and energetic couple whose paths crossed the day their friends decided to set them up on a blind date!  I had so much fun following these two around in Georgetown (paparazzi-style, can’t you tell?) and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.

These two lovebirds will be saying “I Do” in December and I’m ecstatic because it’ll be a winter wedding a few days shy of Christmas Day, which is my favorite holiday!

So here are some of their engagement pics!  Enjoy…

George Mason Patriots vs. James Madison Dukes - whose team are YOU on?  ;)

Check out some of my favorites – TGIF!

They didn’t believe me when I looked at my camera and told them they looked like models…but look at these two!  So beautiful…

How gorgeous is her ring?!

Danielle and I met at our high school fashion show and we’ve kept in touch ever since.  She would always comment and “Like” the photos on my facebook page and I’d always respond with: “You’re next, Danielle!”  A few months later, she’s officially a bride-to-be!

Danielle and Jonah are tying the knot in July and I am THRILLED about shooting their wedding!  They will be having a mountain top ceremony so you can only imagine how much fun I’ll have with that gorgeous view

Check out some of their engagement photos…

hot couple alert:

Danielle, you’re going to be a gorgeous bride!

]]> http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/danielle-jonah-great-falls-va-engagement-session/feed/ 0 http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/lynne-joseph-christmas-naval-academy-wedding/ http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/lynne-joseph-christmas-naval-academy-wedding/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:20:53 +0000 lizmaryann http://www.lizmaryannblog.com/?p=5215

BRIDE: Lynne, Teacher
GROOM: Lieutenant Joseph, USMC Marine

WEDDING COLORS/THEME:
Winter wedding / Navy Blue, Ivory, Silver

FUN FACTS:
All the bouquets and centerpieces were DIY.  Flowers were purchased in bulk from Sam’s Club and we are sooo glad we were able to put the money we saved into other parts of the wedding.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:
Lynne’s sister singing her very own rendition of “So Happy Together” during her MOH speech.  Their first look.  Lynne and Joe also enjoyed picking out their cake together.

WHAT WE LOVED MOST ABOUT THEIR WEDDING:
They had a fun bridal party! Matching pajamas.  Mimosas to keep the bride relaxed.  There was not a single dry eye in the room during the parent dances.
Anna (my second shooter) and I felt as if we were photographing a royal wedding – no joke!  Lynne and Joe’s wedding was timeless, intimate and elegant.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE NEWLYWEDS TO THE NEWLY ENGAGED: Enjoy your time together planning.
Be open to each other’s ideas and don’t ever lose sight of why you are getting married in the first place

LYNNE & JOE’S HONEYMOON SPOT: Montego Bay, Jamaica

HOW HE PROPOSED: We went to Bald Head Island in NC, biked around the island all day where he proposed after a fun day in the sun in a nice shady spot in the woods.

Yes, Lynne really is that gorgeous.  (Anna’s angle)

my angle

L-O-V-E:

the new faces of J.Crew:

The pretty menus were designed by Elizabeth Rice (one of my past brides!)

the third photographer at the wedding – my little assistant

Check out their wedding slideshow: