Kristel and Michael + Jepson Alumni Executive Center

Washington DC Wedding Photographer: Terra Dawn Photography

This wedding was one of the craziest, sweetest, most gorgeous weddings I’ve shot to date!!! NO EXAGGERATION!!! Kind of like the couple’s engagement!

Kristel adores the Christmas Holidays. So Mike surprised her, in the dead of winter, with a trip to NYC. In front of the huge christmas tree in five below weather, Mike popped the question. It was so cold he forgot to drop to one knee!! That’s o.k., though. He had her wrapped up next to him in his coat.

AWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, on to the wedding!! And boy, did this day go nuts!!! Thank you mother nature….

I met the girls, on a cloudy morning, at MissChelle’s Salon in Fredricksburg, VA. We laughed, we talked, we told raunchy jokes….

Around lunch time the sun finally made it’s appearance, and hugs were passed out all around….quite liberally, I might add.

After hair, everyone hopped in their cars and headed to the Jepson Alumni Executive Center (man, thats a keyboard full) to put on gowns, make-up, and immense amounts of excitement. I just about died when I walked into the bride’s rooms. I have NEVER been so in love with wall paper before!!

When the flower girl found out she was going to be a princess for the day, she giggled for 15 minutes straight!!! Three years is definitely the cutest age ever…

She got even more excited when she found out she got to carry around her own bouquet!! She took such good care of it!! Right before the ceremony, she asked me to fix the ribbon that was coming untied. (At least…I think that’s what she said. Three year-old is a language I am NOT fluent in. She seemed satisfied when I was finished, though..) Anita’s Petite Fleur did such an amazing job with the floral arrangements!

Pink was definitely the color of the day! Baby pink and…my personal fav….fuschia pink!!! The bridesmaid’s dresses, invitations, and flowers all had hints of bright color. (I know this is a strange thing to say…but the colors of her wedding totally went with the wallpapers on the walls of the house! Definitely across from each other on the color wheel…)

Sooo….one thing I usually end up doing when I shoot a wedding is moving furniture around. (Those chairs above with the flowers were both moved from other rooms to get better light and different colors of fabric…). Of course, I always put things back where they belong. My mom always said “Leave the place better than you found it.”

For this shot (and yes…I totally did the happy photographer’s dance after I nailed it) I had to empty out a hole in a pink entertainment center. Don’t worry…it wasn’t the hole with TV in it. It turned out great and I think this may be the most awesome shoe shot EVER!!!

And finally the excitement began!! It was time to get the extremely nervous (but stunning) bride into her gown. Let me tell ya, this dress was HEAVY!!! I picked it up briefly to move it to a safer location earlier in the day and plastic hanger it was on broke in half!!! Kristal is such a tiny little thing, I was proud of her for being able to carry the weight!!

The sun, which was still making it’s appearance through the shuttered windows provided a breathtaking back lighting to the scene.

Kristel was never sure weather to cry with nervousness or joy!! She got silent a few times and just let the room bustle around her. At this point, the guys were still M.I.A. from the site. As they were leaving to come to Jepson, Kristel’s dog decided to bolt out the front door. So, the guys spent the better part of the morning looking for little Heidi. (Don’t worry….she was found and everything got rolling again…)

While we waited, Kristel posed for some formal portraits and at Jepson, we were not lacking in beautiful backdrops.

Soon after this, the groom made his appearance (not in front of the bride..of course) and so did the huge thunder cloud. You see, this was an outdoor wedding…so rain posed a potential snag. The bride paced, and the photographers worked to not stress her out even more. I move off to take pictures of the fun details in the reception hall and Mike moved on to follow the guys around.

The beautiful menu cards, programs and place cards were designed by Kendra Hann a graphic designer and friend of the bride’s. She even designed the couples monogram!

The monogram carried over onto the packets of lemonade and tea that the couples handed out as gifts to their guests. How cute is that for a summer wedding!?

The couple are avid wine lovers, so lieu of a guestbook, they had their guests sign corks from some of their favorite (finished) bottles of wine! They asked to them sign the corks with Love and Wishes! The jars were overfilling by the end of the night!! (Might I just say the Cheateau Morrisette (http://www.thedogs.com) is local to Virginia and has some DEVINE wine!! Check out their Red Mountain Laurel!!

As I finished up with the details and headed back over to check on the bride, the downpour started. The bride was upset, but took everything in stride. She decided to wait 45 minutes to see if the rain would clear.

We waited, and soon the clouds moved on and all that remained was a huge puddle right down the center isle….So, she did what any good executive would do, and requested that the guests chairs be moved to the other side of the courtyard. EVERYONE pitched in! Even the groom!!

With the soggy move done and the seats dried with Jepson towels, the wedding started. In the distance….more clouds were moving our way. The wedding party lined up. The mothers were seated, followed by the grandparents, the bridesmaids, and finally the flower girl and ring bearer. As the pianist began Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and the bride took a step towards the door, the rain began to fall again. It began to pour. The guests ran for cover.

While the bride hid herself with her bridesmaids (there was a lot of singing, laughing, dancing and even a bit of wine in that coat closet!!) the flower girl and ring bearer killed time. I think maybe that little ring bearer was crushin’. Look at those eyes he is giving her!!

In the end, with a dress-rehersal in the rain, it was decided to move the ceremony indoors. And really, nothing was lost. It was a beautiful ceremony with all of the love that would have been in the outdoor version. In fact, there was probably more!! It was bouncing off the walls of the room!!

And the reception was kicked off with a beautiful dance, which had to have been learned by the both of them. There were spins and dips and perfect frames….much like the day that preceded it.

Congratulations Kristel and Michael!! You guys are beautiful…patient people.

Till next time,

Terra Dawn

Primary Shooter: Mike Lesnick
Hair: MissChelle’s Salon
Flowers: Anita’s Petite Flour, Ltd.
Invitations, Menu’s and Programs: Kendra Hann
Venue: Jepson Alumni Executive Center

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