Holland Photo Arts Blog – Charlottesville Wedding Photographers

Congratulations to Kelly and Matt, who recently tied the knot here in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia Chapel followed by a casual, and fun-filled reception at Alumni Hall! While it rained for part of the day, the skies held up throughout the ceremony and (whew!) subsequent portraits around Grounds afterward. It was such a relaxing day all the way around, and we really enjoyed our time with this fun loving couple. We’re eager to share some of the highlights of the day with you below.

The dream team:
- Barb Wired, Coordinator
- Pat’s Floral Designs, Florist
- Favorite Cakes, Wedding Cake
- Harvest Moon, Catering
- MS Events, Lighting
- Trademark Band, Entertainment

Want more? Here’s where you can find the complete set of images. The password is Kelly’s maiden name and is case-sensitive. Enjoy!

Matt was, according to reports, an accomplished Scrabble player, so the cuff links were apropos.

Kelly’s mom assisting with finishing touches.

Kelly was stunning. LOVE this unprompted moment of serenity Anne captured before leaving from the chapel.

Hiding out while awaiting guests to enter the chapel to start the ceremony.

Another gorgeous bouquet from Pat & Sherry.

One minute to show time!

The priest had a sweet and funny homily.

The kids present were abundant and ultra-cute!

The first sweet moments as Mr. & Mrs!

Fantastic dinner by Harvest Moon–pepper-encrusted filet. Yum!

Kathy Watkins of Favorite Cakes sent us home with cupcakes made of the same style as Kelly & Matt’s wedding cake. Now how’s that for a sweet idea!

And yes, that’s Matt serenading his bride, who nearly swooned.

In lieu of a traditional guest book, Kelly & Matt had a wide variety of postcards from different locales, and friends and family populated the reverse side with their own thoughts for the couple. Such a cute idea!

The toasts also got a wide variety of reactions, as evidenced by kids well, being kids.

Thank Guinness it’s Friday, y’all!

Ideas We Love – Personalized Invitations

In another life, I would be a graphic designer. I absolutely love any and all paper goods. Who doesn’t love receiving a beautiful card, letter or invitation in the mail amongst all the ugly bills?

A great and fun way to inject you and your fiance’s personalities into your event is with the invitations. It’s often the first thing your guests will see and an invitation that speaks volumes about who you are, what you love, or even references the wedding site, for example, and gets them even more excited to join in your celebration. Whether you make them yourself or you have them custom designed for you, here’s a little inspiration to get you in the mood when thinking about your own invites.

The possibilities are endless with these adorable stamp sets from Yellow Owl Workshop. I can totally envision a backyard/garden party invite with just the tree and bike stamp.

Image courtesy of Yellow Owl Workshop

Image courtesy of Yellow Owl Workshop

Image courtesy of Yellow Owl Workshop

On the other extreme is this gorgeous custom designed invitation set by Rifle Paper Company. Absolutely divine. (Click on the photos below to go to Anna’s blog post about Carrie and Adam’s design.)

Image courtesy of Rifle Paper Co.

Image courtesy of Rifle Paper Co.

Image courtesy of Rifle Paper Co.

And why not have a little fun with the process, too. I found these reply cards featured on Martha Stewart Weddings. LOVE the speech bubble – think of what crazy replies that would inspire and way more fun to keep for posterity.

Image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

‘Tis the season and lovely invitations are flowing into Holland Photo Arts HQ. Keep an eye on this space on future Fridays as we feature some of our FAB favorites. Happy Weekend!

Here at FAB Finds Mid-Atlantic based HQ, we can’t tell you how delighted we are that Spring appears to finally be Springing!

Ideas We Love –Personalized Guest Book

We had seen this really unique thumb print guest book awhile back on one of our favorite West Coast based wedding blogs, Green Wedding Shoes and think it’s a perfect Spring FAB Find, although it could certainly be used for affairs at anytime of the year.

The bride’s brother designed their wedding tree and each of their guests was asked to “leaf” their thumb print on the branches and write their name on their “leaf”. How adorable and how fun! You can see more of this couples unique wedding day on the full blog post. (Brides, be sure to check out the Bride’s gorgeous Melissa Sweet Reverie Collection dress and the MOH’s tiered ruffle dress from Anthropologie, too! FWIW – If you’re looking to have your wedding published in print or online, we’ve noticed that editors love to see unique wedding gowns, such as shorter ones.)

photos courtesy of taryn kent photography & scott lawerence photographs

Their bird & flower garlands were super cute!

photos courtesy of taryn kent photography & scott lawerence photographs

LOVE their cake topper, too!

photos courtesy of taryn kent photography & scott lawerence photographs

Happy, happy Spring and we hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Photographer readers of this blog, this post is for you.

You’ve undoubtedly heard of the Foundation Workshop, founded several years ago by our friend Huy Nguyen. We’re now on our ninth year of the annual workshop to teach the tenets of photojournalism to wedding photographers, and registration is now open! We will, as in years past, have a cadre of amazing and talented photographers teaching this year. Some have won Pulitzer prizes, some have been named American Photo’s top ten in the world, and all are exceedingly creative, talented, and darn good educators. Moreover, they all care about the participants who come to immerse themselves in the intensive educational experience.

If you’re interested in pushing yourself harder than you thought possible, learning to see differently, and of course spending time with some of the most experienced and passionate wedding photographers in the world, consider participating. We opened registration to 30 lucky individuals last night and overnight had twelve participants confirmed already. The workshop sells out every year, so if this is your year to attend, don’t delay. Send in your registration now.

More information, and a link to registration at fworkshop9.com. And of course, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. We hope to see you there!

We enjoy entering our clients’ images in contests whenever we get a chance. It’s always fun yet admittedly difficult to go back through photos from recent weddings and choose some of our favorites. One of our favorite contests is the International Society of Wedding Photographers, of which we are proud founding members. The quarterly awards go to some amazing photographers from around the world so competition is always stiff. (We were even lucky enough to be chosen Photographers of the Quarter last Spring!)

The Winter contest caught us just as we were wrapping up holiday orders and getting ready for our big trip to NZ so we only picked about 3 or 4 photos to enter. We’re thrilled to announce that two of our all-time faves were chosen! As before, clients whose images win here also win with us–a $25 gift card good for any product we offer. Congratulations, and check your email soon  you lucky peeps!

Anne’s shot of Ruth’s gorgeous shoes adorn the window sill at The Homestead prior to their ceremony.

Bill’s shot of Julie and Andrew sharing a moment as their officiant announces them husband and wife.