Yianni and Elizabeth Wedding

I photographed Yianni and Elizabeth's wedding last Saturday at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront and their reception at the Eau Gallie Civic Center in Melbourne, Florida. I am IN LOVE with Elizabeth's dress (the whole thing but especially the back) and really enjoyed the Greek traditions of Yianni's family during the celebration. Seriously, I have never seen that much food at any reception and Elizabeth's friend and neighbor did a beautiful job decorating the large room herself. Every table had a unique but coordinating center piece, Greek influences everywhere and did I mention crazy amounts of baked goods? I took some pastry home and it was fabulous.

Almost dress time....

This sweetie is actually my daughter's friend from school...

Yianni and Elizabeth are always having a good time, they truly enjoy each others company.

I'm not positive, but I got the feeling there might be a Gators/Noles rivalry in this marriage. I'm thinking that might have had some influence on Elizabeth's chosen colors. Love the orange.

Another special part of this wedding was the father daughter dance. I really can't explain why, but it was the sweetest I've ever seen. Elizabeth, post a comment with the name of the song please!

My ode to the reception.

Not only did they have Frederick THE entertainer, a terrific DJ,

but a Greek musician as well (dollars flying everywhere,) Greek dancers and crazy sorority sisters who in this picture are about to force me to taste Yianni's "homemade" wine... my reaction was quite similar to hers there on the left. This recipe I think may still need a little tweaking... or a little less alcohol... or maybe its a Greek thing too sophisticated

for us Florida girls?

Mary's big hair cut

My sweet Mary decided she was ready to have her hair cut. We waited a long time for her to get hair at all. At 2 years old she still had just a sprout of pigtails. But by this summer her hair was pretty long and although quite beautiful with its shiny waves, it was usually really tangled and the dramatic fits over brushing through it were getting so old I recently let her go 3 days without brushing it at all... through swimming pools, shampoos, ponytails, etc. Seriously we were on our way to dreads and I'm not sure I love that look on a 4 year old! Until recently she had feared my threats to cut it. Then out of the blue she decided she didn't mind that option at all, in fact, she wanted to cut it which totally gave her the upper hand (resulting in 3 days worth of tangles.) She was sure she wanted it cut short like her friend Lorelie's hair (which is in fact not cut at all but just hasn't really grown in yet.) After a few days of Mary expressing her decision in various strong-willed-child-ways, I called my hair dresser and asked if she could do it... soon. It turned out to be a super fun girl's day at the salon while we both got our hair done. Mary was very good I think and Erin did a great job at One Love Salon in Downtown Melbourne. Mary never had a second thought, never looked back and loves her new look! As hard as it is to have strong willed children, I just love that Mary knows what she wants and I'm hoping this will grow into a great strength later in life.
So, a few snapshots to document the big cut.

Caitlin - studio session

Caitlin is one! Read the prior post for more info on this little sweetie. Her mommy owns a business called Sweet Baby Cake Designs which offers awesome baby products for moms who want a little something unique, fashionable and functional. I love the blanket bag, the personalized wipes case and those thingy's that attach the blanket to your stroller so you don't roll over it all the time! The nursing covers are super nice too and so well made, they are even reversible. Since the business operates through etsy.com, Theresa finds all kinds of things through other vendors there for little Cait to wear... This entire outfit was put together on Etsy! If you're looking for a baby gift, Sweet Baby Cake is a great place to find one! Here's their blog too.

We set up my studio in my living room for this session. The most challenging part was keeping the bigger kids from tripping over light stands and begging them to keep my little Davis in the play room! I don't usually work at home so this reminded why - but despite all that and even Caitlin being tired and ready for nap time, we got some super fun shots.

The O'Bryant Children

My good friend brought her children over to Melbourne from the Bradenton, Fl area for some photography and hang out time. We decided to trade services and she will be redecorating our little camper (yes the one which recently crushed Dana's finger,) with new curtains and cushion covers. I'm so excited for it to look festive and cute the next time we go camping! I first met Theresa when I lived in St. Augustine, became better friends when I lived in Clearwater (and she moved to St. Petersburg) and now we stay in touch but live across the state, so the occasional visit is lots of fun. She wanted to have an outdoor session for the three kids together but also an indoor, studio session for baby Caitlin who turned one during their visit here. You can't tell at all that Theresa started with two boys and is now unleashing every ounce of girly foo foo she's got onto little Cait. The blog entry on that session is coming next.... hold on to your tutu and yes there will be some serious hair accessories.

look at these cute bros...

1,2,3... play in the dirt!

She ditched the bow and the dress for some hang out time with her brothers...

Matt and Casie

Matt and Casie live in St. Petersburg, Fl but since they have family here in Melbourne, they will be getting married here at the Tides in Satellite Beach (near Patrick Air Force Base) in March. Last week we got together for their engagement photos. Yet another rainy afternoon gave way to beautiful blue skies. It was a pleasure hanging out with them on Melbourne Beach and I look forward to the Spring wedding!

Kirk and Desiree

I photographed Kirk and Desiree's sunrise wedding almost 2 weeks ago on Canova Beach in Melbourne, Florida (Indian Harbour) We met before Sunrise to take advantage of the beautiful light before it gets so super bright. They enjoyed an intimate ceremony with just a few dear friends. The highlights here involve a festival of silhouettes but I can't help it since sunrise offers such fun opportunity for those! Kirk and Desiree went sky diving after their wedding. Being the worried mother I am, I was relieved to hear from Desiree today and know she made it down alive!

friends of the couple above

Back from Vacation

We got home last night from our little family vacation to St. Augustine! It is still our favorite Florida location since we moved away from there 8 years ago! We had a great time with friends at the beach, downtown, playing putt putt, eating out, etc... Lots of fun family time using our new pop-up trailer at Anastasia State Park too. We were due to be back Thursday night but while Dana was hooking the trailer to our hitch on Thursday he had an unfortunate accident which landed him in the ER and in surgery that night to repair his right ring finger which was missing the top portion. (Nope I did not photograph that.) He is okay now, has a cast for 2 weeks while the finger is being grafted to new skin from his palm. The doc says it should look much like his other fingers when its all done so that's great and we are just so so thankful for the many ways we were spared this being any worse AND for our awesome friends the Carters and the Purtills up there who swooped in to take care of our kids, provide us a place to stay the last night and one of them even arrived on the scene since he was the paramedic on duty - Ed's our hero! My brother and cousin drove all the way up to tow our trailor home so I wouldn't have that challenge myself -thanks guys! So, with that said, I am shooting a wedding today for Elizabeth and Yianni and will be catching up your blog entries, galleries and any orders coming due throughout the week. With Dana one-handed for now, things are little extra challenging at home as we typically share childcare and house work, but right now he is actually loading the dishwasher left handed so yay for my husband! I don't think he'll be doing any one-handed diaper changing but I suppose I'll let that one slide.