Last Minute Bliss

When one of our photographers got married last year, we were asked if we had time to shoot another wedding in the area two days before. So it was a huge week of weddings. Not only did we find out about this wedding last minute, the bride and groom put the whole thing together in a month! When the bride is from another country, and the visa gets accepted, you only have a short amount of time to pull everything together. So even though the bride had only one person come from China, the entire night was full of love and fun.  The bride even changed into a traditional Chinese dress for the reception. And I have to admit, in all the weddings I’ve attended and photographed, this was the first one where I started tearing up during the speeches.

helping get ready

ceremony smiles

dress and flowers

bride and groom

dad and daughters

kiss on the golf course

Happy Father’s Day!

Across the nation today, we are picking up the phone, visiting, and writing emails to the most amazing men in our lives. So to all the gentlemen who have helped us tie our shoes, ride our bikes, learn to drive, and held our hands the whole time, we send you a heartfelt Thank You! Be sure to give your dad, your grandpa, your uncle, or any other male figure in your life a huge hug and lots of love!

Here is a collection of some of our favorite photos with fathers. It’s always sweet to see dads and grandfathers hold their little ones, or to see the love in the eyes of fathers at weddings.

We also wanted to include photos of us with our fathers. We love you both!

bride and daddy

dad baby daughter

father son

two dads and son

groom and his daughter

daughter hugging dad

daddy kisses his baby

father and daughter

grandpa & grandson

meredith

samantha

 

Newborn baby girl is a perfect little model!

We had the great joy of meeting and photographing this little angel! She was such a good sport being passed around the family members and had many outfit changes. She’s a great little model in the making! With bows and rings and other special props, her first photo shoot was a success!

sleeping baby with rings on toesholding grandma and moms fingersholding mom and dads ringsholding mommys handlittle ballerina to bemommy and sleeping baby girlnew aunt and nieceone month old girl dancernew born baby girlnew family of three

Family Photos are always a joy!

This family of three enjoyed an updated portrait for this past holiday season. With bright reds and blues to add to their smiles, we really enjoyed a morning at the local park. With all the running, swinging and playground exploring, this little princess was plum worn out by the end of our photo adventure!

swinging in the park mommy and me little girl growing up blue eye girlall family smilesgreat fall day in red

It’s Time to Show Our Gratitude – it’s Memorial Day!

It’s Memorial Day! To many Americans this means an extra long weekend full of bar-b-que, friends and fun. Most of us neglect the real reason for this holiday – remembering and honoring those who have served our country. So to do our part to honor our veterans, and those currently serving, here is a collection of pictures from the past with a patriotic flair. We always love photographing weddings and portraits, but we also enjoy finding the beauty in the every day. The last photo in this post is actually a black and white photo we’ve colorized ourselves. We’re excited to debut this new technique we’ve learned on such a special weekend.

A big thank you to all those serving and God Bless America!

 

 

flag

air force guard

flag quote

in honor

jumping from plane

flags in park

wall of stars

monument and flag

“I do” in pretty pink, black and white!

This wonderful couple had the best smiles around! And they were surrounded by great smiling family and friends. From the fun time of learning roles at the rehearsal, to stealing a private moment together under the trees this day was filled with love. To make the day more unique, the toasts were opened to all their guests. Many excited blessing of joy were bestowed upon the newlyweds!

learning rehearsal rolespin on the boutineer fathers special momentceremony vowsgroom and his boysin each others armslove under a treekiss under the veilcelebration hugtoast of excitement toast of love you make me smile

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there!

I had to wonderful opportunity to photograph an extended family at their home. It was the first time they had a family portrait taken with the whole family in years. There was so much love and joy expressed between brothers, cousins, grandparents, and mothers. So, in honor of mother’s day, here’s a few of our favorites from this dynamic family.

whole familyjust the girlsyoungest sonmother and songrandaughter and grandmothersons with their parentsson running to his dadssilly cousinsextended family with parents

Casual business portraits

 

We had the great privilege of photographing a dear friend for a publication. We had a casual outdoor session and were joined by her very friendly puppy! From forest background to rocking on the porch, we found many great photo locations around her home.

casual business head shotscuddling with my friendoutside portraitsrelaxing on porch in rocking chair best friend puppywoman and dog

Wide eyes at 1 year old!

This curious little boy had quite the 1 year birthday! He helped with opening his presents, enjoyed a lion birthday cake and showed us his favorite toys during a private photo shoot. This is one happy and lovable little guy. We here at Defy would love to photograph him every day! Best wishes to mom and dad as they head into year 2!

1 year old with toy balls 1 year old boy eatting my cake family smiles in a bucket me and my giraffe my favorite toy opening presents

Small Local Wedding

One of the great things about living in Marietta is being so close to the Marietta Square! We’ve done a few family shoots there, but this was our first wedding! Even though it was toasty outside, we had a lovely day photographing this wonderful wedding at the Marlow House. From the small, private ceremony to the exciting sparkler send-off, it was a fantastic first Marietta Square wedding. We can’t wait for more!

rehearsal with father

mrs reeserecreating old picturemom getting corsagemaid of honorfather giving bride awayrings first dance kiss groom dances with daughter two hearts one love