nicole + phillip: engagement

It wasn’t enough. i guess it’s just the way things turned out on the day of nicole and phil’s engagement session in ocean city, new jersey. it wasn’t enough that they had booked me even though i am based overseas. it wasn’t enough that they picked me up from the airport and drove 4 hours until the wee hours of the morning to get here. it was clearly not enough that after just 3 hours of sleep, we were up chasing the sunrise. i look back on it and think that it just wasn’t enough because on top of all of that they just had such a fun and loving energy that they absolutely rocked their engagement session. i didn’t know if i was more entertained by the array of colors in the sunrise of by the massive display of overly-dramatic poses and ridiculousness that kept us moving along while laughing our heads off throughout the whole session. and what a session! definitely making my 46 hour commute here worth it, i simply cannot wait to see what could possibly unfold during the actual wedding day. so from the bottom of my heart, congratulations!

inma + fer: engagement!

 

love knows no bounds. i first “met” inma while talking on the phone long distance. they called me up in bilbao all the way from murcia, where they live, wondering how keen i would be on a destination wedding. well if you’re on my blog you already know i am no stranger to flying to a wedding, so we got down to planning the details. she told me right off the bat that she was friend’s with victoria and had seen her session and immediately fell in love. she was a bit concerned that the 800 miles separating us would be too much to get together for an engagement session. well, we put our thinking hats on and came up with a plan to take advantage of my family christmas vacation in the mediterranean and sneak out for an engagement session in the gorgeous city of valencia. so there we were… far from home… writing a new chapter to their love story. i can’t wait until their wedding, but until then… enjoy the prequel!

mye + miguel: postboda

we got lost in the woods. mye, miguel, and little marcus… that was the love triangle, their family, their story. we met in the natural reserve of urdaibai, and it was definitely worth the drive up there. the lush fall colors and all their surroundings just made everything look magical. i had always wanted to go there for a session and i think these guys were the perfect excuse to go. marcus insisted on wearing his robin hood costume, which made for some of the most memorable wedding portraits i’ve ever done! haha. as i look through these photos i think back to the wonderful time that we had, and all i can do is congratulate them on their new life together. so congratulations, mye and miguel, you found each other.

 

 

 

irina & charlie::: wedding!!! (lisbon, portugal)

they met in moscow, they fell in love while traveling together through 13 countries, and they finally tied the knot in lisbon, portugal. this is just a very brief description of irina & charlie’s relationship, but it also happens to be the beginning of the biggest adventure that life could offer: their new life together.

i can truly say that i am honoured to have been able to call charlie my friend for a certain number of years now. with somewhat of an odd beginning to our friendship (my sister met him online and i kept calling to make sure he wasn’t a psycho killer) that i now like to think back on as part of the fun. charlie also happens to be one of my friend’s with the biggest sense of adventure. in fact, we have had the pleasure of exploring germany, holland, and belgium together… sometimes riding motorcycles, minivans, or a snowboard/ski combo. all of this is to say that when given the opportunity to have one more adventure together, and travel to lisbon to photograph his beautiful wedding, all i could say was yes.

now, let me tell you about this wedding… there were some language barriers, there was a heck of a lot of sun, and it included indulging in some delicious pastries… and that was all before it even started!! the ceremony itself was held at the beautiful pousada castelo de palmela, pretty much the most gorgeous castle atop a mountain that overlooks the entire city of lisbon and even has a view of the ocean… and all of it draped in perfect rays of sun. it was perfection. i have to give a huge shoutout to the few and the proud… that would be the few guests that were proud to cross halfway across the world, face insanely long overlays, and even the ones that went straight from the wedding to the airport. these guys were there because they are proud to call irina and charlie friends. i can’t ignore that kind of commitment and love.

and what else can i say? russians, spaniards, portuguese, americans, and the dutch. tears were shed cigars were smoked, and memories made. i think that pretty much sums it up. and if it doesn’t, that’s what these photos are for… see for yourself!

i wanted to be in one of the photos too! 😉

congratulations irina & charlie!!!

mye & miguel: wedding!

 

world’s apart. that was once the reality between mye and miguel. her, a native of the phillipines having made pit-stops along the way, and him… just a man from bilbao. they were ecstatic to celebrate their wedding among friends and family from all over the world. the guest of honor being marcus, who had recently been uprooted from the phillipines and reunited with his mother. it was a gorgeous sunset wedding filled with tears, laughter, and the exchange of beautiful vows. and then came the party!

let me tell you… these guys can celebrate! maybe they can’t break dance, but that won’t stop the men from trying. and as for the lovely couple, you know all those people who say that long distance won’t work? multicultural relationships are doomed to fail? how about opposites attracting each other but never actually working out? yeah, well to those people i have to say mye and miguel put them all to shame.

 

congratulations!

aitziber & victor::: wedding

it’s been a year. an entire year since mornings of nervous heels clicking against the wooden floors. since rain threatened the sky and last minute errands had to be ran. a year since all of the craziness would have seemed too much, had it not been preceding the promise of eternal love. aitziber & victor would make that promise that day, in what is sure to be a day that will be cherished and talked about for years to come. i could go on and on about the details of the event, the venue, the dress, and all of those things that we all love to fixate upon, but i won’t. i have a hard time putting into words why this one wedding seems so hard to write about, but i’ve been pondering what to say for 366 days. i will, however say this, as i stood there taking photographs i couldn’t help but just see two best friends, promising before friends and family that they would forever be best friends. forever love. forever respect. forever endure.

and witnessing that and taking it in just really makes you think…

a year later all i can do is congratulate them on their not-so-new life together, and hope and wish the very best for them. because, to be perfectly honest, once you spend a little time with them it becomes quite clear that these two – aitziber, with an ever-present smile on her face and victor who uses magic daily to bring her that smile – they really do deserve the very best in life.

jose & alex

from mexico with love. that’s what crossed my head when i met jose and alex. recently married, they relocated to spain and decided it was a great time to take some photos to commemorate their story and this new beginning together. these photos were all taken during a walk/hike we took to the gorgeous chapel in san juan de gaztelugatxe. all i can say is i hope that their new walk together through life is as beautiful as this one, but a little easier on the hike!