As a mother of two boys, I get absolutely giddy when we get to photograph baby girls!  Precious little Blakely was a few weeks old when the proud parents, Jessica and Russell were able to make it into town for their session.  Sometimes it’s tough at this age because the little ones are often too awake to get these snuggly infant photos.  But Blakely cooperated beautifully!  We kept her warm and cozy so we got these perfect sleepy images, and then she awoke right on time and we captured those beautiful brown eyes!

Congratulations Jessica and Russell!  We are thrilled that we got to meet and love on Blakely.  Happy first Mother’s Day Jessica!

High school sweethearts, Cheltse and Travis were married at the lovely Steinhatchee Landing in Florida.  It is an absolutely enchanting venue with Southern charm. I loved the area because we had a variety of spots to photograph like the gorgeous river and the breathtaking chapel.  Cheltse’s flowers were designed by Prange’s Florist. Their album will be arriving any day with fabulous metallic paper and a crystal cover!  Can’t wait to see it!  For more pictures of this beautiful couple, check out their train-track inspired e-session here!

Lauren and David are getting married this coming May in Lake Mary, Florida.  For their engagement session, we went to downtown Gainesville which is where they first met. Then we headed to Lake Alice and “The Swamp”, both special spots for these UF grads. Unfortunately, I met Lauren and David after we had already booked a wedding for their date.  BUT at least we were lucky enough to get to do their engagement session!  We are honored that we got to share in part of your wedding experience Lauren and David!  We wish you all the best!  Maybe since we don’t get to shoot the wedding… just come back to us when the babies come?!!

Melessa and Stephen were married this December at the gorgeous Haile Plantation Golf and Country Club in Gainesville, Florida. Many of Stephen’s family members made the trip all the way from Brazil. The parents of this sweet couple were in tears most of the day as they watched Melessa and Stephen pledge their lives to each other. Stephen’s father delivered the ceremony and wept after the two became husband and wife. Melessa and Stephen thanked God for bringing them together following Mr. Ponce’s emotional blessing including a story of how he begged and prayed to God for a son. Everyone around, including us, were in tears!

Melessa and Stephen wanted a natural and soft look with touches of wintery elements. Their colors were blue, grey and black with pops of deep red. Chandeliers hung from the trees beside the spanish moss and the handmade altar perfectly blended the romantic with organic details. The beautiful flowers were designed by The Plant Shoppe in Gainesville, Florida.

God was definitely smiling on this wedding day! We were so incredibly honored to be a part of it!

Vendors

Cake: Haile Village Bistro

Entertainment: G-NYS Entertainment and Wayne’s World

Flowers: The Plante Shoppe

We shot Emily and Trey’s engagement session at different pieces of family property in Alachua, Florida.  The most special spot was “Lane’s Pond,” which is where Trey proposed. It’s also where he asked Emily’s dad for his blessing to marry her. Trey joked that he was slightly worried he’d end up at the bottom of the lake if Mr. Emerson didn’t like the idea.

Gorgeous day!  Don’t worry guys… we’ve ordered in an equally beautiful day for the wedding! Can’t wait!

This precious couple came about their wedding venue in an unexpected way. Stephanie and Geoffrey had a specific idea for their southern style wedding, but found nothing that was just what they were envisioning. Then a friend of a friend offered their private residence to the sweet couple and then all the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. Stephanie had her beautiful room to get ready in. The ceremony could be outside just like they wanted and we had lots of gorgeous areas to shoot around. Paul and I visited the property before the wedding to plan our course of action. We knew we didn’t want to waste a second of our time at this incredible property!

With the gorgeous location, brightly colored flowers and rustic, yet romantic details, the wedding was beautiful. But what we will remember the most about this day was the absolute joy these two had as they promised their lives to each other. Stephanie told me the story of how their relationship began… She had shared with a friend that she had a “crush” on this guy after seeing him around at different places. What Stephanie thought was casual girlfriend conversation, quickly turned into a life changing moment! Ironically, her friend had been told that very night before that Geoffrey was quite interested in Stephanie as well. After much giggling, Stephanie and her girlfriend made plans!

Glad the plans worked out! Congratulations Stephanie and Geoffrey and may God bless!

We met Marci and Brandon at the Florida Bridal Expo in September. The couple lives in Gainesville because Marci is in the Neuroscience Ph.D. program at the University of Florida. Both Marci and Brandon are from Michigan and the wedding was held at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The thought hadn’t crossed their minds of hiring a Florida-based photographer until Marci opened one of our albums!  Soon after we started talking, the plane tickets were booked!

Paul and I loved every minute we spent with Marci and Brandon. After the engagement session, Paul and Brandon were planning a golf outing. (We’ve had dinner together once? No twice since the wedding.) The wedding was spectacular. Ann Arbor was a beautiful city with so many gorgeous places to shoot. We mapped out our shooting schedule ahead of time so we knew how much time we’d spend at each spot. I’m so glad we did!  We didn’t waste a second of time…

Wondering why Brandon is blindfolded?  Well, we decided that a First Look was a MUST because we had so many places we wanted to shoot at downtown that the hour we had after the ceremony just wasn’t enough time. Soooo… Marci and Brandon rode in the limo together to their favorite place of all, the ???. But since Brandon couldn’t see Marci until the perfect moment, a blindfold was in order. How fun!

The reception was held at Weber’s Inn. Notice how all of her stationery is perfectly coordinating? Giovanni, with our very own Footstone Ink, designed her invitations and Day Of stationery. We worked together to combine design elements on their custom guest book also. I LOVE when we get to be a part of it all!

Here are some of the spreads from their album. They chose our MODE album which will have a stunning crystal glance cover, satin paper with a subtle linen texture, and a dramatic panoramic dimension. Of course, I will be printing a copy of my own!  Marci and Brandon’s book will be arriving within a couple weeks so we’re having an “album release” party!

Marci and Brandon… we are so incredibly honored that you choose us to be your photographers. It was an amazing wedding and we’ll never forget it! Can’t wait for more dinners together!

These two are quite honestly one of the sweetest couples we’ve had the pleasure of knowing. We first met the couple at a Love Wedd event last year. When I got Megan’s email that she wanted to visit the studio and talk about photography, I was thrilled!  From the engagement session with dinner following, to the wedding and now after, I have enjoyed every minute we four have spent together. Every time I see Megan and John together, they are giggling with joy and love for each other!

Megan and John’s ceremony was at the Baughman Center in Gainesville, Florida. John’s father was the officiant which was quite special. Their reception was held at Sweetwater Branch Inn. As you can see, they decided to do a first look at Sweetwater where they both were getting ready. They laughed and cried and held each other close… it was so sweet! And we have it all on video!  We worked with Platinum Digital Video to put together coverage of us in action and Megan and John graciously allowed us to cover their wedding. Check it out!

Megan’s beautiful bouquet was by Crevasse Regency Florist and incorporated her color palette of  light pink, taupe and cream perfectly. Megan’s gorgegous Anne Barge dress was from Solutions Bridal. Megan was such a stunning bride that we used her for a commercial session as one of our Footstone Ink models. Take a peek!

Congratulations Megan and John! Looking forward to the designing the album and seeing you guys again soon!

It was great working with all these vendors, and we can’t wait to work with you all again!

Cake: Ms. Debbie’s Sugar Art

Ceremony: Baughman Center

Dress: Solutions Bridal

Flowers: Crevasse Regency Florist

Reception: Sweetwater Branch Inn

Wedding Planning: ADORE Events

We can’t believe it’s that time already! Email us at photo@footstone.com when you’re ready to schedule your family portrait session! We can shoot at our studio in Haile Village or we can travel to another fun location. If you’re interested in ordering holiday cards, we’d love to have the session scheduled before the second week of December. Here’s a look at some of the fun cards we’ve done in the past. We offer new design templates every year, or we can design something custom.  We look forward to hearing from you!