This past month I had the pleasure to photograph these two. After many dinners together and lots of good laughs, it was finally time to capture the next chapter in their story together. I had such a blast. These two seriously know how to throw an amazing party. Their bridal party and family made it extra fun too. I hope you all enjoy a sneak preview into Justine & Jeffrey's wedding!  I can't wait to show you more but for now...

Meet: Justine & Jeffrey

Shoutout to all the vendors to made the day a dream come true:

Photography: Ryan DeVoll Photography
Venue: Wannamoisett Country Club
Band: Nancy Paolino and the Black Tie Band
Hair & Makeup: BLovely Beauty Studio
Florist: Enchanted Florist

Want to know when Justine & Jeffrey's full gallery is released? Click here to sign up and receive a discount on all prints and albums!

I just love it when I get to photograph families. It brings me back to a few years ago when I started this business. All I photographed were portraits and families. Capturing their special relationship with one another and their family as a whole has always made me smile behind the camera, and Brittany's family wasn't any different. 

I've known Brittany since high school. We graduated together, and she was actually one of the first ever people to be photographed by me. I was able to capture her senior portrait :) So we go way back! When she contacted me about a family portrait session, I was beyond excited! We decided to go with a beach session and prayed to God that it wouldn't rain and we finally got lucky one day this month! 

I hope you all enjoy. I think you can definitely tell how much fun we had with this session :)

Boy do I have a treat for you all today. Back at the beginning of this year, my goal was to photograph my couple's in a more candid, storytelling way. Not every wedding presents itself like this, but every so often you get to photograph everything as it happens and you just sit back and smile through the camera. 

May I present to you: Whitney & Tyler
Whitney is a actually an amazing blogger & graphic designer. When I got the call from LA, I honestly thought it was some advertising company trying to sell me something. I had no idea that this couple from LA wanted me to be their wedding photographer. When I found out that Whitney was a blogger, I had this cool idea for her to guest blog on my site. After all, who better to tell her story. I hope you all enjoy this special sneak peek of Whitney & Tyler's big day at Newport Vineyards. These images are definitely some of my favorite thus far. I can't wait for you to see them. But first, take it away Whitney!

Hello everyone!

My name is Whitney Eshleman, a graphic designer and blogger based in Los Angeles, California. I went to art school at Suffolk University in Boston and lived there for a few years before moving to Los Angeles in 2007. I created my lifestyle blog, hoopLA, on a whim after a layoff in 2010 and it just took off. Since then I have been designing and writing and hoopLA has me all over California, and now expanding across the US.

I've lived in LA for nine years, and anyone who has been here for some time knows dating in Los Angeles isn't easy. It's the land of the online dating. I was lucky enough to have a herniated disc injury and needed surgery because I met my now husband, Tyler. Tyler was my physical therapist after my surgery and it was love at first sight. From the moment we saw each other, we were together. I am originally from Glastonbury, CT and Tyler is from Binghamton, NY so we both have the east coast mentality. Plus, we both went to school in Boston and are huge Red Sox fans. 

Tyler now works for a company where he visits four high end hotels in Los Angeles and the City of Santa Monica, and teaches ergonomics to their employees. I am a freelance graphic designer, so our flexible schedules allow us to have "adventures" (as we call them) and hike, bike, camp, and travel as much as we can. We want to experience as much as life has to offer.

When it came to wedding planning, I was planning 3,000 miles away from where we were getting married. My mom helped me plan everything after we were engaged. We wanted something rustic, yet elegant and Newport Vineyards was the perfect venue. Tyler and I are huge winos, so when we heard it was a vineyard, we were sold. I visited 3 months later to seal the deal and Tyler and I fly out the May before so he could see it too. In terms of finding our DJ, caterer, Ryan, hair/makeup, and flowers, I had to just trust my gut. My mom found a few through word of mouth recommendations and I found some on theknot.com and did a little research on my own. In May we met with everyone and felt confident in our choices and they all turned out to be rock stars. One word of advice for your wedding is to find a photographer who you enjoy being around because they are with you all day. I not only enjoyed Ryan and his team, but I loved them. On a day where emotions are running high, they knew exactly how to take control and pose us. They can really read people and made sure Tyler and I were happy, comfortable, fed, and liquored up.  Ryan is a joy to work with and he always has a smile on his face. More than anything I loved that he checked in with Tyler and I right up to the day and he was always accessible. I am in absolute love with what I've seen so far and hope you love them too!

Follow along with my more recent adventures on my blog! I hope to see you there!

XOXO,
Whitney

Whitney & Tyler's full gallery will be available soon.
For now, let's give a special thank you to all of those who worked hard on their special day:

Photographer: Ryan DeVoll Photography
Venue: Newport Vineyards
DJ: DJ Valentina
Hair & Makeup: Lynda Williams Beauty
Florist: Flowerthyme

Cheers for the weekend being right around the corner! This weekend we have ourselves a triple header. That means we're photographing a couple Friday, Saturday and Sunday! It's going to one heck of a weekend but we're most excited to return to this beautiful venue pictured below: Newport Vineyards.

Amanda & Dan both grew up in Rhode Island, so it was only fitting that they celebrated with all their family and friends in true Rhody style. This included a beautiful, rustic Newport vineyard wedding complete with "chowda", and an amazing clambake that had fresh lobster, mussels, potatoes, corn on the cob, and even portuguese sausage! It was an absolutely perfect day. 

Here's a sneak peek!

Venue: Newport Vineyards
DJ: DJ T-Rex
Caterer: McGrath Clambakes

Sign up to receive an email and special discount code when Amanda & Dan's gallery is live here!

It's not very often I don't have the opportunity to meet my clients in person. Very rarely are they from somewhere other than Rhode Island or Massachusetts. However, Amanda & DJ contacted me and told me their story and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to photograph these two. 

They met back in high school through mutual friends and started dating in college and ever since then, the rest was history. Originally from West Chester, PA they wanted to have their special day with a little coastal glamour and Newport was the perfect spot. I seriously had a blast photographing their day. From the getting ready, to the first look, to their portrait session - These two were up for anything. One of my favorite parts of their day was when Cayleigh (Amanda's MOH) made her speech. She spoke about how Amanda's dad, Richard (who unfortunately passed away) would be so happy that this day finally came so he could welcome DJ into the family. Although Richard couldn't be there, Cayleigh was and they had a special tradition in Amanda's family where new members would be sprayed in with Silly String - Cayleigh did the honors for Richard. It was a special moment in the room and almost had everyone in tears of joy. Richard was apart of the day just as much as anyone else. I spotted a photo of him and Amanda on a nearby table during the reception and immediately wanted to re-create that photo with DJ and Declan. You can see that below. 

I apologize for the length of this post. It has to be the biggest blog post I've done in awhile. But these two are so gorgeous that I couldn't pass up sharing all of these with you. A special shout out and thank you to Shannon Matos, who joined us for the day and helped along the way! And to all of Amanda & DJ's family and friends: We hope you all enjoy these as much as we enjoyed capturing them.

With love,
Ryan

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I've known Kimberly for awhile now...As a matter of fact, I've known her ever since I can remember going over my aunt's house for the holidays. Kimberly is my uncle's niece! When she told me she was planning a destination wedding and she didn't want anybody besides me to take her wedding photos, I was so surprised. 

Normally I would decline the opportunity to photograph any family & friends. First and foremost because they're close to my heart and I'd like to spend the day with them without my camera, enjoying the moments to the fullest. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity when Kim told me that I was her only choice. And, who could pass up a destination wedding? I would have been invited anyway, and what a better way to spend a few days then with a few close family members on a tropical island?

That being said - we're not in March, yet. With the wedding approaching fast, Kimberly & Ian wanted some photos of themselves and their two little sweethearts to capture this time together. We had a blast at The Breakers Mansion in Newport, RI and even ended the night with an amazing dinner in Newport. You honestly can't go wrong there. 

I can't wait to celebrate the day with you two! 

With love,
Ryan

Special thanks to my assistant for the day Kristen Phillips. 

Planning a wedding is hard work. It takes a lot of time, effort, patience, and love. But planning a wedding when you live about 300 miles away, is even harder. Alex & John both live in Pennsylvania. Even though they would have loved to stay close to their home and celebrate, they wanted all of their family and friends to be with them to celebrate. If you're thinking that an out of state wedding won't work, take a look at how their day went. It was a fricken ball to photograph.

These two were fun, so laid back and perfectly in love. Each of their family & friends we're just as fun...One bridesmaid really KILLED IT on the dance floor and started a dance battle (pictured below, she was also at one point was found bowing down to the bride. I found it pretty hilarious) Seriously though, you all rocked! 

I had such a blast meeting you two and capturing your day and I can't wait to talk to you both again. Right now, you should be enjoying some type of alcoholic beverage on the beach in Punta Cana. You two deserve it. 

With love,
Ryan

PS. Special thanks to all the amazing vendors for the day!
Venue: Kinney Bungalow
Florist: Flowerthyme
DJ: Music Mixers Entertainment

work work work work work

Want to see Alex & John's full gallery? Click here to be notified when they are ready!

Now that the 2015 wedding season is officially over and I don't have too much editing to do, I like to go back through the thousand of images we took over the season and find awesome photos or even whole weddings that I didn't blog during the hectic busy months! Today, I stumbled across this gem: Lindsay & Marco's wedding.

I photographed Lindsay & Marco's wedding with the amazing Scott Zuehlke Photography. Scott and I know each other through Hallmark, and any time he needs me to second shoot for him, I'll readily jump at the opportunity. We had a blast with this one! I gotta tell ya - If you can afford having a live band at your wedding, it'll make all the difference. They really know how to get the crowd going and well, the photos can speak for themselfs. Enjoy!

Watch out, that guy might show up at your wedding! haha!

But first, lemme take a selfie.