I find it the most wonderful honor whenever a fellow photographer reaches out to me! Mariia is a talented film photographer living in Chicago. Her and her husband were visiting Miami and I was so thrilled they wanted to document their vacation with pictures in my favorite park! Mariia is from Ukraine and Max is from Moldova. Their love story is so beautiful and clearly fate brought them together. She was working in a restaurant and he was driving through her small town and stopped in. They hit it off, started dating, then got married a few months later! Just perfection! They tried to teach me a few Russian words, but even with my love of languages I couldn't pick those up haha. I speak some Spanish and Italian, and I studied Arabic in college. I loved picking up just a few words of Portuguese, Maori, and Swedish during our travels too. But, Slavic is something super special and beautiful. The sunshine was out for their photoshoot and the wind was wild! Thankfully, with the help of her photographer's eye and knowing angles, Marria's dress and hair flowing in the wind looked amazing! We had a wonderful time together and I hope our paths cross again at a photography conference or around the world! 

Drew and I are so excited to be back in Miami! We had an amazing year of traveling the world and we're also happy to be settled into our apartment, seeing friends, and visiting our favorite spots. I couldn't wait to get back out on the sand and in the water documenting love stories! Nathy and Osvaldo were a heaven sent first session back on South Beach! I photographed Nathy's youngest sister's wedding when we first were in Miami so it was so amazing to keep the tradition going! These two love birds are having a destination wedding in Mexico so I'm thrilled I could take their engagement photos in adopted hometown Miami. We had a great time talking, chasing the sun, and splashing in the ocean. I even broke out my new film camera and messed around! I loved how her bright yellow dress popped against the green palm trees and blue water! I love candid moments the most, so this session was full of giggles and laugher as I caught those in-between moments :) Thank you both for sharing your beautiful inside and out selves with me!

Let me set the stage. We just flew back from Sweden, unpacked and repacked in a day, went to Asheville to celebrate our best friends' wedding, then on our 7th anniversary (7/7/19) we hiked along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains to my favorite mountain top with the coolest couple ever. It was quite the welcome back to North Carolina after an amazing year of traveling the world together for Drew's job! As much as we love the beach, we always happen to spend our anniversary in the mountains or hiking. So we had to continue the tradition and document two other love birds story! Katelin and Nick are SO much fun! We battled rain and no cellphone service and finally found each other! We first hiked down to a waterfall where they bravely climbed over rocks and even got in the water, my kinda couple! Then, we hiked 30 minutes to the highest point of a trail and found a gorgeous clearing where the sun started to shine! They brought a picnic complete with bubbly, cheese, grapes, crackers, and of course finger-hands. Note to all reading, weird, plastic, tiny, finger-hands make all romantic picnics better. Please see below. Also, my drone Scottie made an appearance to catch some stunning rolling hill views that give the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains their name. I am so excited to share this quirky, vibrant, full of joy, energy, and love day!

Lidija & Arend met for coffee on their first date and talked and chatted until the cafe closed. That spark of connecting on a common interest level as well as something deeper fanned into a flame that fueled trips around the world together. On a blizzarding day in Iceland overlooking gorges and waterfalls, Arend set up his camera for a photo and dropped down on his knee.

Fast forward, we met one sunrise in downtown Raleigh for engagement photos and had the greatest time taking photos on their Vespa on the cobble stone streets for the perfect Italian vibe. As Drew and I took off on our own adventure around the world we kept up over Instagram and email and I knew I couldn't wait to celebrate their wedding day back in Raleigh.

The details were perfect, romantic, and so personal to them! I loved their world seating chart, the airy blooms, the too beautiful to eat cake, and of course their forever adorable and infectious love. I can always tell how the day will go when we arrive, and both bride and groom were chill and laughing with their wedding party and family. I treasured Lidija's first look with her bridesmaids and her father. I love how much the guys clearly love Arend from their jokes and constant cheersing. Drew and I photographed more than ever on this day because we didn't want to miss a moment!! The way she looks up at him and how he looks at her makes my heart stop! Dancing was a blast; it was so neat following them around and never have a moment because a guest was always excited to hug them and talk with them. That's a true sign of having just the best hearts! The night ended with joyful sparklers and the party continued downtown. It was an amazing day seeing family and friends from all over the world come together and celebrate these two pure souls! A million congratulations to the Kloosters! 

Thank you to these awesome vendors who helped make the day amazing! 
Venue- Merrimon-Wynne House
Wedding Planner & Designer- Viva L’Event
Catering- Beau Catering
Flowers- Plume Events
Photography- Laura Memory Photography
Videography- Yours Truly Media
Hair/Makeup- Alexis & Morgan (friends of bride)
Ceremony Music- Family Friend
Reception Music- Night Years Band
Wedding Cake- Ashley Cakes
Officiate- Kevin Holland
Rentals- Party Reflections
Specialty Rentals- Greenhouse Picker Sisters
Guest Transportation- Raleigh Trolley
Dress: Tara Lauren from Gilded Bridal

I love being a destination wedding and elopement photographer and traveling the world to capture all kinds of love! While in Queenstown, New Zealand I had the absolute joy of photographing a fellow photographer, her husband, and their adorable puppy! They met while working as scuba diving instructors in the Caribbean, traveled the world together, and landed in the picturesque adventure capital of the world. They work at the radest spot in Queenstown called Skyline where you take a giant gondola up to the top and you can bungie jump, down hill luge, hike, mountain bike, paraglide, stargazing, it's amazing. While hiking up to this incredible location overlooking Lake Wakatipu's turquoise waters surrounded by the golden hills and Remarkable Mountain range. We talked all about how they met, their favorite travel destinations, life with a crazy puppy, and our impending move to Miami. It's always a blast photographing a fellow photographer because she totally gets how my mind works! I love when hyper puppies join the mix too! I treasured capturing epic views and epic moments between this so in love family. Drew and I still talk about our time in New Zealand literally everyday, and it was a true honor getting to know Kellie and Abe!

When you're on the trail it's pretty easy to just start chatting with fellow hikers and explorers! These two were super cute and cuddly and it turned out they were on their honeymoon from Israel! This location, Milford Sound in Fijordlands National Park is usually extremely rainy and is actually one of the rainiest places in the world clocking in at around 252 inches a year! We took a ferry ride around the Fijord and loved seeing the massive cascading waterfalls and huge glacier carved cliffs. The sun was out so I had to ask if they had 5 minutes to spare to be my models! So please enjoy these two being adorable amongst this epic backdrop! 

NC meets NZ. One night while living in Queenstown, New Zealand, Drew and I were paying for parking after a great night eating downtown. Drew got to the parking machine first and I said, "thanks for paying Drew!", the guy behind us then said, "oh, so you're paying for parking for us all, thanks man!" and we all laughed. Normally, when we're in this situation the next question is, 'Where are you from?' or 'What brings you to this side of the world?' Normally, we say, we're from Miami! Because no one knows where North Carolina is, bless their hearts. But this time, we hinted a slight southern accent and we said, "We're from Raleigh, where are y'all from?" and they said, "NO WAY we're from Kinston", which is only about an hour outside the city. What are the chances?! Like good North Carolinians, we proceeded to chit chat for literally another hour and had to repay for parking because our tickets already expired. It turned out, these adventurous souls were on a delayed honeymoon! They had never had professional photos taken, so I of course had to take their photos in the most beautiful location on earth! They came to our lake from bach, Kiwi for itty bitty tiny house by the water, and we talked about how they met, how he was on a TV show for the restaurant they worked in, how she is helping Dreamers in her city stay focused on the right path. What I loved is how clearly in love they are. He was constantly complimenting her and she was giggling left and right. It was the most amazing afternoon followed by a fun night out on the town with our new North Carolina friends :D They jumped out of planes, off cliffs, and got tattoos, but I think this was the most exciting adventure :) 

While living in Christchurch, New Zealand, our very first hike was to the surrounding Port Hills. We drove up some winding roads (this is day 2 of driving on the left side of the road and it was crazy scary) and found the most amazing views. It was the most amazing Kiwi welcome we could have asked. It became my mission to photograph an engagement or a cool couple at sunset and frolic through the fields together! Thankfully I met Tiffany and her fiancé and my dream location came true! We had so much exploring the trails that wove up and down next to the Tasman sea. They even brought some champagne to celebrate! He is in tech working for a start up and splits time between NZ and San Fransisco, and she has a heart of gold and teaches preschool. We instantly clicked and my little artist heart was so full! They're world travelers too, and for their summer holiday, they are exploring Europe. They happen to be visiting a near by town to us in Sweden and we can't wait to meet up!! Love how massive yet small our beautiful world can be. 

I so loved this day with Keran and her partner! They met at Canterbury University near Christchurch, New Zealand on the South Island. He's in tech and she's a school counselor. Drew and I were coming up on our last few days in Christchurch before moving down south to Queenstown and I was really hoping to photograph a rad couple in town. I was talking with a local wedding planner and she connected me with this amazing duo! Once we started talking the only time we both had available was literally today, in 10 minutes, sun was setting, go go go go! Keran convinced her partner to immediately hop in the car and we met at the beach! We had the pier, sand dunes, and massive beach to our selves!! I knew it was going to be an amazing session because of how chill and go with the flow they were to spontaneously be down to be photographed by an overly enthusiastic American.  We skipped, and twirled, and laughed our way into the setting Kiwi sun. Thank you both for such a magical afternoon! I hope our paths cross again soon! 

Massive boulders - check
Matching jort outfits - check
Meeting the sweetest Sweedish couple who are now my muse model inspirations - check check check 

I love being a wedding photographer in Miami and I miss photographing on the beach in and the ocean. But, I also love hills and rocks and unique terrain! Castle Hill is a super cool location on New Zealand's South Island. It was one of my bucket list locations because The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here! It's a quick drive outside of Christchurch and in 2002 the Dali Lama himself visited, loved it, and labeled the area "Spiritual Center of the Universe". How cool! While hiking and watching some rock climbers and boulderers we started talking with a couple from Stokholm (we all may or may not have been lost in the maze of hills and rocks). Our next stop is Sweden so we were asking them all kinds of questions, promised to meet up in Stokholm, and then I got to take a few fun pics of these love birds! They're traveling around New Zealand in their van and I was so thrilled to be able to give them this gift!

​The sunshine was out and we had so much fun laughing and skipping around this stunning location!!