Planning your wedding can be so frustrating. Planning your wedding during a pandemic, I can't even imagine how hard that that is! Dealing with rescheduling, getting all your vendors on the same page, talking to all your guests, that's a lot! Drew and I have been as accommodating as possible with no rescheduling fees. We want your safety and happiness first! Thankfully, I found a really easy website where everything you need is in one spot! Here comes Basic Invite to the rescue! There are so many cool features!

My favorite feature is how everything can match! From wedding website, to save the dates, to invitations, to thank you cards, to menus, to place cards. It's all there!

Basic Invite has an awesome wedding invitation maker (check it out HERE).

It was really easy to customize it! And I love that already had suggestions for other matching products! 
​

• COLORS: Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. You can change the color of each element on a card, with over 180 different color options. The card can be exactly how you want it, down to the littlest detail. 
• SAMPLES: Basic Invite allows customers the ability to order a printed sample of their invitation so they can see the card’s paper quality and how it will print before they have to place their final order.
• ENVELOPES: Basic Invites is just as colorful with their envelopes as they are with their invitations. You can choose from over 40 different envelope colors so that they can make their invitation stand out even before it is opened. All of their envelopes are peel & seal so the envelopes can be closed quickly and easily. Yay no tongue cuts! 
• ​CHOICES: Over 900 Wedding Invitation Sets! Each of Basic Invite's wedding invitations is part of a set. They have all the wedding stationery you need, like save the dates, wedding invitations, enclosure cards, wedding menus, wedding programs, and even matching thank you cards!

FREE is the best word. Especially when it comes to weddings! Basic Invite wedding websites are completely customizable! Check out their wedding website maker HERE.  They're mobile friendly and super easy to use. You can instantly upload all of your wedding details, along with images, and a convenient map with directions for your guests. It's soooo helpful to have a website, especially when everything is up in the air with planning! Choose from 180 custom colors, and a design suite to match your wedding invitations!

Upload all our pics from our engagement session together!! It will be so personal and gorgeous! 

Another awesome perk is their Free Address Collection Service - Use Basic Invite's free address collection service to request your addresses with just three simple steps. Share a link via social media or email, collect addresses, and get free envelope printing.

Now that you have your save the dates, wedding invitations, your wedding website, your addresses already collected, it's super easy to log into your account and send custom Thank You Cards! See all the cute styles HERE! Match the style of your wedding invitations and save the dates! Upload our pictures from the wedding onto the cards and send them out to all your guests. 

Drew and I have had about 15 weddings need to change dates due to either venue restrictions or family unable to travel. Thankfully, Basic Invite has so many CUTE options to let your guests know about Date Change! Again, really easy to customize! Check them all out HERE! 

If you see anything you like on Basic Invite, you can get 20% off store wide by using my discount code in the graphic below! There's so much to chose from! Wedding invitations, save the dates, change the dates, thank you cards and even wedding day paper items like menu, place cards, programs, and even coasters! 

Be sure to visit Basic Invite's website and follow them on social media @basicinvite!
Facebook
Pinterst
Instagram
Twitter

Drew and I had the best time with California model and stylist Miska! I knew it was going to be magical when she wanted to explore the boho neighborhood of Trastevere. It's an off the beaten trail neighborhood next to the Tiber River with gorgeous trees, vine covered alley, and colorful buildings with cobblestone streets. It shows off real and non-toursity Rome! Miska is traveling all over Europe styling photo sessions and modeling. She's a boxer, fashion alumni, from the prestigious Pratt Institute, and has a beautiful soul. It was effortless to work with her, even in the rain! Fall in Rome looked stunning on her! We wandered the streets with no real plan and would oooh and ahhh at every turn. Since she's a model and stylist and has experience videoing weddings, we had the same eye for light and framing. We'd both find an area and be like "YES!" It was an artists dream to flow together. I loved the way she floated and twirled and let the wind take her hair. After we explored this incredible neighborhood we ate gluten free pizza, talked about our hopes and dreams, and then we went biking! We biked through the Forum, up to Aventine hill, and along the Tiber. It was so amazing to become friends with such a warrior and Drew and I can't wait to visit her out in LA! Follow her work on her Instagram too! Thank you Miska for sharing your talent with me!

Michelle's energy, life, and zeal is infectious!! We met in Wynwood at a new and awesome venue, Graffiti Gardens in Miami's Midtown. The colors and patterns of the walls are inspiration themselves, but adding some tunes and Michelle's joy, we were laughing and smiling the whole time! Michelle has a Masters of Fine Arts in Curatorial Practice and seeks to bring that passion into her events and weddings. She's more than a wedding and event planner, her eye for art and heart for love is the perfection union to plan a tasteful and unique experience. Check out her new website HERE and follower her journey on Instagram too!

This shoot celebrates her one year anniversary of being in the business and brought along some vegan gluten free Bunnie Cakes for the milestone!  We even had some styling help from friend Emmanuelle! I loved bopping around from piece to piece and photographing this gorgeous, powerful, and successful woman! Thank you for letting me be a part of the festivities and I can't wait to see the art and love stories you help curate next year! 

​I'm bitter sweetly writing this post from Cary, North Carolina. Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill is our home. We were born and raised here. A month ago we took a leap of faith and moved 12 hours south to Miami Beach, Florida for Drew's clinical psychology residency. Over that month we met incredible friends in Brickell, visited food trucks at The Wynwood Yard, checked out Granada Presbyterian Church in Coral Gables, listened to awesome music by Macy Todd in Little Haiti at Ace Props House, and fell in love with the city. Then we starting to hear rumblings of Irma. Miami is such a relaxed and chill city that no one was too worried, yet.

But, then we got a phone call from our dear friend who works at the National Weather Center who said we should start thinking about evacuating before the official orders come down and the two highways out of the state gridlock. So on Tuesday night we packed what we could in our tiny Honda and said a prayer and good bye to the rest. It was surreal packing and prepping the house thinking we might not see everything again. It was tough to leave a place we had fallen in love with so soon after arriving and right as we were getting in routine and finding our tribe. As we arrived in the Triangle though, we realized how much we had truly started to plant roots in Miami. It's been an incredible week here in North Carolina getting to spend quality time with friends and family, but it's also been a wonderful reiazliation that we love our new city! While we don't know quite yet the fate of our casita, we know that we can get through anything with our solid support network in NC and new community in Miami. I can't wait to get back into wedding photography and wedding videography in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Coral Gables area! 

SO!
Right before we left I had the privilege of getting in touch with a friend over Instagram. Elizabeth is a an amazing, brave, and beautiful model in North Miami and wanted to connect for a photoshoot. Of course I want to photograph a fierce lady on the beach! So we met half way at the dynamic Haulover Park full of rocks, palm trees, and bay and ocean side spots! We talked about life, modeling, her home country, birthdays, being new to Miami, and hustling all the time. We shot till the sun set over the yachts bobbing in the bay. You can check out her Instagram and keep scrolling down because there are tons of beautiful pic below! Such a treat to meet, and very excited for more collaborations in the future! 

I am writing this blog post from Miami, Florida! We're back in Miami so happy to be settling back in after Irma. Our trip back to North Carolina was wonderful and bittersweet. While it was tough leaving Miami, being away truly made us realize how much we love this city and how much of our hearts are in North Carolina as well. SO this is a great throwback post from right before our big move. As a full time Miami wedding, family, and elopement photographer I now have the time to catch up on all these blog posts! I am loving exploring new neighborhoods and being a photographer and videographer in Wynwood, Brickell, Coconut Grove, and my own Miami Beach, but these sessions make me appreciate North Carolina's lush forests!

While I adore couples and families, just being able to focus on one person is a true delight. I had the absolute privilege to connect with a sweet and talented photographer over Instagram. Jordan of Cemorelis Photography in Keene, NH was visiting family and her best friend in Durham. So of course we had to connect! I wanted to take her someplace that was unique and full of adventurous spots. The Eno River State Park in Durham, North Carolina was the ideal location. Beneath the green tunnel of oaks and next to the rumbling river, we both got a chance to get in front of the camera. As photographers, we sometimes don't prioritize our own portraits. Y'all have to check out the incredible photos she took of me HERE. I loved how she captured my inner hippie and made me laugh and enjoy cheesing for the camera.

​Jordan is a natural in front of the camera as was totally willing to hop in the water, on a log, or by a boulder to get the perfect shot. This session was full of giggles, jokes, and incredible adventure. I was so happy I could show off the best of the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. 

Such an amazing time with a new friend :D