Right before this wedding, Shannon and I had some time for lunch so we headed to good olde Chix Filet which I had never been too, Shannon said you gotta to have the sweet tea, and I was like okay, We sat at our table and I was even more impressed with how they greeted each table asking if clients needed refills, accomodating especially moms with kids and loved they kept using the phrase  ” pleasure to serve you” such a branding lesson at Chix Filet. We arrived at Hunter Farm and it was a bit humid, I piled on gear on me and my heart began to race, I felt sweaty palms, a bit dizzy and heart palpitating. Oh no I thought, I came all this way and I am going to be sick, I began to narrow down why I would feel this way and then a light bulb went on and I turned to Shannon and asked, Shannon does Sweet Tea  make your heart palpitate, she said oh yeah, sorry. So note to self, never drink two large cups of sweet tea before shooting a wedding, EVER!

This Knoxville Wedding took place on a Thursday and it felt like it was during the weekend. The fields at Hunter Farm were stunning, there was sun, some raine all of a sudden but then sun again for these two blessed bartenders that were getting married. When I arrived at the farm, I fell in love with all the light in the venue and especially with all the details Rafaella had done for her wedding, candy table and all. I was like a kid at a toy store, going all around. I heart details. Here are few details shots and more antique bathroom awesomeness and Ralfie looking so stunning. check out Shannon’s Pictures from this unique wedding. Love this first detail.

Guests could write down happy wishes on pieces of cloth they will later turn into a quilt.

They did a Ring Warming during ceremony and it was my favorite part. more on that later.

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I arrived Wednesday night in Knoxville, TN kinda of  late but fabulous Shannon Kelley picked me up from the airport and we were chatter boxes, catching up on our photography stories, family and details of the 2 weddings I was there to second shoot for her. The plan was to wake up, get coffee and check out the area of the wedding which was this amazing place called Hunter Valley Farm then lunch and arrive at where Rafaela ( love that it is such a Brazilian name) was getting ready for her big day. It was so nice to have some a.m time to just chill and go over how the day was going to proceed and Shannon’s expectations which is key when you are second shooting, know what your photographer wants, know the game plan, and how you communicate with each other, if sign language, moors code, etc. I was so excited because Shannon has such a gift to teach and lead and I learned more than I expected. I was already impressed when she sent me a PDF outlining some things she expects from a second shooter and I plan to do this list my self, it makes things clear on both ends. One thing I will share that Shannon said was :

“A second shooter is representing my business and should never pass out their business card or talk up their business to guests.  You are “for me” for the day.  And you love me, remember?

I have known about the not handing out business card but I love how Shannon says as a second shooter you are representing the main shooter’s business and you are there for them so that does mean, help with bags, get water, help in formals, and be nice to guests, I need to work on the being too chatty part.  Also another point Shannon states is to get differant angles from the main photographer and not stand right behind them which I sometimes forget but such a great point.

Shannon I can not thank you enough for this awesome wink wink opportunity. You are such a blessing and have such a gift for teaching. And thank you guests, family of Rafaela & brian for being so warm and helpful, and using words like please and thank you, as a Jersey Photographer girl that was kind of new to me, all that southern hospitality not that we are not nice in New Jersey but Southern folks are extra nice and have great manners.

with out further a dew here are some sneaks from the Fabulous and ultra detailed wedding of Brian and Rafaella, and check out Shannon’s Pictures from this unique wedding.

Ralfaella and the girls were all so beautiful.

Now some shots of the Venue from the other side.

The venue had this vintage looking bathroom where the girls got ready and it was a blast, some challenging lighting but loved the details

So much more to come, stay tuned~

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Last month as I had mentioned in this post, I attended WPPI and met this gorgeous South African couple, Christine who is a photographer and her boy friend Iaan who does some amazing websites and development and I invited them for a last minute Destination Lifestyle Session. I am super excited for they will be experiencing of the biggest sports events in the world, the World Cup and I wish I was visiting my now new South African friends, Christine and Iaan. Thanks so much for going to other other side of the camera and being our models for this lifestyle photo shoot.

Here are my faves and and stay tuned for cool slideshow to come of me, JR, Kristi, Otto, Christine and Iaan.

I had told Iann that the One Way side meant there was only one girl for him and he shyly smiled and

Christine was quite shy and nervous and they both spoke in Afrikan which as really cool.

Then we were off and Kristi Crosson, myself and Jr from WO Photography put some Jesh de Rox’s Beloved Exercise for some fun

and play.

Is not their laughter contagious, so love it!

CONTEST CONTEST- do you know of a teen in NJ or NY, well they can win a free mini session just by becoming a Fan on my Facebook Page and leaving a comment telling me they pressed that like button. Winner will be announced on Monday, after 4 p.m

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Are you planning a destination Wedding? Acqua waters, sunny and blue skies, waves roaring, beautiful bride and slick groom who happens to be a friend, life is beautiful and so was this Beach Ceremony at  Barcelo Maya Palace Resort, an all inclusive resort. Here are some favs of Ceremony on the beach which I totally recommend if you are a Barcelo Bride.

Ladies getting ready for show time:

Boys at Play

David Toth was taking care of the groom and boys and I the brides- here are some killer shots by David

Some of mine and some of David for Wedding Ceremony on the Beach

Grooms Parents Above and Brides mom below

Stay tuned for the Reception post which took place by the poolside at the wonderful Barcelo.

Wedding was shot with a Nikon and a Canon! who says we can not be friends?

In Meantime for some getting ready and sneaks watch the following slideshow.

Last Year I was able to do my very first Destination Wedding which has been a blessing in my life, first because it was of a couple I adored and an old co worker so I was surrounded by friends, secondly because it would take place at the lovely Barcelo Maya Palace Resort in Riviera Maya Region in Mexico. The scenery was paradise and I never really finished blogging about this fun, beautiful destination wedding I shot along with my buddy David Toth.  ( If you are looking for a place for your destination wedding, I strongly recommend the Barcelo and you can check out a very cool forum I have found by visitors who give their feedback as well- Unofficial Barcelo Maya guide) So Ladies and Gents, before I present to you the Ceremony post, behold, many images ahead, so hard to pick my favorites, after all the view was spectacular, the weather perfect and the reception was dreamy. Special thanks to Wedding Cordinator Gabriel Barbabosa who I happen to run into last week, where? in NYC of course during the awesome Wedding Salon Bridal Show.

Here is a promo video featuring the wedding I shot, the first one on the beach and you get a peak of my flash coming right up from like no where- lol, very excited that they used our wedding to do their promo- check it out and many pixs coming very soon

P.S in the works, is that special post of that super cute couple from Las Vegas, can not blog just yet, surprises ahead

also waiting for the slideshow to be up on the super www.celebrateflowers.com website so I can tell you about my special day with celebrity florist Jorge Cazzorla. So much to come, thanks for being here and reading this, I so appreciate it and would love to hear from you because after all, comments make me oh so happy.

and here are some pre wedding day pictures of me and sunset by David Toth.

Barceló Maya Beach Resort

Riviera Maya

Hotel contact information

Ctra. Federal Chetumal-Puerto Juarez
Km. 266,3 (Q.Roo)
Riviera Maya | Mexico

So your wish is my command, a few fellow friends have been asking fore more pictures and here we go, here are some more of the dress, getting ready and beginning of ceremony, this wedding meant and means so much to me! so many posts more to come. Thank you Jill and Rich again for making me and Dave feel like royalty at our stay at the All inclusive Barcelo Resort in Riviera Mayan Beaches in Mexico. Now here are David Toth’s fabulous photos, he got some shots of the bride and then headed to the boys room where they were working hard in their getting readiness .

And coming right up, some more pixs of the lovely Bride and Ceremony. Stay Tuned

Here are some of the pixs before heading out to the ceremony.

Funny thing was we waited for a bit before Jill was picked up my her wedding coordinator and we went over if we had everything then when we got to the ceremony spot, Jay ran over and asked, where are the readings? He then volunteered to run to the hotel room which was pretty far then would try to find them in the room and we had no idea where they were but he heroically came to the rescue! They were so good to their bride and groom, it was touching.

Here is Jill patiently waiting with her Godfather.

Okay so this is the longest port ever, so many pictures, hard to choose what to show, Ceremony is coming up next, stay tuned.

I had such a blast with this getting ready session, here we are in the midst of greens outside and a beautiful aqua ocean in a warm tranquil spa of this gorgeous destination wedding I shot at  Barcelo Resort in the Rivieran Mayan Beaches in Mexico . This was the best and most beautiful getting ready session I had ever done and Jill was so beautiful to photograph that I had to pick many favorites and do a full post just on her getting ready.= and while we were at the Spa, her flowers came so I snuck out with them for some shots. And her eyes totally match the ocean which made it oh so much better. I loved how it was her, her mother and mother in law! Just a little recap on how Rich the groom proposed to Jill. She was waiting for a ring during Christmas and she searched the house and found nothing. Then on a trip to Florida, he planned for them to swim with the dolphins at a park owned by Sea World but not the big Sea World one, and at the end of the swimming session, the attendant asked if she wanted to tug with the dolphin and she said sure but little did she know that the dolphin would be bringing a little float that read ” Jill will you marry me”. The dolphin did indeed bring it but Jill did not read it, lol and Rich had to tell her to read it. I thought it was so romantic and so thoughtful, he gets major brownie points and it compliments the Destination Wedding theme oh so well! Here is the part 1 of many posts to come.

All photos shot at

Barceló Maya Beach Resort

I once read somewhere that you always learn something after shooting a wedding and this something is usually due to a mistake you have committed, forgotten shots, wrong composition, under exposure, over exposure, what ever it may be you learn something. I learned quite a lot from my first Destination Wedding at the beautiful Barcelo Maya Beach Resort at Riviera Maya region in in  Mexico. I was there with one of my mentors David Toth who I learned so much from, more of it was just by observing the way he works and we talked some technical stuff and talked about differant types of clients but the biggest lesson I left from this trip was be true to yourself and no more feeling self conscious. Well this was only my fourth wedding and I was in a differant county, in the most beautiful beach I have ever been, shooting a destionation wedding and have David as my second shooter, it was an out of body experiance sort of when I got married as I was walking into the church. I did not know if I smiled or cried or where to look, I did not feel like myself. And at this wedding, I felt overwhelmed, self conscious, after all all eyes are on me as the pro and David has been doing this for what 15 years now, he knows better, let him take charge and I really could have given more in Cancun. I should have been more me, more in charge, more do this, more just the Bridal poses that now I am kicking myself in the butt for, but I am not sad, oh no, cause I jotted down what I did wrong, what I should have done and I know I will be back, Riviera awaits me and so do other places. Before I left for todays wedding, lots of bad things happen, but I was not gonna cry or pout but I was gonna make the best of it cause I know it all works out in the end. I am way behind with my editing and I know many would love to see the Cancun shots, but wait a little longer, here are some more shots of the fabulous Barcelo, and a sneak peak of the Bride and Groom. Ole!

Back when I was working in Corporate world, I had a really great boss who taught me so much! She was beautiful, smart, great with numbers, fast thinker, and always asked for my opinion. I was just an assistant and she was the Director of Operations for an International Telecom company and she asked for my opinion. I was pregnant, single about to get married, going through a very hard time and she was so patient, loving and giving and she asked for my opinion. Sometimes I would stare at her, sometimes I had no idea what she was talking about but I was so impressed that she cared about what I had to say. She was the one who introduced me to what was called branding and who discussed what Starbucks was all about, not about the coffee but about the experience. And she taught me even more when she decided to leave her well paid job to go fully launch her dream,a  Chocolate company called 2 Chicks with Chocolate. I was there with her when she sent off that resignation letter, scared to death and excited at the same time after all it had been 7 years of her life and now she would immerse into the self-employed business start up world, with no guarantees and many questions but she went on and is still pursuing her dream to provide customized chocolate where people would build their chocolate bars on the spot and everyone loves chocolate. I just made me and Max  a pot of Brigadeiro- that Brazilian chocolate sweets at 10:30 p.m because Max was craving sweets. Her name Elyissia Wassung, the Chick n Charge of 2 Chicks who will be at the Chocolate show next week taking it by storm.

This past weekend, I had the unbelievable pleasure of doing my first destination wedding at Barcelo in Cancun Mexico and I had the pleasure to spend a few days with Elyissia for it was one of our old co workers getting married and she was in the Bridal party as well. She still teaches me so much about business, has amazing questions and is so up to speed with this changing economy and the branding world which is a topic I love.  One thing she said to me was “ I am so proud of you, you are all grown up” and  I would have to say I felt grown up in my business at this wedding and that does not mean perfection but it means a whole new fabulous season is headed my way and I am excited. I had an amazing time and feel so very blessed to be in an out of this world place, all inclusive resort to do the job I love and be with people I love and care for and to make so many new friends and to have David Toth my mentor second shoot for me, that is a whole other post. But why I called this post  True or False was because Elyissia’s girlfriends would call her up and not say hello but say true or false and when that was said we knew some wacky crazy story was gonna surface and 99% of the time it was true so I am starting my True or False section here.

So True or False, while the Bridal party was about to enter the reception area which was by this blue lagoon of a pool, I took a few steps back stepping on some grass by a tree and was bitten by what seemed and felt like fire ants? and to add on I am allergic to? TRUE. Very true, my feet starting itching and I thought it was because of the grass and then I look down and see yellow/goldish ants running around my foot. I quickly stepped away from the grass and asked Danielle, the groom’s niece to take off my sandals and then my foot just kept bulging and swelling and looked like I was gonna need Benadryl and so I waited for the first Dance and then stepped away to make sure my face was not going to swell up like the marshmellow man and thank God for David covering my back. So although this not so pleasant unexpectant thing occurred, I can not and will not complain about this trip but I will be grateful, how can one complain with such a view? how can one complain with so much food? how can one complain when you are with friends? how can one complain when you love what you do? how can one complain when the Bride and Groom offer for you to stay an extra day to just rest?  I can’t, so the ant thing happened but well worth it all. I will just be grateful, grateful for unforgettable moments and I pray for all the people I met, that God may Bless you in many ways and that you may always be grateful too. So from this pictures you will see why I am happy like this bride jumping in the water.