An email that made me cry.

Gratitude  //  25th November 2013

We were in the middle of Portland at a restaurant called Duckfat. Yes, it is as AMAZING as it sounds. Their fries are pretty much out of this world. The tables were full inside, but we didn’t mind taking the opportunity to soak in the Maine air just a little bit longer. We had just completed the AMAZING Life Escape and said our fairwells to the AMAZING couples who surrounded us all week.

Our emotions were all over the place. We were excited, refreshed and feeling more in love than ever! However, at the same time, we were feeling physically exhausted and not quite ready to jump into the swing of things! We had just spent a few days unplugged and could only imagine how many emails were facing us in our inbox. I was literally avoiding my phone and trying to extend our escape as long as possible! ;) However, Ryan was a little quicker to jump into things. I had just gotten done telling Ryan how much I was not looking forward to even opening our inbox. And then we heard the buzz. An email came in and Ryan decided to take a look. It was as if he knew what was coming and knew I needed to read it.

It was an email from one of our grooms and it literally made me cry. As I sat there eating my duckfat fries, I cried. Lol. The email came in at the exact time I needed to hear it. Seriously, the words that our groom had shared hit me hard. When it is becoming more and more common for us to hear, “ohh my friend with a camera is taking our photos…” or “my uncle is just going to take some shots for us” it is so easy to lose site of just how meaningful our jobs really are.

As I shared in my Note to Engaged Couples a few weeks ago, it breaks our heart knowing that not every couple is going to have photos that they truly love and appreciate. The thought that our groom’s friend has blurry photos and probably won’t be hanging them in their home, makes me sad. However knowing that we are able to provide a service that our couples truly enjoy and appreciate now and will enjoy and appreciate for so many years to come is incredibly heart warming! Receiving incredibly thoughtful emails from our AMAZING couples who appreciate us and our work mean so so so much to us.

We decided to remove our groom’s name from the email so that he doesn’t face any awkwardness with his friends… lol. But to this special groom and all of our couples who have shared their love and appreciation with us… you make our hearts smile. (And sometimes bring us to tears… but I promise they are happy tears!) We are so grateful for all of our couples for believing in us and truly valuing and appreciating our services that we are blessed to be able to share!

Baltimore Federal Hill Engagement Session – Stephanie and Samij

Engagement, Love, Stories Documented  //  21st November 2013

A few months ago we had the incredible honor of photographing the moment Samij proposed to Stephanie. You may remember it… at Sherwood Gardens when the tulips were in full bloom! It was magical and if you are new to the blog (or even if not! ;) ), you should definitely go check it out and relive their super special day! ;)

A few days ago we met up with Stephanie and Samij during the wee hours of the morning for a Baltimore Federal Hill Engagement Session. An evening full of rain the night before made for some foggy skies that were dreamy! It was so much fun to start our day off exploring Federal Hill with Stephanie and Samij!  Hearing all about their upcoming wedding was so much fun!!

Their wedding day is quickly approaching and with two very busy work and med school schedules, Stephanie and Samij don’t get much time to just be and explore new places together! Since Stephanie goes to school in the city, they rarely come in just to hang out! So it was super fun to walk around Federal Hill with them and just have a fun morning on the town! ;) We may have even finished off the morning with breakfast at our favorite cafe, Spoons! ;) What a special treat!

Stephanie and Samij, what a perfect way to start off our Saturday morning! We loved hanging out and sharing this precious time with you! Thank you for the opportunity to capture this AMAZING time in your lives! We are so happy for you two!

Incredibly Passionate & Alive | AMAZING Life Escape

Life in Love  //  20th November 2013

Yesterday we wrote a blog post over on the AMAZING Life Together website to recap our first ever AMAZING Life Escape! Definitely hop on over there to see all of the fun and hear all about the emotions that lead us towards hosting the Life Escape. It is so incredible what a few days away can do for our hearts and our relationship!

We are so grateful for the absolutely incredible week in Maine surrounded by couples who radiate so much love! It was inspiring to be in the room with all of them and just feel the comfort and the warmth around us. Yes, the fireplaces were AMAZING… lol… but the love seriously just radiated the warmth!

The Life Escape was a dream come true and more than anything we could have imagined. At one point during the Escape during one of the activities a question was brought up that went something like this, “when was the last time you felt incredibly passionate and most alive.” I can honestly say there were multiple moments throughout the escape where I felt like I was right where I was suppose to be, so passionate and so alive. Ryan and I were hand-in-hand surrounded by AMAZING couples who were committed and excited to live an AMAZING life together. We were there to encourage and inspire these couples… and at the same time they encouraged and inspired us in so many ways!! It felt so right and I never want to forget that feeling!

We are so grateful for all of the couples who joined us for the first ever Life Escape. Karey and Mike, Ashley and Jeremy, Sarah and Kenny, Justin and Mary, and Alicia and Andrew… we are better people because of you! Thank you so much for helping to make our dreams come true! Last week is certainly one we will never forget!

We shared a few recap photos yesterday on the AMAZING Life Together site… and a few of the photos we took of each couple during the escape can be found on the AMAZING Life Together site from Friday. Definitely check them out because the couple’s photos are some of our favorites ever! ;) We will likely be sharing more of them over here in the next few weeks! In the meantime, we wanted to share just a few more of the photos that will always help us remember just how special last week really was! ;)

We are currently making plans for next year’s Life Escape(s)!! Wahooo! If you have ideas of where to host an Escape- or even where you dream of getting away with your significant other, please let us know! We would love to hear your ideas!!

 

 

Hamptons Engagement Session – Erin and Scott

Engagement, Love, Stories Documented  //  15th November 2013

Over the past 24 hours, with tired eyes and crazy full hearts, we have been trying to process the AMAZINGness that was the AMAZING Life Escape! ;) The past week away in Maine was incredible. Absolutely everything that we dreamed it could be and so much more! We do have so much to share and a lot more processing to do… stay tuned for that goodness to come! If you can’t wait to hear more about it… we are sharing just a snippet over at the Amazing Life Together site today. Definitely go check it out.

But first… we have a pretty AMAZING engagement session that we are super SUPER excited to share with you and we are pretty sure you will not want to miss it!!! On our way up to the AMAZING Life Escape, we made a pit stop in the Hamptons! ;) Yes, The Hamptons. We were pretty much jumping up and down with excitement when Erin and Scott mentioned the idea of a Hamptons engagement session. We had never been up that way and we were super excited to have the excuse to go explore.

Erin and Scott live in NYC… so the Hamptons have become a great getaway when they need to escape the hustle and bustle or just want to soak in the gorgeousness of nature. The fall leaves were definitely at their peak and provided a gorgeous landscape that made us want to stay for days! ;) Between the water, the leaves, the cute town of Sag Harbor, the firepit on the beach with s’mores!!!, and a Bucknell couple with hearts so happy it makes our hearts happy… this definitely goes down as an engagement session we will never forget!

Erin and Scott… thank you for showing us around the Hamptons! We had such a blast exploring with you!!! It is so so so AMAZING to see your hearts so happy!! We could not be more excited to share in this special time of your lives!!!

 

The AMAZING Life Escape is HERE!

Celebrating the Everyday  //  11th November 2013

Wahoooo! Ahhhh! It has been so long in the waiting! ;) We have dreamed of this day since last year and it is finally here! ;) Ahhh! We are still pinching ourselves a bit as we make the final preparations for all of the fun we are going to have over the next few days!

I think one of the most exciting things for us is the idea of actually taking time to escape our everyday and refocus. While we are escaping with new and old friends in Maine, we invite you to do your own little refocusing this week! Here is just one of our house rules for the AMAZING Life Escape. Hopefully you will take the opportunity this week to do the same! ;)

Have an AMAZING one!