Longwood Gardens Fall Maternity Session | Kennett Square, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Portrait Photographer
Shannon + Matthew | Longwood Gardens Winter Elopement | Pennsylvania Wedding Photographer
Longwood Gardens Fall Maternity Session | Kennett Square Pennyslvania | Philadelphia Portrait Photographer
Mackenzi - Class of 2022 | Longwood Gardens High School Senior Photoshoot | Pennsylvania Portrait Photographer
With graduation season being in full swing, I thought it would be a fantastic time to highlight some of the fabulous seniors I have photographed over the past year. I’m honored to introduce you to Mackenzi, a proud member of Tulpehocken High School’s Class of 2022! I was absolutely thrilled when her mom asked if we could shoot Mackenzi’s high school senior portraits at Longwood Gardens… and I immediately replied with an excited “Yes!”. If you follow my work, you probably noticed that I shoot at Longwood Gardens pretty often. It is beautiful there any time of year, and the displays are always changing, so no two portrait sessions ever turn out alike. Plus, I have a membership that allows me to bring in a bunch of additional guests - at no cost to them!! (Hint, hint…)
Congratulations, Mackenzi! Wishing you lots of love, luck, and success in your future adventures!
Without any further delay, I present to you Mackenzi. I hope you love these images, her smile, and her personality as much as I do.
Alessia + Ludvik | Surprise Proposal at Longwood Gardens | Pennsylvania Engagement and Wedding Photographer
Happy New Year!!! I know that it is going to be a great one. I have so many sessions and weddings to blog from 2021 (and I haven’t forgotten about those!) but I thought that sharing a surprise proposal at one of my “happy places” would be a fabulous way to kick off 2022. Cheers to authentic smiles, laughs, hugs, and new beginnings!!!
So, I present to you Alessia and Ludvik’s surprise proposal-turned-engagement session at Longwood Gardens. I had so much fun planning this surprise with Ludvik. He was on a mission to catch Alessia off-guard and take her breath away, and in my opinion he was most definitely successful. When you see our images from the proposal itself, and the hour the followed, I think you’ll agree.
December is a beautiful yet especially crowded time of year at Longwood Gardens. Christmas week in particular is the busiest time of year there, so trying to pull off a surprise proposal on the day before Christmas Eve and get decent photographs is not necessarily an easy task. When the moment arrived, we couldn’t have asked for better weather, lighting, or timing - everything came together perfectly. When you look at their photos, it almost seems like we had the place to ourselves…. but the photos are deceiving, take my word for it! I have photographed lots of sessions at Longwood and have become quite skilled at losing crowds when I’m there with my clients. :)
Without any further delay, I present to you some of my favorite moments and images from Ludvik and Alessia’s proposal and engagement session at Longwood Gardens. The excited couple, Golden Hour, and Christmas lights came together to help me create one of my absolute favorite sessions yet. Congratulations again, Ludvik and Alessia! I wish you a lifetime of surprises, laughter, and love together.
(And if anyone else wants to schedule a session at the gardens, reach out to me! I’m happy to use my membership to get you inside and create beautiful images and memories together.)
Serenity + Tony | Longwood Gardens Engagement Session | Philadelphia Pennsylvania Wedding Photographer
Longwood Gardens, located in Kennett Square, is one of my absolute favorite places to visit. It is stunning at any time of year, and no experience is ever quite the same. Whenever I am there, my troubles melt away and I find myself at peace, my stressors temporarily forgotten. I have had a personal membership for years, and would often visit alone to photograph my favorite orchids, waterlilies, seasonal flowers, fountains, and resident cats. Last year, I decided to upgrade my membership so that I could share that joy with my clients. I started offering sessions at Longwood Gardens, and boy did people respond! I had so many incredible photoshoots there during 2020 and already in 2021 (I lost count at 30).
One of my favorites was with this fun couple, Serenity and Tony. Their May wedding will be here before we know it! I had such a great time getting to know them better at this session. Mother Nature was a bit fickle that day, and surprised us with a misty, foggy morning. Honestly, I think the photos came out even better because of it.
Without any further hesitation, I present the incredibly fun and in-love Serenity and Tony. (Serenity’s hat is pretty awesome, too.)
Calla + Mike | Longwood Gardens Intimate Elopement | Pennsylvania Wedding Photographer
Calla and Mike are one of the many couples whose original wedding plans were derailed by the COVID pandemic during 2020. They decided to postpone their grand celebration with their loved ones, but didn’t want to wait any longer to become husband and wife. So, they got married privately in a self-uniting ceremony. (If you’re not from Pennsylvania and don’t know what this is, it goes back to Philadelphia’s “Quaker” roots and allows for couples to legally marry themselves in the absence of an officiant.) Although now legally married on paper, they wanted their vow exchange and ring ceremony to wait until they could be captured in photographs at a beautiful and meaningful location. That is where I come in. Mike reached out to me to see if I was available and up for the job, and I answered an emphatic yes. I was excited to play such an important role in their love story, and the location they chose (Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square) also happens to be one of my favorite places.
When that afternoon arrived, one of my biggest fears as a photographer came true - my car broke down on the way there. I was devastated. My couples mean the world to me, and I give 110% to each and every one of them. Also, this wasn't any session that could be rescheduled, this was a long overdue vow exchange for a couple whose 2020 wedding plans were completely overhauled multiple times through no fault of their own. I couldn't be the reason that they had to change plans yet again - I wouldn't allow that to happen. So, I immediately jumped into problem-solving mode, made a few phone calls, arranged for my husband to pick me up along the PA Turnpike, left a note on my the dashboard of my broken down car, and decided to deal with that issue later.
When I arrived at Longwood Gardens (a little bit late), Calla and Mike were so understanding and gracious. I couldn't have asked for better clients that afternoon - they were just so kind and patient and ready to exchange their vows and wedding rings! They were excited and so eager to finally officially call themselves husband and wife.
And, they did just that, under their favorite tree at Longwood Gardens. (I can’t believe that I have been to Longwood Gardens a gazillion times and never noticed this glorious tree before! It is truly a hidden gem, and I can see why Calla and Mike love it so much.) Following their exchange of vows and rings, we wandered around the rest of the gardens making some incredible images together just as the sun was setting. Everything was incredible that evening. By some stroke of luck, the large fountains went off just as we were walking below them, and the wind blew the mist in a way that created some truly magical portraits for us. We used up every last bit of light we had, and literally got escorted out of the gardens by one of their not-so-fierce security cats.
Thank you again for your flexibility, patience, and kindness, Calla and Mike. And thank you to my husband for being the superhero that he is and jumping in to rescue me so that we could still make this session happen that night. He hadn't planned on assisting me that evening, but he did it with a smile - because that's how incredible he is and how lucky I am to have him as my main supporter. If there’s anything that I learned from 2020, it’s to be more flexible, expect the unexpected, and focus (pun intended) on what really matters in life. Sometimes you just have to rely on love and a little bit of luck.
Congratulations again, Calla and Mike! You make an incredible team, and I hope you are enjoying life’s adventures as husband and wife. I am so honored to have been a part of your story.
And without any further hesitation, here are some of my favorite images from our evening together. They requested that I keep the photos of their actual vow and ring exchange private, but take my word for it, they are equally as stunning as the rest of the images I am sharing here. Maybe even more stunning, because you can truly feel the love they share for each other as they were reciting their vows, exchanging their rings, and renewing their commitment to each other. (Above all, I honor my clients’ wishes when it comes to privacy, regardless of how beautiful the images turn out.) Newlywed bliss just has a way of making couples glow! You’ll see what I mean when you get to the images...
Here are some vendors who deserve some extra love for helping make their elopement dreams come true:
Bride’s Flowers: The Farm at Oxford
Bride’s Makeup and Hair: Emily Alice Salon
Nona + George | Longwood Gardens Engagement Session | New Jersey Wedding Photographer
I don't even know where to begin describing this engagement session. It was so incredible, in so many ways. Once you see the photos, you'll know what I mean...
Nona and George live in New Jersey, but wanted to drive closer to me for their engagement session for a little change in scenery. On our original date, we were going to meet up in Lancaster, but Mother Nature had other plans. With their 3 hour drive (each way), we decided to play it safe and call it off. So, we rescheduled for a few days later, and since their original location choice was closed that day we moved the shoot to Longwood Gardens.
We couldn't have picked a better day, time, or location.
We had Longwood Gardens practically to ourselves, and the weather was incredible! It was a little hot and humid, but honestly, I don't even think Nona and George noticed - they were too mesmerized by each other!! They have incredible fashion sense, but that was secondary to their chemistry and love for each other. Everything, and I mean everything, was perfect.
By the way, Nona is a very talented artist herself! You can find her work here: https://www.facebook.com/DesignByNona/ or here: https://www.instagram.com/designbynona/.
I am so looking forward to their wedding this upcoming winter! I hope you enjoy this rather large collection of photos from their engagement session - because I had too many favorites to narrow it down any further.
Congratulations, Nona and George!!
Longwood Gardens Engagement Photoshoot | Jess + Sean | Berks County Wedding Photographer
Last Sunday, I met up with Jess and Sean for their engagement session. They picked Longwood Gardens for the backdrop because it's one of their favorite places to visit together... and I was really excited, because it's one of my favorite places, too! They booked me as their wedding photographer a few weeks ago, and this session was the first time we actually met in person. I was so excited to meet them, and I had a very strong feeling that they were going to be really fun in person. Oh, was I right!! We were chatting and laughing during their entire session, and my face hurt when I left from smiling so much! For every serious pose I got out of them, there were about 15 more silly poses - which I think is awesome! My favorite pictures are always the ones where I capture my clients being themselves!
I hope you enjoy this collection of photos from their engagement session. I'm looking forward to their Florida destination wedding next fall!!
