Everything we did so far with Molly and Marshal was spectacular. Their engagement shoot, Molly’s bridal portrait, their wedding and now this awesome Day After Session at the Orchard House!

This is my second time shooting portraits there and I can tell you – it’s a stunning place. So charming and genuine. And the girls at the Orchard House are so nice! If you consider a wedding in a venue like that, definitely check it out!

For their wedding in Cancun, Mexico, we did a Day After Session and we first started out at the Dreams Cancun Resort which is situated by a stunning rocky beach with a lighthouse, super blue water and pelicans everywhere.

Later we went to one of Cancun’s beautiful cenotes, where Critsey took some of her unbelievable underwater shots (check out her blog!) and Selina and Eric gave it all. See them in the next magazine ads …

It started with a windy rehearsal and then a scenic evening bus ride to a very intimate reception dinner close to Melbourne, FL.

The wedding day saw some very relaxed girls and “guys being guys”. And – most amazing – a ring bearer who got to carry the real rings on his pillow. Wow, very rare!

The party was a killer, Carolyn Shepard’s beautiful design and Vinny and LeVar with Split Second Sound turned it into a boiling pot!

The two met at University of Florida and it was no wonder that you saw the Gator Chomp (<-thanks for pointing this out, Andy!) a-plenty.

Surprise for Danielle: Andy & the Boyz perform …

Next day we met at the Vero Beach Hotel & Club, where the couple had a gorgeous suite and started a sizzling Day After Shoot. From there we went down Ocean Drive to get some amazing images. Those two are such hot posers!

Thank you guys, you were awesome!!

The Vendors:
Venue: The Club at Pointe West
Officiant: Linda May
Flowers: Carolyn Shepard Design Group
Entertainment: Split Second Sound
Invitations/Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas
Bridal Store: Aurora Bridal
Wedding Gown: Maggie Sottero

I was bummed that I couldn’t memorize everybody’s name so I started taking pictures with my cell phone of all the attendees holding up their name tags. This was when I also took a snapshot of Critsey and her friends.

Critsey says she noticed my accent and asked me where I was from. When I said I was from Germany, she told me the only German she knew: “ich liebe dich” (I love you). She says I totally blew her off then and turned away! That’s her version … :-)
My version: I really didn’t know what to reply. I wanted to say something witty, but my brain was blank. She was pretty cute …

A few days after the Convention and back to our homes we both started contacting each other via email. Then came the phone, then Skype with video. And it went from there. We quickly recognized that we had a lot in common – we were soul mates. And the visual attraction wasn’t bad either …

In May a business trip to London for Critsey was extended to a week long date in Paris. It was like a honeymoon. There’s no better place than the City of Love!

This was when it became clear: it is true love. Not much later I came to the States to stay with Critsey and I never left. The following months brought us together in work as well as in private life.

Several trips to Chicago, New York and other places followed, when I eventually proposed to Critsey in NY in late 2007. We knew it would happen!

Critsey and I didn’t want to wait too long to finally be husband and wife, and on March 19, 2008 we said “I do!” in a small and intimate ceremony together with closest friends and family.

Of course wedding photographers want great pictures of their wedding, so the amazing Amanda Pryde of Indigo shot the ceremony.

Soon after, Critsey and I went to NY again to have an After Session photographed by the very talented photographers Monika Broz and David Mielcarek.

As photographers we’re hard to please, but we were totally blown away when we saw the images. And we had so much fun doing the session with them!

Later this year Critsey and I are going to Europe where we will have a ceremony with my family and friends in Germany followed by a “real” honeymoon.
Greek or Italy, we haven’t decided yet. But our cameras will definitely be in the luggage!

So we headed to Pisgah National Forest in the North Carolina mountains and did a combined engagement and pre-wedding session. First we headed to the Looking Glass Falls where we started out.

Next we stopped at the Cradle of Forestry in America which features a lot of cute spots. But not without getting out of the car on the way to take more pictures!

And then we got to our final destination – the Graveyard Fields with their gorgeous falls! After an adventurous hike to the falls Shane and Greg didn’t hesitate a minute and got in the cold water – Shane in a wedding dress!

We took pictures by and underwater …

They are such a hot couple – we might see them in the next Armani perfume ad!

No. Not really. It’s gonna be the parking deck. I think now they got a bit uncomfortable. But only for a minute, until they saw CLT’s new and super cool short term parking deck. It looks awesome with its metal grid shell, all the steel and glass and the blue lights. Now the two were on fire and it shows!

A Day After session is pictures taken some time after the actual wedding. The couple wears their wedding attire and now has time to go to great locations and take wonderful photos.

Critsey Rowe, Dave Lee and I photographed this Day After session on a cold and windy evening in New York’s West Village, but Chris and Otakar couldn’t care less for the temperature – they were all in for great photos!

It is amazing how three photographers get so different images from the same setting! Take a look at Critsey’s and David’s blogs to see their interpretations.

Read more about this picture on Critsey’s blog. A heartwarming story!

This is David getting an image of Chris. You can see it on David’s blog …

… and how I saw it.

The wind blew really hard on the Hudson River bank, but this got us really stunning pictures with Jersey City as a backdrop. And Chris and Otakar were so brave!