Old Westbury Gardens Wedding Photography - Congratulations Melissa & Oladele!

After living in DC for 13 years, I finally made it up to New York! And what better excuse than Melissa and Oladele's beautiful fall Long Island wedding! Melissa is a cousin and bridesmaid from Anne and Chris's wedding two years ago, so I was thrilled and honored when she called and asked me to come up to photograph her own wedding!
Melissa and Oladele are so in love (you may recall their sweet engagement pictures); it was such a joy to be part of their wedding day! They were a photographer's dream, allowing time in between the ceremony and reception for pictures at the magnificent Old Westbury Gardens. What an incredible opportunity, I just wish we'd had a few more hours there. :)
We also stopped by an amazing find, the Cedarmere property with a stone bridge and an old Gothic Revival style decorative mill. Cedarmere was home to prominent 19th-century poet, newspaper editor and civic leader, William Cullen Bryant, in the mid 1800's and the house (currently undergoing restoration) is designated part of the Underground Railroad. Again, a few more hours of daylight was needed to here! Many thanks to Melissa and Oladele for literally running around these properties so we could make the most of our time! I think it was worth it for these amazing wedding portraits. :)

The handsome groom:

The beautiful bride:

Can you tell how happy they are to be married?

Old Westbury Gardens, what a dramatic backdrop, I love it!

The Temple of Love, how appropriate. :)

Love the little guard house in the walled garden.

Dramatic fall colors!

The mill with so many neat details. Historic and old is such a great combination.

We wanted a picture by the water, but the clouds were rolling in, it was getting dark and the wind was whipping up even stronger, it was hard to stand up, but it made for a really dramatic picture. Again, Melissa was such a great sport and sacrificed her her hair getting blown to pieces for the shot.


The flash didn't fire, but the available light is dramatic and the slow shutter speed showed the movement of Melissa's great dancing dress, so I thought this image was worth saving. It looks kind of like old grainy black and white film.
Melissa and Oladele thoroughly enjoyed every minute of their wedding day, and danced and danced at their reception. I love the connection you can see between them!
Portrait Locations: Old Westbury Gardens, Cedarmere
Reception: San Souci of Sea Cliff
Assistant Photographer: Kathleeen MacArthur of Candid Like Life in Bellport, NY. Thanks Kathleen!
Wedding Photography: Jan with jan michele photography based in Arlington, VA. Contact Jan today to book her as your wedding photographer! Click here, then the contact tab.

Long Island New York Wedding Photography

Melissa and Oladele's fabulous fall Long Island Wedding slideshow. Including pictures at Cedarmere and Old Westbury Gardens.

River Farm Wedding Photography - Congratulations Allison and Ben!

Allison and Ben had the most gorgeous fall day for their garden wedding at River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia last Sunday. River Farm has long been one of my favorite gardens and as the home of the American Horticulture Society, there is always something blooming. This time of year the wild flower meadow is still beautiful and I was so excited to be able to use it as the backdrop for some of the wedding pictures - and one of those ended up being my favorite picture of the day!
I have the most fantastic wedding clients! It was such a pleasure to be Allison and Ben's wedding photographer and to capture the wonderful celebration they had with their families and friends on their wedding day. For more pictures, be sure to watch the slideshow in the following post too.
First, the sparkling rings:
The bride's beautiful gown with all those buttons!
Allison's Dad sees his daughter as a bride. Always a sweet moment.
Simply stunning bride!
Beautiful fall colors for the bouquets and the front door.
All the lovely ladies:

And the men had their moment to shine too.
The ceremony was held in the garden. Presenting Mr. and Mrs.!
The beautiful couple.


This is my favorite! I just love the textures and colors in the fall meadow.

The tented reception was warm and inviting.


And to top off the day, an amazing sunset!

Ceremony & Reception: River Farm - Alexandria, VA
Caterer: Windows Catering Company - Kelsey Hendrickson
DJ: Dan Goldman
Flowers: Affordable Arrangements - Carly Johnson
Dress: Katherine's Bridal Boutique - Alexandria, VA
Photography: jan michele photography - Jan Graves

Contact Jan today to book her for your wedding photography! Click here, then select the contact tab.

River Farm Wedding, Alexandria VA - Allison & Ben's Wedding Slideshow

Allison and Ben's wedding photography slideshow. Ceremony and Reception held at River Farm in Alexandria, VA - a beautiful spot for a garden wedding on a lovely fall day!

SEO Workshop - Washington DC

Yesterday I attended a SEO workshop with the one and only, Lawrence Chan, of Tofurious. He's the SEO guru for photographers and has been traveling the country this fall teaching wedding photographers, and even some from other professions. After all, being "found" on the internet is sort of important to any business these days.
The added benefit of any workshop is getting to know other photographers. Meaghan Elliott, Rodney Mickle and I certainly has lots to talk about and often had to remind ourselves that we should let Lawrence do most of the talking. :) Meaghan is a wedding and high school senior photographer in the Baltimore area and Rodney is a wedding and fashion photographer in Alexandria, VA and Fort Washington, MD. I look forward to keeping in touch as we work on all the "homework" Lawrence assigned us. :)

Aldan and Theron - Arlington VA Twin Portrait Photographer

Aldan and Theron are getting so big, and I love seeing them interact. There are good signs they'll grow up to be great friends, I say!
These twins proved that lots of help is needed with baby photography. Since they were still a little wobbly, mom had to stay close by to play catcher. The blank stares show how much fun a face behind a camera is. Sorry I couldn't be more entertaining, guys. A singing, dancing parent was needed behind me to amuse these two! Often I do wish I could see what goes on behind me to get the great smiles from my tiny subjects... from the sounds, I'm sure it indeed is hilarious!