Sometimes you come across couples where the love just radiates from them. You can tell that they are so completely smitten with each other. That’s Jen and Patrick. The warmth and kindness they had towards each other.  All the tenderness and smiles. After finishing their engagement session, it left me all in love with love. Haha. I can’t wait until next month when I get to photograph these two exchanging their vows.

Angela and Jon are two of the sweetest individuals you will ever meet.  This gorgeous duo moved to Ohio not too long ago from Florida to continue to pursue their musical career. You could check out this guitar/flute duo’s website for some amazing sounding music. Being from Florida, they wanted to have some winter engagement photos done…especially since this would be their first time getting to experience snow! While we managed only to get some light snowflakes for their session (because Ohio weather can never make up it’s mind on what it wants to do! Haha), we left with some amazing shots of this loving couple.

I like to take the opportunity every once in a while to give back with my photography and donate a session for a good cause.  When my good friend Anne contacted me to donate a photo session for the Junior League of Cleveland‘s 100th Gala, I was totally on board!  Funds from this event will help to pay for 2009-13 Signature Initiative – Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.  And it’s because of this event that I was able to meet the lovely couple of Becca & TJ, whom bid on my auction donation. These two stunners will be wedding in this coming year, so what a perfect auction prize for them to win!

Check out a few of my favorites from our chilly session at the Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood. 

On days like today, when the unfortunate death of innocent children & unknowing adults is made known in the national media, it reminds me why I am so grateful for what I do for a living. We will NEVER know all the details of what tomorrow holds, or when it may be the last day we have with a loved one.  So to be able to capture those moments that mean the world to my clients, it also means the world to me.  I just have to think these families and friends affected by this tragedy today, will surely be eternally appreciative of those last few photos they have of their loved ones from which to remember them by.  Along with the many before that.  So if I can make hearts happy with my photos, than I feel like I’ve done my job.

So with all that being said, I’ve unfortunately let the everyday grind distract me from sharing with you LOTS of loving moments that I’ve captured over the last few months. So here’s some fall catch-up for you! I hope that it brings a smile to your face despite all that has gone on today.  (And please make sure to hug your loved ones today and let them know how much they mean to you!)

The Wilson Family:

The McGlinchey’s:

The Weinzimmers:

I remember when Brandy and I were planning this session.  We weren’t really sure what to call this session…a maternity session? An engagement session? A wedding day session? Haha.  See this beautiful couple were originally planning a September 2012 wedding, but found out they were expecting a little bundle of joy. So instead, they still got married by the state of Ohio this past September, but will have a big wedding celebration planned for next September in Siesta Key, Florida. So we technically did do maternity, engagement, wedding session that day, but I will be joining them next year for the fun beach celebration! Can’t wait!  We headed back to the park, David Fortier Park in North Olmsted, where Chris proposed to his lovely lady.  How sweet!  We also made sure to get a few family shots with Brandy’s handsome boys.  We did well with that session, don’t you think?!

This cat would NOT leave us alone. I guess it really wanted to be in the photos with them. Haha

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three years since I first met Heather through some mutual friends.  I remember when I first met her, thinking “Wow! She’s such a stunningly beautiful gal!” And not just from the outside…she’s very much a sweetheart too.  I knew whomever was the guy to win her heart over would be a lucky man!  And that lucky fella just happened to be Scott. I was beyond excited when I learned that Heather + Scott had gotten engaged and that little ol’ muah, was going to get the opportunity to capture this gorgeous couple on their special day.

I first met Rachel when I started training her at the gym (at my former day job) a few years back.  I think it’s safe to say that we hit it off immediately too as friends.  So during our training sessions, topics such as work, family, and of course, boys would come up from time to time.  I had told her about my relationship struggles, and she opened up to me about this wonderful guy Vince that she’d started dating.  I got to hear all about this awesome guy, and i was super happy for her!  I secretly kept hoping that I would hear about an engagement in the future.  Then, on one April 1st day, I saw their status changed to engaged! I was ecstatic! Only to realize that I had been “April Fooled!” Haha. Those tricksters!  But then the day did actually come where Vince asked Rachel for her hand in married and I was BEYOND thrilled! I can only hope I become so lucky in love.

Check out some of their photos from that day below. We had a blast wandering through the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks. The Nature Center and Squires Castle gave us some fun photo opportunities!

Back at the end of April, I received an email from Pen and Paper Weddings inquiring about featuring my engagement session for Lindsay + Andy on their up and coming wedding blog site that was to launch May 2012.  I was beyond thrilled!  I’ve been meaning for some time to check out some of the fabulous wedding blog sites out there and submit one of my engagements or weddings.  Time got away.  So when they actually were the ones inquiring with me, I was beyond ecstatic!  How cool is that?  And let me  tell you have have some great features on their site…all focusing on use of the outdoors and natural light.  If you are a bride to be, you should definitely check it out for some great inspiration!

So without further ado, go check out my feature that is posted on their blog today!

Tiffany + Mark’s engagement session was definitely one that I was looking forward to doing.  First off, getting to photograph such a stunning couple makes my job SUPER easy! Second, we decided to head over to the wineries near Geneva and Geneva-On-The-Lake for these photos which made the wino in me ecstatic to be able to photograph within the gorgeous vineyards of Northeast Ohio!  So put together a drop-dead gorgeous couple + scenic vineyards & lakefront views = some pretty awesome photos (if I do say so myself! haha)

Looking forward to photographing this couple again at their big day in October!

With Vanessa and Brian living out of town, and all 3 of us having busy schedules, we weren’t sure if and when we would get in their engagement session.  But thankfully we found a date in February that worked for all 3 of us, and we headed towards the University Circle area to get some shots of the lovely couple.  Being alumni and HUGE OSU fans, we made sure that we incorporated a little of the scarlet and grey into our photo session that gorgeous February afternoon.

Can’t wait to photograph this stunning couple again at their August wedding!

So when I woke up the morning of Danny + Kara’s engagement session and saw that there was a good amount of snow, was still snowing and the temps felt to be below 20 degrees, I thought it best to text the couple to see if they were still interested in wondering around downtown Cleveland, Ohio City, and Tremont in the bitter cold for the engagement session.  The reaction I got? They were totally down for it, if not more excited to be able capture some photos that really gave you an honest feel of what Cleveland is like in the winter. Love it! I knew from this point on I was going to love working with them! Below are some of the fun shots that we ended up with while traipsing around the West Side Market, The Loop in Tremont, and ultimately ending up at their wedding venue…the Cleveland Arcade.

Jessica + Dionte were seriously one of the cutest couples I’ve worked with. There was no “how do I pose” type of questions asked at their shoot. I told them just to sit back and enjoy spending time with each other and that’s exactly what they did. Lots of kisses. Nuzzling. Laughter. Even rain couldn’t keep the smiles of these two. Just looking at these photos, you can tell that there is a deep connection between the two of them. If ever there were sole mates, they would be them. Sadly, they don’t get to see each other as much as they would love to because Dion is away serving our country. But as is evident from the photos, distance isn’t keeping these two from falling even deeper in love.