Valerie Demo » weddings

Mr. and Mrs. Reyes {virginia beach wedding photographers.}

admin — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:34:49 +0000

I’ve known Whitney for entirely too long. I sat down to add it up… and if I have it correct… we’ve known each other for almost 20 years and have been friends for 17 of those years. We met in elementary school here in Virginia Beach and were in the same class in fifth grade. Who knew by the time high school rolled around we’d be kicking butt in student government, obsessing over Chris Carrabba, and spending entirely too long in the halls of Cox High School together? Needless to say, I was so happy for my long time BFF when she announced she and Jon were going to be getting married! Jon is the perfect counter balance to Whit… AND he even talked her into going to a few shows at the NorVa I would have never been able to drag her to. (Good man.)
Their wedding was held in October here in Virginia Beach… and was filled with love and laughter and a whole lot of pumpkins.

Big, huge thanks to Sarah and Tyler for second shooting and to Whit and Jon for having us there that day!

Mr. and Mrs. Miller {Museum of Contemporary Art Wedding.}

admin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:29:42 +0000

“workin’ on a wedding, going up up up…”
(Sorry guys, I couldn’t help myself.)

I met Jake through serving on Virginia Beach Leadership Workshop Staff… which Leslie is also a part of… along with a good chunk of people at their wedding. I’m not even going to attempt to explain it… it wouldn’t make sense unless you know. Long story short… they’re a couple of awesome kids who spent a lot of time involved in extra-curricular activities, went to awesome colleges, served on VBLW during the summers, and grew up and became awesome teachers here in Virginia Beach.
Somewhere in there, after Jake convinced Leslie to come back to Virginia Beach to teach, they fell in love. awwww.

When we met for a meeting about their wedding… they said they didn’t want posey photos… and that they wanted a lot of moments captured. I did my best to keep that in mind during their wedding at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach in October… It was a ton of fun, and I think Sarah and I managed to do what they asked.
Thank you guys for letting us be a part of your big day! (P.S. If you look hard, I may or may not pop up in one of the photos. Sidenote: I shouldn’t point that out… I look like I’ve been working all day in it.)

Ceremony and Reception Location: Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach
Florist: Amy Watson
DJ: Ron Shaneyfelt
Music: Jeff Phelps
Wedding Dress: Silk Bridal
Catering: East Beach Catering
Cake: Carrie’s Cakes
Signage/Art: The amazing Terre Ittner

mr. and mrs. cameron. part two. {virginia wedding photographers. the water table.}

admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:26:39 +0000

Before I even say anything else… big, giant thanks and hugs to Sarah Lee Williams and Tyler Adams for shooting with me. I love that our photos all flow together so nicely.

Part two… (here is part one if you missed it)… I could have posted an entire blog post of funny dancing photos. Those of you who get to see the full gallery are in for some laughs.
The Water Table is a gorgeous venue (like always) and East Beach Catering knocked it out the park. The food was delicious. I would have just sat on the floor in the corner where we were hiding and had seconds if I didn’t have to do that whole working thing.

Thanks to Jenna and Johnny for trusting me with their wedding. Have so so much fun in Australia! (They just left for a visit/honeymoon/trip of awesomeness!)

mr. and mrs. cameron. part one. {virginia wedding photographer.}

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:19:49 +0000

Jenna and Johnny met when he asked her if they were standing in the tall people section at a concert at the NorVa.
(See, awesome pick up lines do work, sometimes.)
They’re fun, they’re ridiculously good looking, and their wedding was gorgeous… (and, obviously, they’re tall.)
Their wedding was such an awesome celebration of family and friends and happiness… a lot of people came in from Australia (where Johnny is from) just to celebrate with them… so we worked our butts off trying to make sure we really captured their day. (I think we did a pretty good job.)

They were married in September in Virginia Beach at Nimmo United Methodist (which is just one of the cutest, old churches in Virginia Beach) and followed it up with a reception at the Water Table (which will come in another blog post soon). We got to hang out at the Salon I get my hair done at, Wink on Laskin Road, and Sarah got to hang out with the guys all over the place (including a bar… the guys always have more fun)…

Big huge thanks to Sarah and Tyler for shooting along side of me…
Make sure to come back for part two soon!

Mr. and Mrs. Signorino {Virginia Modern Wedding Photographers. Lesner Inn Wedding.}

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:05:57 +0000

I’ve decided I’ve dubbed 2012 the “year I knew my brides”.
Ashley and I went to school together from middle school on through high school.
I could totally scan yearbooks… but I won’t… because frankly, who wants evidence of middle school on the interwebs.
To top it off, her mom was at one point my gym teacher… and there was a year we were in dance class together… which included horrible, horrible outfits. (I will not be sharing photos from that, either… it would be damaging to my reputation as a bad ass. <--- sarcasm. clearly, I am not.)

Other things I've decided:
1. It's nice photographing people you know... even if its been years since you've seen them. There is no awkward getting to know you phase.
2. The Lesner Inn is still one of my favorite venues... thanks to its proximity of my favorite beach location in Virginia Beach and the docks I like shooting at. And its gorgeous... and lacks crazy carpeting, which is always a plus.
3. Ashley and Joe are a really great couple. They're both funny. And fun. And I imagine their life will be full of laughter.
4. Trolls make for awesome ring shots.

Big thanks (as always) to Sarah Lee Williams for shooting along side of me and taking many of the images below. <3.

mr. and mrs. minnicks. part two. {front porch farms wedding photographer.}

admin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:58:47 +0000

I have a really creepy love for type and fonts. Typography was my favorite class in college. Someone once got me a mouse pad that said “typophile”… because it is a true statement.
Tony and Kate’s wedding theme… “Just My Type”.
Sigh.
Thank YOU Wedding Gods.

Add that to the fact there are long farm tables, what may have been the best food I’ve ever eaten at a wedding (I want the squash recipe… like yesterday), sky lanterns,a killer middle school/ high school reminiscent play list and a bunch of people with sweet dance moves… and it makes for a reception equally as awesome as the ceremony.

Venue- Front Porch Farms
Brides/Bridesmaids Dresses- BHLDN
Catering-Beyond Details Catering
Floral- DIY
Wedding Coordination- Decadent Details Events

Big HUGE giant massive thank yous to Sarah Lee Williams and Chelsea LaVere for being some of the best photog friends a gal could ask for. Weddings are a blast to shoot… when really great, talented friends are by your side… they’re even better!

Also… for funsies, here are a few photos of Kate and Jennifer (who will hopefully make her wedding debut here next year as well!) and I when we were youngins’… oh, and of course our close personal friend Matt. We’re totally on a first name basis. He told me I was rad once. Point being, I love shooting my friends’ weddings. Thank you to Kate and Tony and their families for allowing us to be a part of their day.

mr. and mrs. minnicks. part one. {nashville wedding photographers.}

admin — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 04:18:15 +0000

I’m not even sure where to begin with Kate and Tony’s Front Porch Farms Wedding in Nashville. DIY as far as the eye could see. Dresses from BHLDN. MUSTARD and stripes and a military uniform and sky lanterns and typography and paper flowers…
Oh, and being able to watch a really amazing friend tie the knot to her fella after making it through deployments and a constant long distance relationship.

And the rain…
The rain we’re not really allowed to talk about. The rain that caused crazy skies all day… and poured and then drizzled and almost caused the cathedral window ceremony backdrop to be put away (p.s. You can add wedding alter negotiator to my resume now)… the rain that drove Kate insane… until she saw Tony during their first look.
And in that exact moment the stress and the angst and the worry went away. And that is exactly what the person you should marry is supposed to do for you. Tony sang Kate a few lines of “Here comes the sun” and there were laughs and smiles and it felt like the day was exactly as it was supposed to be.
The rain came on and off all day… just enough to need some umbrellas during the ceremony and to make for some awesome photos… and then they said I do… and kissed and walked down the aisle… and it never rained again. The storms that were supposed to come later never came. And the skies cleared. And the reception went off without a hitch. Sky lanterns were lit and flew into the sky at the end of the night… and it was by far one of my favorite weddings I have ever photographed.

I could not even begin to lower down the images enough to fit it in to one blog post. I barely had a cut off for this one… SO you get two. Two blog posts packed full to the brim.
Come back tomorrow.
It’ll be worth it.

BIG HUGE THANKS to Sarah and Chelsea for coming with me and making my job even easier and more fun. <3.
Be sure to come back for the second installment where I’ll give credit where credit is due to all of the vendors. <3.

An Awesome Nashville Wedding Photography Sneak Peek. {Nashville Wedding Photographers. Front Porch Farms.}

admin — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:56:04 +0000

Oh, Front Porch Farms Wedding (and Nashville Weddings in general), how I love thee.
You’ll hear more about it on the full blog post… so I’m not going to blabber on… but Kate and Tony knocked it out of the park. (There is no way they weren’t going to.)

If it wasn’t completely mean, I don’t think I’d even dole out a sneak peek on this one… I don’t want to give anything away before the big giant blog post and before you see all of your images… so this is all you get. (I guess maybe I should do an evil laugh or something.)

For those of you who weren’t there… Reasons it was awesome:
Crazy, steamy misty mountains… I could totally get behind this being my backdrop all the time. Who can I contact in the Navy to arrange for Chris to be stationed in Nashville?

But… mostly… because two awesome people got married:

And, frankly, because this happened… sky lanterns for the awesome wedding win.

Congrats again, Kate and Tony… I can’t wait to tackle all of these images. They’re pretty much amazing. I couldn’t even bring myself to put my favorites as the sneak peek. Let’s just say you’re in for some awesome wedding photos. <3.

the backseat…

admin — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:41:23 +0000

… sometimes I take it.
And I like it.

I second shot this Virginia Beach wedding for Chelsea from Bit of Ivory Photography twice this year… but I only have the photos from one of the weddings to show off. (Oops.) I never even had a chance to look through the other wedding before I needed the cards for other reasons… so I would have shown them off both here… but alas… you get one. The upside… this one was gorgeous… has florals from my favorite florists… so many details I could have spent all day taking photos of just the plates and flowers and vases and on and on… and like all of Chelsea’s weddings… I wound up with a connection and saw an old friend. (Hi Brenner… which should actually be spelled Brynner to make sense. He and his now wifey make an appearence in the photos below in the dancing section!)

Here are a few of my favorite images of the day… I could have posted a whole Valerie-sized blog post on this one… but you can check out Chelsea’s blog for more of the day.

mr. and mrs. withers {virginia beach creative wedding photographer. old cavalier wedding.}

admin — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 21:55:02 +0000

There are not many times you get a wedding referred to you by some of your favorite people, an amazing location, and clients who are both ridiculously good looking and a ton of fun all in one wedding… so when you get it… the blog post will overflow.
Basically what I’m saying is that this blog post is long.
And rightfully so…
Terry and Jenn were married at the Old Cavalier on June 9th, 2012… and pretty much had a wedding dream team. Palette of Petals, As You Wish, and Astro DJs… plus the Old Cavalier… and my second shooters being Sarah Lee Williams and Chelsea from Bit of Ivory (who took some of the amazing photos below). Game Over. (Check out all of their links at the bottom of the post!) Add in the fact at our meeting Jenn said “We really like candid photos better… We don’t really want any posed ones.” HOLLER. Best. Clients. Ever.
AND as if their wedding isn’t awesome enough… Terry and Jenn are both in the improv scene in New York City, have awesome families I pretty much wanted to just hang out with, and when I looked them up when I got their inquiry originally they totally both have mentions on IMDB… hello, most awesome couple ever. OH… and they met while Jenn was a Radio City Rockette… (and according to one of their speeches… she was the middle one… props to Jenn.)
And can I just mention again how gorgeous everything was…
Enough talk. The photos are enough to prove it… enjoy:

Venue: Cavalier Hotel
Floral Design: Palette of Petals
Catering: Cavalier Hotel
DJ: Larry at Astro DJs
MUA: Theresa Little
Hair: Hair by Alice
Cake: Sugar Plum Bakery
Second Shooters: Sarah Lee Williams and Chelsea LaVere

just a little wedding photography advice…. fun.stuff.friday. {virginia modern wedding photographer.}

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:31:40 +0000

As I sit here staring at my calendar, hardly being able to believe that my wedding season officially starts in two weeks… I realized its friday and its time for another fun.stuff.friday post. pfew. time flies.

I got to spend last Saturday second shooting for Lundy Photography and backing up Erin… which was fun… its always nice to take the second seat every now and then…
(…Which is where that gorgeous photo above came from… Congrats to Amy and Jimmy!
I’m sure come August I’ll post a big fat second shooting post and you can see more of what I captured.)

I thought with my wedding season around the corner…this week’s edition would be a great big ole’ shout out to my brides… and to any brides to be… on what makes life easier when it comes to wedding photography.
I know not all of this will apply to each wedding… or that this might not even make any sense outside of how I shoot my own weddings… but I thought it would be a nice thing to cover with wedding season approaching quickly. What better advice to dole out than some tips that will ultimately make your images BETTER? (And who doesn’t want that!)

1. Actually think about where you’ll be getting ready.
Getting ready images are some of my favorite images… no lie. I love them. Pick a place with a lot of windows and natural light if you can (your makeup artist or you, if you’re doing it yourself, will thank me for it, too.) I don’t care about stuff being everywhere… its part of the day… Not everyone needs a 5-star hotel… but sometimes there are options other than the supply closet. I promise.

2. Details!
If you want us to get photos of your dress or shoes… Make sure you leave time in the schedule for us to take them. It’s kind of hard to take them when you already have them on when we show up!
Also… if you want a photo of your invitations… make sure to send us one before the wedding or give one to us that day!
(Seems simple enough… but trust me… its happened!)

3. First Look vs. Traditional
First Looks are AWESOME. Why you ask? 1. It frees up more time after the ceremony because we can knock out a lot of portraits before the wedding. 2. What better time to take portraits than as soon as your makeup and hair is done. No worrying about still looking super nice an hour later after the ceremony. 3. For whatever reason… maybe because we can get more of the photos done before the wedding… everytime I have shot a first look, the day winds up more relaxed. 4. I promise… if your groom is going to choke up when you walk down the aisle… 99.9% of the time, he will do it even though he has already seen you. I’ve seen it happen over and over again.

4. Really want that “down the aisle moment”?
If you really want the first time he sees you to be as you walk down the aisle… no worries. I will never ever push you into a first look. (Think about a first look with your dad…) Either way… first look or not… I HIGHLY recommend taking all bridesmaids and groomsmen photos beforehand…

5. Hair and Makeup always takes longer than you think.
No explanation… its just a fact.

6. Family Formals… where to even start.
Try to pick somewhere other than the alter. It automatically makes people feel stiff… and we have to wait on everyone to leave before we can start. Think about picking an outdoor location… or letting us pick one… so that we can walk straight there out of the ceremony and get started.
I’ve asked this year for my clients to really sit and think about the family formals they want and limit them… If you want photos of you with just your family… think about shooting those before the wedding… or just including your spouse in all of the photos.
(You are part of each other’s families now!)
Extra photos of you with just Aunt Jane are just as easily snapped at the reception…

7. If you think you have it scheduled down to the minute… you don’t.
Leave extra time everywhere.
People want to hug you. And stop you. And talk to you.
There will be bathroom breaks. And one person that is always missing. And traffic.
Things go wrong.
Account for it beforehand… and you won’t be stressed the day of.

8. If you’re trying to decide when I should arrive and leave…
Cut time off of the end of the reception.
I promise that the dancing shots will all be the same after a while.
Having some getting ready shots and not thirty shots of the groomsmen doing the sprinkler will make you happier down the line.

9. Want a special exit?
Consider doing it after the ceremony instead of at the very end of the night.
(You can get in the car and circle back around for photos!)
People tend to filter out before the big send off if its at the end of the night… and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that pitch black is harder for us to shoot in as well.

10. Fill me in!
If there are certain details you want us to capture that aren’t so obvious… make sure you fill me in!

I would also like to give a big shout out to Leila of Seriously Sexy Boudoir who won tickets to drive-by truckers this week thanks to a little contest on the facebooks… and asked me to be her date. Thanks, lady! It was fun!
And because I got to see them live this week… I will leave you with a little DBT for you to enjoy as well!

feathers, friends, and gorgeous light… {virginia wedding photographer.}

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:06:21 +0000

Ah, the website. Its coming… fingers crossed for the end of April… and along with it… lots of shooting for me, and lots of new shoots to fill up my b-e-a-uuuu-tiful new site.
Big HUGE giant thanks to my friend Jennifer… who is my first 2014 booking- YAY!… for taking a little time out of her busy schedule while she was home from Mali to come and play photography session with me… (Its a cool new game. You should try it.) AND to my friend Jonathan for coming out and holding things… and generally being awesome. You’ll see some of these on the new site… but I wanted to go ahead and share my favorites from the day!

Hi Jonathan!!!

ash’s bridal session… {virginia wedding photography}

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:27:25 +0000

Ash is graduating this spring from Regent University… so that is where we wound up at for her bridal photos… at her soon-to-be alma matter. It’s a beautiful campus… so I can’t complain. (Who can complain about black and white checkered floors and beautiful archways?)

Beyond the fact that my awesome red-haired bride… now has AWESOME pink hair… she’s also awesome because she kept her jacket on for some of the photos since it was January and all… AND she decided to wait until AFTER the wedding for her formal bridal session (not that I do anything all that “formal”) so we didn’t have to worry as much about getting her awesome dress dirty.

{INSERT WAITING UNTIL AFTER YOUR WEDDING FOR YOUR BRIDAL SESSION PLUG HERE.}

Without further adieu… here are some of my favorites from our session on Sunday.

P.S. YAY FOR SHOOTING AGAIN.

mr. and mrs. arends. part two. {norfolk wedding photographer.}

admin — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:17:11 +0000

ANNNDDDDD the conclusion. HUGE giant thanks again to Jeremy and Alicia. You guys are amazing.

mr. and mrs. arends. part one. {norfolk wedding photographer.}

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:20:36 +0000

Ash and Aric were married on a beautiful day… at the Waterside Marriott after it was fully decked out in decor by Southern Design Studios… complete with Floral from Marlene MacDonald with Norfolk Florist and topped it off with lighting by Blue Steel Lighting Design … so my job was pretty easy… NOT TO EVEN BEGIN to mention how awesomely awesome Aric and Ash are… hello, amazing! Right?!?!? Not only does she have that to die for red hair… but she wore her Grandma’s head piece, sewed vintage lace onto her veil, and is a rockin’ artist… and Aric isn’t too shabby either. They could both just be my personal models all the time. I’d be cool with that.
HUGE GIANT BIG thanks to Alicia White and Jeremy Grieff for coming out and shooting with me and capturing some of the amazing images below… It is amazing to have such talented photographers work with you…and to be able to call them both great friends as well.