Love the yummy golden colors of the field and the light. I pumped up the warmth to accentuate those colors that grace us each Fall in North Carolina.

Jen, you are so gorgeous...check out those eyes! Her make-up was done by Kristin Patkunas at Tanas in Cary. I'm excited to say Kristin will be a Sweet Life bride herself next October when she marries Amin at Highgrove.

I think it was Adam's idea to throw the leaves. It took repeated tries, but we finally got the leaves falling and great expressions all at once.

When I say "Fearless Bridal" I literally mean fearless. Jen gamely tromped up a hill covered in crunchy late Fall foliage (thorns, stickers, etc.) to get these next shots. Thank you, Jen...you're officially bonafide. We shot in November and something about these next two shots made me think of winter, so I processed them to bring out the blues and lend a wintry feel.

Yep, favorite.

Thank you to Jen and Adam for bringing a sense of adventure along with loads of affection and stunning good looks!

Check back for their wedding post soon...

I guess I could title this post "A Bouquet of Beautiful Brides", but even I have my corny-ness limits.

We're headed away for some much needed R'n'R tomorrow and the office will be closed until Saturday, July 25th. I've been threatened by my kids with tickle torture if I check email too frequently and since I hate to be tickled, I'm going to try to comply with their demands. You can reach me by phone if it's reeeaallly important: 919.389.7274. Until then, I leave you with some of my favorite recent bridal portraits. Enjoy!

Here's Emily:

Amy

Amy made it in twice. Yay, Amy!

So did Erica.

From her Fearless Bridal session.

Angi. Rock that close-up, girlfriend!

Joanna.

Jen.

Stacy.

Kim. I adore bridal portraits in black and white. So classic.

Patricia.

Kendall.

Siobhan. I'm so sad Longview Center is no longer booking weddings. I'll miss those stained-glass windows.

Alysia. I realize that strictly speaking, this is not a bridal portrait since her groom is in it too. But she's the focus.

And it's my blog so I can do whatever I want.

And finally, Brittany. So pretty!

Am I the luckiest photographer ever or what?!?

Let's start with Christine...such a classic beauty.  We did her bridal portrait at her parents' home in Durham. It was such a pleasure to shoot there -- beautiful rooms, great light and a magnificent staircase!

Oh my goodness...this is my favorite. I know it's not a true bridal portrait, but I love everything about it: the warmth, the veil and hair jewelry, her perfect posture and how you can see the dress whittle away to her tiny, tiny waist. Don't you just know by looking at the picture that when this woman turns around, she's going to be stunning?

Maybe it's the air of mystery that I like so much.

Meet Melissa, a September bride, which meant we were shooting this in the gardens in mid-August. At one point I thought we were all -- me, my photo assistant (Kat), Melissa's step-mom and aunt, not to mention the bride in the dress -- just going to fall out from the heat. I think it was simply that I had a beautiful bride to photograph that helped me keep it together. But, OMG, it was HOT.

I love this portrait so much...I didn't even have to twist her arm too hard to get her to step down on those rocks with her gown mere inches from the water. But see what taking a risk gets you? Pure awesomeness!

Melissa, you are SO the sweetest Southern Belle.

Siobhan, such style, such grace. She and Mario were married at the Longview Center in September. I was so sad to hear that the Longview is closing...I love, love, LOVE those stained-glass windows.

Lindsey held it together even when caught out deep in Duke Gardens when a very tricky rainshower blew up. We thought it would just be one of those little light showers; holy moly, were we ever wrong. We huddled with Lindsey under the wisteria-covered arboretum with nothing but a sheet around her and under her to try to keep the dress dry while we waited for the storm to pass. The dress did get wet, but it was just fine on wedding day. Since the rain shower cut us short at Duke, we took some additional time for fun shots on the wedding day. Here are two favorites:

Back to Duke Gardens and Jefri. She's so tiny and adorable and gorgeous, I just want to squish her! I just loved shooting her wedding to Adam at the gardens in August.

Here's Andrea, another stunning brunette. I just love it when brides leave their hair down. It's such a soft and romantic look.

Kristina married Wesley in December in a wintry-themed wedding: blue and silver were the colors she chose for her wedding. I thought these little blue flowers in her bouquet were so cute!

Patricia, in the bride's room at Highgrove. So gorgeous!

And finally, Kimberly. Her mom told me that when she saw her bridal portraits online for the first time, she didn't believe it was really her because she'd never seen herself looking so glamorous. I thought she was absolutely beautiful!