I had an absolute blast recently with Vicki and Mike for a “day-after” / “trash the dress” session in the Georgetown area of DC!  It’s amazing what fun shots you can get with a couple of hours to play around!  Vicki is awesome – after she and Mike got lots of great photos together, she wanted to stress her dress, so we headed down to the Potomac River for a little wading through the waters – so fun!

So, funny story!  Last fall, I got an email that was rather surprising.  At first glance, I was a little confused to see that the email was from “Leah Stern.”  I remember my husband and I were visiting my brother in law and as I read the email, I just burst out laughing and had to explain to them both why.  Leah Stern and her fiance Teague first became aware of my existence when I started my photography company “Leah Stern Photography” in the fall of 2007.  When the website was built, Leah received an alert that her name was attached to a website.  Since Leah & Teague love art and photography, they just followed the site now and then, through the next couple of years and the rebranding as Studio Juno.  When they got engaged and needed a wedding photographer, I found out there was another Leah Stern out there who was both completely awesome and getting married in the DC area.

Leah & Teague are really the kind of people the world needs more of – they are all about helping others, giving back and making the world a better place.  They don’t just talk the talk, they do it!  And you can see this approach to life in their relationship with each other too.  They’re so giving of themselves and I honestly can’t imagine either of them without the other!

Photographing their wedding was such a treat – Leah & Teague are super laid-back, as sweet as they come, creative and just fun to be around.  Their ceremony was so full of touching moments – I’ve never seen so much laughter and so many tears in the course of one wedding ceremony.  They incorporated everything about their history together, personalities, principles and devotion to each other into the whole day.  And of course, it was so much fun to photograph all of these touching moments between two such fantastic people!  And my favorite part of all is that Leah isn’t changing her last name, so we still get to be name twins!

Getting Ready: SpringHill Suites, Fairfax VA

Dress: Ulla Maija

Paper Flowers (bouquets & boutonnieres): My Bohemian Summer, an Etsy Shop

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Old Town Hall, Fairfax VA

Catering: Guardado’s Restaurant

I love the “I’m getting married!” happy dance…

These paper flowers were really fantastic – so unique and interesting!  Plus, they’re eco-friendly and will keep forever!  Leah & Teague ordered them from My Bohemian Summer.

You might be wondering why there are 4 rings in the photo.  Well, it’s because Teague & Leah actually made their own rings – literally forged them from the same piece of metal (talk about multi-talented!).  And they had extra metal, so Teague made two rings for Leah – just in case she ever loses one, as she is apparently prone to do.

Leah & Teague’s family and friends were great – there was so much warmth and love and everyone clearly just couldn’t have been happier for these two.

Another fun and creative detail – in place of flower centerpieces, Leah & Teague displayed their favorite children’s books.  They actually had a few favorite passages from these stories read during their ceremony.

And in addition to dancing, they had a space upstairs stocked with board games for everyone to play!