Love Life Images

Toolbox DC Wedding Sneak Peek: Josh and Kasia

Joe Wang — Wed, 24 May 2017 19:13:07 +0000

Josh and Kasia wed in DC last weekend at Toolbox, after some portraits around DC and inside the National Portrait Gallery. Congrats J+K!

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Chesapeake Bay Beach Club Wedding Sneak Peek

Matthew (Dag) D’Agnostino — Wed, 24 May 2017 16:07:18 +0000

Meaghan and Jeff wed last weekend in Annapolis at St. Mary’s Church, with their reception at the lovely Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. Their amazing team of vendors including Wedding Savvy, Behind the Veil, Little House of Flowers, and the Bachelor Boys Band worked to make their day go off without a hitch! Congrats M+J!

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Clarendon Ballroom Wedding: Virginia and Jarren

Joe Wang — Wed, 24 May 2017 14:29:51 +0000

Virginia and Jarren had a beautiful wedding at the Clarendon Ballroom on the last Saturday of April. The day started with getting ready at the Le Meridien Hotel and the first look at the hotel terrace overlooking the Potomac River. Everything worn by their wedding party was black & white which included Virginia’s gown & bouquet. Virginia looked absolutely stunning in her not so traditional wedding dress! The velvet and satin black clothes contoured her body perfectly while the white chiffon piece taken from her mom’s wedding gown flowed around her and followed her everywhere just like a mom’s love to her child.

Congratulations, Virginia & Jarren! I was thrilled to document this day in your lives and wish you a lifetime of happiness, love and laughter!

~ Joe Wang

Ceremony and Reception Location: Clarendon Ballroom

Coordinator: Sandra Hoehne, Clarendon Ballroom

Dress Designer: Julius E Lofton

Shoes: Sam Edelman

Hair: Tassia Favatas

Makeup: Carole McMahon

Suit/Tux: Lustre Formal Wear

Florist: Allan Woods Flowers & Little Acre Flowers

Caterer: Clarendon Ballroom

Cake: Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats

Officiant: Charles Williams

Ceremony and Reception music: Free Spirit Band, Entertainment Exchange

Invitations: KKP

Honeymoon location: Europe

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Decatur House Wedding: Claire and Andy

Joe Wang — Mon, 22 May 2017 15:28:58 +0000

Claire & Andy’s wedding day was full of joy, laughter, and love. The entire day was so lovely from start to finish. It was drizzling almost the entire day but it didn’t dampen the spirits of this sweet couple. They embraced it. From their getting ready at St. Regis, to the walk to their gorgeous ceremony at the Decatur House, to their portraits on Lafayette Square, the rain outside was the perfect compliment for a beautiful couple on a most beautiful day.

Claire’s family is from Decatur, Alabama so she picked the venue to honor her hometown. The ceremony was held at the beautiful courtyard at the Decatur House and followed by a crazy dance party! The reception was fun and the dance floor was packed with high energy guests- evening the Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents made an appearance!

Congratulations to Claire and Andy, we were so honored to be a part of your special day. May your marriage be like your wedding: fun, awesome and amazing!

~ Joe Wang

Ceremony and Reception Location: Decatur House

Coordinator: Katie Martin, Elegance and Simplicity

Bridal Shop: White Dresses Boutique

Dress Designer: Ines Di Santo

Shoes: Badgley Mischka

Hair and Makeup: Alison Harper & Company

Suit/Tux: Sid Mashburn

Florist: Elegance and Simplicity

Caterer: Spilled Milk Catering

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Officiant: Groom’s Brother

Ceremony music: String Quartet of Northern Virginia

Reception music: The Blue Tips Rhythm Revue, Sam Hill Entertainment

Lighting: Sugarplum Tent Company

Rentals: Sugarplum Tent Company

Live Painter: Patricia Bennett

Invitations: The Paper Chase

Honeymoon location: Thailand

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The Insider Wedding Report- Volume 4

Jennifer Domenick — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:34:05 +0000

The Ivy Hotel in Baltimore: A Gem in the City

A question we’ve gotten in the past: “Do you have any recommendations for a hotel that is an ideal setting for getting ready?” There are a few we recommend, but when we visited The Ivy Hotel in Baltimore, it was clear that this hotel was a clear winner. In the outdoor courtyard, there is a ideal staircase just waiting for a couple’s reveal to happen. Not to mention the vast possibilities for couple portrait settings. Although the Ivy has been open for a while, we wanted to share some of the interiors in hopes that one of our clients is still searching for a location for rehearsal dinner, high tea, spa time or simply resting and getting ready for their wedding.

Capacity: Ranges from 6 to 60 depending on the space.

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EVENTS IN THE DMV AREA AND BEYOND:

May 18th: Red Carpet Bridal Tour Frederick County (Ceresville Mansion in Frederick MD)
May 18th: Local Color Flowers Spotlight on Peonies Class (Baltimore MD)
May 21st: T Rose International Bridal Show (Richmond VA)
May 21st: Cakes & Carats Bridal Show (Philadelphia PA)
May 23rd: The Knot DC Workshop at the Ronald Reagan Building
May 23rd: District Bliss VA Vendor Social (Kabana Rooftop in Richmond VA)
May 25th: PopUp Wedding Mixer (Philadelphia PA)
May 27th: #SlayDate Workshop (The Lemon Bowl in Washington DC)
June 5th – 8th: Engage!17 Wedding Summit (Cayman Islands)

TRUNK SHOWS:

Betsy Robinson May Sample Sale
Hitched Salon May 12th – 13th Modern Trousseau Trunk Show. May 19th – 20th Anna Maier Trunk Show
Soliloquy Bridal Couture May 12th – 21st Alvina Valenta Trunk Show
Lovely Bride May 26th – 28th Louvienne Trunk Show
Garnish Boutique May 20th – 21st Hayley Paige Trunk Show
Carine’s Bridal May Sample Sale

BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT: Nour Kazoun Makeup Artistry shares her favorite face mask.

For a quick complexion fix I love the SEPHORA COLLECTION Face Mask – Pearl, affordable and works! If it is your big day, have an event to attend or just not loving what you see in the mirror get one of these and put it on your face for 45min. Your skin is going to suck up all the nutrients and your skin’s texture will be super supple and ready for any makeup application. Make sure you don’t remove the residue of the mask, rather massage it into your skin and down to your neck. For best results make sure your face is freshly cleaned and the mask is stored in the fridge. No more DULLNESS!

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The UnEngagement Photo Project

Matthew (Dag) D’Agnostino — Mon, 15 May 2017 19:09:59 +0000

Most of the time, I photograph people at their best. They look happy, they sound happy, and they surround themselves with those that love them the most. Despite the stress, weddings are essentially stories of joy.

But what about marriages? Now that could be a different story. In that spirit, I present here the first installment of The UnEngagement Photo Project: tales of romantic alienation and glamourless love. Before you get too far, I mean for these to be funny.

Now, I love a perfectly-framed-sunset-love-smooching engagement photo as much as the next guy, but as a photojournalist, I’m naturally predisposed to capture reality as best I can. Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with Pinterest culture and the market in perfect imagery it represents. On one hand, with so many photographs of high quality on the internet, clients can ask for, and reasonably expect, great images. I believe that the rising tide, in this instance, raises all boats. However, the trading of images online has a homogenizing effect. People begin to want the same thing: a sunset here, a kiss just like this, a certain kind of visually represented grandeur, etc. When this happens, the break between reality and its representation in photographs grows.

Nowhere is this more evident then in photographs of wedding details: the flowers, cufflinks, table settings, and all of the physical objects that communicate something about the wedding. Physical objects provide clues about their owners and creators. Photographing detail shots is very important, and I often find it artful. Nonetheless, I often dislike detail shots because of what happens to them after I make them. They become commodities online, objects of desire instead of evidence of desire. Magazines want them often, it feels, than photographs of real people; they mirror the ads on the facing pages. Furthermore, when wedding photos become linked and gathered into websites like Pinterest, they become part of trends, fashions, and fads that form an increasingly narrow band of visual language. They take over the wedding imagination.

To be clear, as wedding and engagement photos become more alike, they become less like the people in the photographs.

I want my photos to accurately represent the people I photograph.

I want to see through the visual distraction of a million generic images. Nothing provides clarity of perspective better than fun and humor. To stay connected with joy, I’ll start by making photos that profess the opposite of perfect love, great sex, boundless patience, and realized dreams. These images form my prequel to a noir movie, just before things get truly lurid.

Finally, thanks go to my collaborators, a very happy, but somewhat twisted couple, Kim and Todd, whose wedding I had the honor of photographing a year-and-a-half ago.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Jennifer Domenick — Sun, 14 May 2017 13:00:06 +0000

We’re wishing a very happy mother’s day to all the moms out there! We are so lucky to have the chance to photograph special moments between mothers and their children on their wedding day, from helping a daughter dress in her wedding gown or pinning a boutonnière on their son to walking down the aisle and sharing a parent dance.

These special moments continue for us when our wedding couples return for maternity or newborn portrait sessions and we are always so excited to watch the transition from bride to mother.

Thank you to all the mothers in our lives and all you do! Happy Mother’s Day!

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Style Me Pretty Feature: Susanne and Richard

Jennifer Domenick — Fri, 12 May 2017 15:37:12 +0000

Susanne and Richard had a gorgeous fall wedding at River Farm- one of our favorite Alexandria wedding venues. We are thrilled to see their vintage-inspired day featured on Style Me Pretty today!

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Park Hyatt DC wedding: Rachel and Gabriel

Matthew (Dag) D’Agnostino — Fri, 05 May 2017 15:00:16 +0000

Sometimes, a wedding just needs to go past midnight, because one day just isn’t sufficient. That’s the way I felt about Rachel and Gabriel’s wedding at the Park Hyatt: those people had energy to spare.

As for Rachel and Gabriel, I tried to capture some of their sweetness together. They communicate their affection constantly with touch–a hand squeeze, a light caress…so I wanted to show some of this gentleness about them. With my camera finding some of these moments, and the energy of the party, I think that together they summed up both ends of the same story, which is–of course–about love.

It was joy to witness your wedding, Rachel and Gabriel! Best wishes to you both. Abrazos, Dag