Smitten and Hooked Blog

stacy & dan {i do | charlotte, nc wedding}

randall — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:10 +0000

Happy Friday! We are super pumped to share Stacy & Dan’s fabulous wedding!!!Stacy’s motto for her hair and how she explained to Kymm, the fab h&m artist…”the bigger the hair, the closer to Heaven” ha. Love herI love that they wrote their own vows…Steven happened to see Dan’s vows at the hotel.

this flower girl is so beautiful, her eyes are gorgeous!I love the excitement of Dan’s sisters seeing Stacy in her dress and ready to goStacy’s dad made this awesome ring box for themok, this was a little too much fun!

here are some of their gorgeous details at Byrons!

Stacy & Dan are HUGE animal lovers and decided in lieu of favors they gave a donation to help shut down a puppy mill. I thought this was so awesome of them!
It’s always the BEST feeling to see images you have taken of them displayed at their wedding!!!I LOVE their ombre chocolate cake….not to mention it was delicious!okay enough of the beautiful details, time for the ceremony to start….this is one of our favorite views in the Design Center. I think it is obvious we are obsessed with architecture and this shot oozes fab architecture! This was the moment Stacy realized that when she laughed she also snorted (another thing we have in common). I almost couldn’t take the pictures because it was so funny, her face was priceless. My favorite thing about this moment was that it was so her!It was raining and pretty gross outside, drinks were in order Instead of heading outdoors with the large bridal party we decided to keep it inside…I LOVE this series of pictures. Again, raining like crazy outside and they wanted to try to stay indoors so we used a spotlight that was there for their ceremony as a backlight and made this intimate moment beautiful!Another favorite….Just looking at this cake again makes me so hungry!Time for the part-tay!Time for some vendor love with this amazing couple! Below is Steve and his hottie wife Erica of Ashley Baber Weddings, she did such an amazing job planning their shindig!

Thanks Stacy & Dan! You guys are freaking amazing and we had SO much fun with you two!!!!

{amazing vendors}

Happy Memorial Day weekend friends! We actually have this weekend off and plan on doing a little R&R with our kiddos! Hope your weekend is fabulous and relaxing!

xo,

amanda {bridals | fort mill, sc}

randall — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:55:31 +0000

We had the distinct honor of shooting Amanda & Jimmy’s wedding this past weekend! Didn’t that sound so formal and swanky? haha. Just kidding that is so not us….we got to hang out and shoot one of the radest weddings ever this past weekend! <—much better

Before their wedding we got to hang out with Amanda and her sweet momma, Teri and shoot her bridals! We are excited to share some of the awesomeness that happened that day….

P.S. how crazy is this AMAZING LIGHT?!?!

Amanda is every kinda gorgeous…inside, outside and all the way around!

Hope you can wait just a little longer to check out their amazeing wedding we will be sharing in a few short weeks!!!

xo
Lucy & Steven

kim & nimesh {i do | charlotte, nc wedding photographer}

randall — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:05 +0000

Kim & Nimesh’s fabulous wedding was uptown at one of our favorite venue’s, The Mint Museum. Check it out!
for the record, this is one of my favorite ‘first looks’ ever. Nimesh’s face was 110% priceless!!!then Nimesh turns to us and says “look at her!”
Kim and their sweet niece!
some super fun detailslove the skyline cakeour beautiful city!big group pic!
Your wedding day was PERFECT! We had the best time celebrating with you!!

{vendor love}
hair & makeup | Kymm of Who’s the Fairest
planner | Priscilla of Orangerie Events
venue | Mint Museum Uptown
officiant | Rev Tod Coles

xoxo,

kim {bridals | charlotte, nc}

randall — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:17:09 +0000

we can hardly wait to share Kim & Nimesh’s gorgeous uptown wedding however in the mean time we wanted to share her gorgeous bridals. we also shot her bridals uptown which is totally her vibe. i love shooting in our city and always finding something new and exciting. every time we shoot uptown we discover new architecture we love. kim is beautiful and i swear she could be amy adams double!

There was a Checkers game uptown and we just happened to run into Chubby and some of his friends

so, this is one of my new favorites….

Stay tuned so we can share their gorgeous wedding later this week friends!

xo
Lucy & Steven

best day ever…..

randall — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:26:49 +0000

Today is one of the best days ever. Our new website & blog is making its debut and we were published on my very favorite wedding blog…BAM.

We teamed up with designer Meg Long to create a website that eat, breathed and slept our brand. I love it so much, she hit the nail on the head with this design! I am so proud you get to all see it today!! So go NOW to the site and check it out LIVE! www.smittenandhooked.com

Later tomorrow we will blog and tell you all about the styled shoot we did that got published by out very favorite wedding blog, Rock N Roll Bride! To see the post, click on the pic below! We couldn’t be happier!!!

xoxo,

amanda & jimmy {e-session | charlotte}

randall — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:32:46 +0000

I don’t even have words to tell you how awesome this couple is! Last year when Amanda, Jimmy & I chatted on the phone about their wedding I knew we couldn’t wait to work with them and hang out! Amanda is hilarious, tall and beautiful, you can’t help but notice when she walks in a room. Jimmy is an insanely talented drummer for SOS Stereo (an awesome band) that we got to hear one night out at Amos’.

While shooting their engagement session everything was going great! We decided to go to the Visualite theatre since Jimmy and his band has played there before. While inside some dummy broke in our car and stole our wallets and phones. boo. We came back outside to go to another location to find our new car window smashed on the ground in pieces and our stuff gone. I felt terrible because we were right in the middle of this rad shoot. They were more concerned about the car. On top of that, 2 days later in the mail, they sent us the sweetest card and gift card. Who does that?!? They are the most considerate and sincere people.

A couple weeks later we headed back out to wrap up their engagement shoot without the drama It was great because we got even more looks and got to spend more time with this amazing couple! Their wedding is in a couple weeks and we couldn’t be more excited!xoxo,

Lucy & Steven

maggie & tom {i do | charlotte, nc}

randall — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:31:15 +0000

Maggie & Tom tied the knot a couple weeks ago in a intimate and romantic wedding uptown Charlotte. They met at Dean & Deluca when Maggie went to grab something and her mother saw Tom eating alone she chatted him up. When Maggie came back to the table, to her surprise she was sitting with Tom and they were eating Maggie’s chocolate covered nuts she just purchased. I can only imagine what Maggie’s face looked like to see a stranger with his hands in her food. ha. This story is hilarious because if you have ever met Maggie’s mom, you will understand that she has never met a stranger and she says EXACTLY what she is thinking.

I love Maggie and Tom together, they balance each other out and are completely content and happy as long as they are together hand in hand. You just couldn’t ask for a sweeter more genuine couple.

Here is their story,

the moment Maggie’s brother walked in the room and Maggie’s mother tried to hook Kymm the makeup artist up to ride on his Harley…hahaSo I might be a little obsessed with these Valentino beauties….Maggie did a first look with her dad.Maggie and her beautiful niece’sMaggie and Tom opted to chat but not see each other that day prior to the ceremonyTom’s beautiful daughter….As soon as they headed out they saw Nancy, their fabulous wedding planner and couldn’t wait to give her a big hug!!Some details from The Charlotte City Club…the detail on this cake was incredible!The sunset was gorgeous that night and the City Club has the perfect view over Charlotte to see it all!

Cheers to you Maggie & Tom! We couldn’t have felt more honored to document your amazing day! Not only were you two amazing but your vendors were all awesome and had everything come together perfectly!

{vendor love}

xo,
Lucy & Steven

sneak peek….

randall — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:25:26 +0000

I feel like I haven’t blogged that much. I feel that way I guess because I haven’t.

The past two weeks we have had 2-3 shoots a day and a wedding on the weekends. It’s wedding season. Welcome. haha.

We have been shooting some pretty amazing stuff lately. Some I can show and some that will be published in May so I can’t quite show yet. The stuff we can show we thought we would give a little sneak peek into.

We have also been working with an AMAZING web designer out of LA for our new website and blog design. We are so excited about launching that sometime next week. Our site is EXACTLY what we have been looking for and we couldn’t be happier with how it all came out. We cannot wait to share its fabulousness with you!

In the mean time….we will be shooting but we will share what our past 2 weeks have looked like….

these twins are 98…cutest old ladies ever. we will tell you more about their story when Callie & Justin’s e-session hit the blog

Callie & Justin | e-session | Chapel Hill, NC Hannah & Dalton | e-session | NoDa

Kim | bridals | uptown Charlotte

Maria & Chris | e-session | Lincolnton, NC

Marice & Robbie | e-session | Charlotte, NC

Baby Trenton | newborn

Baby Haven | newborn

Kim & Nimesh | wedding | Mint Museum Uptown

Maggie & Tom | wedding | City Club

The Kasuganti’s | family

So much more to share soon! Hope you are having a fabulous week friends!!

xo,

spring break {santa fe, nm | personal}

randall — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:00:12 +0000

Spring break meant girls trip for me this year! I wanted to take our girls and my mother in law to Santa Fe, NM where my mom lives part time for some rest and relaxation. I had only seen my mom 1 time since Christmas between us traveling for work and her traveling to be awesome. Ellie had never visited but Lilly has been several times before. This was Ellie’s first trip on an airplane too! They did awesome and kept everyone very entertained, to say the least…..here is a peek (a long peek) into our sweet little vacay!We took the girls to visit the children’s museum, they loved it!We painted faces and they had free reign when it came to my faceThe next morning the girls slept in and then woke up to paint some ceramic horses we bought the day before at Hobby LobbySince we arrived in NM, Ellie was completely enamored by the state flag. She found brochures with the flag on it and she would get so excited!Lilly is officially training under Smitten & Hooked Below are some of her rad pictures….YES, all of those were taken by my 7 year old. She is amazing We are obsessed with Day of the Dead stuff and you can find a plethora of it here in NM.a sweet moment of sisterly love.we aren’t Catholic and the girls didn’t quite understand lighting the candles and saying prayers so the sweet lady at the church explained it to them and helped them light a candle each and it was absolutely precious.Two of the best grandma’s ever!me and my baby girls!yes, totally random we saw a guy walking around the plaza on stilts and he picks my kid up and swings her around. i wasn’t sure whether she was going to laugh or cry.

mimi will do anything for a laugh with the girls…a highlight of each day was relaxing in the hot tub on the porch.we took the girls horse back riding one day too!Preacher is the horse they rode. He was so sleepy he didn’t want to wake up to ride…What happened to my little baby girl? She will be 8 this summer…time is FLYING by!This was a young horse the girls couldn’t wait to feed.sassy and sassy…..i am SO lucky i get to be their momma….Next we went to a place they make blown glass. The girls were completely intrigued by this and she was nice enough to explain each step she was taking to make a piece she was working on.

These are some of the beautiful pieces they make. Our last night we went to one of my favorite places, la casa sena cantina. They sing wonderful Broadway tunes while you are eating, it is always a treat to go there and the girls LOVED it! When we got home they wouldn’t stop singing and making up their “songs.’On the airplane ready to head back home. Ellie wanted to sneak a peek at her sister in the row before us.This was sitting on the runway but I just can’t believe how gorgeous the clouds are there. Every time I am amazed by their beauty!

Hope you enjoyed a peek into our girls trip. We had so much fun! I love spending sweet time with my girls and my momma and mother in law…

renee & scottie {i do | monroe, nc}

randall — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:05:58 +0000

Spring is finally here. The weather was beautiful and today officially started wedding season and it couldn’t have started better than with Renee & Scottie’s wedding! I was super excited for so many reasons. 1. We got to shoot at a new venue we haven’t had a wedding at before, Morning Glory Farms which is so beautiful. 2. Renee has been a friend of mine since we were about 16….true story. Watching your friends get married and seeing them happy is such a great feeling. She met her match with Scottie who I adore so much. He has such an infectious smile and personality; he is the guy you want around all the time to make you smile and laugh. To see them get married and document their day was really really special. Have you ever seen such gorgeous eyes???I adore this shot of Scottie that Steven got!These shoes are so Renee. Glitzy yet classy and super fun!and this ensemble is perfectly ScottieShe had custom cowboy boots made for the reception with her new initials in them, so awesome!these girls are so much fun, it was hard to work because i totally just wanted to play …seeing your best friend in her wedding gown for the first time….pricelessEllie made the cutest flower girl! She was so cute sneaking to try on Miss Renee’s shoes…our friend Alan of Crown Alley was interviewing Renee for the video….he rocks our socks offNow out for the first look. We couldn’t have had a more beautiful setting with the pond…10 times out of 10 they are laughing and smiling together…it’s exactly the way it should be!Her gorgeous bouquet from Lily Greenthumb’s

mode of transportation on a farmtime for the ceremony….Renee picked out these amazing old church pews from Old South Vintage Rentals and I loved everything about them!

Scottie being the comedian had his dad spray breath freshener in his mouth before their first kiss….so funny!This picture is one of those, you just had to be there moments or you just have to know them….Renee claims the title of ‘anti-bride’ i mean i agree she isn’t your typical bride but i joked with her about having so many amazing details for her not to care about wedding stuff! I mean every time we turned around there were fantastic details…a photographers eye candy for sure!

looking at this picture makes me so hungry…time for some dancing….Renee with two of my favorite clients below…they are all like family we had to have the picture!Being a flower girl is hard work, especially when you are that cute!After the dances we snuck them away for a couple of minutes to get some more portraits of just the two of them. The sun was going down and the setting was perfect…Renee changed into her sassy reception dress and boots, so we needed more pics!Scottie’s boys joke with him about throwing leaves in their engagement pics we did and so they thought this would add so much more pizazz to the picture…haha

time for a little ring action…i flippin love old cars and this mustang was so beautiful it had to have some detail shots all of it’s own…We also wanted to detail how beautiful Morning Glory Farms is, it is such a little gem…We are so happy for you Renee & Scottie and I couldn’t be more proud of you as a friend! Watching you marry your best friend was one of the best moments for me! We were really honored to be a part of it! Now we cannot wait to hang out as married friends!

{FABULOUS VENDORS}
venue | Morning Glory Farms
hair & makeup | Angela Rabon
caterer | Kate Clyde’s Catered Creations
flowers| Lily’s Greenthumb
vintage rentals | Old South Vintage Rentals
cinematography | Crown Alley Films