A Summer Family Portrait Session

It’s hard to believe how many years have passed since the first time this sweet family was in front of my camera. Their youngest, Lucy, wasn’t even born yet and now she is old enough to be chasing after her older siblings!

Getting to work with the same families year after year is such a treat. It’s so fun to see how the personalities of the kids change and evolve. Big sister Mary Helen seems to remember me from shoot to shoot, but little Gus promptly asked who I was when I arrived at their home for this portrait session. He also wanted to know why I was wearing running shoes, which made me laugh. I told him it was so I could chase after him and that turned out to be quite true!

As with all summer sessions, you never know what the weather will do. We have a chance for rain almost every day from June through August. Fortunately, if it does rain in the afternoon, that often means that things get cooled off a bit ahead of an evening portrait session. The day of this shoot the weather was actually pretty enjoyable. Yes, it was warm, but we had beautiful light and even a tiny breeze!

After taking some portraits at their family home, we finished up the session at their church. The change of location was a bit of an adventure for the kids and we ended up getting some of my favorite shots from the shoot at this location.

Celebrating 50 Years in Love

When my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, the whole Gelineau family went on vacation together to celebrate the milestone. That was the same summer that I first took a photography class. When Linda contacted me about taking portraits of her and Ralph in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary, I immediately thought of my grandparents, that trip we all took back in 2005, and how far I’ve come since those early days of learning how to work a camera.

We considered many location options for this session, starting with the University of South Alabama. Linda and Ralph first met there when they were in college. We also considered going to their church to take photos since their church community is so special to them. A week before their session, Linda asked if we could go to the Japanese Gardens for pictures. It had been quite a while since I’d last shot at this location, but Linda and Ralph had visited just a few days prior and loved the scenery. We settled on the garden for our shoot and it turned out to be the most amazing choice for their session!

Linda told me that these portraits were her anniversary present. They hadn’t had formal portraits taken of just the two of them since their wedding – except for portraits that were taken on cruises. I loved that Linda and Ralph were so easy-going in front of the camera. I would have never known they didn’t have portraits taken regularly if they hadn’t told me!

Linda and Ralph will celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary later this summer! I’m so delighted that I was able to take these portraits for them in celebration of this wonderful milestone!

A Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Wedding

I love photographing weddings at the Catholic cathedral in downtown Mobile! Not only is it a beautiful church, it also holds many special personal memories for me. My sister chose this church for her own wedding last year. Before that, I had two cousins choose it for their wedding days. I also have fond memories of going to the Cathedral as a young girl. I remember thinking as a child that there couldn’t be a bigger church in the world. It just seemed so massive the first time I went there!

Many Catholic brides choose to get married at the Cathedral because of family history, its ability to accommodate a large guest list, and because of its proximity to downtown. But Jacki and Chase chose the Cathedral for their wedding day because it’s the parish they attend regularly. In fact, Jacki recently joined the Catholic faith this past Easter, having completed RCIA classes at the Cathedral Parish. I know it must have been incredibly special to have this church be part of such another special day in her life!

Jacki and Chase were initially planning a 2022 wedding, but were having trouble planning around Chase’s residency schedule. With no guarantee that they’d have off time approved within the next year, Jacki and Chase started to seriously consider a 2021 wedding. A few weeks after our initial phone consultation, Jacki reached out and asked if I happened to have June 5, 2021 available. Luckily, due to a couple of changes in my schedule, I did have the date open! Jacki told me that it seemed as if everything was falling into place for a 2021 wedding. I’d say it was meant to be!

Planning was a whirlwind, but everything came together beautifully! With just their families and a couple of friends present, these two became husband and wife this past Saturday. Their day was low key and absolutely beautiful! Jacki and Chase love the Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar in the Oakleigh District. This is also one of my favorite restaurants and it was the perfect setting for their reception. Chef Jim Smith made Jacki’s wedding reception dreams come true with a show-stopping champagne tower before everyone sat down to dinner. Seriously, it was so much fun! Congratulations to the newly Dr. and Mrs. Diard!

VENDORS

Photographer’s Assistant | Regina Gomez-Guillen

Ceremony | Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

Reception | The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar

Dinner | Chef Jim Smith – The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar

Florist | Fleur Zoe Floral

Cake | Underground Custom Cakes

Hair Stylist | Courtney Butler – Rachel Rowell Salon

Makeup Artist | Meagan McNair – Makeup by Mea

Reception Music | Teddy Williams

Champagne Bottle | Tessa Glass Art

Cathedral Watercolor Print | Colby Walker

A Bragg-Mitchell Mansion Portrait Session

I have always loved Azalea Trail Maid dresses. The attention to detail that goes into each of these custom-designed and handmade gowns is beyond impressive. While the dresses are what make the young ladies who wear them stand out, being an Azalea Trail Maid is more than just wearing a beautiful dress.

The young ladies who serve on the Azalea Trail Court are ambassadors for our city. They appear at hundreds of events annually, both locally and around the nation. While many apply to be on the court, only fifty high school seniors from Mobile County area high schools earn the honor of Azalea Trail Maid each year.

Bethany is representing Davidson High School on this year’s court and it was such a delight to take these portraits of her wearing her beautiful dress! I loved hearing about the process of choosing what elements she wanted to incorporate into her dress design. I also learned that her mom helped with a lot of the handwork, sewing several of the pearls that accent the embroidery on the dress.

All Azalea Trail Maid dresses are in various shades of pastels and often there is a design theme that is echoed throughout the ensemble. Bethany’s dress featured bows on the skirt of her dress, as well as on her parasol and hat. I love the pastel mint-green color of her dress and of course it looked so beautiful against the pretty backgrounds at The Bragg-Mitchell Mansion! We were lucky enough to find some hydrangeas in bloom the day of this shoot. Talk about the perfect find for a summer portrait session!

Y’all, how perfect are these hydrangeas?!

Bethany is representing Davidson High School on the 2021-2022 Azalea Trail Court. Her dress was made by Heidi Harrington.

A Grand Hotel Point Clear Engagement

Who doesn’t love a good proposal story?! I know I can’t get enough of them! Each one is unique and I always love hearing my brides tell them. Hayden carefully planned how he was going to propose to MaryClair. It all started with a faux dinner plan.

When Hayden suggested they grab a drink at Bucky’s at The Grand Hotel beforehand, MaryClair wasn’t suspicious. Even though going out for a drink before dinner was sort of out of the norm, MaryClair says she’s never one to turn down a good cocktail, so she was game for heading to Bucky’s before dinner at The Supper Club. She didn’t see that this was actually a ruse to get her to The Grand Hotel. Unbeknownst to MaryClair, Hayden had been to the hotel a few days beforehand to select the perfect proposal spot. He even lined up a photographer to capture the moment!

After drinks at Bucky’s, it was time to head to dinner. MaryClair thought it was strange that Hayden chose to park at the opposite end of the hotel property from Bucky’s, but she still didn’t realize she was in for a big surprise! It was nearing sunset when they arrived at the spot where Hayden planned to propose.

MaryClair said it finally hit her what was happening when she saw Hayden pull a ring box out of his coat pocket. He got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife! It wasn’t until after she said “YES!” that she realized the photographers that had been nearby taking photos were actually there to capture the proposal!

Thinking this was this best surprise she could ever imagine, they headed to MaryClair’s dad’s house. But the surprise wasn’t finished yet! Hayden had arranged for all their family and friends to be there to celebrate with them. How sweet is that?!

High School Sweethearts

MaryClair and Hayden’s love story began in high school – they met each other when they were students at McGill-Toolen Catholic. I love a high school sweetheart love story, especially when it’s connected to my own alma mater. MaryClair was so easy to talk to the first time I chatted with her on the phone. I instantly knew we were going to have fun working together. When I finally got to meet Hayden at the engagement session, he was exactly as I imagined – so friendly and equally easy to talk to. I can tell that wedding day is going to be so much fun!

Since Hayden proposed to MaryClair at The Grand Hotel, it was perfectly fitting for us to return there for engagement portraits! MaryClair is an interior designer, so of course she knows how to choose a color palette for their outfits. I loved that both of her outfits were the perfect compliment for the scenery at The Grand Hotel. I told her that I was wishing I had a skirt like the one she wore for her first outfit. It was so cute and perfect for twirling photos!

I seriously love this skirt! See what I mean about it being PERFECT for twirling! Can’t wait to see these two on the dance floor on their wedding day!

We had spectacular weather for shooting on the bay! When the light gets nice and soft just after sunset, I am in photographer heaven!

We used up every ounce of light on this beautiful May evening! I think it might be the last of our low humidity days. Summer is definitely here!

Makeup + Hair by Brushed and Blushed

Dress | Cecilie Copenhagen

Skirt | H&M

Blouse | Endless Rose

Earrings | Vivian Drew