Jeff & Julie are getting married.  Jeff has twin 15 year old girls.

So Jeff was all like:
“We are taking family photos.
They will be boring.
We will wear black & white.”

And his girls were all like:
“Fine dad.”

Then Jeff was all like:
“We will also create a family art piece. It will hang in our home as a family.”

And I was all like. (In my stern dad voice.)
“You girls need to be really careful with that paint.  My camera is expensive.
Don’t flick it near me and do small amounts and make sure it stays on the canvas.”

And in their heads the girls were all like.

Then Jeff was all like:
“Boom, I’m flicking paint on your face!”

Then Julie was all like:
“Paint Fight!”

Then everyone was all like:
“Paint fights are the best!”

Then as we were cleaning up I overheard one of the girls say:
“Dad that was really fun.”

Did you catch that?  A 15 year old girl just admitted out loud, in public, in front of others, to her dad, that she had fun with him.

Best. Session. Ever.

I think Carrie & Aaron laughed more than any couple I have photographed in a while.  They just seem totally at home with each other so I am thrilled that  they are willing to share a little part of how their first year of marriage went.  Here are a few images from their wedding last year and then we will dive into what they have to say about being married for 365 days. (and counting)

What do you miss most about the single life? 
Being able to make plans or choosing to have no plans at all without checking with someone first.

GIve us your best cheapo/fun married date idea.
Cooking a fun meal and watching movies at home, going to random small county festivals whenever we see one, taking short weekend vacations just to get out of town.

What have you liked most about your first year being married?
Knowing that whatever kind of day I have had, I will get to come home to my husband/wife and everything will be ok.

What’s been the hardest part about being married?
Learning and accepting the other person’s living habits.

What surpassed you the most? (Either good or bad.)
We both knew that marriage takes work and that is certainly true. However, I think we were both surprised at how much easier and fun life is when you have a constant partner. Even a Tuesday night trip to
the grocery store can feel like a date when you are with someone who simply makes you happy.

What have you fought about most and why?
Deciding who will be responsible for what on a daily basis. We had not really thought about that before getting married and we have had to really work on determining who is in charge of each task in order to
make things go.

What was the biggest thing you were nervous about? How has it turned out?
We both knew that living together 24/7 would be a major adjustment and it has been. When we were dating, I did not notice that Aaron leaves little whiskers all over the sink when he shaves and Aaron did not
realize that I was “psychotic” about the house being spotless when there is even a chance of company coming over. We both have had to learn that we can get annoyed with these little things or just accept them.

Do you have any advice for couples about to take the plunge?
Do whatever you can to really prepare for marriage. We have truly benefited from taking a VOW class prior to getting married. The class gave us the chance to talk about things that we would never had addressed on
our own. It is easy to stress out about whether the tablecloths are the right shade of blue or if the bridesmaids all really like their dresses (they won’t) but try to stay focused on what really matters.

Thanks again you two for sharing some of your awesomeness with the inter webs.  And seriously people.  Take their advice.  Get on the WeVowNow website and take a class.

Carrie & Aaron were so much fun.  We started out on the softball field at ETBU where Carrie used to play.

Carrie was single handedly responsible for ever Conference Championship from 2001-2004.  (With a little help from her team.)
Their wedding is just around the corner so look for more photo goodness from these two soon.

Here are two images from this past Wednesday.  Both of these couples were so much fun to hang out with and will be getting lots-o-blog love the first part of next week.

Courtney & Jonathan brought their A-Game to the engagement session.  These two were nervous and said they “didn’t know what to do” but the photos are proof that they are totally engagement session photography pros. :)

I also shot a little video of them talking about their engagement session. Enjoy.

See you guys at Elmwood Gardens in August!