Catie & Elliott | One-Year Anniversary | Meadowlark Botanical Gardens | Vienna, Virginia

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Every time I photograph Catie and Elliott, it’s a fun time. These two are just so in love and they just give me this care-free vibe every time I see them.

Catie was my sorority sister in college, and the first time I met Elliott was at their engagement session. Catie was always very quiet and reserved in college, so to see her personality truly come out was beautiful! That session was in the dead of winter with six inches of snow on the ground. This session was in the dead of summer, mid-August, in all of Virginia’s glorious heat and humidity. So needless to say, we have shot in all scenarios together! I think the only one we are missing is the fall leaves! We’ll add it to our bucket list.?

Catie and Elliott decided to document their first anniversary with a photo session! We settled on Meadowlark Botanical Garden after being rained out at the beautiful Burnside Farms sunflowers multiple times. Despite that, Meadowlark was a beautiful setting for anniversary portraits and we explored all together! Believe it or not, we also stumbled upon all of four sunflowers, with which I definitely made them pose! Ha!

It was my first time visiting Meadowlark and I didn’t realize how truly expansive it was! We didn’t have enough time to walk the entire property, but we certainly did make the most of the places we did visit.

Catie had mentioned she wanted to do a little “champagne picnic” scene that showcased their true hearts of celebration, as well as the picnic basket her aunt bought them as a wedding gift. The light in an open field was perfect and we got the quintessential champagne pop shot before they cheers-ed one another and their anniversary date!

This is one of my favorite parts about continuing to photograph clients and creating a relationship with them. They become more and more comfortable with me and in front of the camera (although Catie is a natural and always has been), so their personalities begin to show more and more.

Catie and Elliott, count me in as your anniversary photographer forever! Seriously, marking August 10th in my calendar for the foreseeable future! Happy anniversary to you both! And to many more!