traci & david

it's not often that i find myself in the presence of a truly and completely calm, cool, and collected wedding day. every bride deserves at least one meltdown. maybe she had one somewhere along the way, but from where i stood on january 3rd, traci monroe (now weaver) handled it like a pro. maybe it was the fact that she was marrying her best friend david that kept her smiling. maybe it was her wonderful family and friends. maybe it was the support of nikol from chantoosie events. then again, maybe it was the shoes. :) here's how it happened.

the beautiful bride got ready for her big day at her parents' home.

then headed to church for the final touches.

david and his crew were ready and waiting.

traci killed time with her bridesmaids before the ceremony and practiced the dance she had choreographed for the ladies to perform later that night. (see traci's mom on the far left. she served double duty as mother of the bride and matron of honor. how cool!)

traci's dad looks on.

here comes the bride.

the couple joins traci's entire dance school for the first reception of the day. these students adore her. you'd think these two were celebrities in that room!

finally, the first dance.

sugar entertained the crowd all night long. (i must say i don't have a bad gig either. i get to do what i love while listening to some gooooood music. i love sugar!)

here goes showtime!

this bride was in high-demand as a dance partner, and her brother made sure he took a turn.

what a day! thank you traci and david for allowing me to be a part of it!

kristi & billy

drumroll please...it's my first engagement session in my soon-to-be hometown of roxboro! i had such a blast doing this session with kristi and billy. it may not have been the most beautiful day, but not even clouds and the threat of rain could make billy's family's gorgeous farm any less photo-worthy. i love it!
stealing a kiss in his childhood treehouse. :)

congratulations y'all! can't wait til september!

taitem

THIS might be the tiniest, most precious baby i've ever laid eyes on. weighing in at a little more than 5 lbs, i'm convinced that this doll baby will be an angel for the rest of her life - although just for fun, i hope she gets into just enough good trouble to drive her daddy crazy. she already has him wrapped around her itty bitty finger, and after all, that's what little girls are made for. :)

taitem's proud parents are chad and trisha, a couple of too-long lost friends of alan's from his days in wilmington. we dropped in on them for a quick lunch while in asheville over the holidays visiting the biltmore estate (wow by the way, if you haven't been to the biltmore, GO), and had so much fun over lunch that we made it last overnight. thanks chad and trish for having us! we can't wait to see y'all again at the wedding!

happy happy new year!

now that i'm back from the wonderful madness of the holidays, i'm so very excited to welcome 2009 - i'm calling it the year of change. aside from the millions and millions of weddings coming up this year (half of them friends, half of them clients, and one of them...well, me!), it seems like everyone else i know is either anticipating the arrival of a new baby, changing jobs, or moving...wait, that's me too (just the moving part, not the baby or the job this time thank goodness).

so, in the spirit of another wild and crazy whirl around the sun, happy happy new year to you and yours! i hope it's filled with as many wonderful memories as you can fit into 365 days. don't forget the CAMERA!

santa claus is coming...and more

i looooooooove Christmas! (still, ask me if i'm ready and even on the day before the answer will be "no.") either way, i've had a great time so far this year filling my fridge with christmas cards, many of which include photos from some of my beautiful beautiful clients. thanks for thinking of me at the mailbox!

i had the pleasure of spending tuesday night this week at the capital city club in downtown raleigh with santa al and a few families who came in for dinner. santa al was great company as always. he's one jolly man with a passion for making people of all ages feel the spirit of the holiday season. if you're ever in need of a visit from santa himself, i highly recommend giving the triangle santa buddies a call. here's one of my favorite shots of my favorite rosey-cheeked fella.

as i wind down my first full calendar year in business, i can't help but to think about where i was at this time last year. i was nervous, excited, hopeful, and honestly...scared to death of starving for my art. :) thanks to some incredible clients, friends, and family, 2008 has been a wonderful year for sandfoot photography. i've grown in ways that i couldn't have imagined back then, and i can make a promise to you now that i will continue to do that in 2009 and beyond. so thank you for your support, your encouragement, and your prayers. i feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to turn what i love into "what i do."

sandfoot photography isn't the only thing that's experienced a little growth this year. once upon a time in 2007 i photographed this little gift from above.

this year, she's all grown up and still knows how to work the camera. happy belated birthday miss mackenzie! can't wait to play again next year!

i'm still here...promise!

whew! with the end of my '08 wedding season, i expected to have more time on my hands to catch up on other things - i couldn't have been more wrong. i'm not complaining, just leading up to a big apology for neglecting my blog. SORRY! i'll be posting a series of images to make up for it. here's the first.

when my crazy friend and favorite wedding planner, nikol murphy of chantoosie events called me before her session and said her boys had been feeling kinda icky that morning, i wasn't sure what to expect. i like my kids wild and smiley, but this session taught me that it's not always such a bad thing to catch 'em on a day when they're mild...nikol swears that the angels i saw in our session don't always show their wings. :)

this is my favorite. not that i like to make kids cry, but i think it sums up the day and i hope that one day when the boys bring home dates to mom and dad, this will be one treasured photograph that comes out with the embarrassing bathtub pics.

i'm in love with downtown apex! thanks so much to the apex fire department for having us, and to conner and tucker for hanging in there. murphy's, let's do it again soon!!!

amanda & kenji

i cannot get enough of this wedding. amanda and kenji are a carolina golden couple, and their wedding day was nothing short of amazing. the ceremony was held at the gorgeous north raleigh united methodist church and was followed by an awesome evening at 1705 prime. imagine a room full of beautiful people, ALL of which have voices of angels and more rhythm than michael jackson...or at least, they'd like to. ;) you can't beat it.

amanda is a unc loreleis alumna, and her crew of lady a-cappella geniuses was right there to back her up on her big day. it just so happens that kenji is a clef, and his boys were also front and center - not to be outdone by their lovely counterparts. if you've never had the honor of being part of a loreleis or clef hangers audience, you have no idea what you're missing. if you have, then you can imagine what an incredible thing it must have been to have all of these cool kids in packed into one reception.

congratulations to mr. and mrs. brantley for the life you've shared so far, the friends you've made and the families you've joined, and please, please don't you dare forget to call me when you throw your next party!