La Dolce Blog has moved

Its official... our new blog is up and running full speed ahead. Its bright shiny and fresh out of the oven awesomeness. You will need to update your RSS feeds with the new blog in order to stay subscribed to our updates. So what are you waiting for... hurry on over and check it out! PS: Be sure to check out the smoking hot new photo of me and Brad in our about section. Did I hear someone say "dead sexy" oh I think I did! ;)



PS: Be sure to tell us if you find any bugs on the new blog as well... or feel free to leave a random comment. We love feedback. :)

Lucy in the sky...

...with diamonds. Or more like Lucy on a walk. Its been a while since Lucy has made a blog appearance so its high time she show her face around here again. A lot of my blog readers have been emailing me and asking "hey whats it like to take Lucy on a walk in the afternoon?"* Instead of just telling you how awesome it is I thought why not show you!!! So get ready for the virtual dog walk experience! Extra comfy walking shoes and doggy bags are recommended.



Heading out... strutting her stuff for the neighbors to see...



Near the mailboxes, Lucy spots another dog. She proceeds to flop around on the end of the leash like a fish out of water. Its completely entertaining until the barking starts. Note: must walk crazy chihuahua using a harness, otherwise she will choke herself out. Asphyxiated chihuahua = boring chihuahua.



Brad finds it funny that I call the pile of poo Lucy is sniffing at "Poops" Apparently I shouldn't call it poops because poop is already plural. Like deer.



Brad is very proud that Lucy is making her own poops now...



Its not easy being this good looking.

(Blue Steel a la Lucy)



FIN

*zero blog readers asked this question

Bride's Choice Award!!!!

Brad and I are so excited to have been awarded the Bride's Choice Award from WeddingWire.com. This award recognizes the top 3% of vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. We are so blessed to work with some of the most incredible clients who make it possible for us to do the work we love so much. Thank you all so much for helping us achieve this recognition as a top vendor in the wedding industry. We love our Brides & Grooms!

Tiffany & Mitch's Wedding | Chapel in the Garden, Port Orange, FL

Tiffany and Mitch met in middle school but never hung out in the same circles. Although Tiffany always thought Mitch was cute, a love did not blossom until many years later. Relationships came and went in both of their lives but they never found their "one." After traveling down some rather rocky roads in their lives eventually their paths crossed once again. At a restaurant in their hometown they found one another at last. Sparks flew and seemingly overnight Mitch and Tiffany were inseparable. After so many years had gone by fate brought them both back to their home town where the bad boy from middle school could finally be with the sweet girl next door.

Tiffany and Mitch planned their wedding in just three short weeks. They had waited so long already to be together, they didn't want to waste any more time. They were married on a cold Friday night at the Chapel in the Garden in Port Orange, FL. Surrounded by their family and friends, they, along with Mitch's daughter Alanna, became a family. The ceremony was heartwarming and sincere as these two finally joined paths for the rest of their lives.






















Tiffany and Mitch presented Alanna with a necklace to show their commitment to being her loving parents.







So I never showcase the formals on the blog or the website (mostly because they are just a bit boring)... but this is proof we actually do take them. I love this one in particular because of Alanna's pose of choice.



I love this shot... Can't you just see it as a huge 5 foot long canvas print hung over a sofa. Gorgeous!



I also just love this series of shots...











Tiffany & Mitch... Thank you both so much for inviting us into your lives and allowing us to tell your love story. We are so glad you two have finally found your other halves. We can't imagine either of you with anyone else. You seem custom made for one another. Alanna is a very lucky girl to have so much love in her life.

Lots of love to all three of you!
Mel & Brad

Fashion Bridal Shoot | Jacksonville Wedding Photography

Things have been very busy since returning from Vegas last week. We've been working like crazy to get things done before wedding season shifts into high gear in a few days. Between working on taxes, new website and blog and packing up to move in a few weeks I haven't had too much time to blog. So in hopes of keeping the blog love flowing... here are a few shots from Megan & Seth's fashion bridal session a few months back. This had to be one of my all time favorite sessions. Megan wore a birdcage veil as well as a cathedral veil during the shoot!!! That is a photographer's dream. There is nothing more fun than playing with a beautiful veil during a photo shoot. Well... strike that... gorgeous shoes and accessories are just as fun as beautiful veils. It all adds some spice to the shoot... and we love some spice!!!

Happy Thursday Everyone! :)

WPPI 2009 - Las Vegas!

So I've been getting some emails and requests to please please please update our blog. I have been MIA for over a week now! Egads! Seriously February has turned out to be quite a whirlwind month for us. Brad and I have had some very interesting events happen in our lives over the last few weeks and we have been busy busy beavers because of it. We are in the process of moving right now and will be all settled into our new place come April 1st! All last week I was in Las Vegas, NV for the annual WPPI Convention and Trade Show. It was such an awesome week filled with seminars, parties and photo shoots. I had no idea how much walking I was in store for and was absolutely exhausted by the time I was back home in Jacksonville. Monday while I was out there, I had my first annual 29th birthday!!!! Although I was sad that for the first time in five years I wouldn't be celebrating with Brad by my side I was so happy to be surrounded by some of my favorite people. My sweet friends Melanie McLellan and Adrian Hitt took me to dinner then surprised me with a ticket to see the Beatle's Cirque de Soleil show Love. I had never seen a Cirque de Soleil show and it was such an awesome experience. If you haven't done so already... definitely check out at least one of their shows. The performances are absolutely incredible! Adrian got us some amazing seats right up front and in then middle of all the action. It was the perfect way to celebrate turning 29!







Here are some shots from my hotel room at the MGM Grand... since I was waking up at 6:30 am every morning I got to see lots of gorgeous sunrises!





For most of my time out in Vegas, it was go go go... listening to seminars and learning from some of the best photographers in the world, meeting up with friends from all over the country and occasionally squeezing in a little bit of sleep. With all the demands of the convention, I wasn't sure I would ever actually get a chance to see the city much. Towards the end of my stay I met up with an old college friend who now lives in Vegas for lunch and a birthday pedicure at the Bellagio! It was divine! Finally that night I went out for a long, and very cold, walk down the strip just to see the town some on my own. Las Vegas really is a town like no other. I snapped a couple shots of some of the casinos but for the most part I simply took in the sights and enjoyed being a tourist.












On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go on a shoot out in the desert with the incredibly talented Victor Sizemore. I had never been to the desert before and certainly had no inkling of how COLD it was going to be out there. Wearing just a hoodie and jeans I was definitely not prepared for 36 degree weather and ferocious wind gusts. God bless our bride for braving the cold to allow us all to get our shots. As cold as it was, it turned out to be a killer shoot. I will post more from this shoot later... for now here is our group plus a beautiful shot of the desert I got while driving out to our shoot location.







There are lots of other fun posts from our frantic February still to come... Tiffany & Mitch's wedding, Lori & Justin's Vegas engagement session and of course Lizzie's Desert Bridal session! Stay tuned!