On July 17th, I had the honor of shooting the wedding of a very good friend of mine. Jill and I have known each other for over 10 years, despite never having lived within 250 miles of each other. I’m not even sure how we became friends in the first place, though I’m pretty sure it had a lot to do with our mutual love for boybands and baseball. Neither of these interest me much anymore, but I’m so grateful they brought us together in friendship :)

But oh man, I can’t even tell you how excited I was for Jill and Esrael’s wedding. I even had two engagement shoots with them in the months leading up to their big day (which you can see here). I wanted nothing more than to spend their wedding day doing what I love, for people I love, who are so very in love (how’s that for an overdose of love?).

And that’s precisely what I did :)

Here is the first part of their wedding photos, from getting ready through the ceremony (which took place at Mosaic Church in Washington D.C.). Part 2: portraits & receptions (coming soon!).

There was a red carpet!! Had to incorporate that into some shots, obviously:

What I really loved about their wedding day was how it was a celebration of two cultures coming together. Esrael’s family is from Eritrea, so they had Eritrean prayers and songs incorporated into the ceremony.

Congrats, Jill & Esrael! I am so, so happy for you guys and hope you come up to visit me again soon!

Also – special thanks to my friend and second shooter, Kelsey Fain, for roadtripping with me from NYC to DC and shooting their wedding with me :D