Category Archives: Uncategorized
costa rica was amazing.
still trying to find the words to describe how it made my heart swell (and still does, just thinking about it!) and how it was the perfect recharge for the start of a new year.
we’re so grateful to have connected to the incredible mil besos and can’t say enough about what a phenomenal job meghan did with planning + coordinating our retreat.
i’m probably going to end up writing a few posts on 5,208 reasons why you should think about getting married in costa rica, but i’m still catching up on sleep (and reveling in all of the sunshine we were able to take in and wonderful people we got to meet!), so i’ll just leave a few snapshots here for now.
thanks again to the amazing vendors and attendees who made this possible! i will sing your praises ’till the end of time.
besos + pura vida,
anna
sarah + i spent a few of the best years of our childhood living next door to each other. our backyards connected, so we spent the summers rolling down the hill from my yard into hers, making up plays, and going to swim team. she moved to florida, while i stayed in colorado, but our families stayed in touch, and i was so thrilled to hear the good news about her engagement. and i was even more excited to get an e-mail from her, telling us about her destination wedding in the mountains of georgia and asking us to come along!
sarah + james chose to wed in the sweetest little town north of atlanta, and they were married in the most idyllic little white chapel. it felt so southern and so perfect. their reception was held at wolf mountain vineyards, just a few miles away, and oh my goodness was it beautiful! as d.c. wedding photographers + videographers, we often get to capture gorgeous vineyard weddings in the DMV, but i never would’ve guessed that their could be such a beautiful vineyard nestled into the georgia mountains. their union was celebrated by a lovely religious ceremony, followed by lots of delicious southern food and dancing on the porch to a live band! hearing a crowd of southerners sing “sweet home alabama” (and add in a little “roll tide, roll!”) was so different from what we’re used to and just so much fun!
these two are such a sweet and happy pair. their smiles (and dimples!) are infectious, and their respect for one another is so apparent. i may or may not have teared up a few times when they were reading their wedding day letters from one another. their wedding was the epitome of a soft, romantic southern affair, and we feel so blessed to have been there!
congratulations, s+j! thanks for having us along for the start of your new adventure!!
XO,
anna + mateo
at the end of every year, i get a little bit nostalgic and overwhelmingly grateful for the experiences i’ve had with this little business of ours. we are so blown away by the kindness and love of our clients and so grateful for the chances we have had to photograph and film so many special moments and happy days.
we feel lucky enough to have shot in hawaii, utah, pennsylvania, idaho, new york, minnesota, mexico, virginia, maryland, georgia, and of course, our beautiful washington, d.c. we photographed and filmed persian, nigerian, indian, american, christian, greek, persian, brazilian-puerto rican-trinidadian, fusion, and jewish weddings.
we shot in vineyards and ballrooms, beautiful churches and temples, beaches and bayside docks, historic manors, urban rooftops, and city streets. we got to meet some of the most amazing creatives– florists, planners, calligraphers, dress designers, stylists, models, jewelry designers, photographers + videographers– you name it! in this sense, it was such a fun year of shared inspiration, collaboration, and relationship building; we can’t wait to continue working with our new vendor friends (and make new ones!) in 2017.
we really, truly love what we do. we love our sweet clients. we love this community. we love working together as husband-and-wife (and busting a few dance moves as we work!), and we love getting to celebrate joy and happiness each time we go to the office. we love creating art and honoring memories every single day.
thank you for supporting us and joining us on our journey! we love all of these 2016 peeps (stay in touch!!!) and are so excited for 2017; our year is shaping up to look so good so far! we’re costa rica, spain, iceland, france, mexico, + aruba bound and have a bunch of local virginia, maryland, and washington, d.c. weddings to shoot too!
without further ado, here are some of our favorite photographs from this past year (and don’t forget to check out our favorite wedding films here!)
year 2017, we’re coming for ya! we still have some wedding dates available (and special travel deals in for weddings, elopements, and portraits in the aforementioned locations!), so holler at us, and let’s make some magic together!
wishing you all a beautiful start to the new year.
XO,
anna + mateo
one of the best parts about being wedding videographers is having the opportunity to capture real moments and real emotions. while we obviously love the photography side of things, there’s just something palpable about films; you can really feel the emotion and excitement, over and over again! and we certainly think this is the case with this lovely proposal film!
michael + sadie were visiting washington, d.c. from their home state of oklahoma, and while sadie believed it to be a fun weekend getaway, michael had different plans altogether.
he had planned a completely surprise proposal with the incredible proposal planners, the yes girls, and everything was planned perfectly– down to the embroidered mrs. box to go with the ring! the yes girls lined up a wonderful team of vendors to help completely surprise sadie at the charming cakeroom bakery in downtown d.c.
michael and sadie head upstairs to eat their cupcakes when they saw a beautiful setup of flowers, balloons, champagne, a love note, and dozens of cupcakes. not knowing that the setup was for her, sadie walked over to the table and said something along the lines of, “see! you should do something like this!” it only took a few seconds for her to realize that he had done all of this for her, and, well… you can see her sweet reaction!
we loved getting to know sadie + michael and could immediately sense their kindness and their love for one another. we are so excited for them to get married and “officially” start their family! thanks so much for trusting us to capture your history.
XO,
anna + mateo
vendor love::
planning // the yes girls
venue // the cakeroom bakery
photography // photos by sarah beth
flowers // bellflowers
ring box // the mrs. box
you know those moments, where life just seems too good to be true? well, this whole shoot was essentially four straight hours of “oh my gosh, is this really happening?!” for me.
i had the pleasure of going to photograph a cancun, mexico wedding with a best friend this past year. as a destination wedding photographer, you really can’t ask for any more than that! i knew that i’d fall in love with photographing weddings in mexico, so i decided to prolong the joy, and we reached out to a ridiculously talented wedding planner in the region.
and that’s where the lovely ilse of diamant events comes into play! i don’t know if i have ever met a more inspired or dedicated wedding industry individual… ever. she’s full of fire and passion and everything beautiful. so, brides looking for destination wedding planners… look no further! seriously. when teamed up with gabi lavor of planner 1 events, you can’t go wrong.
for the shoot, we were inspired by the bright caribbean waters of playa del carmen and similarly bright colors of traditional mexico culture, so we pulled in lots of happy colors and traditional mexican elements– custom gowns made by local designers, hand-painted invitations and alter artwork, mexican tiles, and of course, locally-grown coconuts! i am in love with the delicate-but-beachy design of the lace dress, the chapel on the beach, and the bride’s handmade bridal headpiece. working with such kind and inspired individuals in such a beautiful location was really one of my career highlights thus far. and i’m so happy with how the beach wedding photos turned out!
i’m dying to get back to shoot a destination wedding in the caribbean again soon with my mateo, but until then, i’ll just have to keep dreaming of this shoot…
i honestly can’t say GRACIAS enough to all of the talented vendors involved in this shoot, and of course, a special thank you to the sweet bethany petersen for letting me be her sidekick on the trip. i cannot recommend all of them enough.
VENDOR AMOR: planning/coordination: diamante events venue: secret jewel celebrations venue tables/flowers: planner 1 events models: runway management cancun dresses: erica flores makeup: carolina bellavista invitations/artwork: marisol d’estrabeau
until next time, mexico. besos, anna
engaged, soon-to-be engaged, or dreaming of being engaged and getting married in a beautiful, faraway land? anna +mateo are a destination wedding photography/videography team that would love to capture your happiest days, wherever that’s taking place! and we’re offering a few sweet deals for a select number of destination brides getting married in 2015 and 2016, so contact us, all right?!
Ashton - These are all SO gorgeous!!
Brea - That vineyard is SO gorgeous. What a dreamy place to get married!
Christa Rae - Ahh Georgia is one of my favorite states! That vineyard is stunning!
Erica - Beautiful photos! I love her colors too