When a wedding is held somewhere other than a hotel or traditional wedding venue, you can always expect a different, less traditional feel. But the American Visionary Museum takes that to a whole other level. With mosaic mirrors everywhere, a 50 foot poodle statue, and an amazing open loft for the reception area, you can’t help but feel like any wedding held there will scream ‘fun’.

And that’s what Jennifer and Heath wanted: tongue-in-cheek fun for the whole wedding. Maya, Jennifer’s daughter, was the helper at hand for most of the getting ready. She helped me find spots to shoot the paper flower bouquets, she introduced me to the Hotel Monaco in Baltimore goldfish, and even helped zip her mom up in her vintage wedding dress. And let me tell you: Maya likes pink. Pink pink pink! A girl after my own heart. We both swooned over Jennifer’s Vivienne Westwood Anglomania shoes with giant hearts on them. Maya even tried to walk around in them and I sneaked a picture. And Heath got a shave at Quinntessential Gentleman.

One picture request I got before the wedding was for a good shot of Jennifer’s tattoo she loves on her back as her dress was zipped up. And everything worked out perfectly- a bright red tattoo is just perfect for a great photograph! Not that everyone needs to run out and get a red tattoo now It was time for the first look, and of course, Hotel Monaco provided a perfect backdrop with stunning marble stairs for Jennifer to walk down and glimpse Heath. Hotel Monaco- I love your stairs. In DC or Baltimore, they are the perfect place for couple shots. Yay.

We made it to AVAM and could see Kate Beck Events making everything go go go! And before we knew it, it was time for the Ketubah signing. And minutes away from the ceremony- where Fifi, the giant 50 foot tall poodle, would watch over the evening’s ceremony.

So I blogged about Ying and Pat’s wedding before, but never their full wedding! Ying and Pat’s wedding was at the Montpelier Mansion and they were lucky enough to even have one guest fly all the way from China that very day. Chock full of DIY goodness, Ying poured her creativity and love into all the little details of the day. Almost the entire day, Pat was grinning ear to ear. I guess he was happy Pat got up at the reception- it was time for his speech. He started talking about Ying, and all the work she put behind the wedding and then…that’s was it. He started crying so hard he couldn’t talk. Ying got up and gave him a big hug and started making jokes to crack a smile on his face. She got him a glass of water and sat down with him. Whispering things into his ear that made him laugh and smile and eventually stop choking up. Perfection.

Incase you aren’t a buckeye fan, this apparently is tradition of Ohio State. Ying and Pat sent me photos of people spelling out Ohio from all over the world. Love it!

I love this first look shot! Ying hid under her parasol until Pat came and peeked.

Kacy and Tim got married at the Inn at Brookeville Farms. Everyone was so excited, there was even dancing in the room where Kacy was getting ready- before the ceremony.

Kacy and Tim had been secretly planning to lipsync to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” as soon as they crushed the glass. The guests were completely surprised and started clapping and laughing at the same time!

Tim’s little boys got to go in the chairs for the Hora. They were loving it. I was trying to take pictures and not get knocked in the head by their arms because they were dancing in their chairs.

After doing a lot of weddings, I have noticed something. Everyone wants a picture of their dress but they always have the dress hanging on the ugliest, plastic hanger from the dress shop. It’s so hard to see this knock ‘em dead dress paired with a falling apart hanger. So I went out and bought a nice wooden hanger just for the dress pictures!

Guess who did these flowers? THE BRIDE! Ying arranged her own white wedding bouquet flowers and all the bridesmaids too.

Erica from http://www.silverimmersion.net/ did Ying’s hair. She had a japanese digital perm done so her hair would be fuller and curl well for the bun. Erica is one of the fastest and best hair stylist I have worked with. I can’t tell you how many times I’m bitting my nails because the hair stylist is chatting away and taking double the time the timeline allotted for. Even a “Well…we are 20 minutes behind” doesn’t seem to work. But Erica whipped out this lovely style right on time.

Popping that last button into place.