Marissa & Adrian ~ Hampton Roads Engagement Photographer

These two sweethearts reconnected a few years ago on Facebook! And last December, after celebrating Marissa's graduation at Norfolk State University, Adrian gave Marissa a poem to read, got down on one knee, and asked her to spend forever with him. And he recorded the whole thing!

Last week we met at the Virginia Beach Courthouse for their engagement session. And they came ready to cuddle! And although not all the trees and bushes were in full bloom we were happy to find this beautiful tree! 

Please enjoy my favorites from this Virginia Beach engagement session and leave them a sweet comment below!

Marissa's engagement ring is seriously stunning!

Newly engaged and planning your wedding?

Shoot me an email at caitlingerresphotography@gmail.com to say hello and see if I'm available for your wedding day!

If you liked this engagement session, you might also enjoy Rachel & Jason's sunrise cherry blossom engagement session at Red Wing Park.

A Little Valentine's Love

About this time a year ago I was feeling a little lonely. After living in a dorm full of girls and literally being surrounded by my friends, "real life" was much quieter. My college friends were hours away and many of my high school and church friends were still attending school all over the state. Ryan and I had just moved to a new church and we hadn't really gotten to know anyone yet. And although I had a few friends that I could spend one on one time with, I found myself wishing for more friends.

Fast forward to this year and I'm feeling overwhelmed with friendship. Sadly, my college friends are still hours away (they really all should move to Virginia!), but most of my friends are living in Hampton Roads again and I've made many new friends at our new church.

Add last Wednesday to that and my heart is truly overflowing.

Last Wednesday a local group of (mostly) photographers, Hampton Roads Creative got together for Lovefest, a Valentine's Day themed party.

And party we did. I arrived at the party feeling like an awkward wallflower and so did many of the other photographers! And when you throw a bunch of wallflowers (and a few more outgoing people) into the same room, they'll eventually come out of their shells a bit.

I made some great connections at the party, and I'm really excited to get to know these ladies over the next few months!

If that wasn't enough pictures of sugary treats for you, check out my Sweet Tooth posts for some more!

Wedding Week ~ Our Wedding Day

I can't believe it's already been a year. Our wedding day still feels like yesterday that I put on my wedding dress and walked down to meet my groom.

For the past 100 days, I had been counting down our wedding with little notes in the shape of a heart. And now the countdown was over and I was ready to give him the final heart.

After today, goodbye would become goodnight. Good morning texts would become good morning kisses. My fiance would become my husband.

Our wedding day was certainly not perfect. But it was still magical. It was hot and muggy. But it was still beautiful. We didn't quite stay on schedule. But I was still calm. All that really mattered was that Ryan and I were married at the end of the day. No matter what else happened, it would still be the most special, most beautiful, most perfect day of our lives. And it was.

We asked our youth pastor to marry us, because he had been a very influential person in our lives.

I wanted to incorporate something from our parents' weddings.

Believe it or not, that's buttercream! Some of the best cake I've ever eaten!

All photos by Rebecca Franklin Photography.

Sunlight ~ P52 Photo Challenge

I've taken quite a few weeks off from Project 52. Most weeks I forgot about the theme until the last minute and then I just couldn't get inspired by it. But when I read that Sunlight was the theme for this week, I knew I had taken the perfect shot.

Last night I had an engagement session with two very special people at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. (Pictures are coming soon! I promise!) The last shot I took that night was not of my beautiful couple, but of the sunset over the carnival.

Emily ~ Chesapeake Portrait Photography

Hello Gorgeous! I'm so glad we finally got together to do the rest of Emily's photo session. Waiting until the weather warmed up was so worth it, because we had a beautiful evening to shoot. We chose to use Oak Grove Lake Park for our photo session. Since we got there right at sunset, we got some beautiful light.

I promise, Emily is not a model, but doesn't she look like one? She's certainly a pro in front of the camera!

Thanks for a great evening, Emily! I had a blast!

Want to see more of my portrait sessions?

Emily ~ Norfolk Portrait Photographer

The wind forced us to walk slanted as we pushed our way across the sidewalk, making the 50 degree day feel much colder. The weather was certainly not our friend, but Emily was a trooper. After a few minutes of pictures, we decided to go to dinner early and save the rest of the portraits for another (warmer) day.

Em, I can't wait to see what we will cook up for the rest of our shoot!

Want to see more portrait sessions?