Happy Halloween! I have had so much fun asking all of my kids this month what they are going to be for Halloween and am really hoping they come by the studio so that we can see all of our little pirates, lions, princesses, sharks, ninjas and lambs. As a fun little Halloween tease, here is a photo from the much-anticipated wedding photographs of my wonderful associate, Becca. As many of you know, Becca was married on Sept. 27th. It was a joy and honor to photograph her wedding - Becca has been with us for four years and she is a huge part of what we do here at Laura Novak Photography. She is talented, smart, compentant and loads of fun - I could go on and on so here is a sneak peek photo with more coming on Monday!

Melissa is local to our studio and recently bid on a portrait session through a charity silent auction. After adopting her black lab puppy, Melissa thought it was a great time to come in for a session. Being the dog lover I am, I am so glad she did! During our creative brainstorming she suggested wearing a white dress against a white background so the black-ness of her dog jumped out of the frame. I loved the result and wanted to share...

Aww. i always give my dog this look, too, when he's being a sweetie.

Such a beautiful face!

I love traveling to different cities for weddings, and going to Washington D.C. is always a pleasure. Meaghan and Kevin were married at the Georgetown Dahlgren Chapel last month with their reception at the St. Regis, which is located near Dupont Circle. I photographed Meaghan's sister four years ago and it's always so fun to see the families again and spend time together. A special thanks also goes out to Ryan from Wish in Washington D.C. for pulling together such a beautiful event.

The day started out great because as a wedding gift Kevin gave Meaghan a photo album of their years together - it was a huge hit with everyone!

The room at the St. Regis went perfectly with the bridesmaids' dresses and decor. I love it when that happens!

The Georgetown chapel is so cute and small - it's located right in the middle of campus and is perfect for a wedding ceremony.

Married!

Meaghan wanted a fun bridal party photo, and I love this one because it shows the Georgetown campus where a lot of the bridal party members went to school!

After the ceremony we headed over to the Tidal Basin for a few photos before the sun went down.

Then it was back to the St. Regis for some dancing!

Such a perfect ending to a perfect wedding. Thank you so much, Meaghan and Kevin, for including me in your day!

I know I am a tad bit behind on blogging this week (with two entries versus my normal three) so I wanted to share with you a fun little engagement photo I took in New York City this week. Now that I have a satellite location in Manhattan, I have been traveling there once a month for meetings, to photograph engagement sessions and capture family portraits.

more photos to come next week including a fabulous wedding in Washington D.C. and an adorable dog portrait...

There is something so endearing about girls in white dresses: innocent, pure and whimsical all at the same time. These three sisters had so much fun playing and laughing. Here is the youngest, who I photographed earlier this year:

And here are her superfun sisters! The middle one is very spirited and loves to make people laugh. It's so fitting that she grabbed her li'l sis here and gave her a giggle.

She also has stunning eyes.

They have so much fun together!

I feel like this one looks like a classic children's model shot:

I think we called this one something like the sing and hug game... not sure where I came up with it but it certainly seems to work well!

I love supporting causes, especially those that support our military efforts overseas. So when Jennifer’s Bridal Salon {where I got my wedding dress} emailed me to tell me that they were offering a free designer wedding gown to all Military personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan or whose fiancé’s are in active duty, I was thrilled! The event will take place at Jennifer's on Nov 11th to celebrate and honor Veteran’s Day. There is will also be a raffle good for a complimentary portrait session in case you want beautiful photo of you in your new dress {which I'm sure you will!}.

This is a great way to show appreciation towards the troops and families for their sacrifice. Jennifer’s has hand selected 40 designer wedding gowns to give away at the event on a first-come, first-serve basis. The giveaway is a philanthropic opportunity to show appreciation for their heart felt service for our country.

To qualify, brides must be engaged, be on active duty in the military, or have a fiancé on active duty in either Iraq or Afghanistan. All military brides must show ID, copy of deployment papers, orders or other qualifying proof.

For more information regarding the Nov 11th event please call Jennifer’s Bridal Salon at 302-235-1660 or e-mail jennifersbridal@aol.com. Other participating stores and states checkout www.bridesacrossamerica.com.

I photograph so many engagements, it's difficult for me to share them all. But I wanted to show you the ones I took of Nicole and Charles, as theirs was in a very unique location: a lavender farm in Buck's County PA! Charles is from France, so the beautiful landscape gave him a small feeling of what it is like to be back home for him. The couple brought their adorable dog Wilma who had a great time playing in the fields.

Although it was raining quite a bit on on September 6th, Carol and Matt had a cozy and warm wedding day with a large focus on family. Throughout the day, I felt such an emphasis on each of their families and how important their siblings, parents and close friends are to each of them. Carol's aunt even did all the floral design, which was a meaningful touch to the day. Ceremony was held at Villanova University and the reception at the Philadelphia Country Club.

The ceremony took place at the spectacular Chapel at Villanova.

There is an old wedding superstition that if it rains your wedding day, that is a lucky sign. If so I would say that Matt and Carol will have lots of luck coming to them because it rained almost the entire day! But that didn't keep us from going out there and getting a few great photos.

I was touched by Carol's father, who was so gracious throughout the day while marrying off the youngest of five children

Doesn't Carol look radiant?

Thanks Carol and Matt for being so kind and wonderful to work with, and also for being brave with the elements!