today we begin a special weekly blog post we’d like to call … the friday feature! that’s right, every friday, we’ll be featuring some great pictures right here on our blog. to kick off this series, we’ve created a fun, little slideshow of some of our favorite images from weddings we were fortunate enough to photograph in 2011. we had so many lovely, wonderful, happy brides and grooms in 2011 that we ended up with an amazing array of images to share. we hope you enjoy them!
 

christina and mike are baltimore ravens fans. big ravens fans. oh, and they are also in love. every year mike goes to at least one away game with his buddies. and christina, she loves going to home games, or watching the ravens on tv or in sports bars. with mike, of course!

i met up with these two love birds at the gorgeous linganore winecellars back in november on a crisp and beautiful late fall day. they love linganore wine and go out to the winery often for their festivals. (confession: we at spence photographics love linganore winecellars, too! it’s been one of our favorite parts of living in maryland!) so, we trekked out in to the vineyard for some great scenery and had some fun in downtown frederick, too!

we’re looking forward to your big day, guys! enjoy the pics!! and go, ravens!

amanda and carl are most definitely in love. you can see it in the way they look at each other. you can see it in the way they hold hands. you can hear it in their voices.

so it was only natural that during our entire shoot on a recent fall afternoon, they had no problem giving each other lots of “smooches” for the camera. yep, they also like to kiss.

we met up on a gorgeous sunday at catoctin mountain orchard in thurmont. what a place! loads and loads of wonderful spots to shoot, especially with an amazing sunset to light it all!

the apples were in full bloom on the trees, good enough to eat straight off the branch!

congratulations on the engagement, amanda and carl! super excited for your big day next summer at stone manor country club!

raiquel has a passion for fashion. a few years ago, while a student at howard university in dc, raiquel used that passion to produce an elaborate fashion show, with dozens of models. one of those models was dwayne. the two of them formed a bond, and years later, we were fortunate enough to be with raiquel and dwayne as they began their journey as husband and wife. the day began at the gaylord resort at the national harbor, continued with a meaningful ceremony at unity church of washington, and ended with a lovely reception at the sunset room back at the national harbor.

the gaylord resort hotel is enormous and beautiful. how about that view from raiquel’s room?!

it’s all about the details…

dawn newsome of pro’s @ artistry (third from left, above) helped the lovely ladies look even lovelier!

the ceremony featured the professional trumpeter randy dunn, who came in all the way from houston, and the vocal talents of soloist janet dokes(below left), who brought the congregation to their feet.

raiquel found her amazing gown by pnina tornai at kleinfeld in new york, the bridal boutique made famous on the television series “say yes to the dress”.

the wedding party surrounded raiquel and dwayne with love all day.

the sunset room was stunning, with its views of the national harbor. flowers and lighting by da vinci’s florist made the space look amazing.

fancy cakes by leslie created the show-stopper cake!

one thing’s for sure – this crowd knew how to party! and they did it all night long.

folks lined up immediately to get a spot at the specialty candy bar and chocolate fountain set up by capitol chocolate fountains. yum!

a stunning end to a stunning day. congratulations, raiquel and dwayne, and best wishes for many years of happiness!

the love that surrounded nikki and mike on their wedding day was palpable. you could see it in their families’ and friends’ eyes. but most of all, you could see it in their hands. you see, most of the guests, and most of the wedding party, and most of both nikki’s and mike’s family members speak american sign language. and everyone in attendance, whether they use ASL or not, could see the excitement, exuberance, and joy with every smiling face, and every gesture and sign.

brenda dalton of rose brooke studio made all the ladies look their best, and was a delight to work with!

after nikki sent a heartfelt note to mike just before the ceremony, mike’s groomsmen teased him relentlessly as he tried to write one back!

nikki, you make such a gorgeous bride!

stone manor country club was a wonderful setting for the ceremony and reception.

our friends at the organized bride took care of all the lovely little details! well done!

nikki and mike performed a great choreographed first dance, to lots of cheers from their guests!

at weddings with lots of ASL speakers, claps are replaced by hands waving in the air. and when the guests want the bride and groom to kiss, no glasses get clinked. instead, napkins are waved wildly in the air! fun!

super fun idea – a make-your-own photo stand!

this crowd knows how to do the horah! that really kicked off the party for the night!

shew-sical entertainment kept the crowd dancing in stone manor country club’s great tent!

congratulations to you both! we had a wonderful time and wish you the best!

we are proud to announce the opening of spence photographics’ very own studio! we’ve officially opened our doors in downtown frederick, in the cultural arts center, at 15 west patrick street, just across from the weinberg center for the arts! we’re thrilled to be neighbors with some fantastic, artsy people, including the frederick arts council and maryland shakespeare festival! come on in and take a tour of our new digs …

having this space allows us to show off some of the absolutely gorgeous couples and families with whom we have had the pleasure to work during the last several years, as well as all the awesome products we have available for your own home!

we created this cozy little space with some help from our good friend, ikea! it’s a great place to chat and hang out for a while, with no distractions! eager to see it in person? give us a shout by clicking here! we look forward to it!

we met the mitchell family about two years ago, when our sons — their middle, our first — started preschool together. and now, the boys are in kindergarten! it’s amazing to see how fast the boys have grown! the mitchells have two other super cute kids, too, and we were happy to head over to their beautiful house and property in a more rural area of frederick to take some portraits! what a photogenic family!

brothers! do these guys look like troublemakers to you?!

and here’s the whole family – cat included!

these kids were a blast to photograph. lots of smiles and laughter! and we love those plaid shorts!!

this is one of our favorite shots. what a great property!

and here’s another favorite. the mitchells’ tire swing inspired us to create our own tire swing in our yard  – our little guy had so much fun playing on theirs, we figured we should have one, too! thanks to all the mitchells for all the smiles and all the fun!

we’ve known the fedors for a long, long time. ever since we moved to maryland, in fact. they attended our wedding many years ago, and both molly and dave have been co-workers of tom in the past. our dogs are buddies. and so are our kids. let’s just say we love these guys! so it was a pleasure to get the chance to take their family portrait as a mother’s day gift for melissa several weeks ago.

it was tom’s idea to shoot the family on the grounds of walkersville southern railroad. cool spot. but especially cool because tom is a railfan!

jillian, melissa, and tom were all good sports, willing to have some fun during the shoot! thanks, guys!

gotta love that jillian! can’t believe how big she’s getting! what a smile.

meet jessi and steven. two kids in love. he’s a native marylander, she was born in illinois. they have been dating since high school. and a little while ago, steve proposed to jessi on the beach. perfect.

i met up with the happy couple a little while ago in middletown, maryland for some fun engagement images. we met outside the main cup, a really awesome local eatery and coffeehouse, and right away they felt like celebrities. literally moments after we met up, a server came bursting out the doors yelling, “hey, sis!” it was jessi’s brother! so, when we went inside for some pics we were treated like royalty. yay!

i am crazy excited for their big day, which will take place at the comus inn at sugarloaf mountain in dickerson, maryland. such a beautiful place for a wedding!

i have driven past this little old building for years on the main drag in middletown, and finally got to shoot in front of it! such a cool place!

chillin’ at the main cup!

found this ultra secret location on a drive with the family a while back. love it! especially in the rain!

i’ve also been waiting for the right time to photograph in this field. perfect!

jessi and steven, you guys are incredibly awesome. i can’t wait for your big day!

last week, i had the pleasure of photographing a really awesome wedding. you may remember the couple, amanda and chris, from their engagement session at harpers ferry last year. it was a beautiful, if slightly wet day, and the couple couldn’t have been happier! here’s a little glimpse at them. more to come soon!