From the first time that I talked on the phone with Sabrina, I felt a great connection! It could have been the fact that we grew up in the same area, have some of the same friends, and are about the same age – oh, and can’t forget our love of the University of Florida (I love my gator brides!)!!! …but I knew that if anyone could do a fabulous job shooting her wedding, it would be me! :)

Fast forward a few months and it was time to shoot their engagement session. I had a great time finally getting to know Sabrina & Sean in person! We had fun shooting at Delray’s Colony Beach Club, and I knew that we were going to get along splendidly on their wedding day. I felt that if their wedding day was anything like our engagement shoot, I was in for a very laid back day filled with good times and amazing photos — and I was right!

Their wedding was my last of 2011 and we went out with a bang! The location was Delray Beach’s Old School Square with a reception at the incredible vintage gymnasium! There were so many wonderful elements hand-crafted by the bride, groom, and their family (seriously, check out the incredible fabric bouquets and the groom’s boutonniere), and I am so pleased with the way their images turned out!

Big thanks to my lovely second shooter Moriah from Peachy Keen for coming along for this wedding!

Enjoy the images and don’t forget to click the Facebook “like” button at the bottom if you liked this post!

VENDORS: Photography by Karen Lisa | Hair & Makeup by Scissorium | Getting Ready and First Look at The Colony Hotel | Wedding Venue at Delray Beach’s Old School Square | Bride’s Shoes by Badgley Mischka | Cake by Susie’s Scrumptious Sweets | Catering by Culinary Solutions | Candy Buffet selections by Bulk Candy Store | Decorations all created by the bride & groom and their families

Cassidy and Evan came to me by way of another client, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them so far! They are a fun and happy couple living in California, but will be returning to their home state of Florida for their wedding this spring.

They were only in town for a couple days when I met up with them for their engagement session, and I’m so glad we had time to fit it in between their holiday festivities and wedding planning activities! We had a great time eating lunch at one of my favorite spots, ROK:BRGR, not to mention, traipsing all over the Riverfront area in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It was a beautiful day!

I’m loving how their engagement photos came out…. if you do too, don’t forget to click the Facebook “Like” button at the end of this post!

I liked Bridget immediately from our first email exchange regarding her wedding. She was just my kind of client – laid back, welcoming of my suggestions, and of course, excited about planning her wedding day. I loved her ideas for a simple and elegant affair overlooking the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. After meeting her and Eric in person, I knew that Jessica (my awesome 2nd shooter) and I were going to have blast shooting their wedding, and I was right – they had a gorgeous, classic event at the Pelican Grand, and with a small guest list, they were able to really celebrate to the fullest with their family and closest friends.

Photography by Karen Lisa | Ceremony and Reception Location at Pelican Grand | Cake by Susie’s Scrumptious Sweets | Floral Design by Forget Me Not Flowershop | Linens by Cover It | Hair and makeup by Amanda Lynn & Co | DJ by Eddie B & Co

I was so thrilled when Ashley and Ryan booked their wedding with me! Not only did they seem like a fun couple, but I went to high school with Ryan’s sister Carianne and it’s always an awesome feeling to be referred to someone by a friend. Ashley and Ryan and I communicated for months via e-mail and even had a video meeting on Skype, since they no longer live in the South Florida area. I was counting down the days to meet them and I really had a great time on their engagement session, which we photographed at Cypress Park and Ochid Park which are right next door to one another in Coral Springs. After getting to spend some time with them, I am even more looking forward to their wedding next spring. I know it’s going to be a super fun time!

For their engagement shoot we decided to do a few different clothing looks. Since the parks we shot at are right next door to one another it was easy to get all of these shots in our time schedule Plus, Ashley and Ryan had so many great ideas including bringing a soccer ball and their respective College Football jerseys. By the way, GO GATORS! :)

Hope you enjoy all of these preview images, can’t wait to show off the rest!

Last May, I photographed Carly and Darren’s engagement party, and I was incredibly thrilled when the couple asked me back to photograph their gorgeous wedding this past summer in Palm Beach! The couple got ready and had their first look and portraits at the incredible Brazilian Court in Palm Beach, and the wedding and reception were held at the beautiful Palm Beach Orthodox Synagogue. The decor featured a sweet French Country theme paired up with the couple’s love for all things music.  Laura Helm from Ashton Events was the amazing coordinator for the wedding who implemented all of the stunning details and kept things running smoothly along with her assistant, and Jessica and I had a blast shooting alongside Mary and her team from Key Moments Films who did an amazing job that night with the cinematography. Guests were kept dancing all night long by DJ Mike Kruz.

The wedding photos were debuted with a feature on the Every Last Detail blog!

Photography by Karen Lisa | Video/Cinematography by Key Moments Films | Floral Design by Petal Productions | Coordination by Laura Helm of Ashton Events | Makeup by Lady Lash Studios | Hair by Monica McWilliams | Getting Ready & First Look at Brazilian Court | Ceremony & Reception at Palm Beach Orthodox Synagogue | Officiated by Rabbi Pinny | Catering by VIP Caterers | Cake by Ana Paz | Linens by Connie Duglin | Chair and Table Rentals by Hitched | Vintage Furniture Rentals by Room Service Rentals | Ceremony Music by Marischen Music | Reception Entertainment by DJ Mike Kruz

This past summer, we took a work related vacation up to Vermont on the occasion of Nikki & Raul’s wedding! The couple lives here in South Florida (and Nikki is actually our hair stylist!), but they hired me to come to Vermont, Nikki’s home state, to photograph their wedding. They are an incredibly fun couple (and jokesters too as you will see from the photo of Raul walking the moms down the aisle) and their wedding was a mix of themes of things they love — travel, their dogs, and their closest family and friends. It was a treat to shoot at The Essex, which is Vermont’s Culinary Resort. Everything was food-themed and the staff was so attentive and put the room together perfectly! Shooting Nikki & Raul’s destination wedding in Vermont was a real treat!

Thanks so much to Carrie Bombria of Carrie Ann Photography, an amazing Vermont wedding photographer, for being my 2nd shooter and assistant on the day of the wedding!

I had such a great time photographing Miss L’s session! The always wonderful Darcy from South Florida Makeup Artistry handled L’s hair and makeup beautifully, and we shot at one of my fav locations, the W Hotel right on Ft. Lauderdale beach.

L is a basketball player, so we wanted to incorporate my signature boudoir style along with some basketball shots on the balcony of her hotel room. We had so much fun chatting about life, photography, and The Kardashians, which played on TV during our whole shoot, haha!

Hope you enjoy the images! As an interesting sidenote, L is the tallest woman I’ve photographed so far – she is about 6 feet tall (I did say she plays basketball!), so this session brought a new challenge to me and I thoroughly enjoyed trying out different poses to work with our height difference (I am just over 5 feet tall)! Thanks L for a great session and for allowing me to share these images on my blog!

A few months ago, I did a Little Red Riding Hood themed birthday party inspiration shoot with the ladies of One Sweet Party, Johanna and Yadira. Johanna was pregnant at the time, so I took some quick maternity shots of her with the beautiful backdrop of Long Key Nature Center in Davie behind us. What an amazing location for maternity portraits! And how cute does she look? I just adore how her yellow top stands out of the beautiful greenery of the natural area.

And here’s a portrait of Johanna and Yadira, the two lovely sisters behind One Sweet Party!

Summertime in Florida contradicts the nickname “Sunshine State” – in actuality I think California probably gets more sunshine than we do, but I always say there’s absolutely nothing more wonderful than the sound of a Florida rainstorm. I think my native Floridian friends will agree with me. Regardless of the sunny OR rainy weather, it’s typically more muggy, hot and humid… though I still love it. :) This is what the sky has looked like every afternoon in the past couple weeks.

The rain is a great thing, since our poor state is in a drought right now and in dire need of rain… though the wet weather has thwarted most of my plans for playing outside with Zachary at the park in the afternoons.

Still, he finds joy in puddle jumping, just as I did as a child. And now, as his mom, I find even more joy in capturing the happiness that even these small moments can bring him.

We manage to have fun despite the wet season here in South Florida, finding joy in the sunshine or even the puddles of rain….

All images were processed with my own collection of custom Lightroom presets.

I’m so happy that I got to shoot Nikki & Raul’s engagement photos! They are a super loving, happy couple and I am stoked to photograph their wedding this summer! We did their session at the amazing Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Ft. Lauderdale.

This was a great engagement shoot! Not only was I thrilled to have gotten to know Raul better, since I already know Nikki (she’s an amazing hair stylist/colorist who has been doing my hair for over a year now), the session was incredibly useful in regards to learning about the kinds of photos that Nikki & Raul like to have taken. This is one of the best reasons to take your engagement photos and why I even offer it complimentary in my two biggest packages! Without the engagement shoot, I’d never have learned that Nikki’s favorite types of photos are the cheek-to-cheek, snuggly ones.

On the wedding day, the opportunity to spontaneously discuss the kinds of images that you like may be forgotten due to the stress of the busy day – but shooting engagement portraits in a relaxed setting allows for a different thought process. So, not only was I able to get plenty of snuggly photos for Nikki & Raul, but I look forward to capturing images in a similar style for them on their wedding day this summer!

I had a great time photographing the two of you and can’t wait for your wedding!!!