Traveling in Europe: Paris

I know it's been a while since we posted about our trip to Europe, but here are photos from the second half of our trip. We took the Eurostar train from London to Paris, which was super easy and nice. Public transportation is something Europe definitely has over us. On to the pictures!

Along the Siene River in Paris.



Outside Notre Dame Cathedral was filled with tourists and lots of vendors. It was pretty much impossible to get a picture without tons of people in the shot.



There is so much detail carved onto the front of the cathedral. The churches in Europe are simply ornate and unlike anything we've seen before we went there.



Inside the cathedral were even more ornate carvings. This is the view, looking straight up toward the ceiling. We were glad photos were allowed inside. Sadly, St. Paul's in London was really our favorite, but we don't have any photos of the inside because we were good tourists =(





The first night in Paris, we went to the Louvre at night to see the inside, but didn't bring a camera. The place is just out of this world huge. It was super easy to get lost in there and the maps they give you just don't cut it. Since the outside it just a cool as the inside, we went back the next day to grab some more pictures. This is a shot of the courtyard and the famous pyramid. Being there definitely reminded us of the DiVinci Code, which Chris and I both loved.



Here is a video we took in the courtyard of the Louvre. It was just too massive to take a picture. This is almost a 360 video to capture the entire building from the center.



At the end of the courtyard are the gorgeous gardens of the Louvre, and this was our first sight of the Eiffel Tower from afar.



One of the many Egyptian obelisks.



We walked all the way from the Louvre to the Arch de Triumph. It was a heck of hike to get there walking down the famous Avenue de Champ-Elysees, but we finally made it to the Arch de Triumph and took a few pics from the median.





Finally, on our self-guided walking tour of the city, we made it to the most iconic and visited site in the world, the Eiffel Tower.





The line to ride the elevators was really long, so we decided to take the stairs, even though our feet were really tired at this point. This was our view of the city from the first level.





We went back to the tower at night for the famous light show and it was all lit up which made it much cooler.



Every hour, on the hour there is a light show.

Eiffel Tower Night Show:



Then, on our last full day in Paris we visited the Chateau de Versailles. There is so much history here and the decor on the walls and ceilings were like nothing we've seen.





The gardens around the chateau were even more amazing. This is the Versailles Orangery.



The property stretches on for miles. Trust us, we know. We walked like half of it and couldn't take anymore!



We saw so many great things in our week overseas, but it's always good to be back home. =)

Wedding - Tampa, FL: Shaena and Davit

Shaena and Davit are such a sweet and loving couple. They are the kind of people that make you feel happier just being around them. I think Shaena might have been the calmest bride we've ever seen. She just knew that all the details were taken care of and spent her energy on enjoying the entire day. When we first spoke to Shaena, she told us that we could work out the details later, but she definitely wanted to have a First Look with Davit so they would have a lot of time for bride and groom photos. Of course we supported her 100% and we had plenty of time for photos.

Shaena must have spent countless hours planning the wedding and there were many details that made the day super colorful and special. One of our favorites were the parasols she had for photos. They just added another colorful dimension to the day!

One of Davit's favorite things about Shaena are her bright green eyes... it's easy to see why! The flowers were done by Dana Dineen and she really outdid herself with these gorgeous bouquets.

During their First Look, Davit and Shaena were all smiles. =)

Loved the bright blue shoes!

I just adore the way these two look at each other.

And the parasol was such a great touch!

Shaena didn't have just one maid of honor, she had three.

Their ceremony was full of laughter and tears, and they couldn't be happier to finally be husband and wife. =)

Thank you guys for allowing us to capture your wedding day. We wish you both the best and hope you have a great time on your honeymoon!

Engagement - Tampa, FL: Whitney and Chris

Whitney and Chris came down from North Carolina for their engagement session last week. Since Whitney grew up in the Tampa area, we decided to wander a few blocks around her childhood house for some photos. It was great to finally meet these two after all our phone calls. =) From day one, Whitney has been asking our advice on different wedding related things from a photography standpoint, so we are really looking forward to their wedding in March! We had a great time hanging out with these two, and they were very comfortable in front of the camera. Here are some of our favorites below.

Whitney and Chris's dog Jackson is absolutely adorable, so we had to get a few shots with him even though he wasn't very interested in photos.

Whitney is a huge cupcake fan, so she brought some to incorporate into the photos. It was hilarious watching her fight the urge to eat them. =)

Hello gorgeous shoes!

Right around sunset we headed down to the water for a few shots before the sun went down.

Traveling in Europe: London

Last week Chris and I took a trip to Europe for vacation since we've never been out of the country. We finally got a chance to put our passports to good use. =) We decided to start our overseas travels with London and Paris. On Saturday, we flew into London and spent a few days seeing the sights and experiencing new things including The Tube (London's metro). I included some links to Wikipedia for a lot of the sights in case you wanted to get a well rounded history lesson. =)

To start with, here are a few of London's famous red telephone booths.

Here is one of London's most famous sights, Big Ben. We found out on our tour bus that Big Ben is actually the bell inside this clock tower, but everyone just calls the whole clock tower Big Ben.

Next up is another very famous sight in London, the Tower Bridge. Most people think this is the London Bridge, but the London Bridge is really plain and not much to look at.

We took a water tour down the River Thames which goes right through the middle of the city. Here is a view of part of the Tower of London from the boat.

On our way in to see the crown jewels at the Tower of London, we came across these colorful canons.

The London Eye was built to be a temporary attraction but was such a big hit (and brought in so much money) they decided to keep it. It really provides a great view of the city but it is a bit overpriced.



Here is a view of our neighboring pod as we reached the top of the revolution on our ride. It takes about 30 minutes to go all the way around.

This is a view of Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings from the London Eye.

On one of the days, we decided to take a guided tour outside of the city and went to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. It was definitely your typical rainy/misty day in England. This is part of Windsor Castle.

Stonehenge was one of the places I was most excited to see. Unfortunately, it isn't much to look at really. you drive an hour and a half out in the middle of nowhere to see some random enormous old rocks in a big field. It was still pretty cool to see something that old and famous.

The last stop on our tour was the city of Bath. It is an old city built by the Romans on natural hot springs which later became a spa resort.

This is a shot of the Avon River before we left Bath and headed back to London.

On our last day in London, we visited St. Paul's Cathedral . St. Paul's was one of our favorite places, but sadly we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. The interior is absolutely incredible and ornate. To get the most out of the cathedral, you have to climb a lot of steps. The first level up is the Whispering Gallery, which is at the base of the dome of the cathedral. They call it the Whispering Gallery because it is perfectly round, which allows someone on the opposite side to hear you, even at a whisper. Chris and I tried it and got it to work, and it was really neat. Then we climbed up to the Stone Gallery to see the view of the city. This is all we could see instead... more of that lovely London rain.

Later that day we took a train to Oxford and visited Christ Church College. This is the large dining hall where Christ Church College (and Hogwarts) students eat their meals. =)

As the rain started to clear, we got a pretty cool view from the courtyard.

Next up will be photos from the second half of our trip in Paris.