Kelly Lee Photography

Many of you may remember this couple from THIS post going back a while ago on the old blog. Seeing as how we first met and began the planning back in I believe 2007 or early 2008 I think I may have been as anxiously awaiting this day as much as Joe and Natalia were. OK, maybe not THAT much, but they are finally MARRIED!

The whole day was splendid. The rain they were saying we were supposed to have stayed far away. It was sunny, blue skies, and lots of wonderful family and friends were there to share in the day. Natalia’s family is Ukrainian so the day was also full of some of their traditions.

We began by meeting in a fabulous suite at the Waterside Marriott in Norfolk. There we had an icon ceremony, finished getting ready and then boarded trollies to head over to Epworth United Methodist down the street. We did some photos out near Granby Street before heading the the fabulous reception at Half Moone which was put together by Antonia Christianson events.

It was a long great day full of love, family, and an all around awesome time. I’m slightly sad the wedding is behind us… but I look forward to all the wonderful things the future holds for Joe and Natalia. I’m honored to have been a part of this journey with you.

The first kisses outside the church after any wedding are usually my favorites of any wedding day.

And of course, the Ukrainian Wedding Bread!

The Lighting provided by Blue Steel was of course perfect. I highly recommend looking at lighting design when planning your big day. It truly adds a huge wonderful dimension to your day.

The Babushka!

Joe’s daughter got hold of the tossed flowers and Natalia’s veil according to Ukrainian Tradition

Traditional Ukrainian dance

Even James Brown made an appearance!

Like I said, the lighting was awesome and really helped pull the huge room together!

I was invited by “Every Little Moment Photography” of Salt Lake City to come help them out 2 weekends ago. 1/2 of them, Aubrey, when they asked me was originally due to give birth about the time of the wedding. Since we all split a room at WPPI in Vegas 2 years ago, I was more than happy to take them up on their offer to travel yet again this spring Well, Baby came early so it was nice to see the little one, but I got to do a LOT of great stuff! First time to shoot an LDS Temple Wedding. (We don’t get shoot in the Temple though). First time in Utah. We spent free time eating heaps of excellent food from places unique to Utah. We went into the mountains… we went to Sundance… which is actually JUST a ski resort. Any images you see of the stars walking around at the Sundance Film Festival is actually in Park City! We spent the whole weekend RUNNING from rain (in the desert)…. INCLUDING the wedding! I’ve never rung out my pants before after shooting a bride and groom

Some of them I edited differently than I usually do since this isn’t my client… so I’d love some feedback.

Theme: This one time, I traveled to the desert… and it rained the whole time!

This was the view from the venue. For a Texan stuck in Virginia… This is a cool sight. I appreciated it

I LOVED the cake!!!!

And of course, the lovely Ladies, Sam and Aubrey showed me all over the area!
Overlooking Provo and the valley

Again, love the mountains!




We were taking portraits of ourselves when it started to Thunder… LOUDLY! We kept shooting and it began to sprinkle. We knew we were close so we started to run back to the car but only made it as far as the ski patrol porch.


This is Aubrey. We were stuck until we found a roll of Trash Bags and made ourselves creepy looking covers.

So there you have it. My time in Utah!