It all began with a cow in the soccer field. We’ll call the cow Bessie because that’s a perfectly good name for a cow isn’t it? One morning I’m driving towards my home and there’s a country road that runs behind my kids’ school. As I’m driving along, I notice a large cow munching in the soccer fields. I thought to myself, “That’s something you don’t see every day. Hopefully she’ll find her way home.” But then as I got to the end of the road, I really couldn’t just leave Bessie out on the soccer field when kids would be coming out to recess etc. I decided I would pull into the estate closest to the road and inquire if they knew her ownership. I met my neighbor Sherrie, for the first time. Sherrie and her husband own this gorgeous 18th century estate home. It is one of those rare gems that you happen upon while driving around Loudoun County. It looks like you flew across the pond and spent the day drinking tea next to a boxwood garden. I walked up to the door of the estate and I pulled on the doorbell, which is just like one of the doorbells out of Downton Abbey!! I was giddy with delight. I may or may not have clapped my hands together 🙂 Sherrie graciously answered and explained that Bessie is a bit of a wanderer and owned by another neighbor. She is known to roam and always makes her way back home. Does country living get any better than this?
So of course as a photographer, I had to ask Sherrie about her estate and all of it’s history. As she delved into the grounds and what they had done to the property, I asked her if she would ever consider using it for a wedding venue. While she wasn’t interested in opening it to the public, her step-daughter was supposed to be married there the following year. You can imagine where my mind was going. I promptly let her know that I was a wedding photographer and should she need help with that 😉 I would LOVE to talk to her daughter about it. “Thank you Bessie,” I thought to myself.
A couple of months later, I got to meet her lovely step-daughter Lizzy and her to be son-in-law, Michael. Immediately I fell head over heels in like with them. I knew that I wanted to photograph their wedding. From our mutual Beatles love to our mutual appreciation for natural beauty and the history of the estate, I knew we would get along swimmingly and we did.
This wedding is so special to me because every day I drive down my road, I get to go past this home. I get to recall the beautiful day that happened here and know that two lives that love each other so much, joined together in a perfect union. Mike and Lizzy, I can’t even tell you how amazing it was to be able to capture your love. It is so genuine that others just walking by you can feel it. Thank you so much for letting me capture it!
And to update you on Bessie, I haven’t seen her munching on the fields again. But if I ever do see another random cow, you better believe I’m going to do something about it 🙂
Flowers & Coordination: Event Studio
Grandpa with his granddaughters.
Brought out an old Nikon film lens for this shot.
Thank you Shauna!!! love this! Can’t wait to pass it along, you were such an amazing presence on our wedding day!