Over The Moon Sandbridge Beach Wedding - VA Wedding Photographer

Over The Moon Sandbridge Beach Wedding

VA Wedding Photographer

Dannie & Arty planned their east coast destination beach wedding from their home in New Jersey. Dannie had dreamed of a beautiful beach wedding, and they looked up and down the coast for the perfect location. They settled on a lovely beach house in Sandbridge, in southern Virginia Beach.

I was thrilled to be part of their amazing day, and couldn’t wait to meet them, since we had only communicated via email up until their wedding day. When I arrived in Sandbridge, it was rainy, foggy, and quite wet. Dannie and Arty will in high spirits though, and determined to go ahead with their beach plans, rain or shine!

Friends and family, and their amazing vendor team, rallied around them so the ceremony went on as planned. With a few dozen added umbrellas, of course!

Afterward the I do’s, the rain lightened up and a soft fog rolled in. It was absolutely dreamy!

Fortunately, we had just enough time to capture some beautifully romantic shots on the beach before heading up to the beach house for the reception.

Then, Mr. & Mrs. Kambo were announced! The party began, and all the stress and worry of the day just melted away.

It was so much fun to see the love and joy shared by Dannie, Arty, and their closest friends and family, as the celebration continued into the night.

Congratulations Dannie & Arty! I wish you many happy days, and many silver linings. - XOXO, Melissa

Special thanks to the outstanding vendor team for this event:

Venue  |  Over the Moon, Sandbridge Realty

Catering  |  Yummy Goodness Catering

Hair  |  Stephanie Michelle

Makeup  |  Dhalia Edwards

Rentals  |  Distinctive Event Rentals

Cake  | E and E Special Events

DJ  |  Elite Entertainment

Photography  |  Melissa Bliss Photography

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Blue Horizon Beach House Destination Wedding, Virginia Beach

Blue Horizon Beach House Destination Wedding, Virginia Beach

Hello friends! I’ve got some lovely beach wedding inspiration for you today! I am excited to share Andrea and Elard’s beautiful destination Sandbridge beach wedding with you. They were married at the stunning waterfront Blue Horizon beach house, and it was an intimate and elegant affair.

The Blue Horizon is one of the largest and newest beach houses in Sandbridge. I have had the pleasure of photographing two weddings there in the past year, and this venue does not disappoint. The sweeping beach views, large rooms, and walls of windows make it a great location for a romantic wedding.

This was a destination wedding, and I had not had an opportunity to meet Andrea and Elard in person before their wedding day. When I arrived, I was greeted warmly by their families, and instantly felt right at home documenting this special day for them.

I gathered a few detail shots of the special mementos and personal touches they had incorporated, and then met the bridal party during their final preparations for the ceremony.

Soon it was time for Andrea to don her stunning bridal gown. I adore the simplicity and clean lines she chose. She looked so gorgeous and elegant!

Next, it was time for a father-daughter first look. It was definitely difficult to keep dry eyes through this emotional greeting!

After a few heartfelt moments with Dad, I grabbed the bride and groom, separately, for a few wedding portraits before we gathered for the ceremony on the beach.

I’ll finish up the second half of this beautiful beach wedding in the next post. Stay tuned for more soon! - XOXO, Melissa

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Sandbridge Beach Cottage Wedding Photos - VA Wedding Photographer

Sandbridge Beach Cottage Wedding Photos - VA Wedding Photographer

I am finally sharing some images from Bree & Keith’s beautiful Sandbridge Beach wedding today! This was a destination beach wedding, and all of their loved ones gathered from near and far to celebrate this lovely couple.

Bree and Keith are hard working New Yorkers. He’s a firefighter and she is a news reporter. A beach wedding was the perfect getaway for them to relax and take advantage of some laid back summertime vibes.

I arrived just before Bree put on her wedding gown, which was absolutely gorgeous, and we captured a few sweet quiet moments of her with her mom. She was such a stunning bride. I LOVE that dress!

Afterwards, I spent a few minutes gathering some detail shots and candids of the guests before I headed down to the pier with the bride and groom for pre-wedding portraits.

It was a blazing hot summer day, and the beach was very crowded with visitors over the Labor Day weekend. I did my best to keep it short and sweet so we could get out of the heat, while also making sure Bree & Keith could enjoy a few intimate moments together.

After our wedding portrait session, it was back to the beach house for the seaside ceremony.

Bree and Keith have a super adorable son, who made a brief cameo at the end of the ceremony.

We took a few causal family portraits, and then took advantage of the sunset light for some more bride and groom photos.

The reception was intimate and casual, and they only asked me to stay for a quick dance, the cake cutting, and then a few sparkler shots.

I truly enjoyed getting to know this couple and their beautiful family. Congrats Bree & Keith! I wish you a lifetime of happy memories together. - XOXO, Melissa

Many thanks to the vendor team for all their hard work:

Venue: Oceanic Serenade, Sandbridge Realty

Event Coordinator: Vanessa Watts

Bride’s Hair: Stephanie Michelle

Bride’s Make Up: Melissa at Dhalia Edwards

Florist: Kate Flore

Catering: Mobile pig-nic

Entertainment: Astro DJs

Cake: Carolina Cupcakery

Wedding Photographer: Melissa Bliss Photography

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Virginia Wedding Photographer, Tina & Chris's Beach Wedding

Virginia Wedding Photographer, Tina & Chris' Beach Wedding

Today I am sharing some sneak peeks from Tina and Chris’ gorgeous, but wild and windy, oceanfront wedding! I was fortunate to get to know Tina and Chris last spring when we shot their engagement portraits. They are such a kind and lovely couple. I was super excited for their early fall wedding celebration. September is usually a beautiful month on the beach, and we had planned to spend time taking full advantage of it. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.

The Tuesday before their wedding, Tina and Chris received the crushing news that both their rehearsal dinner AND their reception were cancelled due to the venues being located in the mandatory evacuation Zone A prior to the arrival of Hurricane Florence. They were devastated, as you can imagine. Just days before the wedding they had spent months planning, and their whole event was turned upside down. They had family and friends coming in from out of town, the weather was still a huge question mark at that point, and they had no where to hold their rehearsal dinner or reception. But, these two handled it with amazing grace, after a few tears of course. They decided to go ahead with their plans and find a way to work it out.

Fortunately, the church was not in an evacuation zone, and Chris, a talented local chef, had some connections in the hospitality industry. Amazingly, they were able to pull together a new plan to accommodate their celebration and guests! And it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day! The weather was a little wild and windy, but that mattered little as they were able to tie the knot and celebrate with the people that mattered most to them.

The Hyatt House Hotel at the Virginia Beach oceanfront did an amazing job of pulling together this event in only a few days! The entire vendor team, friends and family, all pulled together to make this wonderful day a success. I know Tina and Chris put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to revamp the entire event just days before it happened. I was amazed at all they accomplished! No one would have known it wasn’t planned that way all along.

Fortunately, the weather wasn’t nearly as bad as predicted. It was very windy, and we had some sprinkles throughout the day, but this couple and their awesome wedding party braved the beach nonetheless. We had a blast and ended up with some of my favorite images from the day!

I am so thrilled that, despite the challenges they faced, Tina and Chris were able to have the stunning wedding they deserved. It was an honor to be part of their amazing day. Stay tuned for updates with more photos of this charming wedding!

Congratulations Tina and Chris! May your love and faith carry you through all of life’s trials with grace and resilience. I wish you many happy years together! - XOXO, Melissa

Special thanks to the fantastic vendor team who made this wedding a success!

Church: Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Virginia Beach
Reception/Catering: Hyatt House Hotel, Virginia Beach
Hair & MUA: Jenna Kathleen Miller 
Bride's Gown: Allure Bridals, Studio I Do
Groom's Attire: Jos A. Bank
Florist: Gather Floral, Mariah Breitenberg
Cake: Sugar Plum Bakery
DJ/Entertainment: Mario Espinosa
Photography: Melissa Bliss Photography 
Second Shooter: Rita Hsu, Perspective Photography

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Blue Horizon Sandbridge Beach Wedding, VA Destination Wedding Photographer

Blue Horizon Sandbridge Beach Wedding

 VA Destination Wedding Photographer

What a beautiful wedding I have to share today! Caitlin and Dan officially tied the knot in Virginia Beach this week, and it was such an exciting event! Family and friends gathered from all around the globe for this fabulous British-American destination beach wedding. Scroll on for sneak peeks from their day and a wedding preview slideshow. 

Caitlin and Dan met in the UK several years ago and currently live in California. They selected Virginia Beach as the destination for their wedding so that family and friends could come together from near and far to celebrate. 

I met with Caitlin last fall as she was putting together all the vendors for their big day. After months of planning, lots of travel, and much anticipation, it was truly thrilling to see it all come together for these two lovely people!

It was such an honor to be invited to be part of this momentous occasion! Everyone came together to pull it off so spectacularly! Caitlin's mother did much of the event decor, and her aunt, who isn't a professional florist by the way, purchased and arranged all of the flowers for the wedding. I was absolutely stunned by what an amazing job they did. It was all SO gorgeous!

All of the wedding prep and the reception took place in a beautiful, and big, beach house just steps from the ocean. In case you are wondering, this spectacular cottage, the "Blue Horizon", is managed by Sandbridge Vacation Rentals. 

Many professional vendors also did a bang up job of completing the set up, catering, bridal party prep, entertainment and event coordination. My hats off to the team for their excellent work! 

Wedding Vendor Team:

Hair/MUA: Katie Cistola, www.beautyboxstudiosva.com
Venue: Blue Horizon, Sandbridge Vacation Rentals
Catering: www.traditionscateringva.com
DJ: Astro DJs (Entertainment) DJ Larry
Cake: Incredible Edibles Bakery
Day of Coordinator: www.SandbridgeBeachEvents.com
Flowers/Decor: Jennifer Lavoie, Melanie Lavoie (Brides Aunt & Mother)
Second Photographer: Chava Lind Photography

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Bishop! I wish you both love and happy days always!

XOXO -Melissa

Stay tuned for a full post on this beautiful Sandbridge beach cottage wedding!

If you have had a session with me in recent weeks, or plan to book one, be sure to follow MBP on Facebook , Instagram and Google+ as I always post there first.

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Intimate Virginia Beach Oceanfront Wedding

Intimate Virginia Beach Oceanfront Wedding 

I have been so busy this fall that I have a backlog of sessions and weddings to blog. Things are just starting to calm down a bit and it is high time I shared this beautiful, intimate, sundrenched beach wedding with you! 

When I met Elaina and Matthew at Cure Coffee to chat about their wedding plans, I knew it was going to be an emotional event. They had been together for many years, and I could tell the bond they shared was deep. In fact, they had been together so long that their friends and co-workers had practically given up on them ever getting married.

They planned a small beach ceremony just for immediate family, and kept everything hush, hush. That way, they could surprise their friends and extended family with a big announcement and party in the spring. Of course, wedding photos were important! They would need proof after all. :)

They were married on a gorgeous, sunny September day at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach.  When I say sunny, it was full sun for the ceremony. Not exactly ideal lighting conditions, but I love how the contrast of the harsh light brings out the blue sky! 

Their personal vows were so sweet, heartfelt, and funny - there was laughter and tears all the way through. 

After they tied the knot - yay, finally! - we headed toward the dunes for some family portraits. 

By the time we were through, the sun was setting and softening.

That glorious golden glow was perfect for some intimate bride and groom portraits!

We took full advantage of all that buttery sunset light! I have to say, September beach days are my favorite. The beach is calmer, less crowded, and the light is just stunning!

It was such an honor to witness and photograph this beautiful wedding! Congratulations Elaina and Matthew! All my best wishes for many happy years as Mr. & Mrs.  - XOXO, Melissa 

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If you would like to find out more about our wedding photography services, contact us today! Serving VA & NC. Available for travel destinations worldwide.

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Beach Wedding Photographer - Shifting Sands Damneck Wedding

Beach Wedding Photographer - Shifting Sands Damneck Wedding

Today I'm sharing some sneak peeks from Morgan & Liam's beach wedding! Morgan is a recent graduate from Old Dominion University and Liam is a service member in the Navy. They were married at a small beach ceremony at the Shifting Sands Beach Club, on Dam Neck Naval Base in Virginia Beach.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very windy, rainy day. These two braved the elements and were married on the beach despite the less than ideal conditions. They were surrounded by their closest family and friends. 

The wedding ceremony was short and sweet, but SO full of love and joy. After their "I do's" were final, we took a couple quick shots on the beach before heading for cover. 

Their wedding reception was held at The Founder's Inn in Virginia Beach, which made a lovely location for some indoor portraits of the bride and groom and family. We were thankful for indoor haven from the wet weather, and the atrium made a beautiful backdrop for a few quick shots. 

Congratulations Morgan & Liam! May your days be filled with warmth and love, even if the sun doesn't always shine.

If you would like to find out more about the MBP wedding experience, contact me today! melissablissphotography@gmail.com

Lifestyle Portrait and Wedding Photographer, Hampton Roads, VA & Beyond

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