Justine Ungaro Photography - Modern Weddings & Lifestyle Editorials - Los Angeles, CA - Washington, DC

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get back to blogging but the pre-holiday season has kept me more than a little bit busy. But, I am determined to catch up on all of the weddings and portraits that I have yet to blog. So let’s go back to October and my 2nd to last wedding of the year. Cynthia & Ross came to my via wedding planner extraordinaire, Sara Muchnick and once again, she knocked it out of the park. Kim Seidl was kind enough to come along to shoot this wedding with me.

The couple got ready at the brand new W Hotel, which has recently opened where the Hotel Washington used to be. Now I’m a fan of the way that the W is decorated but the biggest bummer about this DC newcomer is the fact that they do not allow any photographs to be taken in any public area of the hotel. As a photographer, that is one big strike against them for me. Especially since it poured the whole day of Cynthia & Ross’s wedding. We were still not allowed to do any shooting in the lobby of the hotel. But luckily my good friend Mike from Mie N Yu in Georgetown opened their doors to us so that we would have a location to do some fun portraits. The weather is one of the few things you just can’t exactly plan for, so I suggest that if you are in the midst of planning your wedding, be sure that you pick a hotel that will be accommodating to your needs on such an important day. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now and show some images…

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Cynthia’s gorgeous Judd Waddell gown was purchased at Hitched.

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Makeup by Pattie Martin.

Hair by Susie Ruckstuhl.

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While photographing Cynthia with her bridesmaids, I asked them to get “nice & close”. So close in fact that Cynthia accidentally transferred her flower hairpiece to one of the other girls…this was the reaction when they realized what had happened.

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Flowers by Amaryllis

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Catering by Occasions

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Chocolate miniatures of DC monuments by Truffles Belgian Chocolates of Georgetown

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Natalie and Mike are a delightful couple from Chicago and came to me via Laura Weatherly from Engaging Affairs... and as soon as I met them, I just knew we had to work together.  I’m super excited about their wedding next April at the brand new W Hotel in Washington DC. Now I grew up in DC and have shot a lot of weddings in a lot of different venues and most of them tend to be a little more on the traditional side, so I for one am thrilled that the W is going to bring a little more modern flair to this city.

Since every couple I work with is different, I like to consider their individual personalities when selecting locations for the engagement sessions. Since Natalie and Mike are a fun couple who toe the line between traditional and modern, I thought it would be fun to start right in their neighborhood at the Hotel Helix with their dog, George and then head over to the monuments for something a little more classic. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

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