Amy Rizzuto Photography » The Official Blog

The sweet smell of lavender rose into the mountain air and over the acres and acres of farm land.  It had been one year since my younger sister Ali married the man of her dreams and they had picked the perfect location for their one year anniversary photo session. As we pulled up to Mountain Farm, a lavender farm in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, Nathan took Ali by the hand and pulled her into the rows and rows of deep purple fields.  As the sun slowly started to set behind the blue peaks in the distance, I captured their many laughs, smiles, and obvious love that I believe is even stronger today than one year ago when they said “I do”.  After their one year anniversary session, Ali described the experience like this:

“I may have been just as excited to celebrate my one-year anniversary with my husband as I was to marry him on our wedding day. I knew I wanted to do a one-year anniversary photo shoot with my husband to document what our first year of marriage has been like for us. Although I am currently in law school and my husband works long hours as a coach at a sports performance facility, our first year as a married couple has been magical and I wanted our photos to reflect that. When I stumbled upon Mountain Farm’s quaint and fairy-tale like lavender fields among rolling hills hidden in North Carolina’s mountains, I knew it would be the perfect spot. As the sun was setting, I could not help but reflect on what a blessed first year we have had together. I continue to love my husband more and more every day and I know we will always cherish the memories we have made during our first year of marriage.”

I couldn’t wait to share Ali and Nathan’s gorgeous one year anniversary photo session at this pretty lavender farm in Asheville, North Carolina!  Enjoy a few of my favorites below!

The sweet couple that lives at Mountain Farms has been there for years and years!  They were kind enough to allow us to have the lavender fields to ourselves for Ali and Nathan’s one year anniversary photo session.

Ali and Nathan are high school sweethearts.  They dated long distance through college, Nathan in Tennessee and Ali in Georgia.  They moved to Charlotte, North Carolina after they were married last June.

Ali is entering her final year of law school and Nathan is working towards his masters.  Even though they are studying a lot, they still find time to play tennis, go on hikes, and cook together on weekends.

We arrived at Mountain Farms the day before their annual lavender festival.  Needless to say the fields were gorgeous!

LOVE.

At sunset, Ali and Nathan sipped on blueberry lemonade and cut into the pretty top of their one year old wedding cake!  They admitted it was not as delicious as it was last year.  :)

Cheers to many more happy years together!

Ali put together all the details for her and Nathan’s one year anniversary session.  She actually made this “1 year” sign herself!

After their picnic, Ali and Nathan cuddled up to look through their wedding album.  They couldn’t believe it had already been one year!

This law book and resistance training book were so appropriate in telling Ali and Nathan’s story as this couple spent much of their first year of marriage studying.

I will end with this lovely photograph of Ali and Nathan walking through the lavender field right after sunset.  Congratulations you two!  I wish you many more happy years together in the future.

The sun was slowly setting over the rolling hills that seemed to go on for miles. The day was gorgeous and I was photographing a truly beautiful couple. Years before they even knew each other,  Danielle and Adam were meant to be together.  Clearly recalling the night their friends told them they would be the perfect match makes Danielle and Adam laugh as they did not start dating until two years later. When they met their connection was instant. Danielle and Adam could make each other laugh for days and felt so comfortable around one another. Each time they went out seemed to be better than the last and their relationship quickly grew. One night before dinner in the city, Adam got down on one knee and asked Danielle to marry him!  She was completely surprised and so excited as she happily exclaimed YES! This adorable couple is planning on tying the knot next April in Riviera Maya, Mexico and can’t wait to celebrate in such a beautiful place with family and friends.

Danielle and Adam, thank you for spending the day with me last Wednesday!  Your Willowwood Arboretum engagement session was so much fun and we were able to capture some beautiful pictures.  Check out a few of my favorites below!

Danielle and Adam are so sweet together.  You can tell by just being around them for a few moments that they truly love each other.

The Willowwood Arboretum is one of my favorite places to shoot!  Made up of old stone buildings covered with ivy and wide open fields, it is truly beautiful.

LOVE.

Since Danielle and Adam are having a destination wedding, they decided to order their invitations early.  They had one in the car and we decided to photograph it!

Danielle and Adam’s playfulness is one of my favorite things about them!

Seriously…could you guys be any more ADORABLE?!

Congratulations again on your engagement Danielle and Adam and good luck with the wedding planning!  I just know your day will be filled with lots of love and laughter, just like your relationship.  HAPPY FRIDAY!

Katie and Mike are full of joy and so much love for life.  And each other.  :)  This sweet couple met over six years ago while working together.  Realizing how much they had in common, Katie and Mike couldn’t believe they would be going off to different colleges at the end of the summer.  Their feelings were strong, and with many phone calls and weekend visits, they successfully grew closer through their long distance relationship.

Knowing they didn’t want to be apart any longer, Katie and Mike purchased a condo together!  Two days after they closed the couple was sitting in the living room joking about how they had done everything backwards – moved in, bought a dog, closed on the condo…the only thing left to do was get married!  Just as Katie was about to go out the door to walk their adorable cavachon puppy Averie, Mike  pulled a stunning ring from his hoodie sweatshirt and proposed right in the middle of their new living room!  Katie was so surprised she started crying as she quickly exclaimed YES!  These two love birds are tying the knot next June and I couldn’t be more excited for them.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Katie and Mike’s Grounds for Sculpture engagement photos.  We had a blast together and the day was absolutely beautiful!  Check out a few of my favorites below.

Katie and Mike couldn’t have picked a better location for their engagement photos!  The Grounds for Sculpture was GORGEOUS!  There were even wild peacocks roaming around.

Just as pretty as the peacocks was Katie’s incredible ring.  Great job Mike!

Katie and Mike are filled with so much love for each other!  It is obvious to see how happy they are going to be.

Loving the duck family swimming behind these yellow flowers.  The scene feels so romanic!

When Katie and Mike first started dating they would always get cream soda together.  I love that they bought one to personalize their engagement session.

Ballons are my favorite!

Katie and Mike, thank you so much for an AMAZING time at the Grounds for Sculpture!  I am already counting down the days for your wedding next June.HAPPY FRIDAY!