Amy Rizzuto Photography » The Official Blog

Southern girl meets concrete jungle.  That is Mekina’s story.  Mekina, my second shooter and close friend.  Like peanut butter and jelly close.  Over a year ago, Mekina (a Texas native) moved from North Carolina to New York City.  Hence the tag line, southern girl meets concrete jungle.  You’re catching on….  Mekina and I actually went to college together at Gardner-Webb University.  We were even in the same photography classes!  However, we would have never referred to each other as best friends.  When Mekina moved to New York, we decided to meet up, quickly bonding over our love for weddings.  Mekina shared her desire to be a wedding planner and I told her my dream of becoming a wedding photographer.  Realizing we made an incredible team, we began taking steps to make our dreams a reality.

As my business started to take off, I began to long for a consistent second shooter.  I wanted someone with a great eye, but different than mine.  Enter Mekina.  Going through her digital images after our first shoot was exhilarating.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the unique angles Mekina had captured.  Our photographs, put together, told a complete story.  It gets better.  Not only is Mekina a fabulous photographer, she is also an amazing wedding planner.  She has a natural ability to connect with couples, understand their wedding day visions, and make them a reality.  When the big day comes around, she has a great feel for the vibe our bride and groom are going for and is able to help effectively capture all of the most important details.  Yep…she is pretty much amazing!  I feel lucky to have her on my side.

Yesterday, my talented friend launched her personal blog titled, My Piece of the Apple : Southern Girl Meets Concrete Jungle.  Here, you can stay up-to-date on her wonderful wedding planning tips, get a behind the scenes look at our photo shoots, learn about the most fabulous places to dine in the city, and simply take a closer look at the many funny situations that arise when a southern girl moves to the concrete jungle.  Add it to your list of blogs to follow…I guarantee you won’t want to miss a single hilarious post!

This picture was taken on the very first day Mekina and I hung out after she moved to New York.  She accompanied me to my final wedding dress fitting at Kleinfeld’s.  I think this is sorta funny. Our deeper friendship would begin because of a wedding.

Two seconds.  That’s the amount of time they say it takes to form a first impression.  The first impression of a new restaurant, a website, even of a person.  I think this is fascinating.  Either we as humans are extremely intuitive, or we just have really short attention spans.  Whatever the case, it has become incredibly important to make a good first impression on the couples who want to get to know the person behind the lens.   There is seriously nothing I enjoy more than sitting down with two people in love and talking weddings.  Just thinking about it makes my heart sing.  La la la la LA!  Just kidding…[sort of].   Of course I can’t actually sing to couples when I first meet them.  That would just be weird.  So how do you get ready for this moment?  The moment of the first impression.

Number one, be prepared.  The night before any meeting make a mental check list of the things you need to do.  Paperwork printed?  Check.  Slideshow created and iPad packed?  Check.  Outfit mentally decided on?  Check!  You get the idea.  The more you prepare the night before the more confident you will feel.  Number two, pick a place to meet.  Since I am primarily a wedding photographer shooting on location, I have yet to find a need for an actual studio.  Instead, I prefer to meet my brides and grooms at a local cafe.  This gives us a chance to get to know each other over a cup of coffee in a relaxed environment.  Drip Coffee in Madison is my favorite.  Only a block away from my apartment, Drip is known for their deliciously fresh coffee and constant supply of Philly Fluff Cake (seriously the best cake in the WORLD…if you haven’t tried it you are missing out!).  Besides Drip, Starbucks makes a great meeting spot as well.  Last but not least, bring yourself!  The REAL you. It is equally as important for you to like the couple you are meeting as much as they like you!   By being yourself, you ensure you will be a good match for each other on the wedding day!  In my opinion, that is the most important thing.

While I am more than happy to meet my brides and grooms at a location convenient for them, I love it when I get a chance to show them around my town.

Drip Coffee is located on Main Street, right in the heart of Madison.

They are known for always serving freshly roasted coffee.  Yummm.

My real secret to making a good first impression?  The Philly Fluff cake!  This little baby is irresistible!

Those days… we all have them.  Those days when the sun doesn’t seem to shine quite as bright and one bowl of ice-cream just isn’t enough.  When tears seem to hang out right behind your eyes, threatening to spill over if ONE thing goes wrong.  Sometimes I have days like this and I don’t even know why.  Days when it is just easier to be sad.  This sound totally RIDICULOUS…but if you are a fellow female, you KNOW what I am talking about.

I don’t know about you, but I totally hate feeling this way.  The last thing I want to be doing is sulking around the house, listening to depressing girl songs on my Adele Pandora station and chasing around my cat Kylie, trying to force her to cuddle with me.  Here kitty kitty kitty…  When I am feeling this way, there are a couple of things I have found that can pull me out of my self-induced funk.

1. Changing my Pandora station to “happy music”.  Train and Lady Gaga are my go-tos.

2. Lighting a candle.  There is nothing better than the smell of warm sugar cookies wafting throughout the house.

3. Eating a cookie.  Or a bowl of french silk ice-cream.  Or a carton…whatever

4. Going on a run.  As hard as it is to tie up those running shoes, I ALWAYS feel better after a good sweat.

5. Prayer…for a fresh batch of goodness and mercy.  This works every time.  I heard my pastor’s wife give a sermon on this last fall and I think about it everyday.  You can watch it here if you like.

This picture was obviously taken on one of “those days” back in 2002.  My parents had taken my sister and me to a gorgeous temple in China and we were sad…go figure.  If only I had eaten a cookie, or a bowl of ice-cream, or a carton…whatever.  When you’re in a funk, what do you to?  Leave me a comment and let me know.  Maybe we can learn from each other.  :)  HAPPY WEDNESDAY!