When I was a junior in college at UNC, I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. During that time, I really grew into myself and discovered who I wanted to be. I even took my first darkroom class at the college of fine arts on UNSW's campus. I made some amazing lifelong friends (Americans and Australians!), and I can't speak enough good words about the whole experience. This blog post is meant to commemorate a very special thing. While in Australia, I formed a pretty tight-knit group of American friends, who I still keep in touch with today. We don't talk everyday, by any means, but once you share an experience like we did, it's kind of hard to break that special bond. ; ) In fact, I've had the extreme honor of shooting every single (yay puns!) one of these lovely ladies' weddings (from L-R): Bernadette, Nicole, Rachel, Susie and Claire. What a beautiful bunch -- look at us in 2005, we're babies!

I got married first! I was so happy that Nicole, Bernadette (Bean, as we affectionately called her in Oz) and Susie were able to attend my wedding on 06.4.11.

Nicole got married on 10.1.11 in Corolla, North Carolina. Here are Nicole, Claire and me with two close Australian friends on her wedding day:

Next up was Claire! She got married on 05.12.12 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Pictured are Nicole, Claire, Lizzie (who also studied in Oz!) and me:

Rachel was next on the list. She got married on 08.11.12 in Manhattan Beach, California. My husband and I traveled there a day early for the "beach day" to celebrate the bride and groom.

...and here's a photo of me in action on her wedding day!

Bean got hitched next in Baltimore, Maryland on 04.13.13. Here I am with the beautiful bride (thanks for the photo skillz, Steph!):

And last but certainly not least to get married was Susie. Her wedding was in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on 07.13.13. Here are a few iPhone snaps from her reception:

I'm extremely grateful to each of these ladies for their trust in me, generosity in having me, and of course, their huge hearts. Here's to the next big chapter(s) in our lives! Love y'all. : )