I'm the owner + photographer at Anne Casey Photography — serving Maryland & Pennsylvania

Facebook Timehop, what a wonder you are! This morning you reminded me that exactly one year ago today Chris and I were running on about three hours of sleep and #allthecoffee! 

Maybe I should rewind a little bit. As soon as Chris and I got engaged, we knew that no matter what Amy and Jordan would be shooting our wedding. It was non-negotiable, cost didn’t matter, and we’d plan the wedding around their availability. Yikes, do I sound like a total #fangirl or what?! Ha! It’s true, I am, and if you know me then that’s not a total surprise. There’s just something about those two- they’re charismatic, so welcoming, and are never short on hugs! When we had a loose idea of when we wanted the wedding we got in touch with them to check their availability. There’s a bonus in setting your wedding date over a year ahead of time- you get your pick of vendors! We were thrilled to be able to have them and welcome them to Baltimore for the first time. Having them as a part of our wedding was the best decision we ever made! 

Fast forward to the early spring and I start thinking about our engagement session. Did I mention Amy and Jordan live in Arizona? We’re a few time zones apart so I was wondering how the logistics would work out. Jordan asked how I felt about meeting them in Georgia! They’d be on our side of the country for a retreat that week and would be able to do our engagement session at sunrise. So we snatched up a couple of plane tickets, found a hotel nearby, found a dog-sitter, found a baby-sitter, shopped endlessly for outfits, and that was that! Easy peasy! 

Our trip was definitely a whirlwind. We were in and out of Georgia in less than 24 hours- 22 to be exact! Let me tell you about Rome, Georgia for a minute. Everyone there is the NICEST! Southern hospitality? We couldn’t get over it! On the flip side, there’s absolutely nothing to do there on a Monday afternoon. We headed into town to do a little shopping and there were two shops open; a used book store and a really cute home decor place. Being the rebels that we are,  (and taking advantage of being child-free) Chris and I found a local tattoo shop that was actually open! We decided it was a perfect opportunity to get some more ink on our skin. We waited a few hours for the artist to be finished with his client and then it was our turn! We were the only ones left in the shop and didn’t even get started until almost 11pm. Between my tattoo, cleaning up, Chris’ tattoo and cleaning up after that, it was after 1 am by the time we made it back to the hotel! We ate some vending machine snacks in bed and zonked out! And then the storms came… and with a fury. I woke up at about 4:30 in the morning to rain pounding against the window and lightning lighting up the sky. I prayed to anyone that would listen to make it stop! We were due back to the airport at 11am to catch a flight home- this was our only chance! And thank goodness it stopped! Just in the nick of time, actually. 

We met Amy and Jordan with umbrellas in our hands but we all decided to leave them in the parking lot and just go for it! Chris and I had so much fun! We laughed at how we barely cleared the storm, that my heels were sinking into the wet ground, and how little sleep we had gotten. We were wrapping up and then the clouds parted and we got that classic glowing AJ goodness that they’re known for. Amy was squealing. Jordan was cheering us on (and using his Crocodile Hunter voice…). And we were laughing at them 😉 We stretched our session just a few more minutes before they had to get to their conference and we rushed straight to the airport! GIrls- hopping on an airplane wearing Spanx is a terrible idea. 

It was the best 22 hour trip I’ve ever taken! Georgia, you’re beautiful. Winshape Retreat, we love you and the fact that the founder of Chick Fil-A also owns you. Amy and Jordan, you KNOW we love you!