Our Professional Wedding Pictures (2 Years Later)

Since Uday and I just celebrated our two year anniversary it was finally time for us to get the DVD of all of our wedding pictures for free according to the contract we signed with our professional photographer, Debra Weisheit. We could have gotten them earlier for $1000, but we decided not to pay extra since we already paid $3000 for pictures to be taken on our wedding day, including a book of proofs of the pictures, and a book of 25 of our favorites. I spent an additional $350 to have 25 more of my favorite pictures to be added to the book. So Uday and I decided to wait two years to get that DVD for free.

Debra Weisheit is truly an awesome photographer and I must admit that I follow her photography blogs weekly trying to learning by looking at her photos. Recently she was rated by local brides and voted "The Knot Best Of Weddings 2008/2009 Pick" (according to her website blog). That is why I was so disappointed when she was not able to make it to our wedding due to an emergency surgery she had that day and I did not find out until the day of my wedding. She told me afterward that she tried to find a professional photographer for our wedding to take her place but it was just too short notice so she sent her husband and daughter. Granted they do help her out at times taking pictures and holding things but they are not professionals. She also hired another lady to help them out who is still learning the art of photography.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures they took the day of the wedding.



















































Click on each link below to see the rest of the pictures that were taken at our wedding by her family and the lady she hired ( I don't even know her name so I can't giver her credit).

Getting ready for our wedding


Wedding ceremony


After wedding ceremony


Wedding reception dance


Wedding reception fun


Wedding reception night


Since Debra missed our wedding she told us that when we got back from our honeymoon she would take some pictures of us at the beach and we could get dressed up in wedding attire again. I am really grateful to Debra for this because her pictures of us still take my breath away. To this day I still don't understand why she has not put some of our good pictures (that obviously show her talent) up on her blog, as she usually does with all of her work. As much as she is a talented photographer and seemingly nice and fun with most people, I did not find her that nice to me and instead more businesslike and defensive at times. It feels difficult to ask her anything without her seeming upset so I learned to tell myself that it is not worth asking why she never put the pictures she took of us up on her blog after our wedding. I know I might be bias, but I still think that a lot of the pictures of Uday and I look even better than most of the pictures she does put up on her blog. Here are just a few of the pictures she took of Uday and I, a week after our wedding.



























As for recommendations for a wedding photographer, I would recommend her as a great photographer but not for a Ms. Congeniality award!

Click on the picture below to view all of our "modeling" pictures:

Second year Anniversary at Billy Swamp Safari

Uday and I decided to make each other "horny" on our second year anniversary and wanted to share this with the world... yeah baby!!!!













Now that we got that out of the way and you learned too much information, let me tell you what else we did to celebrate our anniversary...

Every time Uday and I think we covered most of the tourist spots in South Florida, we continue to be pleasantly surprised and find more great places to visit. We had decided to take it easy for this year's celebration because of all the traveling we have been doing and plan on doing soon. We drove down to the West side of Miami and went to Billy Swamp Safari. Initially, we planned on camping in the little straw huts in this park, but decided that we would instead go home to our dogs since we will be leaving in a couple of weeks on our next trip. So we just went for the day and planned on camping at Billy's some time in the future.

I have to say that Florida has been in drought lately but this place was amazing and beautiful in drought and on the safari our driver told us that it is much more beautiful when we have received a lot of rain. There were options here to go on an airboat ride or a swamp buggy and since Uday and I have been on the air boat ride at other places, we decided to go on the swamp buggy ride and it was a true open safari. We did not expect that we would see any animals but we saw many.










































This cute looking raccoon kept coming to our buggy for food...


I felt like we were in Africa instead of Florida. I had such a good vibe surrounded by positive energy.

Here is a short video clip of our buggy ride (music used "Beastie Boys, Hold it Now, Hit it"):



While at Billy Swamp Safari we also saw a reptile show where the guy showed us four different types of poisonous snakes, out of the six that inhabit Florida. We learned a lot about these snakes and also to recognize and distinguish them from the harmless kinds. The picture below is of a "Water Moccasin" (also called "Cotton Mouth"), one of the poisonous snakes in Florida.



Billy's Swamp Safari is located on an Indian Reservation and I have always felt a connection with, admired, and respected Native American's and there culture.


On the way driving through the Indian Reservation we saw a few Native American families having fun and stopping to go to the store and get gas while on their four wheelers. I discreetly captured a picture of one of the kids on the Reservation.


We also noticed that most of their houses also had a Tiki Hut picnic area beside their house. We were told they continue to keep their traditions and eat outside with family on a regular basis.


I noticed that the Indians made their own orange juice and on the label it said, "Seminole Tribe of Florida, INC. In God We Trust". I thought that the Native American culture traditionally did not believe in a "God", but rather worshiped the "elements". I could not help but wonder if this saying was forced upon them from our US Government? I also wondered if they liked that saying because that is on US money, and what culture in these days does not like money?


Back on the safari, touring around the place, Uday and I really enjoyed the animals and the natural setting and were able to capture some of the beauty. It was a great place to spend our two year anniversary, seeing and doing what we both love... animals and nature. Later, on the actual date of our anniversary (May 19th), we went out for Indian Food and Uday also surprised me with my favorite "Toasted Coconut Ice-Cream" which we first tried in St. Augustine, Florida, He also downloaded some of my favorite songs and danced with me. I appreciated his efforts to be romantic and I felt happy thinking about our future ahead.

Click on the picture below to see all of our pictures from Billy Swamp Safari:

Mother's Day in the Florida Sunshine

Coconut shrimp and a relaxing boat ride (Water Taxi), at low tide, is what we did on the weekend of Mother's Day. Uday and I took Mom out to Panama Hatties for lunch and then enjoyed a breezy boat ride on the Intercoastal in West Palm Beach, Florida.



We enjoyed picking out the house we want to live in when we win Publisher's Clearing House and had fun playing tourist learning more about the history of Singer Island and Peanut Island.






















Mom is more appreciated than she knows, and we can not thank her enough for all that she has done and continues to do for us. I am truly fortunate to have a mom who is so supportive, caring, and giving, not to mention, very beautiful. It is hard to believe that she will be turning 62 years young this November.

Click on the picture below to view all of our pictures with Mom:


Happy Mother's Day Mom and to all the Mom's out there!

Beautiful Butterfly World: A Pre-Mother's Day Gift for Mom

Fluttering beauty around my head full of vibrant color and grace and smiles among the children, my mom and Uday's face... this was my experience last weekend when we went to Butterfly World. Below are pictures of other people's kids having a good time while disregarding the signs.
















And also my mom and Uday doing the same thing:




















Butterfly World is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida about an hour drive south from where we live. Butterflies from all over the World, Lorakeets, Parrots, and flowers that they use to make perfume were not only the type of things my mom dreams about, but also a photographer's paradise. Since Uday and I have both increased our interest in photography, we could hardly share the one camera we brought. We spent so much time taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of our environment the only thing we wished for was more time as it was only open from 1pm-4pm on Sunday. If you want to have a relaxing day and enjoy the beauty of nature, I definitely recommend this place.

Here are some pictures of me among the flowers, taken by Uday:










Below are a few pictures on the left taken by me and some on the right taken by Uday.

Amy's Artistic Pictures ------------------------------- Uday's Artistic Pictures

























































Click on the picture below to see all of our pictures from Butterfly World: