In the past, I have always taken Sterling and my pictures. We set up a tripod in a gorgeous area, connect our wireless clicker, set the manual focus and “click, click, click” we snag the shot we want. We’ve done for major celebrations like announcing our pregnancy, the gender of Finley, paying off our car loan etc. We’ve also done this every year for our family holiday cards since getting married. But not this year.
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Today, in so many ways, feels like Christmas because I seriously look forward to Minis all year! I love getting to see so many families that I cherish and have worked with for YEARS! Last year 88% of my Richmond Minis were families I’ve worked with before! This alone makes it so worth it! I get to see and catch up with people that I LOVE! Whether these are people that I’ve taught with, went to camp with as a kid, know from JMU or met while photographing years back, I’d consider them all friends.
Last year I added Maryland Minis to the mix and it was such a success! I had two times my expected number of sessions and got to scope out a new local location. Maryland Minis were such a treat because it was more relaxed and spaced out and I could easily go home during breaks. Plus I got to meet a bunch of new families with the cutest littles.
So for 2020 I’m going to do host both Richmond and Maryland Minis again! With all things COVID and having a new baby at home, I’m taking extra precautions for each session. For Richmond I’m asking that everyone make sure that the session date AND the rain day option work since we have to be outdoors and cannot reschedule outside of the rain plan weekend. I’m also asking that everyone take their temperatures leading up to the day of the session and the morning of the session. Additionally everyone will need to bring and wear masks while not being photographed and we’ll have to do air hugs from a distance (the worst restriction in my opinion). We will all keep a safe distance apart (at least 6 feet) and I’ll be using a longer focal length lens to make sure you still get dreamy images while staying a distance away.
I know I’ve said it a MILLION times but being able to see these kiddos grow up and get bigger and bigger each year is such a blessing! I LOVE all the bootie shaking, fart joke giggles, and silliness that happens during minis. I LOVE how excited the kids get to see me – almost as excited as I am to see them! I love catching up with families that have become friends and hearing about the new things that have happened in their lives. And I love being able to serve these friends with beautiful images of their families that they can keep and cherish.
All minis are 30 minute sessions at one location. You are guaranteed at least 15 images – the perfect way to snag a holiday card image and update your family albums. 🙂 Since this is my FIFTH year hosting minis I’m also going to offer a FLASH SALE of 10% off the session fee if you book (deposit paid) within the first 24 hours (aka today September 25th by midnight). 🙂
To reserve your spot, email me at Alex@alexandra-michelle.com for full details. For details on how we will stay safe amongst the pandemic scroll to the bottom for COVID Precautions.
Minis will be hosted on Saturday and Sunday November 7th and 8th with the RAIN DATES on November 14th and 15th. Both weekends must be available in order to book in case of rain on the weekend of the 7th and 8th. Spots are more limited this year so don’t hesitate to grab yours! Can’t wait to see you in November at Byrd Park!
Minis will be hosted on October 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th! YES that’s right we added another weekend! Session times are limited to evenings which to grab that beautiful golden hour light. Session times range from 3:00pm -6:00pm. Minis this year will be hosted at Oregon Ridge Park!
And of course – here is a glimpse back at some of my favorite images from last years minis 🙂
In order to keep your family and my family safe, we’ll have to be extra cautious because of COVID 19. Please see the guidelines below that we’ll follow to make sure we are all safe.
I am so excited to be writing this post and announcing that for the first time EVER I’m going to be hosting holiday mini sessions in BOTH Richmond Virginia and in Baltimore Maryland!
As I was going through the images from last year’s minis it hit me how much I LOVE them! I’m scrolling through all these sessions with people that I LOVE so dearly and are such good friends I come across my friend Sarah’s mini from last year. Her daughter had just turned 1 just a few months before and was PRECIOUS!  As I’m looking through these pictures I’m struck by how much smaller and younger she looks from just one year ago! This is my FAVORITE part about family photography. The chance to be a part of a family’s journey and capture their kids growing up as we try to freeze time – even for just a little bit. It’s amazing to see how much each kid changes from year to year! I genuinely look forward each year to minis and getting to reconnect with families and see how much they’ve grown.
This year I’ll be hosting minis in Richmond and in Baltimore and I’m so excited for the locations that have been picked! I’ll be hosting minis in Richmond on November 9th and 10th and in Baltimore on November 16th and 17th.
So what do Christmas Minis entail? It’s 30 minutes with a guaranteed 15 images. It’s perfect for busy families who really want fresh new images but don’t always have the time for a full-on session. It is also great for those who are looking for a few images for a holiday card! To snag your spot please feel free to email me at alex@alexandra-michelle.com with the day you’re hoping to do a mini for and I will get back to you with more details to move forward. 🙂
So excited to hopefully see you in November!! In the meantime check out some of my favorites from last year. Also if you’re in the Baltimore crowd, keep scrolling for a sneak peek for our Baltimore location. 🙂
It’s time for another four families from this past year’s Holiday Minis! The colors from these sessions seriously POP and I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out!
This family couldn’t get any more beautiful if they tried – inside and out. The best part about getting to spend time with them is that these boys are such boys! They are explorers and giggly and love to wrestle! These two boys absolutely love each other too, you can tell by the way to play and look at each other – the way you look at your best friend.
Kourtney don’t hate me for posting this one – I think it’s so fun!!
These two boys absolutely LOVE each other! They are so cute!
Best part about this session besides the beautiful family who are good friends of mine – the light! It was so light and airy and gorgeous! Just look at the rainbow coming across in the bottom corner of the first picture!! I also had the most amazing little cheerleaders! After each picture Ryleigh or Parker would give me little doses of encouragement like “oh that’s so cute!” haha it was great!
I have known Cathy since I was 12 years old! She is a fellow camp girl and also an Alpha Phi! She was my program director while I was a camper and counselor and then at JMU was my sorority advisor! Ryan used to be at camp with us too when they were married so I’ve known him forever as well! Needless to say we know each other really well but this was the first time I got to meet her precious son Cap! We spend the entire time together laughing and laughing over who knows what! Honestly I’m still not sure but I think it was ninnies? Whatever it was, it made Cap burst out laughing! He is such a hoot! These images are gorgeous – just check out these colors!
Lordy lordy – how cute is Cora!!? We got to take these images on Thanksgiving and the light and colors were perfect! The POP of color is gorgeous! Not only that but look how excited Cora is about her baby brother!  ::swooning::Â
This past October when I announced the dates for the Holiday Minis I was nervous. Nervous because I had been absent from the blog for awhile and wasn’t sure I would get any response. I also took a leap and decided to host minis on two dates so accommodate more people. The response I got was amazing! The November date sold out in 48 hours and with the October date I got to work with 16 families!
You’ve seen the glimpse of the minis from October a few blog posts ago and now it’s time to show off the other 9 families! 🙂 Since there are so many and each deserve their beautiful spotlight I’m sharing the rest of the minis in three parts! Also who doesn’t love looking at these beautiful fall colors a little longer?
Today we have three amazing families each with a unique story which made these sessions really special.
This mini session was especially special. Katie was my roomie in the Alpha Phi House and one of my best friends through college and now. When she asked if we could add in her in laws to the mini session there was no hesitation in saying “of course!”. You see her mother and father in law just moved back to Virginia from Houston Texas and were there during the hurricane. They were safe but with all the flooding they lost some of their most treasured things – most devastatingly – all of their family photos. When Katie told me this my heart broke. I can’t image this and so I spent extra care to make sure I got great photos of many different family combos. 🙂
Katie and Hagan are dear friends of mine and so getting to spend time with them and their little girl Ellie was sweet. Katie and I have always loved swapping sessions and going on photography adventures together. I got to take their engagement pictures years ago and then their maternity photos this past spring before baby Ellie was born. 🙂 Just look how cute she is!
This was the first time I’ve worked this sweet family and it was instantly comfortable and fun! Their son Camden is precious and full of joy! His giggle lights up everything and everyone around him – there were countless images of him giggling because I couldn’t get enough! I loved getting to spend time with this family and hope we get to again!
I said this on Instagram but it is worth saying again, I am so overwhelmed with excitement and joy for these upcoming minis!! I posted about the mini dates last Thursday and was honestly kind of worried that nobody would sign up. Seriously. I haven’t been present in months and it’s intimidating coming back full swing. So I thought well I’ll post the discount for 24 hours and see what happens because I wasn’t sure people were even visiting this site anymore. Well boy was I wrong – the holiday mini post jumped in viewer stats by 97% from other days in the month and I got a huge response! 11 of my 18 spots filled up within 24 hours!! Fast forward to do today and I only have a handful of spots left for the Fall Mini day and the November Holiday Mini is 100% sold out!! Read More »
I have to admit, doing minis has always really intimidated me.  Each year I push off doing them because it just always felt too overwhelming to plan and to execute.  So I always said “Next year, yeah definitely next year”.  The next year would come and weekends would book up and I’d realize, “oh shoot… I probably should have done minis”.  Well the time has officially come and I’m excited to announce that Holiday Minis are here!! Read More »
Well by now, you should know the Mullins.  You’ve met them on multiple occasions and if you don’t know, I absolutely love this family. The first time I worked with them was last fall when I did a portrait session with them and from there we did a whole Milestone package together, ending with this final session.Read More »
This has been a busy season to say the least. Â The holiday card season as I like to call it starts for me in October and goes all the way up until mid December. Â This year though I started in September and ended about two weeks ago. Â Busy but so fun! Read More »
I love these little impromptu shoots I get to do with Katie! Â She is a photographer too and so we spend a lot of time together practicing, brainstorming and dreaming big and watching tons of workshop videos together. Â When we get to do sessions together it’s awesome because neither of us are nervous to make suggestions because we’re both in the mentality of wanting to try new things. Â Plus since we’re good friends and both growing as photographers it’s fun to practice together without judgement.Read More »