So excited to share Joe and Jess's wedding with you - this one has been a long time coming! This is probably the biggest blog I've ever posted but that probably has to do something with the fact that this was the biggest wedding party I've ever worked with - ever. While the day hit a few scheduling snags - everything ended up perfect and we had a blast covering this wedding. Seriously could not have done it without the help of my good friends - Andres Valenzuela (second camera) & Eric Burkert (assist). Without these two dudes along for the ride I don't think we would've covered the day as well as we ended up covering it with all the people, traveling, and logistics.

Loved the fun atmosphere of the day that was only added to by the number of people involved - between living room dance parties and trolley pit stops at the beer distributor - there were plenty of candid moments to capture on this wedding day. I hope you fall in love with Joe and Jess and all of their friends and family like we did. Here are some of our favorites from their day...

Ceremony Site: St. Monica Church - Berwyn, PA

Reception Site: Crystal Tea Room - Wanamaker Building - Philadelphia, PA

Second Camera: Andres Valenzuela

Assist: Eric Burkert

 

 

 

 

Meet Andy + Emily Steiner! So happy to post this blog as this was such a beautiful (slightly chilly) April wedding day! Truly honored to capture their wedding day with my second shooter, Elizabeth Licitra. Only downside to the day was locking my keys in my car at the Masonic Homes at the first look - sometimes I'm truly an idiot - all I ask is for sympathy. Hope you enjoy some of my favorites from their wedding day!

I love when couples know how to laugh together and genuinely enjoy having fun together. It's one of the most important things to a successful marriage - laughter. I am so happy for Mike and Tina because this is a couple that seems to understand that - at least that's what I could gather from their engagement session. Their wedding is right around the corner in May! So excited to capture it. Here are a couple of my favorites from their engagement session...

I love when couples can be natural with one another. Like so natural that they don't even act like I'm around - they just ooze adoration for one another. Danny + Jess were that couple. We were lucky to get a warm, early March day to putz around Phoenxville for their shoot. I really love getting to do engagement shoots in towns like this because we can just stroll around and create as we go - Phoenixville, even with it's shadier parts - had plenty of options to spare. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot!

One of the many reasons why I love being primarily a wedding photographer is the connection I make with couples over the time I spend with them. Between engagement shoots and wedding days, I really get to know couples well and become like a third wheel (hopefully in a good way).

What's interesting about shooting portrait sessions is that I don't get to spend near the same amount of time with these clients but I tend to walk away feeling like I know them just the same. Maybe it's because of the countless hours I spend staring at their faces in post-processing - but portrait clients become even more real and important to me. That might sound weird, but even the smallest bits of information I know about people translates into an understanding and appreciation for them - what they do, who they are, what they're going through in life, their story, etc.

Let me elaborate for this shoot. I believe I spent about 2 hours with this extended family. Steve, the brother-in-law in the blue button down above, serves our country and was headed back overseas the monday after Easter. They wanted to get some portraits done before he left so they could have some updated pictures to hold on to while he's away.

As I sat editing these photos it became clearer to me the exact sacrifice families, who have loved ones serving in the armed forces, make. Those that serve make the biggest of all sacrifices, but so do their families and I think it's easy to forget that - the heartache they deal with in being so far apart for so long, not knowing what the future may hold. I couldn't image living in that reality myself.

So as I processed their photos I simply prayed over them - for safety, for peace, for decades of life and love together, and that when they reunite again, when he returns home, that it will be a time filled with joy and happiness. So please pray for Steve, for his family, for his friends who hold him dearly. Pray for those you know serving overseas and their families who make the sacrifice of living everyday without them near.

I hope the images from the shoot will help them remember their Husband and Father as he serves our country so far away and that in years to come they hold them dearly.

Cold. Very cold. That's one of the things I can recall well from Bobby + Donna's wedding day. The other thing I remember? Being so cold that I managed to call them "Donny + Bobba" - in front of everyone. Not one of my best moments  :-)  Despite the cold, though, Bobby + Donna had a beautiful March wedding day at the very elegant Cameron Inn Estate in Mount Joy, PA. There was no shortage of locations on site to shoot so it was really just a matter of braving the cold.

Donna looked beautiful in her wedding gown - which she admitted was a thrift store find for only $100! She didn't even have to have it modified. It was a very small affair but it made for an intimate and fun setting for the day. Here are some of my favorites!

 

 

Bobby and Donna's engagement session was such a unique one - mostly because it was Super Bowl Sunday so it was a frigid cold February day. Their wedding day was only about a month later so the clock was ticking to get on with the engagement session. The cool part was getting to use Longwood Gardens as our location - it was the first time I've shot there and I hope it won't be my last. Because it was February, nothing outside was in bloom but there were still plenty of grounds to utilize for some great scenery. Then we could go inside where it looked like we hopped on a plane and flew south for the remainder of their shoot. We had a great time getting to see the beautiful sites as we went, too. Here are some of my favorites!