Stacy's belly photos and baby shower

I had such a great weekend. I photographed Stacy's belly photos for her second pregnancy. Stacy is my sister in law to be, Shawn's sister. She is having a boy and he is already named Eben. He will be born in a few weeks. These belly photos were taken at the Dominican Retreat house in Elkins park. I knew of this great location because it is right next to where I went to college, Tyler school of Art, and they use to let us sketch in their gardens. Well, now it is up for sale and there are no trespassing signs everywhere. So it was a bit of an adventure... we got attacked by a goose and I screamed so loud some one came over and kicked us out! So this is what I got in about ten minutes of shooting. Then we went over the the Tyler lawn to get some family portraits. I am so excited for Stacy and can't wait to meet the new addition to our family!



I think Stacy looks amazing here!




She is taking yoga.




I think Riley will be a good big sister. Or she will be really jealous being the superstar child she is!








These were taken in Stacy's old bedroom.




Some moments with grand mom in the kitchen before the party started.





The kids are really into bubbles. All the little cousins were there.

Erin and Andrew's wedding

I photographed Erin and Andrew's wedding at Cairnwood on April 5th. We had such a gorgeous warm day for April. I remember last April it rained on almost all my weddings. Erin was so calm and happy all day and it really showed in the photos. She was always smiling which made the photos even better. I had not met Andrew until the wedding day and when I did I could see why he made Erin smile so much. Click here to see more images on my website from this wedding.



The children took my attention for the much of the day being so cute and outgoing. I managed to get lots of great shots of Erin too!









It was very emotional when Erin saw her dad for the first time. I cried too!



The sisters.






What a great idea! They had bags of soft pretzels waiting for the guests after the ceremony since it would be a while to cocktail hour. This was a nice touch organized by Jenn Poletti of Perfect Planners, a really cool wedding planner!






This is my new favorite shot for the season so far.


I could not get enough of this little girl.








This candy bar smelled delicious! Another cool touch organized by Jenn Polletti.

Within 5 minutes of releasing the photos above I got this great email from Erin, so I had to add it:

Heather!
OH MY GOD! I literally almost fell out of my chair! These are so beautiful and perfect, just as I knew they would be! You did an amazing job – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I can not wait to see the rest of the photos – it is such a good feeling to know that such an important, meaningful and fun day was captured by someone so talented. We will be forever grateful!

Thanks again…
Erin

I'm engaged!

(I have waited a week to post about this and it's been eating away at me! I wanted to tell my girlfriends first on the phone.)
Shawn asked me to be his wife in Aruba in the sweetest most memorable way! I had no idea he brought a ring on vacation and had been planning this. He completely surprised me after 14 years! Take a look at the video footage below first of the location he proposed at. I took this a little before he did it. It's a really beautiful area of Aruba where the ocean comes under these rock formations and you can crawl around under them.





















So after I took this photo of a snail he yelled at me to stop taking photos and come look at the sunset. I would not stop so he jumped down on all fours by a rock and made like he was looking under it, at a fish. He told me to come down where he was and check it out. So I looked under the rock and Shawn came up, already on his knees with a ring, (there was no fish,) and said "Heather, will you be me wife?" I lost it! I cried and could not stop hugging him. I did not even look at the ring or answer him I just kept saying " What?! is this for real?!" Finally I said yes and realized he was holding a ring in front of me. I keep playing this moment over and over in my head because it feels like such a blur now, I don't want to forget it!


This photo is blurry but I remember taking it as soon as everything sunk in.


This is me absolutely thrilled that night!


I was so excited to tell Jason, Shawn's brother who was also on vacation with us. I do not have any siblings so Jason has been like a brother and friend since he was 12 years old. He was grinning at me all day long after I told him.


I was so nervous to tell Shawn's parents, I think because I had pictured the moment in my head for so long what his mother's reaction would be like. So I wanted it to be perfect. It was. She screamed and cried with happiness.


We were so happy the rest of the vacation. Thank you, Shawn, for making this the best moment of my life!


some beautiful Aruba shots below:




























None of these photos have been enhanced. This is what the sunsets really look like in Aruba.








I love watching Shawn swim. We both have such a love for the ocean.