Friday, May 30, 2008

Lauryn and Ryan's wedding

I photographed Lauryn and Ryan's wedding on May 16th at the Cescaphe Ballroom. It was a rainy day but Lauryn was full of sunshine. She smiled all day long! There was one portrait where I was trying to get a more serious sultry look from her but she could not do it! She just needed to smile which was fine with me!




Very cute pink shoes!




Lauryn and her dad rode over the the church in this carriage regardless of the rain.


I like these two in sepia.







I love the wide empty space in this one, full of anticipation about what is about to happen around the corner.
















This was not my idea but I am glad they did it! Lauryn wanted to stop at the Art museum regardless of the rain. My assistant is holding the umbrella over my head and they are all getting rained on! I like the fog in the background.



Cescaphe looked gorgeous! I really love shooting there these days. They do an amazing spread and no one leaves hungry, not even me! I would highly recommend it to anyone.







Fireworks for their grand entrance!







The dessert buffet is amazing! They added this dramatic lighting recently too which I loved for photos.



I thought this was so sweet to get grandpa on the dance floor! He seemed so happy to be a part of the fun.

Oh no, gotta get a shot of the photographer! I want to see how this one turned out. (Hopefully Lauryn will email it to me?!)

She sent it to me today. I guess I did not want my photo taken as usual. Hopefully I will not hide like this on my wedding day!

Click here to see more images from this wedding on my website.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

We set a wedding date!

O.k. I guess it's about time I blogged about MY OWN wedding. Wow, it's weird saying that even for me. It is going to be October 4th this year. Since our engagement, we have had a lot of fun talking about all my (oops,) I mean, OUR ideas. We are sooooo excited about our reception location, the Sedgwick Theatre right in our neighborhood, Mt. Airy. It's an art deco style 1928 movie theatre. It has great tile and marble work and even the old chandelier, but it also has old charm where tile is falling apart, which is perfect for us. It has a dramatic flare but nostalgic ambiance too. A great place for a party and we love to do that! When I saw Shawn's face light up when we went through it, I knew it was our spot, no questions asked. To see him getting excited about all this is the best part! Here are some photos from the book "Images of America, Germantown, Mount Airy , and Chestnut Hill."

The actual seating area is not there anymore and the reception will take place in the front two intermission rooms, but even they are massive and have the same details. There is a stage too with a white wall behind it where I will be able to project photos of family and friends throughout the cocktail hour. We also want to project old black and white silent films. The front window has changing art shows by local artists, which is perfect.


We are having the ceremony with immediate family only in the Wissahickon woods near Rittenhouse town. I am going to pull up with my stepfather in his 1932 Ford pick up truck. He built it from pieces and is very proud of it. My mother never got to see it finished before she died and I know how proud of him she would of been. She was there when he bought it in pieces spread all over some one's front lawn at a garage sale. So I know it will be an emotional moment for both of us. I am excited to ride in the back too with Shawn for photos afterwards. I am still debating whether to throw the dogs in the back too for some photos.

Here's the ring! I can not keep staring at it all day long!

I love it's mounting and it has sooooo much sparkle! I am not really a diamond kind of girl but Shawn wanted me to pick out something I loved and I could not help my self to fall in love with this one. I had photographed them for so long now, I knew just what I wanted. His brother told me the day after we picked it out Shawn could not stop talking about this ring. They were sitting in the parking lot of a Flyers game and Shawn was telling his brother all about it!


So what got me excited about writing this blog post is that I tried on dresses today! I went to Nicole Miller in Manayunk and Sabrina Anne's in Ardmore. Nicole Miller had some really great dresses just my style but a little out of my price range. The sales woman was super nice there are helped me a lot. After seeing almost 10 years of weddings I am having a hard time wanting to spend a ton of money on a dress. You wear it once, but it is also the most exciting part! Link
I can not rave enough though about Sabrina Anne's store for the price conscious bride! Wow she has everything! She was sooo nice and helped me try on every dress. They are once worn and sample dresses from all different designers and there were tons to choose from. I really liked one of them but I am still deciding, it may be too fancy. I want something simple but with elegant lines with a vintage 1930's look. Even if I don't buy my dress there I am going to check back to get accessories, purse, veil, and all. I hope to take Shawn's niece there to get a flower girl dress too. I am also interested in ordering a veil online from Unveiled Bridal Designs One of my brides got her veil from there and my photos are on the site.

So most importantly I am trying to keep a perspective on all this wedding stuff that does not change me. It's a weird thing to say but I do not want to turn into that kind of girl that only can think about her wedding! I feel it happening, I am up a lot at night trying to get all the details and fun ideas straight in my head when I should be sleeping. It is exciting though, and I guess I deserve it after 14 years with Shawn. I want to make sure I can talk about other topics with friends that are not married yet and keep some sanity. The other night I was up looking at wedding related websites and realized I should be spending my time with Shawn instead of in front of a computer, which I do so much with my work anyway. Our time together is more valuable than all this planning, but it sure is fun! So for that reason, gotta go!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Terri and Bill's wedding

I photographed Terri and Bill's wedding on May 10th at the Crystal Tea Room. Wow it was a big one! They invited somewhere around 450 people, so the dance floor was packed! Everything about the day was beautiful. I loved lots of the little details like the back of the bridesmaids dresses and the sash around Terri's waist. Terri and Bill were so easy going, even when the bus broke down on the way to the art museum for photos. We got some incredible shots anyway on Broad St. and under city hall. Their sweet demeanor is probably why they have so many friends! The incredible flowers were by Ten Pennies and enveloped the reception room with a sweet smell.


A very important pin.


This is so funny, I think I count six hands in there.








Look at that stance!
Terri said she wanted lots of photos of the kids, so here are plenty of them that cracked me up.

oh boy!




check out that hair!




























I had to include this one, what hard working moms!








I loved how much they involved the kids at this wedding. They all seemed to have a blast at the party. The kid's table was even set with cookie centerpieces, candy and games.




Click here to see more images from this wedding on my website.