Kate & Ben, Radnor Hunt

Kate and Ben had a wonderful day! Before I get too far let me mention some of the key players.

Venue: Radnor Hunt
Flowers: Harmony Hill Gardens
Pies: Linvilla
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Second Shooter: David Schrott, David shot a lot with me this year, as usual great stuff David thank you for all you do!

Lets get on to some images.

starting with some bling.

One of the groomsmen warming up for the ceremony.

The flowers were amazing. They were from Harmony Hill Gardens, which is an organic grower in Buck county. Ben's step mom was instrumental in the arrangements.

David got to spend a good bit of time with the boys, I love this little moment.

Kate was very excited about her shoes, who wouldn't be?

One of my favorites

Kate's something old was the veil her mom wore.

Love this.

Ben taking a few moments before the ceremony.

All the center pieces were different.

All of the details at the wedding were made, or arranged by family and friends. I like their interpretation of the program as the chalk board.

I love the look Ben is giving Kate here as they meet at the alter.

They did a self uniting ceremony. Kate's aunt Sara officiated; Kate and Ben wrote their own vows. September 26 is also sentimental because Ben's grandfather was married on the same day in 1941. Pretty cool.

I loved the brides maids dresses. Some gorgeous ladies.

The emotion on both sides of the family was very touching.

The kiss!

I love how Ben is getting the "adaboy" from his dad as they come down the isle!

We really hoped the horses would be out for some photos.

A still from one of my motion sequences, check out the slideshow below for more.

I think this guy may have secretly wanted to eat Kate's bouquet.

Radnor Hunt has this awesome swing. We had to take advantage.

Another favorite.

Instead of a wedding cake, they had pie.

The pie's were delicious. They all came from Linvilla Orchards except the one on top, Kate's mom made that one special.

I love love this little moment!

Pie is good!

What an awesome day. We had such a great time and the weather held for us, the minute we were done with portraits the sky opened up! Thank you for having me out, always a pleasure.

Check out the slideshow for more images.

Steph & Dan

Stephanie and Dan had one of the most gorgeous days I can remember! We had such a great time with them. Such a fun group. Before getting into images here are some of the vendors that played an important role.

Venue - Old Mill
Flowers provided by - Passion for Petals
Dress designer - Reem Acra
Caterer - Conner Catering
Cake - Swiss Haus Bakery
2nd Shooter - David Schrott, thanks David its always a pleasure.

We will start of with Dan and Thor, Thor was the best man. Love it. Thor was very excited to see Steph.

For most of the portraits we were at the Japanese house and garden in fairmount park.

Dan is so adorable and handsome at the same time.

Steph's dress was gorgeous!

I love this one.

Pam from Passion for Petals did an amazing job with the flowers.

I am in love with this image. I love love love it.

The ring barer, playing with the rings during the ceremony.

Married, woohooo!!

I love Steph's sisters expression during her speech.

A few more from the portraits for ya.

Love this ring shot.

They really are an adorable family.

Many more images in the slideshow, check it out.

Melanie & Joe, Married 9-19-09

I just need to preface this post by saying I could have easily posted every single image from the day on the blog! Geesh it was hard to narrow down, there are many many more where these and the slideshow images came from. I just hope the ones I choose do it justice.

Let me start by giving you all of Melanie and Joe's vendors that made their day so beautiful.
Venue & Cake: Nomandy Farm
Flowers: Petals Lane, Brittany always does an amazing job.
Dress: Casablanca, Melanie incorporated a few custom touches as well.
Photobooth: Party Booths
Band: DAME, they always rock the house!
Video: Marc Smiler, Marc did their love story which you can see here.
Make-up: Pasha Cosmetics by Pam Fox
Second Shooter: The one and only Miss Linette! Thank you so much darling! I love having Linette out shooting with me, you will see lots of here photos here too. She got to hang with the boys before the ceremony.
If you want to take a peek back at their engagement session go here.

We will start off with the bouquet. You will notice the detail of the humming bird. The hummingbird has a special meaning to this family. After the passing of Melanies great grandmother a hummingbird started coming around very frequently. The hummingbird seems to visit her family in the most perfect and sometimes strangely coincidental times. It serves as a reminder that they have loved ones always looking down on them. I thought it was a fantastic addition.

Melanies Mom had all of her things strategically laid out for her. I just love this one with the reflection of her dress and the shoes on the dresser.

Beautiful Melanie

The boys huddling in.

Joe excited on the way to the church.

Check out Mel and her ride to the church!

It's all sinking in! Dad is giving his daughter away! Ahh!

The ring barer pillow, so unique.

I love catching little moments with the children.

Married!!

I like to do fun active stuff with my bridal parties, you will see those in the slideshow, I love these candids Linette caught.

One of my favorites. We did portraits at the most perfect time of the day. Not to mention this was the most beautiful day in September!

I think this proves that Joe will do anything, and I mean anything for Melanie.

The car was awesome!

I loved their first dance too. Definitely showed off their individualism, the song in the slideshow is what they danced to.

Love this and check out how ripped Melanie is! Nice muscle tone girl!

I am already wishing I put more images in the slideshow, I know I left out a lot. Their slideshow could have easily been a five minuter if I could do more than one song.
I have to mention that Melanie did such a great job planning out the timing of the day. Not only did we get the very best light of the day but we had plenty of time for all the formals and for their portraits. We were not rushed in any way. We even finished ahead of schedule and they got to attend most of their cocktail hour. It was perfect.

You guys are great. You already know how much fun we had with you. Its been such an amazing experience. Thank you for making me feel so warm and welcome the whole time.

Enjoy your slideshow, I apologize for the one little hiccup in there.
I can't seem to get rid of it.

Jane & Dave, Married 9-12-09

Jane and Dave had a wonderful and intimate wedding. The weather that weekend had been off and on, but it cooperated for us when we needed it too. I had a wonderful time with these two.

Vendors:
Flowers & overall decor design: Eclatante Event Design, Kendall Brown does amazing work!
Dress: Marisa
Venue: Morris House Hotel, I love the Morris House Hotel. It is the perfect spot for a smaller wedding.
Caterer: Max Hanson, the best lump crab cakes I have had in my life!

Jane's dress was so gorgeous! It was light, simple yet there were so many layers. It looked amazing on her.

Shoes were her own. Nothing bridal about them, but they were super cool.

I LOVE this image of Jane getting into her dress.

Gorgeous!

Lots of emotional moment on this day. I loved the fact that both her parents walked her down the isle.

Married!

Having a little fun in the dress.

One of my favorites.

Dave has such a cool dapper look to him!

I just happen to like this moment.

Eclatante did such an awesome job!!!

First dance.

A new favorite ring shot.

One of the best wedding favors I have seen this year!!

Such a great image to end with.

Check out the slideshow for many many more images.

Soyoung & Stephen Married 8-28-09

The Vendors
Venue: Cairinwood
Flowers: Beautiful Blooms
Dress: Vera Wang
Caterer: Feastivities
Cake: Tartes, no website but they are on 212 Arch St, Philadelphia. YUMMY!
Make-up: The fabulous Beke Beau
DJ: EBE Matt Ostroff
Wedding Bands: Henri David at Halloween
Second Photographer: David Schrott, Thanks again David!

It still feels like their wedding was just yesterday! Soyoung and Stephen are two of the most tender, relaxed, and beautiful people I know. We didn't let the rain get us down and luckily Cairinwood has plenty of awesome little nooks to duck into for photos. All the ingredients that went into the day made it beautiful and perfect. Both of their families were just lovely and made us feel very welcome and warm.

Beautiful Blooms did a fantastic job on the bouquet.

One of my new favorite shoe shots.

Soyoung's dress was Vera Wang. It suited Soyoung perfectly, gorgeous. Soyoung also wore a real gardenia in her hair, every time she walked by me the fragrance was amazing.

She didn't plan on even having a veil but in the end she did and a very long gorgeous one at that!

One of my favorites, Soyoung's mom putting the gardenia in her hair.

Simple. Stunning. Soyoung.

Lovely moment of their first meet.

Don't they both just look stunning? I loved Stephens gray suit.

Like I said, Cairinwood had some great inside spaces!

What more can I say, really?

Very sharp looking men.

Elegant looking ladies.

Another favorite.

Soyoung and Stephen had a Quaker ceremony, where they married themselves. There was no officiant, just them marrying each other. It was quite beautiful.

The cake was simple and amazing.

I really enjoy this one of Soyoung's mom dancing.

Lovely end of the night dance.

Thank you guys for everything! I hope it was worth the wait. You are amazing and I am so happy to have played a part in your day!

Enjoy your slideshow
It may take a minute to load, its pretty big.

Despina & Chris Engagement Shoot

So Despina and Chris are actually getting married tomorrow! I've been terrible with the blog I know, that will change in the coming weeks.

We had a lovely time on their engagement shoot, it was actually take 2 on the shoot. Amidst my busy schedule and finally finding a day that worked; on the way to our first shoot I got a flat tire. We were meeting at Valley Green but they were on the other side and didn't know how to get to me. I had them wait and have a drink while I changed my flat tire, yep I changed that baby by myself its actually no big deal. One hiccup once I got my spare on, it was flat... wawhwahwah. Long story short a lovely couple took it to put air in it and I was on my way. By this time it was dark and Don was on his way out of the city so we just decided to all have dinner instead of continuing with the shoot. See the three degrees of separation come into play as Despina went to school with Don, which was a surprise when they first came to meet with me. It was a happy little reunion actually. There are many more little things but that would make this a book, we rescheduled the shoot had dinner and all was well with the world. Thanks for all the patience and understanding guys! Its been a fun ride.
For this shoot I actually picked them up in my new car, added irony I bought a new car two days after the flat indecent. Go figure. (I didn't buy a new car because of the flat though, just coincidence.)

They are quite the lovely couple, very natural together and Chris keeps Despina grinning ear to ear.

Their favorite spot.

Having a little fun with signage.

We had such a great time and have had two lovely meals together now. Tomorrow is going to be a blast, my first big fat greek wedding. haha! We aren't afraid of the rain, Despina's smile will be our sunshine.
See you guys tomorrow.

Emily & Josh Married 8-22-09

Venue: John James Audubon Society Center at Mill Grove
Flowers: Longstem
Dress: La Esposa from Linzelles
Caterer: Jeffery Miller
Wedding Planner: Anthea at Jeffrey Miller
Second Shooter: Heather Fowler

Well where to begin?! Emily and Josh's wedding was such a fun day! It was such a HOT day too! I think it may have been one of the hottest of the year and they had to make a tough decision about moving the ceremony to under the pavilion, we were expecting major thunderstorms that evening. The decision was made to play it safe and have it under the pavilion, it was a gorgeous site and inside or outside the ceremony was so beautiful, touching and you could just feel the love between Emily and Josh. The rabbi did such a great job, laughter tears and joy.
When the bridal party was coming up from the barn to be introduced the skies opened up and we got our thunderstorm. It was pretty cool actually, going into the first dance and hora with thunder trying its best to be noticed above the music. It was such a great party.
Big thanks to Heather Fowler for second shooting for me!

Get comfy, lots of images here and slideshow at the end.

I love this shot of Josh that Heather got before we headed out.

Emily's dress was gorgeous!

Love the moments when the dress first goes on!

Emily's parents, so cute as they react to seeing her in her dress.

They were so cute for their first meet.

Love this.

I shot a few rolls of medium format film for them. This is one from the film series.

I loved that the bridesmaids flowers were all different. Looked so cool against the hot pink dress.

Josh got his suit in Thailand, it was custom made. Emily chose the inside accent color as a surprise for Josh when they picked it up at the end of their trip. This is where the hot pink theme comes in to play. Isn't that an awesome suit!

True personalities come through!

Awwe Yeah.

A quick fleeting moment in the barn next to the AC vent, ahhh heaven!

Love this one Heather got of the boys.

One more from Heather, moments just before heading down the isle. Some tender words from her dad. Love it.

The kiss!

Loved this, happy to be hitched!

Everything looked amazing!

Lots of fun had on the dance floor.

One last end of the night portrait.

Enjoy the slideshow

A lot coming soon!!

I apologize for my lack of blog presence lately! I assure it is not because I have nothing to do, quite the opposite actually. Its been a super busy summer and I am busier than I have ever been before. The past two months have been such a blast, I have been shooting at least four days a week and school has started at Drexel where I am teaching two classes. The Philadelphia Wedding Project has been keeping us busy as well, check it out we have so many awesome sponsors and there is still time to submit your story! I am diligently working to get sessions online and the blog has been very quiet because of that. I thought a good substantial teaser of all the things to come would be just what the blog ordered. The images are pretty much the order of which you can expect to see everything.

Baby Hutch

Emily & Josh

Baby Evie

Soyoung & Stephen

Baby Gus

Jane & Dave

Baby Ryder

Melanie & Joe

Baby Alex

Despina & Chris

Steph & Dan

Kate & Ben

I also just shot an awesome double belly session with Dave Williams on video. We will have video and images cut together in a few months. Such a cool project!

Rebecca & Mike, Married 7-19-09

Rebecca and Mikes wedding was such a blast. I have been a bit adopted by this family. I am very close friends with Mike's sister Melissa, you would recognize her wedding photos and photos of her daughter Ellena. Mike and Rebecca were officially married this past winter before Mike was deployed back to Iraq. They waited until this summer to have the official party. It couldn't have been a more perfect day, you will see and that sky is not fake! They both have such unique looks to them. Mike really wanted to have a different wedding and being a member of the Scottish Masons the kilts were a perfect solution. Rebecca had a bit of the ethereal goddess going on, she is so gorgeous! I was very excited to be part of the day and the party. A great time was had by all, this is one close knit family and I am honored to be conisdered part of it.

The wedding celebration was held at the Flag Hill Winery in Lee New Hampshire. Such a gorgeous location.

American Gothic with a Scottish flare.

Lots of jokes were made amongst these guys about wearing kilts, but it all came down to the fact that they would do anything for Mikey, even if it meant wearing a skirt. I think they were all quite handsome!

I was like a kid in a candy store with this scenery!
Check out this hot couple.

Might be one of my all time favorites.

Seriously, could it get any better than this?

Oy!

Love the coming down the isle shots.

My little protege! Ellena may just become a photographer when she grows up. She was quite the picture taker, mimicking me throughout the night. Too adorable.

Rebecca's neice, so adorable.

Oh yeah, you were waiting to see some twirling weren't you?

I just love this.

During the first dance, which was litterally their first dance together.

Oh here we go! Get your tissues, man these moments kill me. Going through this whole series I was in tears again. Rebecca and her mom had a mother daughter dance, so tender.

I call this one Jessica Rabbit.

You knew something like this was coming didn't you!? I love everything about this, it also helps that Mike has a flawless rear end. hehe!

You guys are awesome, really. I had such a great time thank you for all your hospitality!

Check out the slideshow for many more images including the group of boys lighting up the night sky and Rebecca and Mike jumping into the pool at the end of the evening. I had such a hard time choosing which images to feature on their own and the slideshow is probably my longest and largest to date....

slideshow

Kristina & Dave Married 7-11-2009

Kristina and Dave had a beautiful wedding at Drexelbrook! Miss Jenn Childress was there second shooting for me, thank you Jenn! We had a great time with a very lively group. I started with Kristina. She kept her dress a secret from everyone until right before she put it on. Most of the time the girls and mom know what the dress looks like, but not this time. I loved her dress. It was a fantastic spinning dress.

Love this image right before she got dressed.

Jenn was with the guys before hand and got this great portrait of Dave. Love it.

Kristina has strikingly gorgeous eyes.

We had a few moments to relax, breathe and take some portraits before the ceremony. I love the calmness in this one.

Beautiful

Might be my favorite.

I love capturing the guys making their entrance.

The look from the groom when he see's his bride for the fist time, always priceless.

Kristina gave her new daughters a special gift during the ceremony, it was very sweet.

This little guy wanted to check out the gazebo during the ceremony. You can see a little mischievousness in his face, I love it.

The bubble machine at the end was the perfect touch!
The newlyweds.

Love this portrait Jenn got.

The first dance was a lot of fun. That dress was amazing.

We stepped outside for a few night portraits. I love this one.

OOh buttery! Love this.

You knew they were going to smash! Everyone knew and man did they smash! Look for the whole sequence in the slideshow. It has to be the best cake smash I have ever seen.

Such a fun time! Thank you so much for having us out. enjoy your slideshow!

Slideshow

Erika & Ryan Married 6-27-2009

It was an absolutely perfect day for Erika and Ryan. Where do I begin really? Through all the planning and phases of preparing for this wedding I really bonded with them. We had such a blast during their engagement session, Erika had an amazing boudoir session with me an Jenn Childress and getting to know them over this past year has been just an overall awesome experience. Showing up on the wedding day, being welcomed by family and friends and just feeling a close connection with Erika and Ryan made for a perfect day.

Some other vendors that helped make this day perfect:
Venue: Appleford
Flowers: Hilary Felton of Country Meadows Florist
Cake: Masters Baker
Caterer: Sage
Wedding Planner: Roni Venonsky of Perfect Weddings
DJ: Jason Weldon of Synergetic Sounds
Videographer: Pete Malone of First Floor Films
Dress Designer: 2be
Second Photographer: David Schrott (David will be out on more weddings this year with me, he is awesome.)

So on to some images. As always there are more in the slideshow at the bottom of this post.

This may be one of my favorites of the day. Erika's first look at herself in the dress.

Dad's first look at Erika

I think we all had some tears at this point. Ryan was SOOO nervous and excited to see Erika for the first time. He was tearing up even before he got his first look.

Love this moment.

I love seeing the softer side in men. You can see the overwhelming love he has for Erika right here.

Its always good to look at things a little differently sometimes.

I can see this image printed and framed in every family members house.

Erika is one of the most strikingly beautiful women I have ever known.

Another favorite, just love it.

Gorgeous day, gorgeous bride.

You have to have a little fun in the dress.

The beginning of one of my motion sequences in the slideshow. I particularly like this image on its own as well.

What a great bunch of bridesmaids and a great moment!

Ryan with his boys and best lady.

Erika and her girls.

Now this moment, makes me tear up every time! Erika is very close to her Me-mom. June 27 wasn't a date chosen at random, June 27 is the date her grandparents were married 60 years ago. The garter Erika wore was the same garter her Me-mom wore on her wedding day. I just love this, the first time Me-mom sees Erika, you can just tell how close they are.

Okay, wiping away some tears? Well you have to love the moments after they are pronounced man and wife. These images are always some of my favorites.

I loved this little detail Erika had for her Moms flowers.

First dance.

I love this room at Appleford! This is moments before they are announced, taking a second for a photograph.

This wedding was one of the biggest dancing groups of the season. Jason Weldon had them dancing all night long!!

Can't leave out the bridesmaids new best friend, Pete Malone. I can't wait to see the video from this wedding. The whole day the bridesmaids were harassing Pete (in a good fun way) the phrase of the day was "ya get that Pete?" Oh girls he got it, don't you worry! haha.

Such a fantastic day, fantastic couple and fantastic vendors. Thank you so much for making me part of such a wonderful event. You guys are awesome.

Check out the slideshow, the music is an Italian wedding song in honor of Erika and Ryan's Italian honeymoon. It is very enjoyable and gives a good encounter of the whole day.

Mandy & Ryan Married 6-20-2009

Mandy and Ryan's wedding was an awesome experience. They were married in Lincoln Nebraska, where they are from but they live here in Philly. Lincoln is a cool little town and Mandy and Ryan's families were so hospitable. Both sides of the family have been waiting for this day to come, Mandy and Ryan have been together for nine years! It was truely a weekend of celebration. We had an amazing time. I am going to jump right into the images, there is a slideshow at the end if you want to see more images.

Mandy's shoes.

Time to get into the dress! Very exciting.

I really love this shot, Mandy watching as her bridesmaids get some finishing touches.

Anticipation to see Ryan for the first time.

Ryan mighty handsome in some window light.

Another favorite, moments after they first saw each other.

The weather was bit off and on, some sprinkles but luckily we had planned on doing portraits in the capital building anyway. It was great we were the only ones there.

Have to love great foot wear!

You have to make sure to have a little fun in the dress, I've been enjoying doing this with my brides this year.

This may be one of my all time favorite portraits EVER.

A quick kiss before heading to the church.

Rust and rings, good combo!

Loved Ryan's tie.

There is a fun series of these two in the slideshow. With kids its always inevitable that they won't want to cooperate for a simple photograph and that's okay as long as you know how to get what you need out of them. For this image the flower girl really wanted her mom, but her brother was quite content and rather chipper. I told them to give me their best funny face, the ring bearer was all about that and in a series of five or so images the flower girl goes from all frowns to a very nice smile, her brother all the while with a goofy face. I love it. This image is the mid point.

Mandy coming down the isle with her Dad.

Woohoo! Married!

They had this awesome bugeye sprite to drive away in. AWESOME.

Off into the sunset, after a few laps around the Hay Market.

weeee! I love Mandy's expression in this one.

The reception venue was amazing, AMAZING. There is nothing like this in Philly. It was the Rococo theater, which has been restored back to its theater dining state.

Check that out! Pretty awesome.

The best speech of the season. "Finding a husband at Target"

Adorable cake toppers to match the lovely couple.

The first dance.

Being sent off with sparklers at the end of the night.

When the reception was over a sever thunderstorm was rolling through the area and it was pouring rain! I love how this image captures all the raindrops.

Big thank you to Don for shooting with me! It was such an great day for a fantastic couple. Check out the slideshow, its super cute. Be patient and let it load, I have it set to load all images before playing so you will get a smoother playback.

Stephanie & Dan Engagement Shoot

I had a blast with Stephanie and Dan. You will see, Stephanie has a very contagious smile. She couldn't help but smile the whole time. We traveled around to a couple of locations in Fairmount park, just missed the Japanese Gardens but we made the most of it. Its been over a year since I have seen these two, so it was great to catch up and get to know each other better.

We started at the whispering benches.

crossed the police limits.

Asian Gothic.

A little reflection.

Light hearted nature.

One of my favorites

They are adorable aren't they!

Steph solo in the tree.

Another favorite. I love the emotion in this one.

A little relaxation. I love the blue spruce in the background, makes for some awesome color.

Another great moment.

This one is for Steph! She kept making fun of me when I would tell them to go into the tree. So she acted like she was being hunted. hahaha, I love the sense of humor with these two.

Awesome expressions here

We ended with walking Thore, their bull dog. He was very sweet.

Such a great afternoon with you guys! I had fun on our little adventure through Fairmount. See you guys in September!

Marybeth & Adam Engagement Shoot

Where to begin!! Marybeth and I met in College, we both went to Towson State in Baltimore for one year during our sophomore year. We were roommates for half the year and we to this day have said our sole purpose for going to Towson was to meet each other. Seems a little silly but hey, Marybeth is one of my best friends and I am so thankful for that year at Towson. We don't see each other all that much these days but we do keep in touch and make a trip at least once a year. I remember when Marybeth was first talking about Adam. She had a crush from afar and was just coming out of a long relationship so was a bit timid. We soon found out that Adam had the same feelings and they naturally made a fantastic couple. They both work at Seacrets in Ocean City Maryland, they met there, work there and basically live there, really they live 500 feet from Seacrets.. It was the obvious choice of location to do their engagement shoot. It was also my first time meeting Adam in person! Yeah sounds crazy I know, he is a fantastic guy and totally adores Marybeth. Thumbs up from me MB!

This is the very spot that they met. Marybeth has worked at Seacrets for many years and Adam was just starting when she noticed him. Now Adam is her boss, haha go figure!

Some American Gothic Jamaica USA style.

Marybeth gets a thumbs up from Adam.

You will notice that Marybeth is all smiles and just glowing when she is near Adam.

The sand bar, a favorite spot.

Ring the bell for good tips!

They both bar tend, so uh yeah we had to have a drink.

No mistaking, they made a ticket and paid for it!

This just makes me laugh every time. All of Adams favorite things.

Marybeth is one of the most beautiful people I know, inside and out.

They are all favorites, but love the color in this.

Marybeth doing her Miss Seacrets pose.

Jammin in the Vdub.

We had to take the cruisers out for a little spin.

Major props to Adam! He will do anything for his love even if it means holding hands while riding bikes and running around posing for pictures while being subjected to much ridicule from Seacrets employees!

Another favorite. Special request by Marybeth for this one.

And ya know, have to end with some bling.

These two love birds are getting married this coming October in Rehoboth Beach. I can't wait, I am so excited for you guys!

Blair & Mark Married 6-6-09

Blair and Mark's wedding was full of surprises! We were laughing about it because I always ask if there are any special surprises that will happen during the day so that I can watch for them and be ready but they said no there wasn't anything in particular planned. Well that was because they had no idea! They were surprised by Blair's dad and brother with beautiful music and singing, another one of Blair's friends came out belting Tina Turner, the bridesmaids surprised Blair with the song she had originally wanted to dance their first dance to, and it just seemed to keep going. It was a great time, I was so happy to be a part of it.

Before I get too ahead of myself here, check out all the vendors and details that helped this come together:
Venue: Villanova Conference Center Tim Sweeney the coordinator did an awesome job.
Flowers: Ilonka Floral Decorator
Dress: Romona K from the Bridal Garden
Cake: Doughman Baked Goods
Band: Big Ric + Vegas Band
Second Shooter: Steve Langdon Another great day shooting with Steve! Thank you so much for coming out!
On to some images shall we?

Blair's shoes. She was excited about the shoes and more excited about the shot I would get for her.

Steve got some awesome ring shots.

Handling of the dress.

Love this one Steve got of Mark!

Blair was simply beaming all day.

My favorite shot of Blair.

They didn't see each other before hand, this is Marks first look at Blair coming down the isle.

The kiss

Married!!!

Blair showing off her bling and some flare.

Its funny I took this shot just to get a meter reading on Blair's skin tone, it was only a shot for technical purposes, but I really like it.

Walking on air.

Great light, great couple, what more could you ask for?

Another favorite.

The first Dance

Blair's brother Seth and one of the Bridesmaids sang Lucky by Jason Mraz. It was fantastic.

Big Ric even got Mark out to sing to Blair, which was hilarious! Most men would have caved under the pressure and while Mark is not the most musically talented he surprised everyone with his new found ability. Blair and everyone else including me loved every minute of it.

I just love this reaction. It was so fantastic to see the love and support behind Blair and Mark.

YEAH! You go Mark! I love this one.

With all of the surprises that kept popping up during the reception we did manage to get away for some shots with the Meadowcroft sign. They had been talking about this sign since I first met them over a year and a half ago! There had been some mention that we might not be able to make it work with the timing and such of the day but I was not going to let this photo opportunity slip and I knew it was important. Mark and Blair piled into my car and we snuck out of the reception for a few to get these. TOTALLY worth it.

Be sure to watch the slideshow for some more images and dancing. The song was written and perfomed by Blair's brother Seth, he has an amazing voice.

Slideshow

Coming soon to a blog near you!

Okay, so yes I have been a tad absent with the blog posts as of late. I do have a good reason, I have been traveling and shooting and traveling and shooting, well you get the idea! I have a ton on deck, so I thought I would give you the line up in order of whats next here at the Joy Moody blog!

First up will be Blair and Mark married June 6th! Such a fun evening full of surprises. This image is one they talked about when I first met with them a year and a half ago! Meadowcroft is their new last name so it only seemed appropriate to do a little shoot with this sign which was conveniently located down the street from the reception.

Then we have Marybeth and Adam. Marybeth happens to be one of my best friends, we were roommates for a semester in College. I traveled down to Ocean City Maryland to have a little visit and engagement session with these two beautiful people. They both work at Seacrets and they also met there so it was the obvious choice to do the engagement session there.

These are all of Adams favorite things.

Some moodybabies will grace the blog as well! This is baby A.J. Talk about a small world but I first met A.J's dad during Erika and Ryan's engagement session, he let us take some pictures up on their roof deck, we then figured out that AJ was in a play group with baby Abbie! We had such a fun time, cant' wait to share these!

Then baby Ryder! Oh my how this little boy has grown since our first session. He is so adorable I can't even express his cuteness.

Then up is Mandy and Ryan's wedding. They were married in Nebraska this past weekend, June 20th. Don and I had a most enjoyable time with their family and friends and the wedding was so much fun!

I am playing a lot of catchup this week and gearing up for Erika and Ryans wedding on Saturday! So keep an eye out on all the eye candy that will soon grace the blog.

Kristina & Dave Engagement Shoot

I met up with Kristina & Dave a few weekends ago at Longwood gardens for their engagement session. They are a super fun and funky couple. The camera obviously loved them and we had a great time wandering the gardens. Its not hard to find great spots at Longwood. They are getting married this July so be sure to check back for the wedding images.

This is one of my favorites of the day.

Here comes the fun funky attitude I told you about.

These two are definitely hot!

Kristina had me cracking up the whole time, she can work the camera!

Even with all the fun we had playing around there were still some really great little moments.

They make an awesome couple!

Great one to end on! Happy I found a wall, a really cool one too.

It was a pleasure you guys! I had a blast.

Philadelphia Wedding Project

What's your story? Let us tell it!

What's your story?

Molly & Brian Married 5-30-09

I can't say enough about Molly and Brian really. Everything about last Saturday was perfect. Starting with the most gorgeous weather anyone could have hoped for it all just got better as the day progressed. Molly was stunning, simply stunning. Brian handsome, cool and collected. Both sides of the family, which is now a HUGE family, were so easy going, happy and excited all day. How can you not get some awesome images in an environment like that? I don't think its possible. Before moving on to this large post, and believe me I could have featured every image that is in the slideshow but I had to show some restraint, here are some of the vendors that made this day fantastic.
Venue: The National Constitution Center
Flowers – Amaranth Florist, Narberth, PA
Dress – Melissa Sweet
Band – CTO Park Central (as of this week they will be CTO To the Max)
Catering – Max & Me Catering
Cupcakes – Angie’s Fancy Pans
2nd Shooter: Linette Kielinski, BIG, HUGE thank you to Linette. Linette is close personal friends of Molly's family and I would not have been shooting this wedding had it not been for her referral. Molly and Brian specifically requested Linette and I am happy they did! Linette first of all is an awesome photographer (my plea to have her shoot with me more this year, PLEASE!) and second the connection she has to this family brought a very wonderful personal touch to her images. Thank you so much Linette.

We started with Molly getting ready. She had a wonderful close friend do her make-up.

The rings.

The shoes, on the blue rocks Molly's cousin brought down from Maine as a wedding present.

Linette's shoe shot after I had put the shoes back where I found them. LOVE this.

I love brides going up and down stair cases, something about images like this.

Beautiful Molly

We had some fun with her fantastic dress.

The first look.

I love the excitement in Molly's face.

Linette caught Brian's excitement.

Molly and her girls.

Brian and his boys

I know I already teased you with this one. I just love it.

Watch out, he's hot!

We had such an awesome location. Love this one of Molly.

The National Constitution Center is an awesome place for a wedding. Especially when you had weather like Molly and Brian did. Linette got this great overall shot.

Molly's nephew and niece, the ring barer and flower girl.

The hora, man this was so much fun!

If you want to see more, watch the slideshow, its a big one!

Molly and Brian it has been such a pleasure, seriously. I love you guys and both of your families. I am excited that I will see you guys again this fall at another wedding!

Watch the Slideshow

Molly & Brian Teaser

I am almost ready to post a huge HUGE blog for Molly and Brian, but in the mean time and just because I can here is a teaser.

This is by far one of my favorite portraits from the day.

Stay tuned!!

Irene & Jim Married May 23, 2009

Irene & Jim were married last Saturday at the Rittenhouse Hotel in center city. It was a gorgeous day and they were a stunning couple. I have had a great time getting to know these two. They are a quiet couple but they are full of surprises. We opted to have them meet before the wedding at get all the portrait and group photos out of the way. The only way to go really if you want to attend your cocktail hour.
Before diving into the photos here are some of the other vendors that made this day so awesome.
Dress: Jim Hjelm
Flowers: Petals Lane
Venue: The Rittenhouse Hotel
Band: Sid Miller Band
Caterer and Cake: The Rittenhouse Hotel
Lighting: Synergetic Sound & Lighting
2nd Shooter: Steve Langdon (Thank you SOOO much Steve! It was a pleasure working with you again!)

We started the day with just Jim and Irene. I love Irene's expression here, she had the best smile when looking at Jim so I had him stand behind me. (Jim is super tall)

Love the shadows in this one.

Love this one Steve got. Jim looks like he is straight out of the Frank Sinatra era.

Gorgeous. I don't use textures too much, but I thought it was appropriate to get the look and feel I wanted in these next two.

The light was right on!

I think this is one of my favorites.

The flowers looked awesome!

These next two shots would not have been possible had Steve not been second shooting for me. Steve had shot some interiors for this building and asked them if we could take Jim and Irene up to the roof deck for some photos. They obliged and we took full advantage.

This one is looking over South Philly.

Such a vibrant bouquet and lovely details on Irene's dress.

Married!

Congratulations you guys!

The table setups were super simple and elegant.

Jim's reaction to his brothers toast.

I couldn't resist. This is one of Jim's running buddies and he put on quite a show.

The hora is always good for photo opportunities. I love that they are going in for a high five.

Last one. I love the in action moment while Irene was dancing.

Be sure to check out the slideshow for more images.
Irene and Jim I hope you are having a wonderful time in Italy!

Soyoung & Steve Engagement Shoot

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Soyoung and Steve. They live in Old City and were excited to wander their neighborhood and take photos. These two are so sweet. Taking pictures of them seemed effortless, they are naturals in front of the camera. They just exude a calm and carefree nature. I found myself stopping our conversations mid-sentence when I would see the perfect spot or the perfect light. We were regular chatter boxes. They will be married in August and I am really looking forward to seeing them again.

One of the first few images of the session.
I find it helps to embarrass them a little (not in a bad way) and make them laugh, it really helps to bring through their true personality. I love this one!!

Here they are all adorable!

We strolled down Delancy, one of the most beautiful streets in Philadelphia.

You can just see the love these two have for each other.

Oh the sweet buttery light! Head House Square is an awesome place to shoot.

We found a special garden I had never been to.

Love this location.

We took a little stroll through Independence Park and stopped a few places along the way.

Some of the coolest spots are in your back yard, this was the alley way behind their building.

It was so great hanging out with you guys. The weather couldn't have been better and you guys were just a pleasure. I am looking forward to August!

Jackie & Pat's Wedding Video = AWESOME

You remember Jackie and Pat's Vegas wedding right? Well Dave Williams released their video last week and it is awesome, I had to share. Video is courtesy of Dave Williams Films and the photography courtesy of me. It was so awesome to watch this video back, over and over, to relive the day. Not only was it just an amazing visual experience, but Jackie and Pat are such an awesome couple and have become great friends that I am truly thankful to have in my life. I am so thrilled to have played such an important role in their special day.

Sit back and enjoy!

This is my first official experience with fusion and I hope Dave and I can work together on a project again sometime soon. Enjoy!

Mandy & Ryan Engagement Session

I am so excited for Many and Ryan's wedding in many ways. First they are good friends of mine and Don's, we are all connected through our vintage scooter club so I am a bit partial to these two. Second the wedding is in Lincoln Nebraska! Which I am sure everyone in Lincoln might not think its a big deal, but I can't wait. I am looking forward to the new scenery and doing some fun shoots in some corn fields and stuff like that. The reception is also in an old theater, which I have heard is really cool. Mandy and Ryan are originally from Lincoln and their families are still there. They came out here on a trial basis for Mandy's job and they liked it so much they ended up staying. We had a great time on their shoot, we had some lunch and drinks to let the heat subside and the sun fall a little more in the sky, it was perfect timing. We wandered their neighborhood in Society Hill and ended on a high note at the Franklin Fountain for some yummy ice cream goodness.

They are a good looking couple don't you think?

Style and comfort

I have a lot of favorites from this session.

hehe, I love Mandy's expression here.

Contender for favorite of the day

mmm, afternoon light

This was just a test shot for my exposure, but I liked it so much it made it to the blog!

Having fun getting the petals to fall off the tree.

We had to of course include Poppy in the photos!

Their neighborhood is fantastic, love this area of Philly.

Hanging on their front stoop, poppy happy.

Quick wardrobe change and a few more portraits.

Beautiful Mandy

Have to include some flare.

Ending at the Franklin Fountain should be a requirement for all photo shoots, especially on a hot day.

So much fun you guys!! I can't wait to see your home town and meet your family!

Molly & Brian Engagement Session

I am so excited for Molly and Brian's wedding. They are getting married May 30 at the Constitution Center, its going to be awesome. We got together on Sunday for their engagement session, its been a while since I last saw them so it was great to reconnect. Sunday was pretty crazy, Philadelphian's go wild once the weather gets warm. I think everybody and their mother was outside. We met up at the Art Museum for a few shots in the Azalea garden and then off to the rock garden and Kelly drive. I love the rock garden, its a little gem I never knew was there!

They said they were a bit camera shy but I think they worked the camera quite well!

A nice little candid moment

They are hot stuff!

I thought these paired together nicely

I love this image. I love Molly's look and the way Brian is guiding her up the trail. Beautiful.

Molly is such a natural beauty.

There they go again, being all adorable!

Something about this one I really like.
Brian just stared wearing glasses and I think they really suit him.

So you think they were camera shy? Nah! You guys did great. I can't wait to see you again on the wedding day.

Irene & Jim Engagement Session

Last weekend I spent some time getting to know Irene and Jim. Their wedding is fast approaching, May 23! We had a great time wandering their neighborhood and taking photos along the way. They are a super sweet couple. We are going to have a great time on their wedding day, I can't wait!

I got them to warm up pretty easily.

A little play on their height. Irene is very petite and Jim is super tall. It was a fun dynamic.

I like getting some more candid moments during engagement sessions.

The streets in Society Hill are awesome.

Another favorite street. I told you they were adorable.

I thought it might be fun to play around with the driveway mirror.

Irene lives off of Washington Square and I loved some of the structures at her apartment building.

This might be my favorite from the day.

Thank you guys so much, I had a great time with you. Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Saya and Chandans Indian Wedding Part 3 of 3

Well I think its apparent why I have given so much exposure to this wedding. Not only were Saya and Chandan just awesome, but their wedding was such an amazing experience for me that I have to share. Again a huge thank you to Ryan Estes for coming out with me. It was fun watching him prance around like a kid in a candy store, I think we both were actually. Go check out his blog for some more amazing eye candy. Once I get through editing all these images I will make an awesome slideshow and post it.

Back to the images!

Saya getting prepped for the ceremony.

Chandan making a striking entrance.

I love that the bride is carried in on a Doli. Amazing.

Very sweet moment between Saya and Chandan during the ceremony.

Chandan’s mother presents Saya with a mangalsutra, welcoming her to the family.

I just liked this little detail of Chandan fidgiting.

Chandan putting toe rings on Saya.

Talambralu (Rice Shower)- Saya and Chandan welcome each other into their lives by showering rice on each others heads, as a symbol of fertility and prosperity.
It started by then gently showering each other with handfuls of rice, but it ended with each of them dumping the whole bowl on each other.
Ryan actually captured some awesome shots of Saya getting dumped on, check his blog.

Love catching the guests flash when the bride and groom leave! You can never plan for it.
Its just luck when it happens.

A quick outfit change and weather change and we were outside for more portraits.

They just keep getting better looking.

The evening turned out some amazing light! We really got lucky.

A happily married couple.

Saya should really be a model, but she makes a good doctor too.
Brains and beauty.

I loved this dress. Saya doing a little walk for us.

One last quick portrait, the light was too awesome to pass up.

Suji Productions not only did a fantastic job as DJ both days but they also did an amazing job with the lighting.

Saya and her dad surprised everyone during the father daughter dance.
They had it all planned out and busted into a choreographed performance.
It was awesome.

Curious to know what 325 people on the dance floor looks like?

Saya's dad being lifted by the crowd. This was seriously an awesome party group.

Chandan, two thumbs up, here's looking at you!

To end the night with a nice little moment of Saya and Chandan dancing.

I am a little sad its over! This wedding was amazing and is up at the top of my list for all time favorites. Wish your family well Saya, it was such a pleasure.

Saya and Chandans Indian Wedding Part 2 of 3

Here we go with Part 2. I have one more post coming up tomorrow. These images will take us up through the Baraat Swaagat, which is the welcoming of Chandan's family. There are so many fantastic traditions that its really hard to just breeze through it all.

We started off meeting up with Saya getting the finishing touches.

I am still so amazed by all the awesome jewelry.

Saya and Chandan did a first meet before all the ceremonies began and we were able to get some awesoeme portraits.

Saya is so gorgeous.

I think her henna is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Their presense all day was so calm, I think this image really depicts that.

The first part of the day was a steady rain so we found some nice spots inside.

This image is staight out of camera, just some sharpening for the web.
The colors were truely this rich, no need for enhancement.

I love this one.

Chandan, handsome and reserved.

On to the baraat. It was raining so the plans for him entering on the horse were changed slightly but we still got some amazing images under the canopy.

I absolutely love this image of all the ladies welcoming Chandan.

Lots of celebrating. Try and imagine the beat of a drum to all these images.

Saya's dad joining in.

The Toran, which Chandan had to touch as a symbolic gesture that he "won" Saya.

Saya's mom waiting with the Toran.

Chandan had to make his way through all of Saya's bridesmaids.

almost there!

Presenting of the Toran, Chandan anticipating what was to come next.

Now I am still not sure, maybe Saya and Chandan can clarify, what the meaning behind Saya's mom grabbing Chandan's nose was. I love this moment though, she got him good!

I will have part 3 up tomorrow which will include the ceremony, another portrait session and some reception. Ryan Estes guest shot with me on Saturday and a big thank you goes to him. I say guest shot instead of second shot because he was so much more than a second shooter. He will have some images up on his blog tomorrow as well. I do plan on putting together one large slideshow with a lot of our images combined to cover the day fully. I have a ton of images to go through yet, its so exciting!

Stay tuned...

Saya and Chandans Indian Wedding Part 1

All I can really say is Wow. I had the most amazing experience this past weekend photographing my first Indian wedding. I loved it, I love Saya and Chandan, their families and all the festivities. I felt very welcome all weekend and the celebrations, love and support that was around Saya and Chandan was inspiring to say the least. There is no way to pull both days I was there into one post. This is going to be multiple post coverage, so to not miss anything.

Friday was the Sangeet. Family and friends all contributed Song and Dance performances for Saya and Chandan. It was wonderful to experience. Lets get on to some images shall we?

Meet Saya and Chandan.

They were so adorable.

I love these next two.

I don't think they could be more perfect for each other.

This was such a funny moment.
Saya's mom was gettting the grandparents together, putting grandpa's arm around grandma and they were so giggly and bashful, like they were school kids again. I love it.

I was in color love.

One of the first perfomances. This little girl did an awesome job all by herself in front of everyone.

A little detail of grandmas henna.

Grandma was very excited to get up and dance. She was bouncing up and down, it was fantastic.

Saya's dad and a few of his friends surprised Saya with a performance. They weren't supposed to do one. I love his "don't stop the rock" t-shirt.

Saya had a few suprises herself.
Her girl friends were doing their performance and Saya jumped up to join them. It was great.

Saya's brother and his performing group. He also sang to her, what an amazing family.

Another grandma. Striking a pose for me. I love this and am really happy I captured some great images of her, she was not there on Saturday.

At the end of the night was the stick dance.
It was awesome to watch. I loved the expression on this little girl.

Saya during the stick dance.

Two more of this little girl, who really warmed up to me by the end of the night. She was very serious most of the night, but at the same time very expressive.

Her little "awe" moment.

Loved this experience. I want to experience more Indian weddings. Stay tuned for more images from the wedding coming up.

Blaire & Mark Engagement Session

I had a fantastic day with Blaire and Mark last week. The day started out rainy and there was some talk about rescheduling but we figured can't control the weather on the wedding day might as well just go with it for the engagement shoot. They were great and the day didn't end up half bad!
It had been over a year since I last saw these guys, they were on the ball in booking their popular June 6 date! I was so excited to see them and reconnect. They trusted me to find some cool spots in the city to shoot. Blaire mentioned architectural detail and I knew where I wanted to take them.

Isn't this a cool location?
I can't take all the credit, I found out about it through one of my students last term when they took some images for their project here. Any idea where this is? We almost didn't even find it!

Going a tad out of order here.
We started the day off at their home with their adorable bulldog Winston.
Winston took us for a walk.

I love when I can get my couples to crack up! Love love this one.

Winston had to have a few solo portraits of course.

He is one solid pooch. Only a year old! Crazy. He can just steal your heart.
Mark is an awesome guy too, don't get me wrong!

More infectious laughing

Super simple portrait but might be one of my favorites.

Another awesome moment

I love finding these quaint Philadelphia streets.

We had such an awesome afternoon! I can't wait to see you guys in a few months.

Enjoy your slideshow!

True Craftsmenship!

Yesterday a group of us (Ryan Estes, Sofia Negron, Jennifer Childress, Pete Malone and Geoff Horowitz) took an old fashioned field trip up to Long Island to visit our favorite album company Leather Craftsmen. I have some experience, very limited mind you, bookbinding and have always had great respect for how these albums are made. Yesterday my respect and admiration grew 100x over. I could have sat at each station in awe watching these albums being made. We flip through these albums everyday and then just sit them down without any thought. After seeing the entire process I came home and examined my albums in amazement of what I had just experienced. Leather Craftsmen albums are truly handcrafted in every sense of the word and I am proud to offer them to my clients. I kept hoping that I would see some of the albums I currently have out being bound but I didn't .

I swiped photos of the day from Ryan.

The fun antics of photographers on a road trip. We had to stop and celebrate St. Paddies day too!

Thanks for the photos Ryan. It was awesome hanging with you guys yesterday. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am to have such great friends who are in the same profession. You guys rock.

Stephanie & Tim Engagement Shoot

With all this spring weather you would never believe that last week we got over five inches of snow! Stephanie and Tim got engaged during the first snow in November and when we first met we had already decided that we would do the engagement shoot in the snow. With all the snow we have had the timing just hadn't been our side so when this storm started Stephanie and I were in instant contact and the shoot was ON! It was a gorgeous day last week, tad cold but they were tough and took it in stride.

Tim pulled a fast one and this image started our shoot, love it.

One of my favorites.

A typical Tim look.

When thinking of location Stephanie requested somewhere with a barn. BINGO.

I took a few textures while we were at the barn, texture has been incorporated into this image.

Another favorite.

I punched up the colors a tad but not much, the sky was an awesome blue.

When Tim proposed he took Stephanie to a golf course and told her he wanted to go make snow angels. Due to what she was wearing at the time she wasn't too keen on the idea, poor Tim just trying to get her out of the car with out being obvious. He did get her out of the car and proposed in the snow, minus the snow angels. She obviously said yes.
The end goal of our shoot? You got it snow angels!

Steph and Tim tie the knot in October. Its going to be a grand time, can't wait!
Was great hanging out with you guys.

Check out the Slideshow

Jackie & Pat, Part 2

Continuing on with Jackie and Pat's fun Vegas wedding... I can't help but keep processing images from the day. Jackie and Pat were so much fun and since they are photographers they have an understanding of what it takes to get a good image, which basically means they listened and followed directions really well. They also trusted us, which is I guess the biggest hurdle a photographer has to get over when the camera is pointed back at them. There are more images in this post so lets get on to them.

The rings, plain and simple. Love the custom dice.

Playing around with available light in the hotel.

I told ya Pat was a cool kat.

I love this one.

Jackie having a little fun. I also have some from this series with me and Heather included in the shot, but I am choosing to show you this one.

Love the reflections off the ceiling for this one.

Can't forget the groom! There are a number of images featuring Pat below.
He is so cool, such expression.

I like the little look they are giving each other here.

Jackie strutting her stuff, hot stuff!

Awe yeah! This was a Vegas themed wedding if you haven't caught on..

Some details. Jackies florist overnighted her flowers to her from Philly.

A classic feel to the Vegas sign.

Very Bogart or Sinatra.

One of my favorites of Pat.

Love the colors in this one. Pat was really fun to work with.

ELVIS!

Getting married!

After the ceremony Elvis instructed everyone to get up and dance with the newly weds. He sang two songs I think, Viva Las Vegas.. I can't remember. It was the funnest wedding ceremony I have ever attended. How could it not be a blast when you have a dance party with Elvis afterward?

Announcing Mr. and Mrs!

This was my first Vegas wedding and I have to say I don't think anyone can ever top it. Most of the chapels don't allow any photography but Jackie managed to find the one that would allow us in to photograph it. It was quite the spectacle. Three photographers, me, Sofia Negron, Heather Fowler and two videographers Dave Williams and Jordan Oplinger. Dave will have a video of this soon, I will share here when they have it edited. We werent allowed to move at all during the ceremony so we all staked out our spots so we were sure to cover it from all angles. I can't wait to see what everyone else got.

Congratulations Jackie and Pat!

Jackie's Vegas Wedding, Part 1.

This past week has been such a whirl wind. I was out in Vegas with thousands of other photographers, learning, meeting new people and just having a grand ole time. While we were out there Miss Jackie Bayne and her wonderful man Patrick got hitched, by Elvis. This is going to have to be a multiple part post because I just can't wait until I have all the images touched up to show them. Heather Fowler and I took it upon ourselves to document the day for Jackie and Pat. It was so much fun and equally nerve wracking since Jackie and Pat are both photographers. Jackie started the day just wanting a few photos and that quickly changed to many photo ops, lets go here, lets go there, ooh what about this! Needless to say she gave into a fun bride.

Jackie is an awesome photographer and has turned into and equally awesome friend over this past year, it was an honor to document her day. I really enjoyed hanging out with Pat as well. I had only met him once before and I can't wait to hang out with them again. Pat is a cool kat.

Checking out the make-up. Miss Heather is there in the back as well.

Just getting warmed up.

Total Jackie & Pat style.

I LOVE this one.

You can't go to Vegas to get married and not go to the Vegas sign. I do have to say that the sign was much smaller than I imagined. Thank you to everyone who was in line for being patient during our little five minute photo shoot.

Heather was actually using this little Diana camera. We scored film from Fuji at the trade show, thanks Fuji! I can't wait to see the film.

Fun shot right after getting hitched

We all went to Dinner at Paris after the wedding. It was an awesome reception dinner and the best meal I have had in a very long time. Thank you Jackie and Pat! More images to come, and Elvis!

This is from dinner, Jackie was just a lovely stunning bride!

Matt & Marcella Teaser

Matt & Marcella are married! I can't believe it was just yesterday. I am so thrilled for them. I have known Matt for a long time and it meant a lot to me being there to document his day for him. I will have a full post in the next week but I wanted to share some favorites from the portraits.

It was cloudy all day so having a bit of a sunset yesterday was an unexpected surprise. I was really excited to get some dramatic portraits.

We did the portraits on Marcella's family farm in Lancaster. It was an amazing backdrop.

It just makes me laugh. Do you think Matt is excited to be married?
He has to be one of the best jumpers I have ever seen. He has one photograph of himself that I will always remember, I think he was in high school, he is jumping higher than a car. Getting a shot of him in the air seemed like the thing to do in this situation.

Another one of Marcella, just love it.

We took a few shots in her Dads barn. It was fantastic.

They are off to warmer climates tomorrow, lucky!

You guys have a great time, such a pleasure and be sure to check back this weekend for a more in depth post.

Janene and Conrad 11-8-08

I am so happy to finally share this wedding. Janene and Conrad were married back in November, it was the last weekend we that all the leaves were in full color. I had such an awesome time with them. Janene has such a glowing personality and between her and Conrad you couldn't help but be ear to ear smiles all day. The lovely Misty Dawn was out shooting with me. Its been so long since we last shot together, it was so fun to work with her again.

The day proved to be a typical overcast and slightly rainy November day, but the weather held on in our favor. By the time portraits came around all was dry. The ceremony was held at St. Pius X in Broomall and the reception was at the Kimberton Inn. I can't say enough good things about everybody at the Kimberton, so friendly and accommodating. Alvin's Flowers provided the amazing boquets. The bridesmaids flowers were gorgeous and the flower girls had adorable boquets as well. They were mini works of art. Janene wore a gorgeous Pronovias wedding gown accompanied by sparkling gold guess shoes. Diane Heller did an awesome job with Janene's make-up. Lets get on to some images shall we?

The flower girl boquet, a little purse, too adorable!

Getting ready, making sure to cut out the hanger straps.

Glorious shoes.

I love that Janene's wedding band is as unique as she is. Her mom's coffee table made a great backdrop for a lot of the detail shots.

Bridesmaids bouquets. See I told you they were a work of art.

Stunning bride.

Misty got this awesome shot of Conrad before the ceremony.

Janene and Conrad did something a little non traditional, he escorted her down the isle. Love catching a guests flash! Total luck when that happens.

I really enjoyed this little moment during the ceremony.

The most adorable flower girl portraits ever.

They were naturals at just being natural.

A little American Gothic going on.

Introductions, love the joy and energy.

Loved this little guy.

First Dance

This group could party! They had to move a couple of the tables out of the room because all the guests were on the dance floor all night. Two cultures becoming one, Janene's Italian side and Conrad's Haitian side. Everyone got along so well, it was one big happy family celebration. Love this shot Misty got of everyone getting down.
So much fun! This was my last wedding for 2008 and it was a perfect end to an amazing year.

Enjoy your slideshow.

Why do wedding photos take so long?

One of the photographers that I look up to and whose blog I check on a regular basis, thank you google reader, made such a fantastic point that I am sending you to her blog to check it out. Anne Ruthman is an amazing photographer and business woman and one hell of a writer which is why you must go check out this post. I think a lot of us photographers are in this boat at the moment, I know I certainly am, but I never thought to educate my clients in such a manner. Thank you Anne for creating this post and letting me know I am not the only one out there.

Why do wedding photos take so long?

She had this on her blog too, but I feel the need to post something else other than just type. Enjoy!

Ashley & Matt Wedding 10-12-2008

Continuing on with this gorgeous October weekend Ashley and Matt had such a gorgeous day! I have really enjoyed getting to know Ashley & Matt. Talking with Matt you can't help but crack up at his sarcastic sense of humor, he is going to give Ashley many laugh lines. Its funny because I feel like I get to know my couples pretty well and I have to catch myself during the ceremony sometimes if something is funny because I have laughed out loud a couple times. This happened at Ashely and Matt's wedding. Matt wrote a love letter to Ashley for his vows and I will always remember one little part where he read "and everyone is starring at me right now, aren't they?" I know I am taking that a little out of context for all of you who were not there, but I still just crack up and you will see Ashley cracking up as well in the slideshow. Both of them are great writers and their vows have to be some of the best I have ever heard, straight from the heart and full of their personalities.
Venue: Appleford
Flowers: Beautiful Blooms
Dress Designer: Wearkstatt
Bridal Boutique: Bridal Garden
Caterer: Feastivities
Bakery: Cake Art Studio
DJ: Anastasia, I don't have a website for her but she was awesome!
Videographer: First Floor Films, awesome working with you Pete!
Second shooter the one and only Miss Linette. This was our last wedding of the season together! boohoo, we didn't realize it until days later. It was a great season Linette, so happy to have had you out on so many weddings this year.

On to some images and slideshow at the end.

Ashley was stunning.

Flowers were gorgeous! They totally matched the dress Ashley wore for their engagement shoot.

The cake was not only gorgeous, but it was delicious!

This has to be one of my favorite images from Linette!

Appleford has a lot of really cute spots for photos inside, they just did some refinishing and freshening up. I love this of Ashley in the bridal suite.

First look coming down the isle.

Awesome ring shot compliments of Linette.
Matt opened a very special bottle of wine for the occasion and this was the cork.

Matt can get the best smiles and laughs from Ashley.

Hey! You're married!

My current favorite bridal party photo.

Signing of the marriage license. I love the reflections.

You gotta love a couple that can sing Bon Jovi to each other!

Fun shot of one of Ashley's bridesmaids. Here's looking at you!

Ashley and Matt is was such a pleasure, I had a ball, I love both your families and can't wait to come to dinner at your new restaurant!

Slideshow

Beth & John Wedding 10-11-08

The weekend of October 11th was I have to say one of the most gorgeous weekends I have ever experience since being here on the east coast. The whole day driving from Beth's parents to the church and the church to the reception I felt like I was in Vermont. There was no overwhelming sense of rush during the day, everything flowed smoothly and the drive to and from locations was so breathtaking it was therapeutic.
Before I get too into this post here are the extra special vendors:
Dress - Paloma Blanca
Cake - Sweet Jazmine's
Flowers - Charlene Pederson
DJ/Musicians - Chris Thornton
Reception - Welkinweir
A special thank you to Rebecca Barger who was out second shooting with me. We had a great time and I really enjoyed adding her photojournalist expertise to the mix.

I loved that the pastor who married Beth & John was a good friend, he made the ceremony deeply personal and fun. I keep remembering the story he told of how Beth and John first met, John struck up a conversation saying how he was going to bring the fanny pack back in style. Something about that just makes me laugh.

So I guess you want to see some images? Well ok, I think I can handle that.

Always looking for new interesting ways to photograph the shoes.

I love the emotion in this one, these are a few of Beth's bridesmaids.

Something about when a bride is dressed and ready to go!

Beth plays the piano so this was a great spot for a few images.

One of my favorites, I love brides descending the staircase.

This was a bridesmaids bouquet, gorgeous.

Lovely moment and lovely framing during the prayer.

Fun shoe shot with shadows.

I had to include Grandpa. I just love this image and I love his boutonniere.

I have been loving to capture the earrings this season.

John watching Beth walk down the isle, seeing her for the first time.

Such cute church and great light.

I love the old feel in this image.

Now that's a big bridal party! They were so cooperative too!

The bagpiper was a surprise for Beth and John.

I think this may be my favorite image of them.

Look at those fall colors! Beth is gorgeous.

Welkinweir was a gorgeous venue, especially at this time of year. If you are looking for a venue for your wedding I highly recommend checking them out.

Beth and John, it has been such a pleasure, congratulations!

Enjoy the slideshow!

Jessica & Karol 10-4-2008

Jessica and Karol had a glorious day in October for a wedding! Everything went so smoothly it was amazing. Jessica did a fantastic job with all the little details and scheduling of the day. We were never rushed and they were able to enjoy every minute of the day without missing a thing.
The fantastic vedors:
Florist: Ten Pennies
Dress: Marisa from the Bridal Garden
Shoes: J. Crew
Cake/Reception Site: Hyatt
DJ: DJ Johny Looch
String Duet: Glorious Strings
Miss Linette was out shooting with me again, we had a great time as usual.

The couple

Jessica's purse was awesome, it totally matched her dress perfectly

Some Details

Even the adorable pooch was dressed for the occasion.

I love this, the look on Karol's face as he watched Jess come down the isle.

Linette caught this wonderful moment with Karol and his dad.
There were so many moments like this all day.
Karol's dad and brother were so proud and so happy for the new couple, lots of endearing happy tears flowing.

Jessica and Karol both went to Penn so Jessica got permission for us to take photos in the Quad.
It was an awesome location!

Such a lovely bridal party

Jessica was simply gorgeous.

Karol was elated to have his ring, he was showing it off all day!

Such a dapper man, wouldn't you say? Awesome shot from Linette.

The first dance

The reception was at the Hyatt which has amazing views of the Delaware river.
This is a fun image playing off the reflection in the ball room and the lights outside.

I love this image, such a classic movie feeling.

A little painting with light

It was such an amazing day, we had such a great time!

Congratulations you guys! Linette and I had the most enjoyable experience with you and everyone at your wedding.

Enjoy the Slideshow

Alicia & Dave Super Sized Teaser

Alicia and Dave got married almost two weeks ago! I am horrible for not getting some teasers up sooner, so I am making a super sized teaser. Full post coming soon.

The Rings

The dress, gorgeous.

Lovely moment during the ceremony

The rain didn't stop us from getting a few photos outside.

Love this couple!

First Dance

Cake cutting

Dave and his sister singing into the hand mic, "oo oh, living on a prayer!". Love it.

I am getting caught up again and will have a slew of posts coming up, keep on the look out.

Dave and Alicia I hope you guys are having and amazing honeymoon!

Crystal & Chris Wedding 9-27-08

Crystal and Chris are such an awesome couple. They, like many couple and good friends of mine met on match.com. I really love hearing stories like theirs. Crystal was the only girl Chris went out with, he knew right away she was his match. I would have never guessed they met in this way, they compliment each other so well and their love surrounds them. Don and I got to spend some time with them in NYC for their engagement shoot and they could not have been more hospitable and welcoming. They are a true NYC couple. Crystals family is in the Philadelphia area so they decided to have their wedding here, they did an amazing job planning it from NYC.

They are off on their honeymoon and second wedding ceremony in Korea by now so I know they will be excited to see this post and slideshow along the way. Before I get too ahead of myself here are all the vendors that made this day so wonderful:

PAFA Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Hamilton Building reception site
videographer-Mike Chen
band: The Stingers
florist-Michael Bruce
Baker-Truli Confectionary Art
Lighting-Synergetic
Wedding Planner: Melody from Innove

Crystal's bouquet was just gorgeous.

I love the getting ready and make-up shots.

Miss Jackie Bayne was along second shooting with me that day, she grabbed this sweet shot of Chris.

Crystal and Chris were so excited to go to LOVE park. I love this shot of them.

We played around with some of the "toys" by city hall.

One of my favorite portraits of the day.

I just love this, the excitement right before the kiss!

Bubbles!

Crystal was soo excited for this shot. She picked out the socks specially.

The cake was amazing. When we first walked into the room it was all you could smell.

A nice shot to end with, the bags from the candy bar and the rings.

It was such an amazing day, so beautiful. Thank you so much for coming out with me Jackie, it was a pleasure.
I hope you two have a wonderful ceremony in Korea. I wish I could be there! I can't wait to catch up when you return.

Enjoy your Slideshow

Elizabeth & Kevin Teaser

I feel so lucky to get to be around such amazing people every weekend. Saturday Liz and Kevin were absolutely stunning! It was a gorgeous day and everything went so smoothly we were actually early for the cocktail hour! Crazy.

Here are a few teasers from the portraits.

My favorite

I just love Liz's playful expression here

It was rather chilly. But we braved the wind and cold for a few shots in front of the Ben Franklin before heading inside.

Such a pleasure, more to come.....

Ashley & Matt Teaser

I have really enjoyed the time spent with Ashley & Matt. Sunday, just like Saturday, was absolutely gorgeous. Ashley & Matt broke the family curse of rain on their wedding day, it could not have been more perfect. Here are a few teasers.

The moment right before the kiss, I could have posted the kiss but I love this moment right before, their excitement was overwhelming.

I just crack up at this, I love it. It speaks both their personalities so well.

A very quick moment as they were waiting to be introduced at the reception. Again, so much personality.

Matt has a great sense of humor and can always make you laugh, but I love love that in this image you can see his total love for Ashley. Such an intense moment. I think both Linette and I cried as this was taking place.

The reception was almost over and they realized they had not signed the marriage license yet!
We got that taken care of.

I know this was a long teaser than usual. I couldn't choose.

to be continued......

Beth & John Teaser

I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful weekend of weddings I just had.

Beth and John were married on Saturday near Pottstown but I swear I could have been in Vermont. Such a gorgeous day. There was a bit of driving between locations but it was the most calming, beautiful drive that it was seriously one of the highlights of my day. Usually if there is driving involved it can be a bit stressful, not on this day though.

The ceremony, oh man one of the most sensitive touching ceremonies of the season. The day, one of the absolute most beautiful days of the year. The couple, so sincere, so in love and what a good looking pair. The party, wow their friends and family can boogie, give speeches from the heart and rally around the new couple with complete love and support.

This is only a teaser post, you can be sure to see more from this wedding very soon.

New Husband and Wife

Just Married

The last dance before they said their farewells.
I loved how everyone formed a circle around them, so much love at this wedding!

Melissa & Mike Wedding

Melissa and Mike were married at Glenn Foerd Mansion on Sept 21 and it was a gorgeous day. I was much more involved than normal in this wedding as Melissa is a very dear friend to me. I have known Melissa for a long time and seen her go through so much over the years. It meant a lot to me to be there and document this special day for her and Mike.

Melissa's dress was stunning

Beke Beau was there doing make-up and I think everyone has to agree she is not only a great person but she did a beautiful job. I believe I can quote Melissa when she said nobody else would ever be allowed to do her make-up.

I love this of Ellena looking at mommy getting into her wedding dress. Ellena was very sweet and told Melissa that she looked very bootiful.

I love this moment that Linette caught during Melissa and Mikes first meeting. The excitement on their faces says it all.

We stepped back to give them a moment alone, I loved this little pavilion.

Gorgeous couple!

I sent this image to Melissa earlier this week. Her dad cracks me up and when I saw this image I just laughed. He is sticking his tongue out at Mike for some reason, I would love to know what was going on. I have other images with them walking down the isle but this one just speaks the personality of this family.

Another great moment caught by Linette, who knew Mike was such a sensitive guy?

I always love the moment the come down the isle together as husband and wife.

We did a few portraits later in the evening and when I told them to get into the bath tub, there was a little hesitation but they were totally up for anything.

Melissa and I did a "special" shoot a few weeks before the wedding just for Mike and in this shot I asked her to give me "the look" LOVE it.

Special Thank You to Linette for shooting with me and covering the reception so I could be a guest, well I tried to be a guest anyway... Always love shooting with you Linette!

Melissa and Mike you guys are awesome, what else can I say? Congratulations!

A few more vendors that did an amazing job:
Catering: Conroy Catering
Florist: Flowers by Janine in Moorestown NJ
Make-up Artist: Beke Beau

Wedding Consultant: Lynne Conna

DJ: DJ Joe Nose
Venue: Glen Foerd Mansion

Slideshow

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Jessica & Karol Teaser

Saturday was about the most perfect day you could ask for. The weather was gorgeous, Jessica and Karol were stunning and the flow of the day could not have gone any smoother. We had plenty of time between the ceremony and cocktail hour for photos and I give myself and Linette a big pat on the back for delivering them to their cocktail hour right on time, all family photos and portraits done!
So as you can tell I am a bit behind on my full blog posts and slideshows and am taunting you with another teaser. I am catching up though and will be back on track before you know it.

Without further ado, I give you two teasers.

One of my new all time favorites during the ceremony

Simple classic portrait, but love the colors the season is bringing!
Not to mention Jessica and Karol make a stunning couple.

Happy Monday!

Crystal & Chris Teaser

Saturday was such a fun day with Crystal and Chris! As promised here is a teaser or two. I will have a full post and slideshow up sometime next week.

This was a crowd favorite in the slideshow I put together during the reception.

And one that wasn't in the slideshow that caught my eye.

They went back to work on Monday which I am sure was really hard to do but they will be going to Korea for another wedding ceremony and to Thailand for their honeymoon in a couple of weeks.

Melissa & Mike Teaser

Melissa and Mike had a gorgeous wedding and fantastic day on Sunday. I will post a full report next week once our big move is over but I know there are plenty of people waiting patiently. I know who you are! ha ha. I gave a good sneak peek with a large slideshow at the wedding so I wanted to post a teaser that nobody has seen yet.

We were able to sneak away a little during the reception for a few "moody" portraits.

And I can't help myself but post Melissa's reaction to the gift I gave her and Mike. I always give a gift to my couples but Melissa and Mike are an exception. Melissa as many of you probably already know is a very dear friend of mine, we go way back to Drexel days. I have been documenting major moments in her life for years now, she has also been very instrumental in my referral base helping my biz grow. I was more involved in this wedding than any wedding, I helped her by designing her invitations, menus and save the dates. I helped her pick out all the paper, cut the paper and put everything together. I have been the ear on the end of the phone when everything was so crazy she didn't think she would keep her sanity. A few days before the wedding she gave a few hints that, hey you know we don't leave until Wednesday... if you want to put anything online... Little did she know I already had something bigger up my sleave. I wanted to send them on their honeymoon with a pocket full of photos. So I got her and Mike an iPod touch, loaded it will countless photos I have done for them and of course music. I knew it would be a big surprise and was so excited to present it to them. Linette captured the moment perfectly don't you think?
Love you guys, have a fantastic relaxing honeymoon.

Sura & John Wedding

Sura & John 9-6-08

Last weekend Hurricane Hanna was in town, in full force. While torrential rain is the last thing you want on your wedding day you just can't control the weather. Sura, John and the whole party were so great and took it all in stride. The wedding was held at the Doylestown Country Club and they did such a great job with everything. I have to say thank you to everyone there just because everyone was so friendly and accomidating, it really helped the day go by smoothly.

It worked out nicely that Sura was able to get ready in the locker room since nobody was golfing that day.
Golf shoes VS wedding shoes!

Simple getting ready shot, love the lockers.Big shout out to Ryan Estes for joining me on this wedding. We love shooting together when the chance comes along. Ryan did an awesome job with the guys, this is one of his shots of John.

Sura was georgous.

Some simple old school portraits.

Some bling.

I love this long shot of Sura with her Dad just before coming down the isle.

mmmm cake

Another one of Ryan's I love this because it is totally John's personality all the way.

You can tell that John isn't going to be nice about giving Sura the cake and I love the tall guy cheering them on in the back.

Their reception was one of the most fun I have been to in a long time. The entertainment Best of Both Worlds played some awesome stuff and kept the party going. Sura and John fooled everyone by starting off dancing to a slow song but then busted out into Great Balls of Fire. It was a total crowd pleaser and got everybody out on the dance floor. There was a big mix of cultures combing their two families as well. Both sides were dancing with each other and having a ball. I see some fun family gatherings in their future.

You must watch the slideshow, its a fun one! Thank you again Ryan for coming out, it is always a pleasure. Sura and John I hope your honeymoon was amazing. Talk to you soon.

Slideshow

Sura & John Tease

I can not even express what a ball I had last Saturday, despite drenching rains from Hanna! I plan on doing a full report in the next day or so. It has been so fun going through all of these images. I promised a teaser post for Sura and John, so here it is. I will have a full report and kickin slideshow up to wash away your Monday blues, so check back!

Congratulations Sura and John!

Their first dance was one of the most creative I have seen in a long time, of course more on that later.

I guess this crowd had a good time? I don't know maybe just a little?

I hope you guys are having a ball in Hawaii!

Julie & Pete's Wedding

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of documenting the day for Pete & Julie. Everything about the day was perfect. The wedding and reception was held at the Downtown Club in Old City Philadelphia. Everybody there was so friendly and helpful, it was my first time there but I felt very welcome and at home. Julies flowers were provided by Carl Alan Florist, they smelled delightful and were beautiful and classic. The cake from Ann's cake pan was so elegant and full of subltle detail. They put such a nice vintage touch to all the little details throughout the day.
Huge thanks to Linette for coming out with me again. We have become a great team, we work together so well and I couldn't have documented the day without her.

I loved Julies dress by Jim Hjelm.

Julie was simply stunning.

Linette got this awesome shot! Pete and his Harley, which he drove to the ceremony.I love this image of Pete before the ceremony, those last few moments.
Something about this one during the ceremony, has that vintage feel that went along with the day.
Everybody on the sidelines helped make for some really fun shots of this new family.
They knew how to keep Logan happy and entertained.
I really like this classic relaxed portrait.
Shoe detail.
This photo feels to me like it could have been taken 50 years ago.
I had to include another one of Julie at my favorite location.
Brides sideGrooms side, by Linette. Don't you love this location? Linette and I went out the day before the wedding scouting out locations for her to take the guys. I love this spot and its right around the corner from where Julie and Pete live. Linette nailed this one, totally what I had envisioned for the groomsmen shot.

Last but not least Julie surprised Pete with a photobooth at the reception. It was well received and there are some hilarious images that came out of it! I have seen a lot of photobooths and this one was set up really nice, there was a lot of room so you could fit a lot of people at once.
Linette and I had to jump in on that action!Julie and Pete it was a pleasure! I wish you all the best and can't wait to see you again.

Slideshow

Julie & Pete Teaser

I am running out the door and have been working on Pete & Julies slideshow most of the day. But will not have it up before Sunday, I digress. I am so excited to get this post up, but you just can't rush these things. So I leave you with a fun one to tease.

Pete works for Apple, which is how I originally met him,he was my Apple rep at Drexel. So to have them choose me to document their day meant a whole lot! We of course had to incorporate something related to Apple so I had the DJ call everyone who had an iPhone to the dance floor and we set up this shot.

Love it.

More to come, soon I promise.

Lydia & Pat's Wedding

Lydia and Pat had the most gorgeous day last weekend. They were married at the Pearl S. Buck House, it was my first time there and I love it. Wonderful grounds and such diversity. Lydia's mother provided all the flowers, she did an amazing job. Open Air affairs provided the amazing tent, Festivities delivered amazing food as usual, and Schaffer Sounds kept all the guest on the dance floor. Doughmain Baked goods provided their cake, it looked oh so yummy! Lydia wore a Melissa Sweet Gown from Priscilla of Boston, I love that shop and any bride who has used them just loves them. Miss Linette was out second shooting for me, we work so well together and I am so happy we will be working together on many more weddings to come this year. Ok now on to the the photos and slideshow!

I loved how all the girls helped each other, and Lydia was even doing one of her bridesmaids makeup.

Pat, relaxed and waiting for the show to begin.

Lydia, waiting patiently before she and Pat saw each other for the first time.

Classic, relaxed, Pat and LydiaHere are few more favorite portraits of the two of them.

Something I like about how the light hit each of them as they made their way down the isle.

Lydia wiping the tears away Pat's vowes were so good, so true and touching.

Having fun with the rings

Lydia can seriously turn it on for the camera.

She constantly surprises me and she looked amazing in her Chinese dress, I love this image.

Linette and I had such a great time with you and your families. Thank you so much for having us out to document the day. I hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii. See you when you get back.

There are a lot of images in this slideshow, it will take a minute or two to load. Get some tissues ready too, warning you now. I even get teary eyed as I watch it. It is a very complimentary mix of images from me and Linette.

Slideshow