Category: Weddings

Christine+Andy // Wedding in Pittsburgh, PA

Repeat clients are a dream, and it’s even more awesome when you shoot multiple weddings for the same family. Three years ago we photographed the wedding of Allison+Blue in West Virginia and fell in love with their super fun family and were so excited to be asked to photograph the wedding of Allison’s younger sister Christine and her awesome husband Andy in Pittsburgh, PA! It was super great to see Christine’s family again and now to meet Andy’s family, all of whom were also fun (and there were a lot of them, so it was kind of all the fun. in the whole world. ever).

So we were excited to see the bride’s family, excited to meet Andy’s family, excited to be back in Pittsburgh, and then that’s when we found out about the 17 year cicadas and we were like HOLD. THE. PHONE. THIS IS TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT. Now I polled my family and other Pittsburgh friends and it seems like I may be literally the only person who was super excited about the 17 year cicadas, but every single year people are like, “This is the year! The cicadas are coming this year!” and I am always like, “What do you mean? The cicadas are here every year.” And people respond with, “But this year there are going to be so many!” And every year I’m like, “SWEET, MAYBE THIS IS THE YEAR! THE YEAR OF ALL THE CICADAS!” and then I look around, disappointed in my lack of cicada swarms and sigh a little bit to myself, wondering why everyone keeps promising something that never happens.

But it just so happens that they DO exist. And they DO swarm! And it’s like being in a giant cloud of super huge bugs and they kind of look like humming birds flying all around! Or bees maybe! And there were tons of them! And they’re SO FREAKING LOUD that you can hear them through your car window going 60mph with the air conditioner on full-blast while driving down the street and you may or may not have to plug your ears when walking past any trees in person because the noiiiise. And they landed on my camera! And my pants! And my head! And I was so thrilled!! BECAUSE FINALLY IT WAS TRUE! In south Pittsburgh this weekend, the cicadas fulfilled the promise everyone’s been talking to me about for 30 years. Apparently they moved the wedding from West Virginia up into Pittsburgh to avoid said cicadas, but the cicadas came further north than originally expected. Because someone somewhere was smiling down on me because YES, CICADAS!

  • Date: June 18, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church // Washington, PA
  • Reception Venue: Shady Elms Farm // Hickory, PA
  • First Dance Song: “Living of Love” – The Avett Brothers
  • Christine’s Occupation: Quality Engineer at Boeing
  • Andy’s Occupation: Design Engineer at Boeing
  • How You Met: Engineering classes/Mountainair at West Virginia University
  • Interesting Fact: The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the Stanley Cup was the year we met, now the year we are getting married the Penguins have returned to the Stanley Cup Finals.
  • Honeymoon: Grenada
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Father Mike Conway. DJ – MobileMIX Entertainment (David Kieba). Florist – Shady Elms Farm. Cake – Bethel Bakery. Caterer – PW Catering. Hair/Makeup – Hannah Conrad. Videographer – So Fresh! Films. Coordinator – Devoted to You (Kristen).

Anne+Brian // Wedding in Raleigh, NC.

Anne and Brian!! It feels like we’ve known them forever, but that’s probably because when we’re not talking about weddings we’re messaging each other about Game of Thrones or Neku Atsume. These guys are possibly the nicest people on Planet Earth. We met Anne when she was a bridesmaid in Susan+Michael’s wedding. And I’m pretty sure Brian was there too, but we didn’t meet him then. But we LOVED Anne for her super kindness and gentle and wonderful demeanor, and we were SO excited when she emailed us about her wedding. And then we met Brian, who is ALSO some sort of kindness superhero and our hearts exploded. Anne sent us a Jon Snow Christmas card last year which we subsequently framed because yes, and Brian surprised us with dessert when we were at Sitti with other clients for dinner because there literally aren’t nicer people in this world. And because they are so nice, the rain gods decided to smile on them this day which was supposed to be entirely rained out, but only ended up sprinkling a bit at the reception (yay!). So we ended up with a beautiful ceremony at All Saints Chapel and then a tasty, tasty reception at Sitti. Because if you can’t tell, Anne and Brian have really good taste as evident by 1.) marrying each other, 2.) collecting cats via a cell phone app, 3.) providing us with a ton of garlic whip at their Sitti reception, and 4.) thinking that Jon Snow is way too good for Daenerys (there, I said it). Also, 99% of their wedding reception playlist was Prince, sooooo.

  • Date: June 5, 2016
  • Ceremony Venue: All Saints Chapel // Raleigh, NC
  • Reception Venue: Sitti // Raleigh, NC
  • First Dance Song: “I Only Have Eyes For You” – The Flamingos
  • Anne’s Occupation: English Professor
  • Brian’s Occupation: Service Industry
  • How You Met: Through a mutual friend at The Pit (and with a little help from Leonard Cohen!)
  • Interesting Fact: Anne and Brian love to travel; she’s been to Paris 6 times and he’s been to 21 countries!
  • Honeymoon: Negril, Jamaica
  • Vendor Credits: Officiant – Julie Mayberry, Friend Extraordinaire. DJ – Chico Scott. Florist – Fallon’s. Cake – Will Fredes of Decadent Desserts. Caterer – Sitti. Hair+Makeup – Makeup For Your Day. Videographer – Chase Colburn. Coordinator – Julie Mayberry.

Promos // Gilded Bridal.

We are SO excited to share this post! Our wonderful former wedding client Susan is opening a new bridal boutique called Gilded Bridal in the Glenwood South neighborhood on Boylan Ave. in downtown Raleigh.  AND IT’S GOING TO BE FABULOUS. We think it will really offer something new and different in the local wedding dress department, and we are thrilled that we got to play a part in it! This shoot was to get good promo pictures to help with the branding and the website. All of the dresses and accessories in this shoot will be available, plus a ton more. And we can testify to the fact that Susan has great taste, so. :) HUGE THANK-YOUS GO OUT TO:

  • Hair and Makeup // Lula Hair+Makeup
  • Flowers // Eclectic Sage
  • Venue // The Stockroom at 230 + The Glass Box, Raleigh, NC
  • Moral Support // Joan Langford +Massengill
  • Fan Operator Extraordinaire // Geoff Brown
  • Real Girl Model #1 (the happiest girl with a veil) // Rayn Mangum
  • Real Girl Model #2 (blonde, much taller than me) // Annaleigh Mills
  • Real Girl Model #3 (power walking in fluffy pink dresses) // Joey Elphick

If you want to follow Gilded Bridal, check out their website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Gilded Bridal will be proudly carrying the following dress designers when the store opens in late August: Anais Anette, Truvelle, Ivy & Aster, Romantique by Claire Pettibone, Temperley London, Limor Rosen, Rebecca Schoneveld, Sarah Janks, Elizabeth Dye.

PHOTO CREDITS

1st Series (Rayn twirling in flower dress) // Dress by Ivy & Aster. Flower Crown by Eclectic Sage.

2nd Series (Annaleigh with greenery and pink couch) // Dress by Ivy & Aster.

3rd Series (Joey with fluffy peach skirt) // Dress by Elizabeth Dye. Headband and belt by Hushed Commotion.

4th Series (Rayn with veil and bold lip color) // Veil by Veil Trends. Dress by Ivy & Aster.

5th Series (Annaleigh in front of black wall) // Dress by Sarah Janks. Headpiece by Twigs & Honey.

6th Series (Joey with lace backed dress ) // Dress by Romantique by Claire Pettibone.

7th Series (Rayn with veil and lace dress) // Dress by Romantique by Claire Pettibone. Veil by Twigs & Honey. Belt by Hushed Commotion.

8th Series (Annaleigh in slim dress downtown) // Dress by Sarah Janks. Veil by Twigs & Honey.

9th Series (Joey with headpiece and screen) // Dress by Elizabeth Dye. Headdress by Twigs & Honey. Belt by Hushed Commotion.

10th Series (all three girls ) // Dresses (in order of left to right): Romantique by Claire Pettibone, Elizabeth Dye, and Romantique by Claire Pettibone. Bouquet by Eclectic Sage.