day 20/365

geoff’s wedding ring came in the other day and i finally got around to taking a photo of it. :) ira helfer of david i. helfer jewelry in pittsburgh pa (the clark building) has been working with us for some time on our rings. geoff designed my engagement ring and worked with him in secret last summer. since then, ira has been amazing and so helpful towards us. he’s currently in the process of making my wedding band as it has to be a thin band above and below the diamond of my engagement ring. he’s been awesome. when we get a chance to go up and visit him, he’s usually decked out in jewelry-making protective gear and steelers accessories. :)

when we were home during christmas, geoff picked out a beautiful silver and black tungsten ring. ira ordered it, shipped it to us, we shipped it back when it was too big, and ira shipped back a smaller one. :) such in the life of anyone planning a wedding currently – the back and forth with the rings is an intricate ordeal…especially if your ring is coming from out of state! but it’s here now – and it fits! and is just chillin’…waiting for the engraving stuff which will come a little further down the line.

here’s a shot of our rings together taken from under a patterned sheet of desk glass from ikea. ring shots are one of my favorite things to photograph…and i’m resisting turning this into a 365 ring photography blog…but it’s hard. ;)

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why 365?

i had the immense pleasure of photographing the wedding of dottie and jon last week and it was a struggle to choose which photographs to put into the blog! not only were dottie and jon an absolute joy to work with, their family and friends were so animated and happy that it was so easy to great photographs. we started off at d’elegance day spa to get photographs of the girls in the hair salon. dottie’s bridesmaids and mom accompanied her.

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afterwards we all headed on over to peace church in durham, nc. i had never been to this church and it’s my understanding that it’s fairly new, but it is absolutely adorable. it sits back on a little wooded lot in a beautiful area and is that small, triangle-shaped,  little white church that you think of in children’s books. it’s great! it had hardwood floors, a beautiful chapel, and a very open feel about the space. the big windows were also a plus. the girls had lots of fun getting ready for the big day!

dottie wore a beautiful ivory dress with fabulous purple shoes. her grandmother (her namesake) was unable to attend the wedding, but gave dottie her beautiful shawl to wear. and although it was relatively warm for a day in february, it really wasn’t warm at all when you’re wearing a dress, so it came in handy! :)

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the groom and his groomsmen arrived before the ceremony where we got some headshots of them. we then all sat around anxiously waiting. it was a beautiful candle-lit ceremony with just a hint of ambient light coming in from the windows.

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dottie and jon arrived via limo to 1705 prime in north raleigh. it had, quite simply, the best steak ever…in addition to being a fantastic place to host your reception. they had a very unique cocktail style reception that fit their wedding perfectly! everyone had a great time enjoying drinks and finger foods before the main dinner.

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grandpa gave one of the best speeches ever!! he was super funny the whole night and a great guy to talk to. he made everyone laugh.

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i captured jon in a variety of “questionable” poses all night, like the one below…to the point where jon was slightly concerned about a possible impending arrest. don’t worry, jon! i didn’t post the ones that were too incriminating on the blog. ;)

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dottie and her dad:

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jon and his dad:

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in addition to having a very classic/elegant theme, the wedding had strong overtones of lady gaga. dottie is a huge fan and liked to “strike a pose” throughout the day. :) i’m pretty sure we even have a gaga claw from inside the hair salon!

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the family gets into the gaga:

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what a super fun wedding!! i had an absolute blast shooting this and want to thank dottie, jon, miki, and the rest of their family and friends for complete cooperation and support throughout the entire day. dottie and jon – you will have a beautiful life together and your love is amazing! congratulations and please keep in touch!

continuing to hash out the edits from nichole and kevin’s wedding. love these pictures! they had their reception at st. michael the archangel’s gallery – it’s basically a reception hall that is next door to the church. it was a beautiful green room that looked great in the daylight. their wedding and ceremony was in the morning and early afternoon, so the light coming in the windows made the green a very nice backdrop color. the reception may take a few days to edit – there are lots! – but they’re adorable photographs of an adorable couple. here are some more of my recent favorites:

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nichole totally had the right idea and switched into these fuzzy slippers before entering the reception!

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one of the benefits of being a wedding photographer is that you get to take home centerpieces that the bride no longer wants. this wedding? a beta fish in a vase. it became quickly apparent that dolfy was quite determined to get inside the vase to eat “moosey,” so we gave him to our 9 year old neighbor who is very happy. moosey now resides in a tank instead of a vase, but he’s happy nonetheless.

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my favorite thing to do at weddings is take ring shots! nichole and kevin gave me their rings during dinner so i ran around with them for a good while. this has to be one of my favorites, but a super sweet second will come tomorrow – rings in a stack of gummy bears. :)

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