Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer: Sarah+Nate

Horray for western Pennsylvania!!

Geoff and I traveled to a wedding in West Virginia this past weekend, but I flew home about a week before it to do a few photoshoots in our hometown of Pittsburgh. :) And it was awesome! The weather was about 75 degrees with low humidity, and I could actually sleep with the windows open. Unheard of! We do a lot of engagement sessions and weddings in Pittsburgh because a lot of our family and friends still reside there and I just love it.

But anyway, I was SOoo so so excited when one of my very good friends from college contacted me a while back to see if I could do a shoot with her and her new husband, Nate. Sarah and Nate were married but did not have a wedding, so they were looking to get photographs taken of them happily married and all that jazz. And I was stoked!! Sarah and I go back to 2004 when we both attended the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, PA. I was there for a semester before I realized I couldn’t handle the one Walmart and field full of cows and opted to transfer to Point Park which was in downtown Pittsburgh. But while I was in Johnstown, Sarah and I were super close and had a ton of really ridiculous times together. A couple semesters later, she too transferred to Point Park from the field of cows and graduated with a degree in Journalism. I made fun of her a lot for living in Pittsburgh but being from Philly, and she took it like a champ. ;)

Years later, we’re not dressing like zombies anymore** (see below) and are all married and grown up and stuff, and here I am taking pictures of her and her wonderful husband Nate whom I had the absolute pleasure of meeting for the first time… along with their adorable son/dog Bennett. SO freaking cute. We had the best time. These were taken at Northmoreland Park near New Kensington, PA (about 45 minutes outside of the ‘Burgh). I used to go fishing there with my dad when I was little. :) So neat to be shooting back there as an adult.

**…not all the time, anyway.

Okay, everyone! Time to breathe a collective, “AWWWWWWWWWWW” over Bennett, world’s most ridiculously cute dog.

Hey hey, western PA vistas! You’re not too bad yourself.

Sarah’s always had the greatest ice blue eyes and has been rocking the Zoolander “Blue Steel” since I’ve known her.

How cute are they? :) So cute. It’s such a lovely idea to do married pictures. Everyone stops taking pictures between the wedding and their kids… but I find it incredibly endearing to take some pictures of yourselves once in a while. You’ll love them later (and now!).

Now for a good walk down memory lane. The latest pictures with Sarah in the purple and myself in the yellow are photo credit of Nate (you rock, Nate!). The zombie picture is credit of… possibly Laurie Bolewitz, but I don’t remember at this point. There were a lot of zombies there that night. Photo credit in bottom left hand corner was totally copyright of Sarah’s mom while we were visiting in Philly. Clearly, our style of dress has matured (love that I had that studded belt… and also, who dresses like a prom zombie anymore? Regular zombie sure. But 80s prom zombie? That was so 2005ish). But we’re still able to rock the karate moves. Love you, Miss Sarah!! Please bring yourself and your lovely man down to visit us in the south sometime!

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Chapel Hill: Janice+Dan

Remember our UNC fans Janice+Dan? They’re back! This time it’s their wedding photos and we were so excited! Janice and Dan are the perfect couple, exhibited by how much they crack each other up and the fact that their friends started calling them “Danice.” They’re super sweet people and have a wonderful family and friend base to boot. We felt totally welcome and part of the family, despite the fact that we sometimes didn’t speak the language. :) Dan is Filipino-American and Janice is Taiwanese-American, so there were lots of different traditions and cultures thrown into the mix during their wedding day, and it was beautiful! Their wedding was held at the Carolina Inn because they met during their freshman year at UNC almost ten years ago. Today, Dan is in his residency to become a neurologist and Janice is a public health research analyst. Now they’re married, and will live happily ever after! :)

Date: June 18, 2011

Ceremony+Reception Venue: The Carolina Inn // Chapel Hill, NC

Officiant: Ms. Jennifer Duffy

Cake: Sweet Memories

Florist: Tre Bella

Coorindator: Bliss by Sam // Sam Dockery

Makeup: Makeupforyourday // Jennifer Parker-Buenviaje

DJ: DJ Island Sound // Peter

Our bride decided a nap was in order. A good nap sets the tone for the day. ;) Janice had two lovely dresses – one traditional American wedding dress, and one Chinese wedding dress! Gotta love a bride with two dresses and two shoes. :)

Our friends at Makeupforyourday did a wonderful job on the hair and makeup! And Tre Bella, the florist, had gorgeous floral arrangements!

We had the pleasure of working with Sam Dockery and her girls from Bliss by Sam for the coordination. :) They were so awesome to have around!

I’m pretty sure this is when they realized I was standing in the shower to get this shot.

Janice and I were discussing the first look while she was getting her hair done. Geoff and I coordinate the first look setup via cell phone, and we had it all planned out. However, someone in Janice’s camp mentioned something about a squirt gun, and Janice decided that ambushing Dan via water pistol was by far the best idea, and I couldn’t have agreed more. Best. First. Look. Ever.

…Dan quickly regained control of the squirt gun. :( Hahahaha.

This middle shot is entitled The Middle School Dance.

I don’t think I could’ve had a lovelier bride. Janice is simply stunning. And just LOOK at her beautiful bridesmaids! Of course, the gentlemen were awfully dashing as well.

Janice and Dan incorporated a few Filipino traditions into their wedding ceremony such as the coin ceremony and the chord and veil.

So let’s talk a little bit about the weather. The weather looked great all week. Even the day of, it looked great. A bit overcast? Maybe. But great. Sun was shining while all the parents were seated. Then somewhere around the middle of the ceremony our skies quickly darkened and the wind picked up like no other. Janice and Dan lit a unity candle, which was quickly extinguished by the wind. ;) At this point, we were becoming a little concerned. :)

The ceremony was finished quickly and we ran inside, just as it started to pour. :) Thankfully, rain is good luck on your wedding day! And also – we did the family portraits and bridal party beforehand, so it was easier to just do two people inside than it would be to do large groups. And I think they turned out great! Thanks to Bliss by Sam for her quick layout knowledge and to the Carolina Inn for having an awesome building inside and out.

Thanks to Sweet Memories for the beautiful cake and for DJ Island Sound for rocking out the evening. :)

The bride and groom went into a secret choreographed first dance!

Congratulations, Janice and Dan! I hope your honeymoon was splendid. We had an amazing time and hope to see you guys again!

Raleigh Wedding Photographer: Shannon+Phil

Horray for Shannon and Phil – wonderful engagement models and owners of the still popular Vince and Jackson session – who are now finally married!! This wedding was not only creatively put together with tons of little adorable details, but Shannon looked stunning and Phil dapper as always. They crack me up and together they are just two peas in a pod. It’s always so lovely to see two people so right for each other. And they had the BEST time at their wedding. This was one of the happiest, chillest weddings ever. No one got upset about anything and it was just general merriment all around. Their families were amazing and kind, and their bridal party was hilarious and creative. Kudos to you all and thank you for making this a WONDERFUL experience for us! :D

Date: June 11, 2011

Ceremony Venue: The Longview Center Unity Church of the Triangle // Raleigh, NC

Reception Venue: Cobblestone Hall // Raleigh, NC

Flowers, Catering, Cake: Catering Works

Transportation: The Olde South Trolley Co.

Officiant: Gordon Jewett

DJ: Brian O’Toole

Invitations: Kristin Mason

Now, before I get started, I must say that I love getting invitations from my couples. It’s a really good way to see what their wedding is going to be like, and it’s always nice to feel included too! :D I opened Shannon and Phil’s and just about died. They are so funny, adorable, and well designed at the same time. I quickly asked who made them, and found out that one of her bridesmaids made them for her (Kristin Mason – she’s a graphic designer). Holy cowwww – amazing invitations (and programs!!!).

Can I just say that this is the first time we’ve had a “bridesdude” and a “groomschick” and how awesome it was? More specifically – having a groomschick is incredibly helpful because none of the guys ever know how to pin on a boutonniere. You go, groomschick!

A majority of the bridal party was hailing from New Jersey, Shannon’s home state, so their mode of transportation for the day was the Olde South Trolley Co, who did an excellent job taking the bridal party around for a tour while we did the newlywed pictures. It was awesome, convenient, and kept everyone occupied.

One of my favorite pictures of the day – Shannon arriving at the Longview Center for her wedding ceremony!

Their wedding programs doubled as handy fans and were just as stinkin’ cute as their invitations. They also had Vince and Jackson’s pictures on the back, but I had to trim down soommmee of the pictures or else this would’ve been a really long blog post, so I chose the front for the final blog post. But sooo adorable!

I love that this street is noisy and covered with cars, but when you look at just the two of them inside the frame it’s like they’re in a green, picturesque wedding picture. :)

Shannon and Phil had a DIY photobooth at their wedding reception which was a great idea! They set up a little black drop cloth, a blank book, pens, glue sticks, a polaroid camera, lots of film, and lots of fun props, and everyone had a BLAST. It was affordable, doable, and everyone had a good time taking pictures of their friends and family. For a while Geoff and I considered releasing a photobooth service add-on in the fall or winter, but have since decided against it for a few reasons. So when I saw this, I thought of what a wonderful idea it would be to suggest it to CSP brides and grooms who enjoy the DIY feel of a homemade Polaroid photobooth!

Cornhole, ya’ll! ;) For those northerners who don’t know (Geoff and I were SO confused when we moved down south), cornhole is basically bean bag toss. It’s really big down here. People make custom cornhole boards (we did see a Steelers one once!) and play on the street, in their yards, and pretty much everywhere else.

Saw some major storm clouds coming and ran to get Shannon and Phil for a few pictures outside in City Market. These were pretty much what I wanted our own wedding photographs to be like (Raleigh – WHY did you not light up those tree lights on our wedding night!?), so I was glad I was able to give them to someone else. :)

Congratulations, Shannon and Phil! I hope you are having a WONDERFUL time in Jamaica! Thank you so much! :D