Allison+Blue’s Wedding in Morgantown, West Virginia

Allison and Blue met at a bar in college. His last name is Brown, but Allison doesn’t like the color brown, so she’s taken to calling him Blue, and so has everyone else. I prefer calling people by primary colors whenever possible, so I think it’s a great idea. The two met in college at WVU and found us through another wedding we photographed at the WVU Erikson Alumni Center a few years ago in Morgantown, West Virginia. We Skyped, they booked, and we packed our bags and drove up West Virginia to photograph their awesome wedding weekend.

Morgantown is a unique place in that it’s in West Virginia, but still awfully close to Pennsylvania with its nearest rival city being Pittsburgh regarding college sports. But yet Pittsburgers like Morgantowners (unlike our feelings for people from Cleveland), and Morgantowners tend to identify with Pittsburgh ways (Heinz ketchup, for example, and the Pittsburgh Penguins who were cheered for several times during their playoff game that happened to take place during Allison and Blue’s rehearsal dinner). So it’s kind of like being home, except not really.

Morgantown is, if I dare say it, slightly better at partying than Pittsburgh. So though we knew they were cheering for the Pens, we also knew that it would be a rowdy (in a good, happy way!) wedding. And it was. There were polkas involved (another Pittsburgh/WV wedding staple which is always surprisingly crazy and enthusiastic and much more entertaining than the Wobble) and a cookie table and really, really delicious food. There was also lots of American flag light-up glasses and hats because it was Memorial Day weekend and who doesn’t love a good pair of light-up glasses!?

We had an awesome time being lovingly welcomed by Allison and Blue and their amazingly kind parents, siblings, and friends. We enjoyed our brief but lovely stay in Morgantown and we even got to stop at the Fiestaware Outlet on the way home (which I enjoyed despite them not having flatware on sale… sigh). A huge congratulation and thank you to Allison and Blue!

Date: May 25, 2013

Ceremony Venue: St. Francis de Sales Church // Morgantown, WV

Reception Venue: WVU Erikson Alumni Center // Morgantown, WV

First Dance Song: “Makin’ Plans” – Miranda Lambert

Allison’s Occupation: Physician’s Assistant

Blue’s Occupation: Civil Engineer

How You Met: At a bar in college :)

Interesting Bride Fact: Frequently talks in high pitched voices when she gets excited.

Interesting Groom Fact: Hates UGG boots – esp. when Alli wears them just to spite him. ;)

Honeymoon Destination: Bahamas

Vendor Credits: Officiant – Father Mark Ward | DJ – Ken Maisel | Florist – Toni and Liz from Memories in Bloom | Cake – Karen Rodkey Cakes | Caterer – WVU Erikson Alumni Center | Hair and Makeup – LKHA Salon | Videographer – Luke Nesler | Coordinator – Heidi Wiedebusch

Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Morgantown, WV: Abi+Ryan

So the big reason for us to be back in Pittsburgh finally came: Abi+Ryan’s wedding in Morgantown, WV at the brand new WVU Erickson Alumni Center! :D Neither Geoff nor I had met Abi or Ryan before their wedding, but had rather talked via phone and Facebook for about a year. Now – are you ready for the six degrees of Kevin Bacon? They found me through Abi’s mother Diane, who found me through her best friend Jane, who is the mother of Sarah who is the best friend and bridesmaid of Abi and also the sister of Sean, one of Geoff’s groomsmen/old buddies/roommate from RIT. Still following? Good. ;) Abi and Ryan live in Virginia but went to school at WVU were they met in church. Abi is a neo-natal ICU nurse and Ryan is a police officer. They chose to get married at the Erickson Alumni Center to honor their school and the place where they first met, and it was a gorgeous venue! They were married inside and had the ceremony site flipped to their reception site during their cocktail hour. It was a good thing it was inside too as the temperatures were killer that day and we probably all would’ve melted. ;)

We were so thrilled to be recommended and even more thrilled to be chosen to do their wedding in West Virginia. Geoff and I drove down after our time in Pittsburgh and were happy to finally meet the beautiful couple and their wonderful families, as well as reconnect with our friends Sean and Mylissa. It’s always such an honor to do an out of state wedding and we had a great time! Thank you so much to Abi, Ryan, Diane, Jane, and their families for being wonderful and supportive. We were so happy to be a part of this!

Date: July 3rd, 2011 (Diane’s birthday!)

Ceremony+Reception Venue: WVU Erickson Alumni Center // Morgantown, WV

Officiant: Pastor Donald Dick

Cake: Wedding Cakes Plus

Florist: Kelly’s Floral Designs

Linens: Elite Bridal and Events

Steel Drummist: Richard Maurer

Coordinator: Debra Mullens

DJ: Ken Maisel

The little bee in Abi’s bouquet (to the left) is an old family heirloom, and the lace on her bouquet is from her mother’s wedding dress. :) I love little incorporations like this!

So our greatest challenge for this wedding was doing the portraits at 2pm which, in the summer, is basically high noon. Not only was it hot, but it’s bright with no particular direction to the sun. We did some outside, but went inside pretty quickly to avoid the heat and the harsh light. However, I really love the pictures we did outside despite the high-noon sun! I was kinda super proud since that’s the hardest time of day to shoot in and the hardest type of light to shoot in… so this is the little part of my blog where I brag. ;)

The WVU Alumni Center had beautiful places indoors to shoot. Super gorgeous. Speaking of super gorgeous, Abi was stunning and Ryan was just as equally handsome. They are an adorable team and a beautiful couple to boot. :)

Above: Pre-flipped ceremony room. Below: Post-flipped reception room. :) Ta-da!

At this point during the reception the light was gooooood outside! Diane noticed some down time during the reception and grabbed us all to go outside and these are my favorites of the day. Can’t beat good lighting.

Hello, wedding ducks! So far CSP animals include several engagement cats, engagement and wedding dogs, engagement seagulls, and (unfortunately), plenty of engagement and wedding spiders. But this is our first time with wedding ducks. :) They were adorable.

There was a good ‘ole switcheroo played on the poor guy that caught the garter as they switched out the girl that caught the bouquet for the… best man. ;) Then the wedding got the party started and it was an awesome reception!

Above to the right is Jane dancing with her daughter Sarah… and below to the left are our wonderful friends Mylissa and Sean. ;) Hahaha.

Thank you so much for having us in West Virginia to photograph your wedding, Abi+Ryan! We had a wondeful time and are so grateful to have met and worked with you and your families. We hope you enjoyed your honeymoon and love the pictures!