Gosh, I’m so behind in blogging…so in an effort to start to catch up a bit, I give you Morgan + Dave’s wedding day…The day started at Morgan’s parent’s house where she got ready. Love the details of the front of her dress, and her ring…just lovely.

Morgan’s dad was waiting for her prior to the ceremony starting. With the photo on the left, he was looking over toward Morgan in the area where she was waiting until the ceremony was ready to start…he looks like a very proud dad.

Mount Carmel underwent extensive restoration about 5 years ago – they did an amazing job…it’s probably the most beautiful church I’ve seen in Altoona. And it holds extra meaning to Morgan because her parents, aunts, uncles, and one brother have gotten married there.

Later in the evening, Morgan & Dave slipped outside and we got these intimate, romantic images.

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Ceremony: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Altoona, PA
Reception: Ramada Conference Center, Altoona, PA
Reception Entertainment: Steve Kelsey DJ Services, Duncansville, PA
Floral Designer: Barbara Jean Florist, Altoona, PA
Bakery: Anissa DiLeo, Aliquippa, PA
Hair Stylist: ClipArt Salon, Lucy DiLeo, Altoona, PA
Flowers used: calla lillies, astroemeria, and dahlias
Colors: chocolate, burgundy, burnt orange
First Dance: More Than Anyone, Gavin DeGraw
Father/Daughter Dance: You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban
Mother/Son Dance: Forever Young, Rod Stewart

Stumbled across this today on Etsy.com and thought this would be perfect for someone having a nature/outdoorsy themed wedding.  I haven’t bought from the seller, so no first hand experience with them, but I just thought this was a cute find and wanted to share.

Some albums arrived and are getting prepped for shipment! I can’t tell you how exciting it is to see the final product when it comes in – online previews of the layouts just don’t begin to give the true idea of what it’s like to hold these in your hands and go through the pages.

So excited to be getting these out.

A picture from one of the page spreads.  One of the things that I just LOVE about these albums is that we are able to design a spread without worrying about a cut down the center. The crease is extremely discrete – the image where Chris is kissing Maia’s forehead is where the crease is located.

A fun filled spread showing just a few of the highlights of guests dancing and having a great time at the reception.  Love to include one of these pages in an album.

And just a quick image showing the thickness of the pages – the book itself is about 1 1/4″ and the pages are semi rigid, with a matte finish…the paper makes it look just like a museum piece.

Next up is a sweet “Awaiting and Arrived” book for Krista and Craig.  These books are press-printed beauties with a hinged page, allowing the book to open completely without “hoving up” in the center.

Krista and Craig opted for the linen cover on their book.  It’s a slim book filled up with memories that “little Miss C.” will be thrilled to look through when she gets a bit older.

If you have questions about albums, we’re happy to talk with you about the numerous options we have available – just email or call us.

Sometimes I get asked by prospective clients, “Well, Andrea, what happens if you can’t make it to our wedding?”  It’s a good and valid question, of course.  At times, people are a little harsher and ask, “What if you die before our wedding?”  Yikes!  Well, luckily, I can assure you that I have absolutely NO plans of dying any time soon…I’m relatively young-ish (late 30’s) and in good health – though I’m trying to get rid of a few pounds (did I mention that I love the metabolism drop that happened to me in my 30’s?) But, I understand their concern that I will be there.

So, yeah, you’re wondering by now, what me dying has to do with volcanoes. Right?  I’m getting there…by way of Eyjafjallajokull, the Icelandic volcano that has been in the news due to it’s recent eruption and resultant air travel disruption.

Interestingly, professional wedding photographers are a fairly tight group – while we are scattered across the country and the world, we have online forums that make us into a family of sorts and we’ve got one another’s backs.  I just saw this phenomenon in action again for this past weekend – probably on a larger scale/greater distance than ever before.

One of the members, posted an urgent message message on Thursday the 15th. He was to fly from the US to Ireland to cover a wedding that was taking place on Saturday, only to find that air travel throughout Europe was being completely shut down due to the volcanic ash.  There was simply no way for him to get there in time for the wedding, even if he was able to re-route his flight and then take trains and ferries to Ireland.  Literally, within an hour of the post, two members of the forum from England stepped forward to say that they would get there.  And within 4 hours, they packed up their gear and began the journey (drive, ferry ride, drive again). 13 hours of hard travel later – they arrived in time to begin coverage.

In the meantime, another forum member was in Moscow where he had just finished giving a seminar and it appeared that he would be unable to make it back in time for his weekend wedding in Dallas, TX.  The original photographer who was not able to fly to Ireland stepped forward to fill in for the member who was stuck overseas.

Some of the resulting images have been shared on the forum – and they are nothing short of amazing.  I think that each of the photographers (who are phenomenal to begin with) brought a little something extra special that day.

Again, I have seen this type of stepping forward within our photographic community on several occasions.  Every single time, I am in awe of the amazing people that I am fortunate enough to know. So, knowing that I am in a community that is not only local, state, or country wide, but instead worldwide, should help to ease the minds of those who are concerned that I might die and not show up to photograph their wedding.

Oh yeah, and in the case of the question of who wins, the wedding photographers kicked Eyjafjallajokull’s butt! Lastly for now, if you would like to check out some really amazing images from the volcano, you need to visit this link: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html

For Erynne & George, we last got together for an engagement session on a cold fall morning at Erynne’s  alma mater, St. Francis College in Loretto, PA.  In spite of us all about freezing, I had a wonderful time with them.  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to see them again on their wedding day.

During her planning, Erynne sent me a fantastic inspiration board which gave me a little peak into what to expect for their wedding day…this was a fantastic thing to get – I love getting a feel for what the couple has in mind for their wedding. 

The day started off with Erynne getting ready at the lovely Cameron Estate in Marietta, PA…truly a beautiful location.  We had to deal with a bit of drizzle throughout the day, but everybody just took it in stride.

Love the image with Erynne having her makeup applied – if you look to the right, you can make out her dress hanging in the background just waiting.  And, I loved her sweet Stuart Weitzman shoes. It seems that many of my brides wear the same shoe size as me…I think it’s so that they can torture me more was I wear my super practical Danskos.

Loved the variety of flowers and berries used in Erynne’s bouquet.  Crystals from Erynne’s grandmother’s necklace were incorporated into her bouquet and with the gardenias, it smelled absolutely amazing. My macro lens is wonderful for getting the close up details of the flowers..they would be fantastic printed up as square canvas to decorate an area.

With the photo on the left, I turned away from everyone and shot through the mirror to create a bit of a frame to draw your eye in – you can just feel the Erynne’s anticipation rising as finishing touches are completed on her dress. When Erynne was facing away from the windows, the room was very dim, so to light her, I believe that my assistant was holding off camera lighting in that photo.

Love big, beautiful churches with balconies.

During ceremonies – small moments are easily forgotten…the soft loving touch on the back, the glances as the officiant is talking…these are things that just take you back to the day immediately and help rekindle all the feelings.

The drizzle continued throughout the day, but we were able to get out for just a few minutes to get a few pictures with the Rolls Royce before it left for the day. The grounds are so beautiful at Cameron Estate – wish that we could have gone out to get some additional photos.

Father and daughter during their dance together…really, words would just take from the moments.

The bakery did a fantastic job in matching the theme of the invitations with the cake decorations.  Lovely!

Ceremony: Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Columbia, PA
Reception: Cameron Estate, Marietta, PA
Reception Entertainment: Jam on Sound Production
Floral Designer: Floral Designs by Heather Anne, Lititz, PA
Bakery: House of Clarendon, Lancaster, PA
Transportation: 1964 White Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, Classic British Limosine, Spring City, PA
Hair Stylist: Melissa Diaz 
Flowers used: gardenia, white hydrangeas, stephanotis, gerber daisies
Colors: white, green, magenta/fuschia
First Dance: Love is on the Way, Saigon Kick
Father/Daughter Dance: Wind Beneath My Wings
Mother/Son Dance: Simple Man

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

If you would like to purchase this slideshow on a DVD to play on your TV or a mini book with all of these images, please contact us via email.

How do you make a wedding for approximately 300 guests come together in a matter of two months? Courtney and Anthony did just that. Due to Anthony’s service to our country, they opted for a short engagement.  I was amazed at how everything fell together for them so quickly – obviously, it wasn’t without hard work, but totally worth it!

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Ceremony: Holy Name, Ebensburg, PA
Reception: Chestnut Ridge Resort, Blairsville, PA
Flowers used: calla lily, roses
Colors: black, white, pink

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

If you would like to purchase this slideshow on a DVD to play on your TV or a mini book with all of these images, please contact us via email.

Nicole and Mike’s story begins years ago back when they were 9th grade – first meeting one another in Algebra class that was taught by Mr. Kaylor (in honor of Mr. Kaylor, they have named their dog Kaylor!).  They went on their first date together during their senior year of high school – and went to their prom together – there is an awesome photo of a picture of the two of them from their prom that they put on display along with several other photos of their time together (the photo of the prom photo will be in the slideshow…you’ll love it – how can you NOT love the 90’s!).  Through the years, they went separate ways, but found one another once more in 2005, started dating and have been inseparable ever since.

It has been a few years since I last photographed at the Springwood – it was as lovely as ever for Nicole + Mike’s wedding.  I arrived a bit before Nicole so that I could begin to photographing some of the details and preparations – before I got started with those, I took just a minute or two to get a few photos of some of the flowers and surroundings.  The raindrops on the petunias in the lower left tell the story of the showers that were happening on and off that morning.

Loved the vibrant orange and fuschia that Nicole + Mike used for their wedding colors.  The crocheted butterfly on the lower right was at the bottom of Nicole’s hankerchief she carred that day.

The photo on the left just pulls me – I love this moment with her two sisters preparing to get Nicole’s veil placed on while Nicole’s mom is in the background getting ready to take a photo.  And how gorgeous is Nicole?  We had a moment to get a few quick portrait type photos before heading down to the ceremony site.

Three of the 4 photos here were taken with my macro lens showcasing some of the flowers from in Nicole’s bouquet – the macro shots would make fantastic canvas prints to decorate in a home.

As I mentioned, it had been raining off and on that day, and they had to make a decision about moving forward with the ceremony outside or move it indoors.  While it was still iffy – the hourly weather forecast said that it would be clear – luckily for everyone, no rain!  The couple included several wonderful readings and traditions within their ceremony to make it their own.

Because Nicole + Mike opted to have a receiving line right after the ceremony, the time was cut short, leaving us almost no time to get photos of the two of them between the ceremony and the start of the reception, so after they finished their meal, we stole a few more moments for them to have some private time together to enjoy being with one another while I took a few photos.  For the photo series that includes the image on the far right, I climbed up on a picnic table to get a higher vantage point – while doing it, I banged my leg pretty nicely and wound up with a lovely bruise that still hasn’t gone away…the things an artist does for her craft and her couples!  haha

I think that the first dance is often one of my favorite traditions at a reception – it seems like it’s a time when the couple just allows themself to soak in that they are husband and wife.  You can just FEEL the love that Nicole and Mike have for one another.

Congratulations Nicole and Mike!  Wishing you years and years and years of happiness together!

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Ceremony: Springwood, Pittsburgh, PA
Reception: Springwood, Pittsburgh, PA
Reception Entertainment: Hear to Please, John DeJames
Floral Designer: Joan’s Designs, Joan, Verona, PA
Bakery: CoCo’s Cupakes, Shea, Pittsburgh, PA
Hair Stylist: Venetian Aveda Salon & Spa, Jennifer, Homestead, PA  
Makeup Artist: Venetian Aveda Salon & Spa, Jennifer, Homestead, PA
Flowers used: green hydrangeas, gerber daisies
Colors: magenta/fuschia, orange, white, green

Please click the play button on the lower left hand side or within the center of the screen to view the slideshow.

If you would like to purchase this slideshow on a DVD to play on your TV or a mini book with all of these images, please contact us via email.