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Documenting Life Stages

Documenting Life Stages

One of my favorite aspects of the job is getting to journey through life with some of my amazing clients. I can't count how many friends I've made through this job, and am honored every time I get to document each new stage in their lives. 

This amazing girl was one of my first clients early on. After several mini-sessions with her and her amazing pup, I got the call that she was getting married. For their engagement session, they chose a location that was personal to them - a walking trail they had spent significant time on - and it served as the perfect back-drop for that session.

And then for their wedding.

And then for their next family session where they announced that they were growing their family of 3 by 2. :) 

There's some magical about watching love blossom and families grow. But getting to do it in the same spot each time has been incredible. 

And then I got to meet the sweet littles and - oh my heart - they are dear. Here's a few from their newborn session. Can't wait to share more moments with these two babes and their amazing family. 

S & J {wedding}

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S & J {wedding}

Remember Sarah and Justin? The couple that did their engagement session with their awesome horses!?!?!?  You can check out that blog post here. Their wedding was just as amazing as their engagement session. You could tell how much they adored each other and all the details seemed to fall into place.

Justin and Sarah first met through a mutual friend.  She would come into Sarah's salon and talk about her husbands best friend and how he would be perfect for her.  Of course, Sarah was hesitant about the thought of a blind date so she put it off for months.  Determined not to get her hopes up, they met up - and she could instantly tell he was different from all the rest.

“So many people say when you meet the right person, you just know.  And that is the truth! We dated a little less than a year before getting engaged on Sept 6th, 2016. I couldn’t wait to marry him. We planned the date of July 1, 2017.  I liked that the date read the same frontwards and backwards  (7117). I’m weird like that, I like patterns.  Haha”
— Sarah

 

The Details:

Venue: Laurel Rock Farm

"We chose Laurel Rock Farm for our wedding and reception because of the beauty and privacy of the property.  I've always pictured my wedding to be in a beautiful barn setting."

Flowers:  Pamela's Flowers in Enola - they were absolutely gorgeous. 

Sarah's dad made flower boxes out of reclaimed barn wood for each of the tables' centerpieces.

 

 

 

 

Cake: A client of Sarah's made six different kinds of Whoopie Pies for everyone to choose from and they were delicious.  Of course, I had to take one of each for photo purposes ;) 

DJ: Mac2Productions. He kept the day moving smoothly and did a great job.  

"Honestly everything went so well.  Aside from being hotter than we hoped, the day was perfect.  I loved my dress, my hair, and my makeup, but my favorite part was marrying the man of my dreams. We live in Dauphin now with our three dogs, but hope to find our forever home soon where my two horses can be with us.  I've accomplished so much in my 30 something years but feel like my life is just starting. Can't wait to see where our journey takes us next." - Sarah

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J & T { DIY wedding}

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J & T { DIY wedding}

 

I don't even know where to start with this picture perfect wedding. Tom and Jenni were an absolute DREAM to work with - from the booking process, to the engagement session and all throughout the wedding day, it was easy and natural and just felt right. Don't you love those kinds of connections??

I asked Jenni to share part of her story and some insights from her wedding day. Upcoming brides?  You're going to want to take notes!  She's got some great tips and insight. Stick around - you'll be glad you did :) 

Their Story: 

“Our love story starts the way that every girl dreams it... One night in a bar. In our defense, we were in the same bar celebrating a mutual friend’s birthday. We hit it off - having more in common than anyone can imagine... And then, like every knight in shining armor, he forgot to ask for my number! The next day I woke up to my friends blowing up my phone because Tom was relentlessly trying to figure out what my number was and how he could reach me. The rest was kind of history from there. And perfectly describes the hilarious type of relationship and love that we share. I had never met somebody that I was so comfortable with and from the beginning, I truly felt like I could grow with this person . All of the ups and downs in our relationship only made us stronger and me more confident that this is the person that I want annoying me, cracking me up, and loving me for the rest of my life.
”
— Jenni
groom looking at camera

Let's get down to the nitty gritty - the wedding details. 

The Venue: LakeView Farms 

Jenni andTom started looking at wedding venues right away. Jenni is a planner (and a darn good one, at that) and so having a venue where she could have a say in the details and planning was super important to her.  Upon visiting Lakeview Farms, they knew it was everything they wanted for their day - from the beautiful country farm atmosphere, a stunning lake and perfectly maintained historic barn - it was the perfect venue for them. With only ONE date available, only 6 months away, they excitedly booked the venue and began finalizing the other details of their day. 

The Dress:

BHLDN
“The detail I was dreading the most was finding a dress. I feared everything was more expensive than what I wanted to spend and would just look like every other dress I’ve ever seen. ”

Through a referral she looked into Anthropologie's bridal line BHLDN. On a whim, her and her mom decided to head down to their Georgetown, MD location - not really expecting to find anything. But how can you resist an excuse to check out their perfectly elegant and romantic dresses? 

“I tried on just four dresses that day and found exactly what I was looking for. I bought it on the spot. The Marvana dress was exactly what I wanted. It was all lace , simple, and that vintage romance that I loved, plus it paired perfect with my cowboy boots. Did I mention that it was less than $800! I feel like when things are right they just fall into place which made me know that this was the dress for me. ”
— Jenni

The Rings:

Tom had a diamond that he was able to turn into a gorgeous customized setting at Littman Jewelers.  After doing research on Tom's ring and looking into tungsten, titanium and ceramic rings Jenni discovered you can find the same things on Amazon for a fraction of the price. 

ring shot
“We are talking $30-$60! It’s unreal I highly recommend looking into that before buying one from the jewelry store. By the way I ended up buying Tom 3! He enjoys the variety!”
— Jenni

The Flowers: 

“You can customize pretty much every detail of them and I could not have been happier with how they turned out. Not to mention I still have them to this day and have found different ways to decorate and repurpose them.”
— Jenni

Jenni had the same qualms about flowers that a lot of bride's seem to have - not being able to fathom spending money on real flowers that would be dead in a matter of days. After some research, she settled on Eco-Flowers - a company that makes flowers out of wood and other recycled materials.

 

"As far as all of my centerpieces, I knew I wanted everything to be a little different and nothing to be matching. I started searching high and low in my relatives attics and at flea markets. I found collections of antique railroad lanterns, birdcages, mason jars, and milk glass. I cleaned all these items up and decorated them with some lace and incorporated my eco-flowers, and some wheat from the farmers field out back from my parents house. I ended up pretty happy with my collaboration of different antique items. We ended up finding lace off-white tablecloths on clearance from Bed Bath and Beyond and still have them to this day vs. renting them for hundreds of dollars and having to give them back! Any other decorations I got from searching Pinterest high and low . I ended up with a pretty unique customized day. I feel like that's the way to go because it speaks the personality of the bride and groom so much more than just something that everyone typically does.

The Cake:

Jenni is one of those rare individuals that doesn't like cake...  This could have almost completely destroyed our work-relationship ;) But, just like every other perfect detail throughout their day, their cake alternative was 100% taylored to them. Jenni's in-laws are pretty much the masters of desserts.

“It’s kind of tradition to have a dessert smorgasbord. We ended up with three 8 foot long tables filled with more desserts than I could ever list here. As favors, I ended up finding cute take-out boxes on Amazon and making customized labels and everybody got to fill a box with a ridiculous variety of desserts. For my cake itself, I was really into the look of the naked cake because of it being so different. We ended up getting that same look with tiered layers of chocolate chip cookies and cream cheese frosting in between the layers. ”
— Jenni

Advice & Regrets:

While this wedding was about as perfect as they come, everyone of us can look back at an event or experience and find one thing we might have changed...  Jenni has some great perspective on this: 

“My only regret in regards to our day was our DJ. While I did all of the right things - researched, red every review possible - this still turned out to be the worst part of our night. And I wish I had stuck with my gut feeling before booking - it seemed too good to be true and his prices were incredibly low. We went with him because I could not find a bad review and he was great to deal with in person. But always trust your gut . His attitude, lack of professionalism and slight craziness had serious potential to ruin the day, but I refused to allow it. Our wedding venue and vendors said that they never have seen somebody like him in all the weddings that they did. We made the best of it but I still definitely twitch if I hear his name. I would strongly advise going with somebody that you have a personal referral with and if your gut steers you in a different direction listen to it! Inevitably something will not go according to plan on the day of your wedding the best thing you can do is not let it ruin your day - focus instead on all the other positive things that are going right! ”
— Jenni

And as for the positives - they were many. Jenni and Tom seemed to enjoy their day more than a lot of other couples I've worked with - and I think Jenni nails it on the head when she the decisions that they made that ensured their day ran smoothly:

We feel truly grateful to be able to look back at the day of our wedding and be able to say we are so happy with how everything came together. I think we can attribute this to several choices we made in the planning process and on the day of.

1. I wanted to be as prepared as possible and as organized as possible so that that day could be fun, relaxing, and a day to never forget. This is an absolute must to guarantee that you're not stressed out the day of your wedding. Think about everything in advance and do as many things as you can to get out-of-the-way beforehand. Our venue allowed us in two days before to allow us to set up and get all of her details ready. The day of our wedding we had nothing to do but enjoy ourselves.

2. Instead of having to pick and choose family and friends for a wedding party we did it super untraditional and opted to not have a wedding party at all. Our friends seemed to appreciate not having so many logistics to do that day and not having to spend so much money on their attire. We still did all the traditional bachelor and bachelorette parties. And still had our friends coordinate somewhat of a color scheme for taking photos that day. All of my closest girlfriends still got ready with me, but there was no bridesmaid drama. It was perfect.

3. Tom and I did first look photos and it's one of the best decisions we could have made. We got time together just the two of us. After this we took photos with family and friends. This way after the ceremony we didn't spend our entire cocktail hour taking pictures. Instead we actually went to our own cocktail hour and were able to enjoy it and get candid pictures with all of our guests. 

4. Step back. Enjoy it and breathe it in. This day can easily become about everyone else and not about the bride and the groom. One of the biggest things that we insisted upon was to spend time together that day. We took multiple breaks and walked away just the two of us to be able to take in this amazing moment that we created with everyone that loves us. It's a pretty incredible feeling and at times overwhelming but at the root of all of the madness this whole crazy magical day happened because you fell in love with someone that you choose to be with forever!

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A Dreamy Day in the Poconos

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A Dreamy Day in the Poconos

This day was dreamy.  An amazingly gorgeous couple, a small, intimate ceremony, and stunning venues - I'm not sure it could have been any more perfect. 

skytop wedding

Travis and Jaime's story began several years ago - a boy from Mexico and a girl from Chicago - they found their forever love through a glitch in modern day technology.

They dated briefly in the fall of 2014, but the stars hadn't quite aligned yet - and after awhile they lost touch.  Fast forward with me to September of 2016 - a random bug in Apple's iCloud resulted in an accidental text exchange from Jaimie to Travis! I know, right? What are the chances? Travis responded, and although 2 years had passed since they had been in touch, both of them realized that the other person had never been too far out of their minds or hearts. The rest follows as a true love story.  

Travis likes to workout, camp, and play sports. He also volunteers his weekend time to help at the United Cerebral Palsy Association and help those in need. Jaime is in software sales, and enjoys cooking, hiking, hunting, and has played collegiate sports.   Inseparable as a family, they enjoy nature and hiking and spending time with Jaime's two children.

Their wedding day involved so many of the things they love - nature, hiking, and family. Their quiet private ceremony was held at the French Manor Inn. 

I knew from the very moment I saw Jaime that day that this was going to be a day filled with love and laughter. There was no big pomp and circumstance - just a delightfully simple morning prepping to see her husband to be. 

The began their day together with a First Look - a trend in weddings that I adore.

One of my favorite aspects of the day was watching the connection between Travis and these two gorgeous children - the love between them was undeniable and breath-taking. He gave them gifts before the ceremony - and those moments before officially becoming a family of 4 could not have been any sweeter. 

Overcast skies and random down pours required a change in ceremony location - but ended up working out perfectly. Jaime's mom performed the ceremony (I mean, how awesome is that?) and parents and close friends watched as Travis and Jaime promised themselves to each other forever. 

A lunch was held afterwards at Skytop Lodge, which served as the perfect backdrop for time with family and photos after lunch. 

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Jaime and Travis - may the rest of your lives be as magical as your wedding day! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it!

“I LOVE YOU WITHOUT KNOWING HOW, OR WHEN, OR FROM WHERE. I LOVE YOU SIMPLY, WITHOUT PROBLEMS OR PRIDE: I LOVE YOU IN THIS WAY BECAUSE I DO NOT KNOW ANY OTHER WAY OF LOVING BUT THIS, IN WHICH THERE IS NO I OR YOU, SO INTIMATE THAT YOUR HAND UPON MY CHEST IS MY HAND, SO INTIMATE THAT WHEN I FALL ASLEEP YOUR EYES CLOSE."
~PABLO NERUDA

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