The people involved in the wedding were just lovely and a lot of fun to work with. Everyone rolled with the punches of the day so very well. The decor? Amazing. Every last detail was taken care of and was perfect.
The venue may look familiar - I just shot a wedding at this very same place in August and I was excited to see it again but from the perspective of a completely different wedding. It's so neat to see the way that different people express themselves via their weddings.
If you follow me closely and pay really really good attention you may also remember the couple - I photographed their engagement photos at this same place last year. So much about the venue has changed since then and it sounds like it will continue to change.
My friend, Scott, was my second shooter for this wedding. It's really a great opportunity to work with a second photographer, especially someone with whom I have a working and friend relationship. Due to a few mishaps his being around ended up being incredibly more useful than I anticipated.
We bumped up the start time by 15 minutes in the week prior to the wedding to account for enough time to photograph the bride's dress and accessories.
Call me silly - but I'm showing you a lot of photos of the dresses. I think the location to hang them was just perfect. And so many of the shots look so great in both color and black and white - I can't pick my favorite.. so the lucky couple gets both! :)
Custom hangers seem to be super trendy these days. I've seen Mrs. New Last Name quite a few times as well as the bride's full name or the wedding date.
This bench couldn't have been more perfect for these shots.
At this point I was trying to buy us some time. Remember the custom hanger from above? This bride went so far as to gift custom hangers to each of her bridesmaids! But unfortunately one was forgotten elsewhere and was in transit back to us for the photos. So I grabbed the rings and got to work.
It sounded as though the hanger in question was still about 10 minutes away so I got to work photographing the details inside the barn. In the photo above there is an old photo of the Hope Glen house.
Look at their initials on the wall.. isn't that lovely?
The blue table runners stand out so perfectly and they coordinate so well with the bridesmaids dresses which you're about to see.
In addition to cake after dinner, the guests have access to this table of sweets all night long.
Up those stairs is where my station was set to be during the reception.
And the hanger arrived!
I like that the ladies had the same dresses, with the except of the maid of honor, but they were able to pick out their own shoes, as long as the color was right.
As I was working on this shot Scott walked in and said "Awww... wait! They aren't dressed yet?!" I told him I had been waiting on a hanger and he took this realization as a cue to get to work on the photos of the guys, since they were already dressed.
I made up a detailed schedule of who would photograph what and when but this hanger got us off to a late start and Scott did a great job getting things done while I was playing catch up.. which helped us stay on schedule.
And then it was finally time to get dressed!
This mirror and lighting combination was perfect. :) What a lovely bride!
I'm pretty sure just before this photo one of the bridesmaids asked if I was catching their reflections while getting dressed in the big mirror. I assured them I wasn't.
See the level of detail here? So pretty.
I've seen cakes placed atop cuts of birch lately.. but this cake actually looks like a birch tree!
While I was busy at work with the dresses Scott snapped some photos of the guys getting ready.
And since that doesn't take long he photographed some of the great details in the pavilion.
Below are Scott's photos of the guys waiting around for the ladies and then their formal shots while I was with the girls as they got dressed.
Editing another photographer's photos sure is interesting. I expect it'll happen more in the future - I hope Scott and I can keep working together as a dual photographer team.
Initially I was supposed to photograph the ladies while Scott was with the groomsmen but that hanger and then some drizzle changed our plans. While I was with the bride and groom Scott grabbed the reins and got the bridesmaid photos done... thanks Scott!!
This is the last of Scott's photos you'll see here. I wanted to include the wedding party photos for you to see but don't want it to appear as Scott's photos are my own.
But before all of that we had the first look to set up. Scott waited with the groom by the bridge and I was on the other end with the bride. Editing these was so interesting - to see the same thing but from the opposite angle.
First looks are so fun to photograph. The reactions are always different and can never be predicted. And it's such a personal and emotional time to be so close to the couple.. the first few that you do can be a little awkward but once you get the hang of it it's a really great moment to witness.
At this point the drizzle joined us so we got down to business.
The bride and groom had one photo request - they wanted to sit on the hanging swing on that tree... way over there. They headed out ahead of me as I grabbed a new flash attachment that I was excited to try.
We spent sometime getting comfortable with each other on the swing. It's rare to find a couple that doesn't need a little bit of time to "break in" the idea of being photographed repeatedly, especially on such a full day. So I like to take it easy and easy our way in.
And take some focus off of their faces so they can make funny faces, if needed. :)
I like having little secrets about photos. Scott's car is parking directly on the other side of them - but you can't tell. Shhhh.
Isn't that chandelier great? Such a perfect spot for it.
In case the ceremony would be moved due to the rain we wanted to get a decent number of shots in at the ceremony site.
We paused a few times to discuss what to do about the ceremony location and the following photos. It was hard to tell what the rain might do next.
It was still only slightly drizzling so we took a few more photos with a red barn because you have to on a farm.
The schedule then included photographs of the entire wedding party as well as the bride with the ladies and groom with the guys, etc. I found a great spot behind the big barn (where guests arriving early wouldn't see the couple or bother us while trying to squeeze in our last shots). I waited under a tree as it began to drizzle a bit more, until Scott came out and said it just wasn't going to happen - the guys were busy moving chairs around the move the ceremony inside the barn and I think the stress of the rain was getting to everyone too much.
But after looking at the radar it appeared all would be well. Possibly some slight drizzle but nothing horrible. I ran out to the ceremony site to make sure things had been replaced to their proper locations only to find they hadn't. After failing to find enough people to put everything back I grabbed one groomsman and Scott and the three of us headed out before the crowd of guests to set things up basically just in time.
But before doing that I had to grab a couple more detail shots. Because... it was perfect.
Most people made due without umbrellas but a few had them along. I like the added color and fun shapes that umbrellas add.
And then the ceremony began.
After a quick receiving line the rain decided to join us and everyone headed to the cocktail hour.
This was slated to be family portrait and a little more bride and groom time. Due to the rain we were stuck in this little covered section of the pavilion. It wasn't at all idea but after fooling around with a few settings I was able to make due. I'm getting more experienced using fill flash and was glad that I made the choice to do so here. As the groups became bigger we had less and less space to work with but we managed to keep everyone dry and in the frame. While I did this Scott was down by the barn photographing the cocktail hour.
When we were finished the wedding party made their grand entrance and dinner began.
Scott and I set up a little makeshift table for ourselves in the back corner and enjoyed a great meal.
And then it was time for some joyful speeches.
This pavilion is so lovely - especially with these swag lights!
After signing the marriage license it was cake time! I used my new flash attachment again and really like the results.
After cutting the cake everyone stood around for a while expecting the caterer to show up to cut the rest of the cake and bring out the sheet cake. I asked the bride if I should go hunt her down but the groom had beat me to it. I was about to go find him (he had been getting lost often that night) when he came back to the pavilion to share some bad news. No one believed him at first, but it was true - the caterer dropped the sheet cake and was quite upset down in the barn.
So the groom took matters into his own hands and started cutting the remainder of the cake.
In this shot you can see Scott's hand giving some tips. A few members of the wedding party and Scott got in on the cake cutting action. It was really a great way to deal with a mishap. It was unique. :)
The setting for the first dance couldn't have been more perfect. The lights, the color of the barn walls, their initials on the wall.. it all came together so well.
I will be posting my photo booth photos in their own post soon - I can't wait to show you!
Congratulations Kate and Colin! I LOVED your wedding. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment