They handmade these owls to use as name cards on the tables. They also made for a cute backdrop for a shot of their rings.

Michele and Jon live out of state so they made most of their arrangements over the phone site unseen. She gave the florist some color ideas but had absolutely no idea what her flowers were going to end up looking like until that morning. Needless to say The Rhoads Garden in North Wales did an amazing job because this is one of my favorite bouquets to date and Michele was thrilled!

The ceremony took place in the living room area in front of the large stone fireplace.

After the ceremony we took everyone outside for some family shots on the front porch.

Since only the family was in attendance we had plenty of time to walk around the property with just Michele and Jon to get some photos of the happy bride and groom.

After making a pit stop to get their photo with the carved bears we headed back behind the Thomas Wilson House where we were lucky enough to find the family of wild turkeys that live in the woods behind the property. We had to take a photo of them because Jon didn’t think anyone would believe us when we returned back to the reception telling everyone we saw a group of wild turkeys. Well Jon here you go!

We finally headed back to the house so they could enjoy their luncheon.

Thank you to Michele and Jon for inviting me along on your special day! It was great working with both of you! To check out the photos from their Old City Philadelphia engagement session click HERE.

Once the guys were dressed and ready to go I headed backdown stairs to the girls room to get some shots of Tami’s gorgeous dress before she got ready.

Tami and Jay decided to do a first look and see each other for photos before the ceremony. This is something I strongly recommend for anyone willing to break away from the tradition of not seeing the bride until she is coming down the aisle. When doing a first look, we still keep you separate while getting ready then once you are both dressed we will bring you to a private location where you can see each other for the first time without having a ton of people staring at you. In this case we had Jay hiding down a side hallway waiting to quietly sneak up behind her.

After the first look the whole group headed over to Gwynedd Mercy College to take photos of the bridal party. It was still raining lightly as this point but they were all troopers and did the photos outside anyway.

After the group shots it was time to head over to Lai Lai to get these two hitched! Tami’s older brother walked her down the aisle.

After a quick dress change it was time to party!

Welcome to the age of digital photography haha…

As you can see the ladies had a good time when the song it’s raining men came on!

A big thanks to Tami & Jay for letting me be a part of their special day and another big thanks to Missy from Shooting Stars Photography for second shooting with me that day!

Amie’s mom helped lace her into her dress…

Krista Patton shot with me this day and took the below photos of Dave and the guys getting ready.

They had no problem keeping themselves entertained until it was time to head over to the ceremony site.

Once at the Highlands we did our best to stay inside out of the hot sun while the guests were being seated.

After some last minute touch ups, it was time to head down the aisle.

The below photo was captured by Krista.

We tried to do the family and bridal party photos as quickly as possible to get everyone out of the heat and over to the reception site.

Below are a few shots of the grounds at the Highlands Mansion…

Once we were done with all of the photos at the Highlands, we headed over to Marjeane’s Caterers in Lansdale for their reception. They had a candy bar set up with color coordinated candy for the guests to put in custom bags to take home.

Thank you Amie & Dave for letting me be a part of your special day! The best of luck to you both in your new life together!

The girls got ready at Sindia and Dave’s apartment which ended up being close quarters for a bride, 7 bridesmaids and a flower girl as well as a variety of family members that stopped by to join in on getting Sindia ready for her big day but they made it work.

I was able to sneak Sindia outside for some bridal shots which is usually a greatly welcomed break from all of the chaos going on inside. Being in the middle of an apartment complex we had to get a little creative on the cropping but thankfully they had a little patch of grass with some nice landscaping for us to use.

Here are some shots of the bridal party members…

Once everyone was ready we headed off to the church in downtown Allentown.

Many churches have the organ up in a balcony where you can’t see it so I was quite pleased this one was on the main level. I had no idea they had so many keys and knobs.

Sindia’s dad walked her up the long aisle to meet Dave at the front.

I typically like to get a lot closer for the ceremonies but we were asked to pick a spot and not move so I respected that and was able to get some neat shots of them using the wide angle and fisheye lens. They also have a no flash during the ceremony rule but thanks to the marvel of modern technology we were able to get clean well lit shots without the use of a flash or tripod.

We did a few quick portraits on the altar then we were off to the Brew Works to party.

We had originally planned to do the bridal party photos in a little park area downtown but to our surprise there was a large block party/BBQ of sorts going on in that exact location. With the rain approaching and a stretch limo full of people we had to quickly come up with a plan B. For any brides that follow this blog, it is important to have a back up spot for photos in mind just incase the original one is not available. It saves us from wasting precious photography time in a tight schedule. Thankfully the PPL building is right across the street and provided a nice backdrop for the bridal party photos.

The temperatures were starting to drop and the wind was picking up so we sent the bridal party inside and spent about a half hour with just Sindia and Dave getting some pictures of the newly married couple.

Often times my weddings are off in more rural areas with beautiful landscaping so it was a pleasant change to have a city atmosphere to work with this time around for something different.

Back inside guests were mingling in the downstairs lounge area complete with red oriental umbrellas on the ceiling and a pool table to keep guests entertained.

Upstairs staff was getting the banquet room ready on the 3rd floor for the reception.

Finally the party was underway with the entrance and the first dance.

A great way to fill in the break between each course being served is to have some of the more formal events like the parent dances and toasts occur. This way once dinner is done everyone can get right on the dance floor to party.

Everyone took a quick break from the dancing to cut the cake.

The one thing they mentioned to me they wanted as far as pictures were concerned was a shot of them at night with the PPL building all lit up in the background. The PPL building at night is kind of Allentown’s equivalent to the Empire State Building in NYC. It’s the tallest building in the area and also the most colorful so it can be seen from miles away. With the help of a small video light we were able to get exactly what she wanted. I just love all of the different colors in the background.

And of course no wedding is complete without the bride getting arrested at the end.

Okay okay you caught me. It wasn’t the bride (and no handcuffs were actually used incase the Allentown Police Department comes across this). Thank you for the entertaining photo op though! And thank you to Sindia and Dave for letting me be a part of your big day!

Bottom right photo of Bobby & next photo of guys shot by Krista

We had to be a bit sneakier trying to get some photos of the girls before the ceremony as the guests were wandering about the property  early trying to search out the bride.

The ceremony took place on a hillside overlooking the mountains. The altar, candle, flower petal holders as well as many other items were all hand made by family members for Steph & Bobby! It added a very nice personal touch to the day!

Steph & Bobby did a traditional Celtic Handfasting Ceremony where their hands are tied together with ribbon to symbolize being tied together forever.

After the ceremony we headed down to the road to a big open field on the hillside with a very rundown old barn that made an excellent backdrop for some bride & groom pictures.

Seeing as how it was the 4th of July no wedding would be complete without a HUGE basket of sparklers for the guests!

Image below shot by Krista

Some of their family & friends got together to sing the bride and groom a song.

Mid reception I wanted to head back up the hill to the ceremony site to mess around with the setting sun. It was on this little adventure that I was like an inch away from stepping on a fairly large snake. Thank you to Steph who was paying attention and screamed…which resulted in my screaming at the top of my lungs and high stepped it on outta there like a little girl! Nature is nice but I am a city girl if that wasn’t painfully obvious already!

Stonebridge sort of has a no fireworks policy…as you can see it wasn’t followed very well but it was the 4th of July so who could blame them! Image shot by Krista.

Thank you Steph & Bobby for letting me be a part of your special day!

We had quite a bit of time before the ceremony started so we were able to get both of them outside around the grounds for some portraits.

Then it was time for the ceremony…

After the ceremony we headed over to the Churchville Nature Center with the bridal party for a while to get some photos in their beautiful landscaped gardens…

After the Nature Center we were off to the reception which was held at the Vereinigung Erzgebirge German Club also located in Southampton, PA.

The groom had an awesome sushi cake. The bride actually made the decorations on top out of cupcakes and other handmade items.

Matt & Kristen were such a fun couple to work with! I wish them the best of luck in their new adventures as husband and wife!

Finally it was time for Liz to start getting ready. I teary eyed mom helped lace her into her dress and get her garter belt on. Liz’s jewlery came from her grandmom who was unable to attend the wedding due to an illness.

Finally it was time for the ceremony…

These two could not stop giggling through the entire ceremony…it was so cute!!

Thankfully the rain stopped and the sun started to come out just as the ceremony ended..

Bubbles are always a good alternative to throwing bird seed at the bride and groom…

After the ceremony we headed over to the Spring Haven Country Club for some group photos before the reception. Even though the rain had stopped there were still quite a few very large black clouds looming overhead. We were only able to take Liz & Dan out on the golf course for a few quick shots by the fountain before it started to rain again. Thankfully they had a large patio with nice landscaping to use as a backdrop for the group and family photos.

After the family photos we hopped on the Trolley they rented from Philadelphia Trolley Works to make a very special trip. As I mentioned Liz’s grandmother was unable to attend the wedding due to illness so since she couldn’t come to the wedding we brought the wedding to her!! It was a very proud day for her grandmom getting to parade Liz around the nursing home dining room in her wedding gown. I’m pretty sure she was the envy of all the residents that day! We headed into the little chapel they had there to do a few family photos with grandmom who couldn’t resist checking out the jewelry Liz was wearing that once belonged to her.

After our visit to see grandmom it was back to the country club to celebrate. Many wedding cakes you see now a days are covered in fondant that is colored to look like chocolate…not this cake!!! Everything you see is pure chocolate. It smelled absolutely amazing!

Another unique thing I noticed at the reception were the table numbers. Instead of doing your run of the mill card with a number on it every table had a sign with a year on it. Under the year was a picture of both the bride and groom from that year. They started with baby pictures and worked all the way up to photos from that summer. I don’t know about the guests by I certainly enjoyed going from table to table to check each one out.

And now for the party…

Liz & Dan you were such a pleasure to work with! I hope to have the opportunity to work with you on future projects!!