Sophie + Spencer :: Columbus Ohio Wedding Photography
Remember Sophie and Spencer’s engagement session last fall on the OSU campus? It’s been a long time coming, but their wedding was at the beautiful Liberty Presbyterian Barn Church in Powell Ohio, just outside of Columbus.
Sophie had the day all planned out, and the schedule was pretty tight. They hadn’t planned on seeing each other before the ceremony, and when I saw the schedule, I had to ask. My question was simple, “Why?” This is a direct quote from Sophie’s email after I explained the advantages to her.
“Wow! We hadn’t really thought of the “First Look” from that point of view. I guess it had been more of a superstition, or a thought that no one else does, that was holding us against it. But a little bit of “us” time ahead of time sounds really nice and we definitely want to go for it! It sounds like a lot of stress will be lifted and we will not be rushed— perfect!”
After that I spent some time outlining what I thought the schedule might look like with the First Look instead of waiting. Sophie’s response was just as exciting.
“The schedule looks PERFECT!! I absolutely cannot believe how much more time that we have, and that we are able to get photos in downtown Delaware too! We love that idea and are so happy that you gave us this entire new perspective on the wedding day photo timeline— we already can’t imagine it any other way!”
They day went perfectly, we had the absolutely most beautiful fall day (not too hot, not too cold), and the First Look allowed us to spend some time after the ceremony doing some bridal party photos in historic downtown Delaware Ohio.
Here’s Sophie, some bridesmaids, and some family and friends checking out the same day slideshow. Definite hit.
Dress: David’s Bridal
Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse
Flowers: The Flowerman Columbus
Coordinator: Brittany O’Neil
Ceremony: Liberty Presbyterian Church
Reception: All Occasions Catering
Cake: Alice’s Piece of Cake
Joyce + Tom :: PART II :: St. Louis Wedding Photography
Part Two.
After the Chinese Tea Ceremony Joyce and Tom and their wedding ceremony at North County Community Church. After the ceremony we took the bridal party downtown for photos, and the light was just beautiful. We always love doing portraits just before sunset because the sunlight is soft, warm and just creamy!
The reception was at the Mandarin House, and they served a traditional 10 course Chinese meal. They had everything from deep fried shrimp to duck. Joyce changed back into her Chinese dress and they went around to each table and did a toast with all of their guests. It was really neat to hear individual guests share their love and congratulations with the couple.
Enjoy!
Seriously, how cool is this wall!?!
Joyce + Tom :: PART I :: St. Louis Wedding Photography
Part One.
We always love being able to experience something different at our weddings. Change is what helps get the creative juices flowing, and always seems to make our jobs more exciting. Every wedding is unique, but Joyce and Tom’s wedding was something completely different for us.
We started the day bright and early (great time for photos by the way!) at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. You see, Joyce is Chinese. Tom is not. We had the huge honor of photographing not only their wedding ceremony, but also the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. Our first stop was the Chinese Garden, with beautiful morning light spilling over the trees onto an eastern landscape with Joyce and Tom in traditional Chinese attire. Joyce looked absolutely beautiful in her bright red dress!
The Chinese Tea Ceremony is a way for the family to give their blessing and show their approval of the spouse to be. Joyce and Tom presented a cup of tea to each family member, starting with Grandma and working their way through parents and then aunts and uncles. After accepting the tea from Joyce and then from Tom, the family members then gave the couple a gift. It was either jewelry or “lucky money”. Red is a symbol of luck in the Chinese culture, so the family would put money in red envelopes to wish the couple luck in their marriage. It was intimate and emotional, with only family and their closest friends surrounding the events.
We gotta admit, one of our favorite parts was the homemade Chinese food for lunch right after the ceremony… SO GOOD!
Make sure you stay tuned for part two coming soon!
Amanda + Brett :: Dover Wedding Photography
Amanda and Brett’s wedding was a big experiment for us. We had planned on trying our very first Same Day Slideshow. For those of you wondering what that really means, basically we set up our laptop and an LCD display at the reception that ran a slideshow of the images from earlier in the day. It was a huge hit with everyone at the reception, some of the guest and family members stood in front of it for a good three or four cycles of the slideshow! The cool part is that it could potentially turn into a great marketing tool for us. It’s really a win-win.
They key is that we don’t have a lot of time to sit and edit these photos. We’ve been working hard lately to improve the quality and accuracy of our photos straight out of the camera. It’s a combination of better lenses, better knowledge, and more experience. It’s also mission critical to understand the lighting situation. Light is by far the number one most important aspect of great photography, but it’s also the hardest to understand and control consistently. I think a unique use of light is what separates a good photographer from a great one, and I feel like we’re getting there.
The whole thing was made even better because… well… look at them. Amanda is the sweetest girl ever, and it’s honestly impossible to take a bad photo of her. Brett was confident and proud. We were cracking up all day though, cause that guy can blink! Good thing we shoot doubles of every photo, cause Brett was probably blinking in every other photo. I had to remind Amanda throughout the day that he also had his eyes open in every other photo. Too funny!
Same Day Slideshows are something we’re going to try and implement into as many future weddings as possible. If this is something you think you’d be interested in, make sure you head over to the contact page and set up a meeting!
Many of the images you see are either unedited or have been touched up just slightly.
This next photo is one of my favorites. You can see Amanda and Brett, as well as Amanda’s parents, family members, and friends all checking out the slideshow at the reception. Amanda’s mom even said, “The same-day-slideshow of was FABULOUS, Cameron and Mindy!! I could have stood there and watched it for hours :) You guys rock!! ♥” Whether it’s a Same Day Slideshow, or just delivering a simple photo of a bride dancing with her dad, that response is why we do what we do!
Sarah + Joe :: Cleveland Wedding Photography
Last weekend was kind of our weekend from hades. We booked a wedding in Cleveland on Friday, and a wedding Indianapolis on Saturday. Whoops. {BRAIN FAIL}
Lucky for us, both weddings were great, so other than the insane amount of driving and serious lack of sleep, the weekend definitely didn’t suck. We got to spend Friday up on Lake Erie with our fiends Sarah and Joe and Saturday with Lauren and Rob.
Please enjoy a sample of Sarah + Joe’s wedding and stay tuned for part 2 of our crazy weekend later this week!
(Check out Sarah + Joe’s Engagement Session too!)
