A Wedding Designed… Jennifer and Jason

I blogged earlier this week about Jennifer and Jason’s wedding. What a beautiful day! The bride Jennifer is actually trained as an interior designer, and I was particularly impressed by the way she maintained the same relaxed modern romantic feel throughout all the details of her day. So to showcase all her hard work and maybe inspire some other brides out there, I’m sharing the results of her hard work with you!

First the invitations… Jeremy Stebler, brother of the bride, is a talented graphic designer. With the bride and groom’s input, he designed and had the invitations (and programs and thank you’s) printed, then assembled them all by hand. The result is gorgeous! And such wonderful quality in materials, too. I recommend him without reserve. (Stebler Creative, 412-977-5591)

And of course a shot of the programs (taken at the church)…

On to the bridal details… Jennifer’s clutch purse and pearl bracelet/necklace, followed by a shot of her shoes. To see more pictures of her dress and hair, stop by my earlier post about the wedding day. You can also see photos of the groomsmen’s and bridesmaids’ outfits there. Want to know more details? Just ask.

Love the simple fuschia rose and soft green tie set against the khaki suit!

And those simple green clutch bouquets for the bridesmaids were positively inspired!

Of course a shot of the bride’s bouquet as well. Beautiful.

After the formal religious ceremony, it was off to Greystone Fields for the reception! The venue is a modern two-story farmhouse-ballroom built on acres and acres of land in Gibsonia, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. It seemed to fit in perfectly with the bride’s design aesthetic, and the folks there were incredibly gracious and easy to work with.

The guests were greeted at the patio with rows of park bench placecards, incorporating the same design as the invitations/programs/thank you’s. The tables of lush green grass were grown at a nearby farm specifically for this purpose.

The guests mingled in the ballroom, surrounded by walls of uncluttered windows.

I liked the cohesive mixture of modern (check out those green plants!) and rustic (the black lanterns).

The lantern theme was also carried into the guests’ favors, small white lanterns at each table.

…along with more modern romantic touches befitting a farmhouse…

Tables were marked with tall twigs. (Notice the same design as the invitations/programs/thank you’s!)

And how creative were these centerpieces! An assortment of small cakes propped up on thick twigs, coming out of lush grass boxes. The small cakes were a wonderfully elegant take on the recently popular cupcake option. Each guest chose their own, once dinner wrapped up.

Here is a shot of the bride and groom’s cake, which was displayed on a table of moss.

Of course there was a gift table complete with creative card storage 🙂

…and no Pittsburgh wedding is complete without a cookie table!!

What a beautiful wedding! More importantly, it was creative and unique. Isn’t that what every bride is looking for? Great job, Jennifer.

Jennifer and Jason

Jennifer and Jason married on a warm spring afternoon this weekend, sharing vows at St. James, a beautiful church in Sewickley, before heading out to Gibsonia’s Greystone Fields to celebrate. It was easy to photograph such a fun loving couple!

I was particularly impressed with Jennifer’s design sense, incorporating a consistent modern romantic feel throughout the day, from custom designed invitations through the bridesmaids’ simply elegant clutch bouquets to the creative reception centerpieces and accessory decor. It all made sense when I realized she is trained as an interior designer! So to showcase all her hard work and maybe inspire some other brides out there, I’ll be featuring all the little details in a separate blog post. Which means that below are a few of my (non-detail) favorites from the day.

Enjoy!

 

We started off at Pretty Hair Salon near Northway Mall. These guys did a fabulous job on Jennifer and her bridesmaids’ hair! (Incidentally I loved the fuschia accent walls… how perfect that they fit right into Jennifer’s color scheme for the wedding. 😉 )

Then off to Jennifer’s home, where the girls dolled themselves up and ready to head to the church. Since we were there for a bit of time, I was able to grab quite a few beautiful images of the wedding day details; I will share some of those in the later “details” post!

I’m sure you can tell I love working with mirrors! These moments are so great to find, because they are so natural and unplanned and real. What great emotion!

This next shot might be my favorite from the entire day. I was working on some detail shots in the dining room when I glanced up and noticed Jennifer’s new sister-in-law in the kitchen. What a great find!

And no blog is complete without a “bride putting on makeup” shot. I love those mirrors- and how even more interesting with all the empty space!

As I mentioned earlier, Jason and Jennifer married at St. James Church in Sewickley. The building features some gorgeous stained glass windows! The perfect setting for catching an intimate moment between the ring bearer and his dad. 

What a beautiful moment during the ceremony!

As always, I’ll post a couple of group shots… Since the photo time after the ceremony was pretty crunched, I got images of the groomsmen beforehand. After the ceremony and some formal shots at the altar, the ladies had their turn before it was time to head to the reception site.

But before we left, I grabbed Jennifer and Jason for one quick church shot… had to make use of that stained glass!!

The reception was held at Greystone Fields, a fairly new venue on a farm out in Gibsonia featuring a two-story banquet hall surrounded by walls of windows. My assistant Mark and I got there a few minutes before the limo to set up in back and grab some detail shots. Once the limo arrived and the bridal party started lining up for their announcement, I grabbed the bride and groom for some quick pictures outside. Even though we had less than 5 minutes for photos of the newlyweds, I think we were able to get some beautiful images! (It helps that these guys felt like old pros after their engagement session!) *

I think that last shot was as the wind picked up, just before the rain hit! Perfect timing. 😉

Of course there’s the requisite ring shot. (Love the little bench!)

… and the couple’s first dance! After I caught some close-up images from the dance floor, I headed up to the balcony for a wide shot of the entire venue. I love the result- so romantic! 

To Jennifer and Jason… I had a great time working with you and I wish you both the best in your new life together!

To Jennifer and Jason’s family and friends… you will be able to access all of the images from the big day here, once they are ready. 

 

* To my clients…One of my strengths is my ability to create fine art from a photo session, and most of my clients book me based on this skill. If this is a priority on your own wedding day, then I always recommend setting aside at least 2 solid hours for photos, including the formal family pics, bridal party shots, and romantic images of the bride and groom (and most of my clients allow for more time than that). Whether you do these before the ceremony or after is up to you (although I always recommend beforehand if possible, to ease the flow of the day). I can take photos in shorter time frames, but it tends to cut into the time that we have for couple pictures. And of course the more time we have together, the more comfortable you become and the greater variety of photos you have! Every couple and every wedding is unique, so give me a call and we can talk about your own priorities for your wedding day.