Wedding: Jennifer and Andy

Jennifer and Andy had their day all planned out. A beautiful, outside ceremony at Stan Hywet in Akron with the reception to be held under a tent at the carriage house. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. The ceremony was beautiful and, although they were brewing in the background, the storms held off just long enough and spared the guests from getting wet.

There were a few issues though. First, the storm brought hail, heavy winds, and tornado warnings. This made hanging out in the tent impossible which caused the second issue...the bar and hors d'oeuvres were outside under the tent. After a while, the natives were getting restless (and who could blame them with no food or drinks). Well, my many years in the food service industry kicked in and I decided to put my experience to good use. :) I talked to the caterer to see if they could serve the hors d'oeuvres and talked to the bartenders about moving the bar inside. Done! Now, if the weather holds out for the buffet dinner we're gold! And guess what? It did. By the time dinner was served the rain had stopped and everyone was happy! The bridal party joked that I should be a wedding planner instead of photographer because I handled it so well. LOL! Honestly, hats-off to all you planners out there because I could never deal with all the stress but I was certainly happy to help make their day go a little smoother.

The beautiful upside to this great story is that once the rain finally stopped, we got some amazing pictures! The clouds made for some killer backdrops AND we stumbled upon a rainbow. How lucky is that?

Jennifer and Andy, it was a pleasure photographing your day! May your lives be filled with laughter and love. Hope you're having fun in Jamaica!!



Her gorgeous dress.

And shoes.

Love this very moody shot of Jennifer.

It takes a team to get the flower girls ready :)

There was beautiful light in the carriage house. Isn't she gorgeous?

One of my favorites from the day.

The adorable flower girls!

Sometimes you just gotta be a little silly.

Beautiful!

Love this reflecting pool in the gardens!


Love me a little sun flare or in this case, a big sun flare :)

That FABULOUS rainbow!

The bling.

Kevin and Kim, parents of the adorable flower girls and Jennifer's matron of honor.

I had to include this one of Andy gettin' down on the dance floor!

Birthday: My sweet girl.

My sweet little girl celebrated her 5th birthday by being a princess for the day. Our first stop was to Salon TLC for an extra-special "do". She chose to accent her princess tiara with Shirley Temple curls. After almost two hours at the salon, I decided to take her to the park for some portraits. Well, she would have none of that! It didn't matter that she was in her new dress or that her hair was perfect, all she wanted was to play. LOL! So we played. Then we headed home to greet her guests. We sang happy birthday, opened presents and played some more. Thanks to my mother-in-law, the kids made their very own stuffed teddy bears to bring home. It was a HUGE hit!
The party was great and Miss Ridley looked like an angel! I can't believe she's already 5. Where does the time go?

Here's a slideshow from her day. Enjoy.



Stay tuned for the images from Jennifer and Andy's wedding at Stan Hywet in Akron. Until then, here's a sneak peak of one of my favs!

Wedding: Steph and Josh

I had the opportunity to photograph a really cool wedding this past Saturday with Steph from 831 Photography. We shot the beautiful wedding of Steph and Josh from NY. I love, love, love when brides (and grooms) do things to make their wedding unique and specific to them. This was one of those weddings. They had steel drums playing during her walk down the aisle and flowerpots, yes the kind you plant flowers in, playing during the ceremony. It was VERY cool! There was rhythmic clapping as the couple left the altar and the guests were given different sizes of terracotta flowerpots and a chopstick instead of rice for their send off. It was great and sounded like a hundred wind chimes blowing at once. I was a lovely ceremony! Steph looked amazing! My best wishes to you guys for a lifetime of love! Here's a few of my favorites from the day.



Wouldn't you kill for those eyelashes?

The gorgeous bride.

The groom's brother played and sang.

The first time at the altar with his lovely bride.





These are the little pots that everyone played at their exit.

The groomsmen.

Steph's gorgeous gown.

She has the most amazing, blue eyes!

Love me some sun flare.

Josh having a laugh during the speeches.

The rings.

Steph can't believe what just came out of her brother-in-law's mouth.

First dance.

A little detail.

The yummy cake.

Lifestyle Session: Greg Mocker

I've known Greg for a short while. Mostly, I've enjoyed him as a performer as he's a very talented actor and done some really fun stuff on the theatre circuit. Getting to know him a little better during this shoot was great fun! He's super cool, made me laugh constantly and drives a wicked, Mustang convertible in my favorite color! Greg was looking for some new head shots but you know me, I'm anything but traditional so we had a little fun. Here's a few of my favorites:



The infamous blue wall.

Love the lighting on this one!

His great smile.

This would be my choice for a head shot.

Greg was very brave sitting down in this nook. Let's just say it was a little smelly.

Love this one.

I just had to post one of him goofing around!

Thanks for a fun evening Greg! I'm glad I had the chance to get to know you better. And stay tuned for photos from Steph and Josh's wedding that I photographed last Saturday. Those are coming later this week.

Cheers,
Jaci

Cat ang Craig: Wedding

I tagged along once again with the fabulous, Kim Reed, for Cat and Craig's wedding. She warned me ahead of time that this was going to be a wild bunch but I'm not sure I knew what I was getting into. How wild, you say? Well, let's just say that I saw one of the groomsmen naked and leave it at that. LOL! In all seriousness, this was a great bunch of people! All you need to do is spend 5 minutes with them and you're able see how much they love and care about each other.
I was greeted by both Cat and Craig not with a handshake but with a hug. Which was quickly followed by "Is there anything you need?" and "Can I get you anything?" Even during the night, Cat kept asking us that. What a great couple you guys are! Best of luck to you in your new life together.

Here's some of my favorites of the day:




Cat's shoes.

Some details of her gown.

The bling.

Her earings.

Craig's niece. Isn't she adorable?

His very spiffy shoes!

I think his nerves were setting in as the first time he put his vest on it was inside out. :)

Craig and his brother trying to look sexy.

Reading the card from Cat.

The lovely pocket watch from his lovely bride.

At the altar.

Mom's bouquet.

Catching some good wind (and a kiss).


Love her reflection in his shades.



The cake topper.

Craig's sister and her husband having some fun on the dance floor.

Craig's brother and his drill sergeant wife, Emily. Thanks for your help getting everyone together for the formals. :)