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. :)

Aishah and Adnan: Walima

This is the last installment from Aishah and Adnan's FABULOUS wedding event. The Walima took place at the historic, Drake Hotel in Chicago. All I can say about it is WOW! Once again everything from their outfits, to the flowers, to the decor was exquisite. This couple has great taste!

I want to send a HUGE thank you to Kim for inviting me along on this incredible experience. I'm sad to see it end. And also to Aishah and Adnan and their families for making us feel so welcome. You guys were so warm and gracious and it was truly an honor to be a part of such a lovely event.

I've never done a wedding like this before but I sure hope I can do one again! Best of luck to you both!



Aishah's amazing Pedro Garcia shoes.





Kim and I both LOVED her make up.

Some of the incredible embroidery from her hand-made outfit.

She looked stunning!





Love this one of Adnan holding the bouquet.

Having a bit of fun.



The flowers were gorgeous.




Some of the super yummy desserts!

I'm told this is the best chocolate mousse around.

Fatima and her lovely family.

The second, first dance :) BTW...if you follow their shadows on the floor you'll catch a glimpse of the fabulous, Kim Reed in action.

Some guests having fun.



Stay tuned for images from Cat and Craig's wedding and from my session with Mock Revolution's, Greg Mocker.

Cheers,
Jaci

The incredible shrinking woman.

It's official. I'm shrinking! I'm turning 40 this year and a few months ago I vowed that I would glide gracefully into "mid-life" (is 40 still mid-life these days?) Anyway, I've been taking yoga for the past few months and, just about a month ago, I started Zumba. I do both of these back-to-back, twice a week. I wanted better results and didn't want to leave anything up to chance so I decided to hire a trainer. It's the first time in my life that I've ever used a trainer (but it's also the first time in my life that I've been this heavy.) Yesterday was my fourth session with Melanie, who, btw, kicks my butt in our sessions, and she decided to measure me just to see where I was at. Are you ready? Wait for it....I am 7 inches smaller and officially wearing a smaller size! YAY! I have to say that I am shocked to get these results as quickly as I have. Shocked, but thrilled. I even bought a new bathing suit and I'm looking pretty good in it too :) I'll see if I can get my hubby to snap a pic of me so I can show you all.
Anywho...I just wanted to share my good news.

Hope you guys are doing well!

Cheers,
Jaci

Back from Chicago

Well, I made the 7 hour drive back from Chicago in one piece. I actually don't mind driving. It gives me a lot of alone time which I don't often get at home with two small kiddos.

Aishah and Adnan's Walima was incredible! Once again, they looked amazing, the room was spectacular and it was a fun time had by all. Kim and I stayed at the same hotel as the guests so I had more of an opportunity to meet and chat with everyone. I was again struck by the graciousness and friendliness of everyone I encountered. I especially enjoyed meeting and chatting with Fatima. She's a lovely young lady.

I'll be posting the images from this fabulous event soon so be sure to check back but for now here's some fun facts about my trip:

• You can indeed listen to one CD on a 7 hour trip and in my case it was "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things" by Jason Mraz.
• I saw a hawk grab its lunch in mid air.
• I saw an Amish lady on a cell phone.
• I passed a car that had a "Happy the Clown" advertisement on the side. So apparently if you're near Gary, Indiana you can call 219.805.1240 and have "Happy" work the party.
• After being stuck in traffic for two hours, I was informed by a friend who lives there that it wasn't even rush hour! YIKES!
• I put 860 miles on my car.
• I gassed up outside of Chicago and it was $4.39 a gallon.

So, that's it for now. Stay tuned...photos to come :)