Kelly & Eric are Married!

The weekend before Kelly and Eric's wedding day, I documented a wedding back home that left me feeling on top of the world and the luckiest photographer in the world... Then a week later, I showed up to The Farm at Eagles Ridge in Lancaster, PA and almost fainted of pure joy and happiness. How am I so lucky to be documenting all these amazing weddings!!?? Seriously, my couples have been spectacular!!! They are all so in love, so kind, AND they have great style... HECK YES. 

So, I got to The Farm an hour early to scope out the venue and thank goodness I did! My head was spinning with ideas. So many potential backdrops for photos and the question that kept haunting me all morning... How was I going to fit in every beauitful location in just one day!!?? Well let me just say, I love when I am on the same page with my brides. Kelly and I were so in sync with each other that day... I left that wedding wishing she lived closer because I would try and convince her to shoot with me! After just a few ideas she had for photos, I knew she had a good eye for photography... and as long as she and Eric were willing to trek all over creation for these photos, so was I!  

The morning started in the farm house. The girls were upstairs getting ready while Eric and his groomsmen were downstairs. It must be an exciting yet nervous feeling. Knowing your soon to be husband is just one story below you! When I got married, my husband and I were 20 minutes away from each other and although I saved myself from any of those extra nerves, I almost wish we were closer... I love that all day they were so close to each other, knowing they could see each other at any moment they wanted, but waited until the ceremony as she walked down the aisle. Another reason why I am a sucker for the traditional "first look" at the ceremony. Its quite romantic : ) 

Kelly and Eric wrote their own vows and exchanged rings at one of the many beauitful spots here. Next to a pond, at the edge of a dock, under the shade of a tree.. yup it was perfect. So much joy was radiating off of them and their families. These two have been together since high school and this day was a long time coming! 

Kelly and Eric had already won me over with how genuinely kind and welcoming they were (as well as their entire wedding party and families!!) but then when they started dancing... it was a whole other level of greatness. I have couples that don't really dance, I have couples that love to dance, and then I have couples like Kelly and Eric who go in a whole other category of dancing. These two and all of their wedding guests CAME, TO. DANCE. I couldn't have asked for a more fun group of people to photograph. I saved some of the more embarrassing ones for Kelly and Eric but I definitely had to put a couple fun shots from the reception in this blog post! This celebration would have gone all night long if they could! 

Alright, I just have one more thing to say! One of the coolest parts of this reception was the last song of the night. I have never attended a wedding where the newlyweds have a private last dance together. After everyone had left the reception room, Kelly and Eric danced in this big empty barn all by themselves. It was like the final chapter to their day, the "happily ever after" moment... It was amazing and I am sure it will be a moment they remember forever. 

Kelly and Eric, thank you so much for having me be a part of such a beautiful day. It was an absolute joy and I cannot wait for you to relive this amazing day through these photographs. All the love to you both!! 

Crystal & Greg are Married!

When a beautiful girl who bakes cakes, grows her own flowers, and has a love for motorcycles, meets a handsome boy who runs his own auto repair shop and also shares a love for motorcycles. . . you cant help but wonder if they should sit down and write their own romance novel. I feel like I have been saying this a lot lately, but my goodness! I cant get enough of some of the stories that have led my couples to their wedding day. It makes me want to go back in time and relive those precious moments in my own life.

The love these two have for each other spills over into the passion they share for motorcycles. After getting to know Crystal and Greg, I can't imagine them becoming husband and wife without somehow involving their bikes. This has been a part of their entire relationship and even their engagement. After spending the day racing their bikes at a friends flat track, later that night, Greg proposed to Crystal in a motorcycle garage. <3 <3 <3 So as you can see, this wedding day just wouldn't have been theirs, had they left the bikes at home.

While Crystal got ready at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin, Greg was rallying the troops at his Uncles house. Together he and about 15 others rode their motorcycles to Furnace Town for the wedding. I'm not going to lie, being someone who knows nothing about motorcycles, I was a little intimidated taking photos of them! Lined up and ready to go, with their helmets and sunglasses...this crew meant business! But just like Greg, this was one of the nicest and most laid back group of people! It was so awesome getting to document their arrival to Furnace Town. You could hear the roar of their bikes from a mile away. 

The ceremony was like a scene from a fairytale. I absolutely loved how Crystal and Greg incorporated all sorts of old wooden chairs and the twig arbor was handmade by Crystals aunt Sandy. This arbor was like nothing I have seen before. it was amazing!! So much so, that Furnace Town actually asked if they could keep it there! I loved that all the flowers from the wedding were cut and arranged by Crystals mother Misty, who has her own farm called Masterpiece Flower Farm. Crystal and her mom did all the decorating themselves and of course, Crystal baked her own wedding cake. When you have time to bake your own wedding cake, you have some seriously good time management skills! Kudos to you ; ) 

 Now like any normal reception, there was dancing and celebration. But this reception wasn't normal, and that's why it will forever be one of my favorite weddings. In between the dancing and celebration, their was also some drag racing. Not only did the groom race his father-in-law and the officiant but Crystal used her bouquet to flag them at the starting line... It was exactly how this night should have been celebrated! As a photographer, I almost died and went to heaven. I had so much fun documenting this moment and I couldn't have imagined a more fitting way for Crystal and Greg to celebrate their marriage. Oh, and I was reminded how absolutely uncool I am... : )

Crystal and Greg, thank you so much for allowing me to capture such a special and rare love that you share. I will be forever grateful and look back on this day with so much joy in my heart. All the best to you both and your growing family <3