Yay, Jenna and Josh!! It has been a while since we scheduled this and I had been looking forward to working with them since photographing their furry children, Jack and Lola. And they were troopers. We walked a lot through the woods and on top of locks of rocks with Jenna in uncomfortable shoes and Josh doesn’t like having his picture taken. :) But we conquered both shoe and camera uncomfortableness to have a wonderful session! I love the colors in this one and, considering the awful weather we’d had last week, I was happy to see the sun again for this session.

Jenna and Josh live together in Oxford where Jenna is a pharmacy tech and Josh is a narcotics officer for the Sheriff’s Department. They’re having a backyard wedding in September. :)

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They both have the nicest smiles. It’s like a dentist commercial, really.

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Thanks for being good sports, guys. :) You know I just had to pose them in front of the ridiculous bird silhouettes sign. I’m sure this wasn’t what Jenna was envisioning for her portraits, but you have to stick a few interesting ones in there for amusement. ;)

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Geoff was dragonfly’ed.

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Josh told me that Jenna tends to be picky about pictures of herself, so I hope you can find some that you like, Jenna. ;) I think you look beautiful!!

Geoff and I went home to Pittsburgh last weekend to celebrate his birthday and do whatever he does that involves his fantasy baseball draft. I also was tasked with the mission of photographing my family’s diva cat, LaSalle Faironaire (affectionately dubbed Sal for short). We’ve had Sal since I was 9 years old. She’ll be 16 in May. We credit her longevity to her voluntary solitary confinement in the basement for the first 13 years of her life… avoiding our two tabby cat hellions, Tang and Button. Tang died three years ago, followed by Button a year later, and finally Sal came out of the basement, happier than ever before. She now fully occupies the house (but mostly the kitchen) and has taken to sitting next to all the heating vents and stuffing her face in my parents’ space heaters. My dad calls her the Head of Maintenance.

Sal is both French and Jewish and in her spare time enjoys reading Anne Rice novels and watching Beyonce music videos. We photographed her in my parents’ kitchen where she spends 99.9% of her time.

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Most of her time spent in the kitchen is spent hanging out with my mom, who is technically Sal’s owner. When I was 9 and my sister was 13, we just wanted cats who looked like Garfield and my dad was only interested in fish. So Laura and I got orange cats, my dad got fish, and my mom took home Sal, who was a rescue.

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The picture below was about halfway through our shoot. Sal is being as patient as possible, but it’s beginning to show.

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My mom said that the below picture “…isn’t really in the spirit of Sal.” …..

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….She then proceeded to stuff Sal into a little French beret.

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The shots below were taken by my mom, who said that they would showcase the rapport I have with my subjects. :)

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We love you, Sal!

We were not only excited to shoot our first wedding of the year (Geoff did an excellent job second shooting this wedding with me), but we were also excited to see two of our very good friends get married, meet their AWESOME families, and have an excellent time… all of which we did. :)

For those who missed their abbreviated backstory on their engagement session post, Daniel was my sanity-saving best friend back at my old part time job before I went full-time with photography. He was pretty quiet when I first met him, but I gradually realized that the person singing really really really loud across the room from me was the same guy, and so I made an effort to get to know him since he amused me so frequently. Then I found out he likes the New England Patriots. This put a thorn in our friendship as I was constantly made fun of and harassed when I wore my Steelers jersey to work, but then again, making fun of each other is pretty much the foundation of our friendship, so it worked out pretty well. Until I found out that he was planning a Patriots themed wedding. And to be honest, I didn’t think he was serious (it can be kind of hard to tell when you’re trying to take someone seriously while they drink SunnyD out of a glass boot).

As it turns out, he was serious. A few weeks later Geoff and I had the privilege of meeting his absolutely lovely fiancé who is equally as wonderful and hilarious as Daniel (I had no doubts) to discuss photographing their wedding. Since then, the fabulous Mary Ann and I have also become close and we enjoy getting our butts kicked by our husbands when we go bowling. Daniel and Mary Ann are truly a couple that we love being around because they are exactly like each other to the point where it’s highly amusing and adorable at the same time (you’ll see here in a few minutes). They’re also some of the nicest people in the world, not to mention both of them being super cute and easy to photograph. :)

And you know what? Their Patriots themed wedding was awesome!!! There, I said it. I dislike the Patriots as much as they dislike the Steelers, but honestly, this was so well done.  Their centerpieces, colors, cake, and everything else worked perfectly and it was a beauuuutiful wedding. And they used some of their engagement session football shots in the save the dates and wedding programs (all football ticket themed), which was such a cute idea. YOU GUYS ARE ADORABLE. Also, their families were the best. THE BEST. Thank you all for being so kind, open, and helpful.. I hope all of you enjoy the pictures. And of course, we love you, Mary Ann and Daniel!

Date: March 5, 2011

Venue: Rand-Bryan House

Cake: Tier Bella

Flowers: Belinda Hobson

Dj: Mike Morse

Officiant: Bishop Jason Johnson

Musician [Singer]: Vanessa Durand

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Patriots themed wedding

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New England Patriots wedding cake

New England Patriots themed wedding

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Groomsmen

Bridesmaids

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Wedding Dress

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Red and White Bridal Bouquet

Red and White Bridal Bouquet

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Rand-Bryan House wedding ceremony

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Below is by far my favorite picture of the day, period. Better than all the portraits, better than all the details and dance pictures combined. The ceremony officiant asked anyone who might object to their marriage to speak now, and they turned their heads in unison and gave everyone the same look at the same time… and I really don’t think it was planned. It also captures both of their sarcastic sides beautifully. ;)

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March outdoor wedding

Exchange of rings

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First Kiss

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family portraits

Bridal Party portrait

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Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

Rand-Bryan House wedding reception

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Garter Toss

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All the congratulations in the world, you two… We hope you’re having a great honeymoon and love the pictures when you get back! :)