Morgan+Jim with Charlie and Big Snack in Regent Square and At Home

Morgan and Jim!! They are back on the blog after their 2011 wedding and after Morgan’s mom, Louise, has declared herself the leader of our unofficial fan club ever since. :)

Morgan and Jim are our buddies in the ‘Burgh and some of our favorite people. To celebrate their ‘Burghness, the original plan was to take their photos in Regent Square near where they used to live. However, February in Pittsburgh had other plans and decided to snow on us, but not that pretty, light fluffy snow… more the wet, slushy, everyone ends up looking like they just came out of the shower snow. So we got a little way through and then called it quits, only to resume this past weekend at their (freaking adorable!) house in Springdale. So if Jim looks like he shaved and got a hair cut in between location changes, he did.

Also enter Charlie and Big Snack. Big Snack’s real name is Murphy, but I refuse to call him that because Big Snack is too much of an awesome nickname to not use it. Both are gray, adorable kittehs. Charles is the one who clearly doesn’t mind modeling. Big Snack is the one who is terrified of the camera and, ahem, the larger kitty… hence the big snacking. Both joined their parents for their photoshoot in their house and made their lovely home even more cuddly and lovely, if possible, because it’s super cute already since Morgan actually does the projects she puts on Pinterest… unlike the rest of us. :(

Amanda+Sean Have a Wedding at Stonebridge Farm Nursery in Pittsburgh, PA

We have been loving our outdoor weddings lately even with this incredible heat. Amanda and Sean’s wedding, while not quite 112 degrees like our wedding in North Carolina the weekend before, was about as equally hot given the fact that it was in the low 100’s but all outdoors. Geoff and I brought a cooler full of Gatorade and stashed it away near the edge of the woods. :) Thankfully, the groomsmen weren’t wearing jackets and Amanda’s dress was light, so everyone partied away in the super unprecedented Pennsylvania heat.

Weddings that take place all in one venue are awesome, but they’re even more awesome when they’re at a farm or a greenhouse or a nursery or a venue that (dun dun dunnnn!) combines all of that together into one venue of wedding goodness. We had been looking forward to this wedding since Amanda and Sean contacted us last year. We’d been looking forward to working with them again (they’re both so super sweet and ridiculously cute). We’d been looking forward to meeting their dog named Goose (first dog that we’ve ever known named Goose). We’d been looking forward to shooting at Stonebridge (bring on the 20 different awesomely tempting places to take ring shots). We’d even been looking forward to the salt stains that we knew would be terribly apparent on both of us when we saw the forecast was in the hundreds (well, not really, but we were still excited). And their wedding didn’t disappoint. There was Amanda looking gorgeous and Sean looking handsome. There was Goose not wanting to get his picture taken but looking cute anyway. There were ring shots on tomatoes. There were even sunglasses as favors (best favors ever for an outdoor wedding in the sun). There were little kids piling said sunglasses on top of their heads, butterflies, wonderfully kind wedding guests, centerpieces with paper signs proclaiming the names of important streets in Amanda and Sean’s relationship, and yes… lots of sweating. And we loved it.

First Dance Song: ”Steady As We Go” – Dave Matthews Band

Amanda’s Occupation: Benefits Analyst/Real Estate Agent

Sean’s Occupation: Engineer

How You Met: Knew each other from high school, but started dating while in college after a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Pittsburgh (and a little help from old school AIM (AOL’s Instant Messenger))

Interesting Fact About Amanda: Has a strange liking for even numbers and named her dog Goose… who doesn’t love Top Gun?

Interesting Fact About Sean: Can sing like Axl Rose and is obsessed with Tommy Barrasso

Honeymoon Destination: Montego Bay, Jamaica

Date: July 7, 2012

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Stonebridge Farm Nursery // Pittsburgh, PA

DJ: Zip and Pat Jankowski

Florist: Stacey Powers

Cake: Cakes by Tammy

Caterer: Catering by Gregory

Hair/Makeup: Hair by Shag Hair Salon // Makeup by Julia Norton and Katy Kenny

Officiant: Sandra Monahan

Anna+Morgan // Wedding at Jumonville and Klay Winery in Pennsylvania

This wedding was awesome. There were fantastic views, honey jar wedding favors, sparkly bridesmaids shoes, foxes and deer, and… wait for it… two wedding vendors named Carolyn. But most awesome of all were Anna and Morgan. They were calm, cool, and relaxed. Although “cool” may not be entirely accurate as it was in the 90s (very toasty for southwestern PA). They braved the heat, the sun, and an abundance of wedding gnats that attacked anytime we went into the shade. They went through the pre-wedding jitters, through the vows, on top of a mountain, down a mountain, into a reception, and up on top of another mountain while offloading in my parents’ Subaru Forester (ohh yeah). You’d think there might be a tad bit of “I’m tired” or “I’m hot” or “Why do these gnats keep attacking us?” but instead, about every hour, one of them would come up to us and ask if we were okay, if everyone was being nice to us, and if we needed anything. And that pretty much embodies Anna and Morgan for me. Just good, nice people who spend their time thinking about others instead of themselves. And everyone at their wedding was the same way. In a crazy, Twilight-zone twist that happens to me all too often, a girl I went to high school with who was also ridiculously nice and sweet and good was at the wedding… proving, once again, that Anna and Morgan have good taste in people. :) And so this wedding was awesome, relaxed, and went off without a hitch. Both the ceremony and the reception were held in some of the most beautiful spots we’ve had privilege to see thus far at weddings… and we were kind of shocked that such quiet, gorgeous views existed in our home state without us realizing it (granted – our parents are about 1.5 hours away so I can kind of understand why they wouldn’t take a bunch of screaming children to a winery when we were little, but still).

We were honored to be summoned in from out of state for the past two weddings and a session and enjoyed our time in Pennsylvania thoroughly. :) We returned to a blazingly hot North Carolina summer and have shot here since, only to return to PA for our next wedding again, and then I’ll be taking a brief sojourn in Chicago. So be patience, friends! Blogging will resume shortly, but I’ll leave you with this gorgeous wedding to stare at for the next week or so until I get return to NC for a good few months before we take off again. ;)

First Dance Song: “When I Say I Do” – Matthew West

Bride’s Occupation: Sales

Groom’s Occupation: Sales

How You Met: Seton Hill University

Honeymoon Destination: St. Lucia

Date: June 23, 2012

Ceremony Venue: Whyel Chapel, Jumonville // Hopwood, PA

Reception Venue: Christian W. Klay Winery // Chalk Hill, PA

Officiant: Pastor Kevin Labby

DJ: Dave Sanchez // DJ 7UP

Florist: Curly Willow Floral

Cake: Prantl’s Bakery

Caterer: Caileigh’s

Hair/Makeup: Artisan Colour Spa

Videographer: Post Script Productions