You Are What's Beautiful...

The phrase I probably say most while shooting is: "Just Be Yourself." When you shrug off the fact that you're breaking every PDA (Public Display of Affection) rule known to man and can ignore the hundreds of people watching you kiss in the middle of the street or in today's case the floor of Borders Book Store you're finally able to be yourself. You aren't robotic when spooning on the couch are you? No...You're in your comfort zone, you're with the one person you can be totally yourself around. And that's my goal right there. Take away all the obvious distractions and just be. 

No acting...No posing...Just be. You are what's most beautiful. 

I love that they both had the idea of stopping in at a book store. Their wedding is in a library, and many of their dates are over books and a cup of coffee. It's them. It's beautiful. 

Inside & Out...

For as different as each wedding is sadly one commonality that all to often occurs is the bride and groom are out for themselves. Obsessed with looking good and feeling good they miss the whole point of the day. Not Dan & Vicki... I haven't seen a couple so madly in love not only with the other but with serving each other in a really long time. It's a selfless love. One that with the chaos of a wedding day can be all to hard to find. They're beautiful people inside and out. It was my privilege to be a small part of their big day. 

Staying True...

You know when you're looking at a bridal magazine (Yes, I've been married almost 5 years and still look at bridal magazines! Don't judge me.) (: and you see something that's unbelievably thoughtful or cute and under the picture it says that it was hand-made by the bride. And you think to yourself...There's no way she made that, it's too cute. I pretty much said that with every step and story of Jonathan & Leslie's wedding. If something wasn't hand made it had the most incredible story behind it.

The bride's engagement ring was the groom's grandmother's from the 1920's....

The incredible house and land the wedding was at was bought & built by her grandparents in the 50's...

The opal neckless Leslie wore was her grandmother's...

They had her great great grandmother's wedding dress on a mannequin to have guests pin well wishes...

Leslie's mom built the Chuppah out of the trees from the back yard...

She also made her dress, the favors, flower girl dress, and the wedding cake!

The groom, Jonathan, is a wonderful artist and he sketched their Wedding programs with all the bride & Groom's history on it. 

Wow! There is so much legacy and honor in this place it's absolutely incredible. As was their wedding!

My Big Italian Wedding...

I love Italians! Shoot, I even married one! They're loud, fun, love life, and can eat with the best of em. While these traits are true of my bride and groom Jackie & Vinnie if I could describe them in one word it'd be adaptable. Here we are in the middle of their traditional mass ceremony and a crack of thunder later we find ourselves in the dark. Literally. All electricity went out. With a mild pause of silence the ceremony just kept going even in the dark. Ha, that's awesome! The lights would find themselves on and off quite a bit from that point on but they didn't skip a beat. To top it off at the very end of the ceremony everyone was rushed down to the basement as there was a tornado warning! And what'd they do? Panic because we were missing out on picture time? Cry because it was raining on their wedding day? No....They laugh. That's awesome. There's going to be so many moments in life where they may be tempted to say: "What the heck just happened?" but instead of thinking the worst they're the kind of couple that will instead think the best. It's a rare trait and it will be a big blessing in their marriage. 

It's worth it...

One of the blessings of getting to work from home is more often than not you'll find me with a cup of coffee and in my pj's. One of the hidden difficulties is the fact that I don't leave work. Here I've been putting in 18 hour work days and when it seems like I couldn't possibly fit anything else in I manage to do so. Let me say this is was however you want to put it the best "squeeze me in" session ever. From the first click of the shutter I knew the day was going to be sweet! This couple just naturally has it. They don't even know how cute they are. Worth every second away from my "to-do" list. (:

Time To Celebrate...

I think this picture sums up the wedding. Fun. Are you kidding??  Considering we haven't won a Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years, anyone that's going to party to the Blackhawk's theme song while throwing some championship memorabilia is cool in my book.  (: For real though, it's actually quite rare to have weddings with a really specific interest of the couple represented . You'd think people's hobbies were flowers or collecting votive candles. Sure those are beautiful and obviously have a big part in any wedding but to me....After literally seeing hundreds of weddings the moments I remember are moments like this. The Hawks taking the Stanley and the bride and groom taking a the opportunity to celebrate. (: 

Here's another one of my favorites of the day...

                                                                                     

"O Baby"...

   

My first attempt at a diaper cake.  210 diapers & a sonogram later we have a present that in the near future 

will be a pile of poop. (: 

 O my O my... My sister's havin' a baaaabbyyy! 

Me and a few other partner's in crime had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for one of the best mom's of the future (Make that the near future!) aka my sister! Now I can say that with full confidence because she had a big role in raising me so she must have some skills. (:

 For real though... 

It's hard to even list the ways that she'll be an incredible mom but if I could pin point what made her a great sister I think it will help explain it. Many years back (I was maybe 10?) someone challenged her to be intentional about relationships. From that point on we had a once a week "sister's night". Whether it was cooking up a new recipe, her attempting to teach me Spanish, playing a game of skip-0, or talking for hours over a cup of coffee she chose to live intentionally with me and that's no small feat: it's love. What a lucky kid...This little one is going to be celebrated, encouraged, and never left with a doubt of how much their mom wants to be in their life every little step of the way. It's what has made her a great sister and it's what will make her a great mom.   

*What's with the O's? Her last name begins with the letter "O" and the gender of the baby is a big O surprise. So she refers to the little one as "Baby O" (: 

Banana Bread/ Cream Cheese Frosted Cupcakes. (: