I did a faux bridal portrait shoot with my good friends Melissa and Matt, who I dressed up to be a bride and a groom. If you’re thinking the couple doesn’t  seem to be madly in love, it’s because they’re not!  We had fun shooting in my backyard, on Septa, at the Diner on Broad and Ellsworth in South Philly, and in the restaurant XIX at the Bellevue in Center City Philadelphia. I like how these turned out. Maybe I’ll use one or two for some new business cards!

Melissa is wearing a vintage 50′s prom dress I bought on ebay for $75.

Her leather gloves were borrowed from my friend.

She made her veil the morning of the shoot out of some tulle.

I bought the yellow bouquet at Whole Foods the morning of the shoot.

Her pearl necklace is adorned with a leather shoe piece that fell off one of her shoes.

Matt’s suit is his own, and his pale yellow tie is Tommy Hilfiger, which I bought at Daffy’s!

Thank you to all of the couples who trusted me enough to photograph their wedding this year. I’m honored to be the one who made photos of your sacred day!

2011 has been a break-through year for my business. I have really gotten more organized and focused and I’m so proud of what I accomplished this year. I want to thank my good friend Eleanor, the bride in the photo with the red background, the designer of this website and an illustrator and graphic designer, who works for herself and has been such an impressive example to me of hard work and discipline in running her own business. She encouraged me so much this year and helped me beleive in myself.

I know some of those sentences sound cliche, but they come from my heart!

For me, it has felt like the ultimate freedom to be my own boss. I’m so grateful for all I’ve learned this year and I anticipate an even more successful 2012!

Cheers!

The strange hail and snow that greeted us all on Eleanor and Peter’s wedding day didn’t keep us from having  a great time doing photos. I photographed Eleanor, a good friend of mine, and her fiance Peter at The Melrose Diner here in our South Philly neighborhood for their alone session, and I’m charmed at how the shots turned out!

As a wedding photographer I really used to fear bad weather that would force me to use flash all day, but I’m getting quite comfortable with fun indoor locations and my new, trusty Canon 580 ex flash!

Eleanor and Peter met about 7 years ago at 7/11 where they were getting free slurpies on July 11th. I met Eleanor about 3 years ago at a bar through some mutual friends. Since then we’ve been good friends and I even lived with the two of them last year for a while. Eleanor actually created my logo and this website for me, and help her with all of her photographer needs! Check out her work at www.justeleanor.com

A few highlights from the reception- Eleanor and her father performed a song together called ‘My Darling Daughter’ with her father singing in a high pitched girly voice, and Eleanor singing her parts in a low pitched fatherly voice. It was totally entertaining and endearing! Eleanor’s brother Eoin gave a powerpoint presentation about Eleanor and Peter’s relationship complete with photos and a chart forecasting Eleanor and Peter’s growing love over the years. Another highlight was right after the cake cutting, Eleanor went on to feed wedding cake to lots of guests with her fork! Cute!

Congratulations Eleanor and Peter!

wedding dress- David’ Bridal

paper flower bouquet – http://www.etsy.com/shop/AccentsandPetals

bridal headband- http://www.etsy.com/shop/woomi

groomsuit brand- Men’s Wearhouse

bride’s shoes- Steve Madden

bride’s earrings- Anthropologie

hair and make up – styled by friend, Niff Nichols

ceremony location- St.Rita of Cascia Shrine South Philly

reception venue- The German Society

wedding cake- Van Earl’s Cakes

catering- A Full Plate

music/dj- Robert Botto

videographer- Noah Stoner www.stonermedia.net

My photos of this wedding are coming soon! For now, here is the short film created by the one-and-only, incredibly talented Noah Stoner of Stonermedia.

Natalie and Jon flew in from Arizona to get married in Philadelphia where their families live. They had a beautiful ceremony on an outdoor fourth floor terrace at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Such a cool venue!  The backdrop to their vows was a beautiful city skyline and the evening light was perfect: overcast and even from the forecast-ed rain that never came down. Love that!

I think Natalie’s dress was one of the most beautiful, sexy wedding dresses I’d ever seen. I loved the mermaid fit and the beautiful and elegant beaded belt.

Natalie and Jon really knew how to party! The dancing at this wedding was so fun. Jon’s parents had some amazing dance moves- especially his dad. Wow! And my favorite part was when two guests held invisible double dutch jumping ropes and everyone took turns doing super cute jumping dance moves. Adorable!

Natalie and Jon, it was an honor to photograph your special day. Noah and I wish you all the best!

And here is the short wedding film created by Noah Stoner of Stonermedia:

Vendor credits:

my talented and totally rad second shooter: Tara Robertson

catering- Feastivities
wedding dress brand- Lazaro from Kleinfeld’s
groom suit brand- Black Diamond
bride shoes- Ivanka Trump
headband – Luciabella from Etsy
earrings- Dillard’s
hair + makeup- Heaven & Earth, Lafayette Hill

venue- Free Library of Philadelphia

paper products- designed by the bride, Natalie Netzel

florist- A Modern Touch, Christine Shoup