Brad & Amanda Part 2 [wedding photographer, Towanda, PA]

Happy Thursday!

Ready for part 2 of Brad & Mandy's wedding photos?

You better strap on you're seatbelts because, these fabulous folks will knock you out of your seat :D

Let's review first shall we?

Brad + Mandy = LOVE

Okay, fabulous :D Let's move on.

Meet Mr. Brad & Mrs. Mandy:

 

They got married and we escaped out of the stuffy living room, outside into the clear, cool day for about 5-10 minutes. It was the fastest bride & groom portraits I have ever shot, but I think we got some of the most fabulous results!

Did I say fabulous?

It got a little bit windy after we went outside and poor Mandy's veil started to pull loose. So she pulled it out and Brad offered to wear it instead. Love it!

The awkward prom-pose - which when I pointed out what they were doing was just that, produced a fabulous natural laugh. LOVE it.

Remember what I said yesterday about Brad being that natural comic & Mandy loving to laugh? Just in case you didn't believe me, see below:

 

Ahhh - every bride loves her shoes. Wedding shoes are so important. People pay mega bucks for a pair of heels they'll wear one day for several hours. And comfort can sometimes take a back-seat.
Well not this past Saturday.
Comfort ruled and reigned and this is what the bride wore- FABULOUS:

Okay, moving on from the portraits, we slipped back inside for something to eat.
I love this shot I snagged of Brad's Mom, while Brad & Mandy were thanking everyone for coming.

So, it wasn't your traditional reception. There was no dancing or DJ or crazy lights. Just a simple meal with really good home-cooked food, oh and cake.

As Brad & Mandy were getting ready to cut the cake, Mandy realized they hadn't discussed this part of the day.
Oh. No.
So, she stopped him and made him pinky promise not to do anything bad with his piece of cake.

Okay, so they agreed, and we're back to cutting the cake:

And then, well, pinky-promises or no, someone had their toes crossed and both folks got cake up their noses. LOVE IT! haha

And, we'll end things off with a photo of the bride & groom and Brad's Mom - all doing the "Brad pose" :D

Ahh, it was such a fabulous wedding [I think I've used the word "fabulous about 104 times in this post] I was so blessed to be apart of it.
Brad & Mandy- enjoy your first week of being married folks- hugs to you both and D&I will see you soon !!

Brad & Amanda Part I [wedding photographer, Towanda, PA]

People should be happy on their wedding day.

And so often, their happiness is overshadowed by stress, worrying, time-crunching, stress, last minute details, bossy family, did I mention stress?

Deep down, I think most people are very happy on their wedding day, however, circumstances can cause people to want to pull their hair out and pray for the day to be over.

There was definitely no hair being pulled out last Saturday though.

And people were happy - genuinely, 11O% happy.

Derrick has known Brad for a long long time, and I got to know Brad, after D&I got married, through his semi-weekly comings over to our house. He was one of the only guests we entertained while we lived in our camper, and he continued his visits when we moved into our house!

The conversation when Brad came over, generally headed in one direction: Valley Forge Christian College. The college both Derrick & Brad attended.

Consequently, it is also the place where Brad met this bubbly girl named Amber.

Brad may not have finished his schooling at Valley Forge, but he definitely established a lot of relationships, one of which became a lifetime commitment this past Saturday.

They were planning a summer wedding, but when they realized that Brad's Mom was going to have to go into surgery this coming week and they weren't sure of the results, they decided to move things up - and fast.

The wedding came together beautifully. Things ran smooth and even the little details came together perfectly.

It was such a relaxed and amazing time.

They got married in Brad's Mom's house, with just a few friends and family present.

Even though D&I are good friends with Brad, we had never met Mandy before Thursday night [which was just an introduction-real-quick-meeting] As the photographer for the day though, I got to spend a lot of time with the bride and I walked away completely smitten.

Brad is a very funny guy. He has the personality of a stand-up comic on all the time. He loves to make people laugh.

And Mandy loves to laugh. She's a genuine sweetheart. They're super cute together and definitely fit together like puzzle pieces. 

Perfect.

Mandy has such a servant's heart. It was her wedding day, yet instead of demanding to be waited on, she was constantly asking other people if she could help them.

And Brad loves to serve Mandy. As she was asking other people if she could do anything for them, he was waiting on her - hand and foot. 

Perfect.

Brad loves Mandy.

And Mandy loves Brad.

Perfect.

Mandy got ready in Brad's Mom's house - and wow did she make a beautiful bride.

Mandy & the flower girl.
Their relationship was SO cute to see.

Like I said: she loves to laugh - and she laughed all day long :)

They had cleared the living room out for the wedding.

It was perfect - they set up chairs and lit candles, creating a very intimate atmosphere.

Ohh, and the groom.

I have never seen Brad in a mood other than his typical, comic, confident self.

But he was more nervous than a canary loose in a house full of cats.

When the time finally came, he attempted to compose himself, but his nerves soon turned into tears of happiness when he saw his bride.

The ceremony was simple and sweet. They shared vows, exchanged rings, and had communion.

And there you have it: Mr. & Mrs. Brad Crane :D

Annddd - I just realized how super long this post already is - so I'm going to chop this in half and do 2 posts. Part II coming tomorrow !! :D

Flowers & Birds

Fun story:

At the bank, we have a plant.

It's in a really gorgeous pot and has been blooming lately.

And this afternoon, Patty decided to water it and pick some of the dead leaves off.

You know, prune it up a bit?

Well, with the dead leaf, came a little extra "stuff".

And that extra "stuff" got passed to me.

With instructions:

Put it in a glass of water and it'll root and then you can plant it & have a nice plant of your own!

:D

So I'm trying it - and we'll see how long it lives :D
[I'm slowing nursing my little violet-things that my mom bought me back to health, since they almost died. My green thumb is non-existent.]

Ohh & I took this picture this morning - this little bird was chillin' on our neighbor's fence :)

Isn't he cute?

I Heart Faces - Slice of Life

There is this blog called, "I Heart Faces" that I have been following for quite some time.

And they have weekly photo "challenges" that literally hundreds of people enter into.

I've always been completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of photos entered.

But, it's also challenged me to want to enter - because to be picked as one of the top photos in the bunch - wow.

So, here we go! First entry!

The theme this week is "Slice of Life" and when I read that, one photo instantly came to mind. 

Right after we got our puppy, Abby, my family traveled up to visit us and meet her!

My baby sister fell in love with her and was constantly sitting on/hugging/smothering her.

And during one of those moments, I nabbed this shot:

I LOVE Ruby's facial expression and how calm my puppy is being.
It's just a peaceful shot - especially how her eyes are half closed? Just goes to prove that eyes being all the way open all the time isn't always the best thing :)

Wedding Preview !!

Today's wedding, although put together incredibly fast, included all the necessities:

Fabulous rings:

Handsome flowers for the groom:

Gorgeous flowers for the bride:

[left closely guarded by a duck - beware, he will attack if he thinks you're going to touch the flowers!]

A beautiful flower girl:

And of course a man & woman very much in love and extremely happy to be getting married :D

But unfortunately, that's about all I can say right now.

Until the bride & groom officially announce their marriage over the next few days, I don't want to be the one to let the cat out of the bag! :D