This seems to be the summer for long blog posts. It’s just getting harder and harder for me to try and describe our fabulous couples with only a couple of images. I have this need for you to know about our couples – to know what we know about them. Some of our closest friends now are couples we’ve photographed. That’s just not an accident – we meet some of the most amazing couples and because we spend so much time with them, we’ve created some amazing relationships that last loooong after the wedding day.
Case in point is our friendship with Amanda and Jason and the entire Bartlett family. We photographed Jason’s brother’s wedding almost exactly two years ago (Lindsey and Jon’s own blog entry is here) and it was so much fun to be able to spend the weekend with them and photograph them again – but this time as part of the wedding party!
Amanda and Jason had their wedding at the beautiful Van Patten Golf Course in Clifton Park, NY. New York isn’t our usual destination for weddings – we’re homebodies when it comes to our work. But after getting to know the Bartlett family at Lindsey and Jon’s wedding, it took very little convincing to get us to make the trip out to New York for Amanda and Jay.
We already knew how much we love Jason’s family and after meeting and falling in love with Amanda, we couldn’t wait to meet her family as well. See, Amanda is this tiny, petite, gorgeous little flower with the most sweet-as-butter voice. That’s your first impression of her. Then you get to know her and you find out that underneath all of that lovely girliness is one fiery, strong and super talented person. If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you’ve probably heard me talking about our fashion designer bride. Well, Amanda is that bride! She is so incredibly talented and when she’s not designing and marketing pieces for the company that hired her, she’s hard at work on her own designs. One of her proudest designs so far? Her own wedding dress!! She designed, created and perfected her own wedding gown and it was just spectacular.
So after that little intro, you can imagine how excited we were once their wedding day finally arrived! And once again, there’s just too many images to share in one post, so first we’ll share all of the pre-ceremony moments. And then we’ll share the second half of their day very soon…
Amanda and Jason live in the Boston area, but Amanda grew up in Clifton Park and her family still lives there so it made complete sense that their wedding would also be held there. Since they had a lot of guests traveling from out of state, though, they booked a room block at a local hotel and pretty much took over the entire hotel. We were right there with them and had SUCH a blast with everyone. To let their guests know how much they appreciated their being there, Amanda and Jason prepared the most adorable welcome basket for them. The basket was actually a mini tote bag that was monogrammed with each guests initial:
All of the details at this wedding were spectacular. Check out Amanda’s beautiful two-toned hydrangea bouquet:
While Rene walked through the hotel to find Jason and the boys, I walked into Amanda’s suite and found this scene before me….Amanda still hard at work on her wedding gown. Just hours before she was to walk down the aisle. Perfecting a few more details before she slipped it on:
Meanwhile, Rene was busy capturing some details of his own with the guys. The groomsmen all received stylin’ monogrammed cuff links:
But none were quite as stylin’ as Jason’s own cuff links, a gift from his beautiful bride and a nod to his job in the financial industry:
So since Rene and I usually split up to photograph the bride and groom getting ready separately, one thing that our couples say they can’t wait to see is how each of them are spending time before they see each other. It’s pretty fun to see the contrasts and we thought we’d share it here, too. So while the girls were busy getting themselves primped and their hair done – and Amanda was working on her dress, the boys were….well, also having fun:
Jon’s a big fan of the bow tie….
Meanwhile, I just couldn’t get enough of Amanda, her dress and all of her wonderful details.
Amanda found a beautiful locket and placed her grandfather’s portrait inside so that she could carry him with her all day. Then, later in the evening at the reception, she presented her grandmother with the locket as an extra special and personal gift.
Amanda didn’t wear a traditional veil. Instead she wore the most amazing head piece – a trend that more and more of our brides have been adopting this year. And I am SO in love with it! Amanda had a stunning head piece which she, of course, made herself:
Soon it was time for everyone to get into place for the outdoor ceremony. And I can say both from past experience as a bride and from spending so much time with our own brides, that the 10 minutes before you walk down the aisle can be 10 of the longest minutes of your life. It was during this time that Amanda’s dad saw her for the first time as a bride. And as they waited those last few moments alone, I felt myself melt when I saw Amanda’s dad staring at her with the most emotional eyes. You can only imagine how he must have felt at this very moment:
And then as Amanda became a little bit more nervous, dad knew exactly what to say make everyone laugh and relax for a few minutes:
All of these amazing moments and we’re just a couple hours into our day. This is just the beginning, so be sure come back to read the rest of their story….
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