Sarah and Mike got married last weekend! I had been looking forward to their celebration since first meeting them last year, and then photographing their engagement. They are a wonderful couple and I knew their wedding would be a blast. So, even though it rained allllll day, we were in high spirits and had tons of fun! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Morgante

Thanks to my fabulous 2nd, Amanda, for spending some time with the guys while the girls were doing their thing.

The bridesmaids decided to do tequila shots, but there was no salt and no lime… Strawberries to the rescue! Ick, not very good!

The ceremony under the Ravenwood tent was very emotional, very funny, very loving, and very wet.

Yes, I am that photographer who will take couples out in the rain and show no mercy! Ravenwood recently remodeled their beautiful lawn garden, so the newlyweds and their families and bridal party braved the cold wet rain in order to get some amazing photos out on the lawn. Thank you thank you thank you for going along with my crazy requests!

Some gorgeous details…

First dance as husband and wife – “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele.

Coolest cake ever!

Party time!

Thanks for having me photograph your amazing wedding! Hope you guys are enjoying your honeymoon in Hawaii!!!
With love,
Kristina

…soon you will have answers!

As a wedding photographer, I am keenly aware of how people look. Especially how brides and grooms look (and feel) on their wedding day. A long time ago it became apparent to me that the more put-together the couple looks (the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, the perfect hair, etc) the more confident and beautiful they will feel, and with that, they will have the perfect day! So with that in mind -

Sara Lovell, a Rochester MUA/hair stylist has agreed to an interview with me in an effort to educate and help brides prepare and look gorgeous on their wedding day. Sara has a huge list of tips already, but we are still interested in getting more questions so that the interview can be more productive and more informative for you! So, ask away – and in two weeks, your questions will be answered! Use the Facebook comments tab, or the native blog comments, and please please please also share this with your friends/girlfriends/family/coworkers – we want A LOT of questions, so we can have a GREAT interview, so it can ultimately help you have the wedding day you always dreamed of!

My birthday usually falls around Labor day. For the past three-four years it has been super busy with two, sometimes three, weddings in one weekend. So I get to celebrate, while doing what I love, while EATING CAKE. Just sayin’.  Angela and Matt’s cake not only looked gorgeous, it was delicious!

We showed up at Brookwood Inn and were greeted with this amazing sight of the big train on a beautiful wedding dress.

Again, the DRESS!!!! Wow. Angela, you looked simply stunning in it.

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We had a few minutes to spare so we staged an impromptu session on the stairs to show off the long train, and then one more with all the bridesmaids.

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What a nice way to remember a loved one by.

Cutie pie alert!

Here comes the bride

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St. Mary’s in Canandaigua has always been one of my favorites to photograph wedding ceremonies in.

During the vows, I knew I’d need to stand off to the side. ( PSA: always hire an experienced professional )

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What a gorgeous, unusual bouquet of cascading white orchids.

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The newlyweds rented the Sonnenberg Gardens for their bridal party shoot. Thank you thank you thank you, what a great experience and a feast for the eyes and nose!

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We had a teensy bit of time left before the reception was set to start, so we walked around the Casa Larga building into the vineyards and got a few more pictures among the grapes.

Angela fell in love with these stairs at the Casa Larga tasting room after seeing Kelly and David’s wedding pictures I had blogged. I was happy to oblige her with a similar shot.

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First dance

What a beautiful family! And great toast from MOH, too.

Cake topper.

This little man celebrated his own special day – a birthday!

The shoelywed game was a battle of opinions!

Adding to the sugar high (birthday present to self), I got a scoop of ice cream with sprinkles and hot fudge. YUM! One of my 2012 brides talked about getting an ice cream bar for her reception – I say, DO IT.

Ok, now the CONTEST!!!
1. If you have Facebook,  “like” this post.
2. Comment! Any valid comment* will be eligible.

50+ LIKES will earn the couple $25 in account credit with PhotoKisses.
25+ COMMENTS will earn the couple $50 in account credit with PhotoKisses
You could essentially be helping them upgrade their album or get an awesome wall print. Yay freebies!
A reasonable time frame of one month (so, until 3/2/12) will be given so that anyone who wishes to “like” and/or comment may do so.

*A random number generator will be used to pick a lucky commentator, who will receive a gift card to my favorite addiction store Starbucks

BONUS! Ha, you thought it was going to be another ring shot. Nope, not this time! Angela came by a few weeks after the wedding to pick up her image disc, and she brought her best friend along. Poor baby was too shy to play with my puppy Myla, but he posed for a few pictures from the safety of the newly minted Mrs. Moore’s legs. What a cutie pie face! I love how his doggie tag looks like a bow tie. Because, you know, bow ties are COOL.

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Jenn and KC’s wedding at the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa was a spectacular event on a beautiful and warm September day. I was particularly excited because in the past, I would go to Woodcliff to photograph brides getting ready, or to the reception, but never the whole shabang – Jenn got ready in one of the many beautiful suites there, got married outside on the patio overlooking Victor, and in the distance, Rochester, and also had the reception in the ballroom inside. So, an excellent day for celebrating, all in one place!

If you’d like to comment on individual pictures from this wedding, or share them with your friends, I’ve also posted A LOT MORE PICTURES!!!! to a gallery on my PhotoKisses Facebook page – so go check it out, and tag people you know in the pictures!

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Isn’t the back of Jenn’s dress simply spectacular?!

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Because the newly made Burritts wanted to enjoy their cocktail hour, we decided to do a First Look a few hours before the sunset ceremony.

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The beautiful bouquets were provided by Sarah from Kittelberger Florist

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I loved that both of Jenn’s parents walked her down the aisle.

After the ceremony, we took a few more minutes for some newlywed portraits, since the sun was setting and the whole Woodcliff hill was covered in soft hazy light.

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One of my favorite images of the whole season!!!

Then on we went to have fun at the reception.

There were many excellent deserts including a cookie and chocolate fountain bar – YUM!

Hide as much as you want – you can’t escape me  =)

Ok, now the CONTEST!!!
1. If you have Facebook,  “like” this post.
2. Comment! Any valid comment* will be eligible. (preferably more than two words)

50+ LIKES will earn the couple $25 in account credit with PhotoKisses.
25+ COMMENTS will earn the couple $50 in account credit with PhotoKisses
You could essentially be helping them upgrade their album or get an awesome wall print. Yay freebies!
A reasonable time frame of one month (so, until 1/21/12) will be given so that anyone who wishes to “like” and/or comment may do so.

*A random number generator will be used to pick a lucky commentator, who will receive a gift card to my favorite addiction store Starbucks

Reminder: If you’d like to comment on individual pictures from this wedding, or share them with your friends, I’ve also posted A LOT MORE PICTURES!!!! to a gallery on my PhotoKisses Facebook page – so go check it out, and tag people you know in the pictures!

How do I keep getting so lucky and getting the most amazing couples that want me to photograph their weddings? I feel so blessed this year! I am not much in the way of words (wait, that didn’t even sound English), so I’m glad I have so many pictures to show

Laura’s dress had a really nice intricate design on the front, which I loved.

Mom and a slew of bridesmaids helped her get ready.

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The ceremony was held at St. Patrick’s church in Victor, Ny. It was a long and beautiful traditional ceremony.

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Paul sees his bride for the first time.

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Mr. and Mrs. Nardozzi!

A quick bridal party formal at the church – so glad to be photographing outdoors!

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We had some time to kill before the reception, so the party bus went back to the house for some relax-and-play time. The puppies certainly thought so!

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Another bridal party formal

Nothing formal about this one!

Other photographers ask grooms to put their hands all over their wives’ booties too, right? 

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The girls

The guys

Aaaaah I loved every single room in this house!

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The reception was held at the Ravenwood golf club in Victor. Laura used to work there and when I photographed Katelyn and Tim’s wedding there a few years ago, she was there and remembered me for her own wedding!

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Thanks to my awesome 2nd shooter Brady Dillsworth for capturing this intimate moment.

I love creative brides. Laura’s guests were able to put their fingerprints and greetings on the guest-tree that Laura drew.

Toasts

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Must be a Detroit Tigers (or Whitecaps??)  reference   Sorry I’m clueless about baseball, Paul!

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First dance

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The Radio Nation Band held an impromptu air guitar contest. It was the most fun I’ve ever seen anyone have at reception!

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If you haven’t checked out the Nardozzi Goof Booth, it’s HERE. The full gallery has also been posted for family and friends, so log in at www.photokisses.com/events and check it out. And lastly, Laura kindly answered some questions that all brides should know, which I will be posting in a few days. Check back soon!   In the mean time, here are the rings – in a bowl of sugar candy no less!

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I waited for the Peschken wedding like a child waits for Christmas. I knew it was going to be fabulous, I waited for it to be spectacular, I anticipated fireworks, I looked forward to having FUN – and Jillian and Kyle did not disappoint!

I figure that the biggest wedding of the year deserves the biggest blog post – so here it is, in all its 70+ picture glory!

My assistant photographer Shone was with the boys while I was with the girls.

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The ceremony was held at the beautiful St. Stanislaus Church on Hudson Ave.

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We were very lucky to have more than two hours in between the ceremony and reception, so thanks to Jillian’s mom who had some great connections, we were allowed inside the Century Club of Rochester for bridal party pictures. What a wonderful place! The Century Club is the oldest private women’s club in Rochester.

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Since it was sprinkling all day, the bridesmaids found a great use for their umbrellas!

I couldn’t believe my luck when, just as we turned into the Cobblestone Creek Country Club, it stopped raining! We took a few golf carts out into the golf course, and took lots and lots of  pictures with just the happy newlyweds.

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The following sequence reminds me of their engagement session in Balboa Park in San Diego!

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Thanks to the fabulous wedding planner Jen from Events by Jen, the reception hall looked immaculate.

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First dance

Toasts

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Paaaartay!

Aaaaugh! Can these rings BE any awesomer?! Will I ever tire of ring shots? NEVER!!!

THE BIG SURPRISE!

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Mmmmm food coma… wedding cake, candy table, cookie table. Sweet tooth heaven!

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I’m not gonna lie, I had a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw people writing in their awesome guest book that I created from the San Diego pictures, and later, when I noticed my images being used on the wine bottle favors.

Thanks to DJ Rich for taking this final picture of the night – and thanks to Jillian and Kyle for having me as your wedding photographer, I had such an amazing time! This was truly a wedding I won’t ever forget! So many great memories were made that day!

We did it again! Another fun and successful Goof Booth happened last weekend at Laura and Paul’s wedding reception at Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor. I am still working out some minor details, such as how to get it across that “less is more” when it comes to props    and that boas are made out of feathers, not steel. Other than that, the Goof Booth was once again a big hit!

I will have the rest of the wedding edited and up on the Online Proof Gallery hopefully by the end of next week, so until then, a teaser:

Jillian and Kyle at Cobblestone Creek Country Club

More images and an online gallery coming in about 2 weeks!

I photographed Tara and Bryan’s wedding at Woodcliff. This was actually the first wedding I photographed there in its entirety. In the past I’d have the bride getting ready there with a different Rochester or even Canandaigua location for the ceremony, or just coming there for a reception, but this was the first start to finish event at Woodcliff. It was nice to not have to drive anywhere!

I perched the shoes in the bamboo (Tara and her girls had the Asian-themed room)

It was the biggest bridal bouquet I had ever seen. And definitely the heaviest. I love little details like this cute ladybug here.

We had hoped to have the ceremony in the outdoor gazebo, but unfortunately it threatened to rain, so everyone was moved inside.

The rain didn’t stay long, and we were able to go outside for family formals and bridal party shots.

Bryan’s co-workers brought something from work to play with

Ah… my favorite time of day, just the newlyweds by themselves.

What a beautiful little family of almost three.

Yummy cake.

Searching for the garter

I’m in love with these rings! What a beautiful set.

Did I mention my love for these rings?!  (Shot on the serving tray full of creamer and cinnamon sticks)

My 2009 wedding season kicked off with an amazing celebration! I had the honor of photographing Kim and Mark’s wedding (you may remember their engagement session) on their 10th anniversary.  Luckily for them, their anniversary date conveniently fell on a Friday. It was a day full of laughter and good times with friends and family, some of whom traveled half way across the world for this occasion.

Comfy and pretty

Two garters (and something blue)

Getting dressed

Kim laughed, “This feels just like birth!”

Mark sees Kim for the first time

This was in response “I promise to try and be on time”

And this one to “I promise to have a sense of humor”

Ring exchange

Introducing – the newlyweds, celebrating their 1 minute anniversary!

Meanwhile, at Casa Larga, they were putting out the cake and decorating the tables.

We had some time for bridal pictures

Kim busted Mark while he was stealing a glance at his wife’s cleavage

The bridal party

If you participated in this wedding, you may click on “events” at the top of this page and check out their online proof gallery. You’ll need to register and know the access code to get in. Let me know if you are having difficulty accessing the pictures.

Thanks for looking, leave a comment, and have a great day!