September 10, 2011
Another unusual venue for a wedding–at least for me–a church campground in northwestern Pennsylvania. It so happens that these two young people (Timothy and Robyn) met each other at this campground at children. Cool, huh? They renewed their friendship some twelve years later and there you are. The bride went with an autumn theme which carried through the dresses, flowers and decorations…even the gifts the bride gave to the wedding attendants were autumn colors. We started out the day of the wedding in the hotel where we did the “First Look” session utilizing the stairwell…very effective. The groom in his Marine uniform and the bride in her lovely grecian-style dress then moved outside to the back patio of the hotel, which overlooked the vista of pastoral, green rolling hills fresh from the recent rain. Stunning backdrop! I had two additional shooters for this wedding (a 12-hour shoot, my longest to date) and it was very helpful to keep things moving along.
After an hour or so we moved over to the ceremony venue where we took the attendant photos (again, great backgrounds which provided interesting choices). We had to work around the off/on rain, but that provided one of my favorite photos–an under-the-umbrella chaste kiss between the bride and groom.
After the ceremony, we drove about 30 miles to the reception venue in Meadville, Pennsylvania–which gave me my first opportunity to really “rest” off of my feet. The reception was in a local fireman’s hall where the autumn theme was again in evidence. Highlight? Cutting the wedding “cake” (a giant S’more) with a military sword.
Oh—did I mention that the bride was barefoot the entire day? I mean the ENTIRE day…all photos, the ceremony, the reception. Yep. So much about this very long day was unique…but very memorable.
