Rock the Dress: Cara

Earlier today, Cara and I headed to the Judge Morris Estate located in Newark, DE to shoot her Rock the Dress session. The Judge Morris Estate happened to be where Cara, and her now husband, Dan were married on 6-5-2010. First let me tell you, it is an absolutely gorgeous estate. It has lots of wide open green field, with some stone walls, and a gorgeous house. For weddings, you can rent the house and the lands. It really is a pretty place. It's funny, I've been living in Newark, DE for 6 years, and never once visited!

Now, back to Cara. She is a beautiful bride. Her dress, which belonged to her mother, is stunning. Very vintage and very detailed. Delicate lace and pearls everywhere. It has has very Victorian feel to it. Here are a couple of shots from today:

And to top it off, the weather was perfect!  It was a great day for a shoot!  Remember ladies, schedule your Rock the Dress session, you will have so much fun! Here is what Cara had to say about her session:

The pictures turned out lovely! Doing Rock the Dress was a great opportunity to get some real one-on-one time with my wedding dress. It's like having your own personal modeling session.  It was nice, relaxed, but professional... and you can definitely see this in the photographs.  I love the softness you gave to my pictures to compliment my dress and style.  Everything turned out awesome.

Pin It

Alison's Rock the Dress Session

Today was my first Rock the Dress session of the summer.  Let me say, that it was a blast to shoot, and I can't wait to do more!  I have two more scheduled for this week, and I am really looking forward to them!

Alison's dress was absolutely beautiful.  A vintage ivory lace dress, accented with an off white hat, and an orchid hair clip that Alison made herself.  The whole ensemble was gorgeous.  And if you know me, you know I love anything vintage.  The weather was just perfect, the sun was shining, and it just went great.  Alison was so wonderful to work with, especially when it came to getting down and dirty.  Alison climbed onto things, sat in trees, she was awesome!  Here are a few shots from today:

It was such a blast to shoot, and Alison is a natural model. It was so much fun!  Ladies, don't keep your wedding dress in the closet! Schedule a Rock the Dress session today! Click here for details!

Pin It

Bride & Groom pictures: Before or After the Ceremony?

We all know the tradition, superstition, bad luck tale of the groom seeing the bride before the actual wedding, but how does it effect the pictures.  Typically, the couple takes their "formal" pictures right after the ceremony and before the reception.  Most couples have a 30-45 minute, sometime a 60 minute break before the reception to do the photographs.  And let's not forget family,  this is also the time that the family members, bridal party, and groomsmen take their formal shots also with the bride and the groom.  And while the shots get done, the bride and groom don't really have time to be by themselves before the hustle and bustle of the reception starts.

That is why a lot of couples are opting to have their own private "formal" pictures done before the ceremony.  This gives the couple a chance to steal away some private, intimate, and precious moments before the craziness and fun of the actual ceremony and reception.  The couple can see each other, talk, get over their nervous jitters, and have their pictures taken while relaxed and not surrounded by others.

And the best part is,  if you can get over that "bad luck" issue with the bride seeing the groom before the wedding, you still get to experience that first feeling, when he first sees you in your dress.  Either in front of others or by yourself, that feeling will always be there.

There are other brides who still want to wait till after the ceremony to do the formal pictures, but now many are scheduling bridal portraits, known as Trash the Dress sessions.  I offer Rock the Dress sessions, because I love my wedding dress too much to even consider trashing it, and I know that most brides want to have some awesome pictures of them in their gown while having fun.  Let's face it, the wedding day is busy, bustling, and sometimes stressful, but hopefully always fun.  While there are pictures of the you and your husband, family, friends, bridal party, and groomsmen, you still want to do some creative and fun shots in your gorgeous wedding gown.  Besides, when do you get another chance to wear you wedding gown?

I will be featuring some Rock the Dress sessions later this week. Tomorrow I have a session, where the bride is wearing a vintage 1920's lace wedding dress. I cannot wait to see it!  Later on this week I have a session where the bride is wearing her vintage Victorian inspired gowns.  I love my job, I get exposed to such awesome people and beautiful dresses.  The seamstress side in me loves wedding dresses!

So brides, give it some thought.  You can do pictures before or after the ceremony, in the end, the day is all about you and your new husband. Pin It

Unique keepsakes for my awesome couples!

Even after I am done photographing a wedding, and the couple receives their photos, I still want to give them something extra! Me, being the creative spirit that I am came up with a great idea that is unique and green.  See, I have tons of recycled card stock paper for scrapbooking.  Different patterns, designs, finishes etc.  I decided to create custom, hand made DVD envelopes to present my clients with when they receive their DVD.  That way, they get the extra gift I wanted to give them as a keepsake to keep their wedding images in!  Each envelope for each client will be a different design with different accessories.

The one I am going to show you below is for Tiffany & Kevin.  Their wedding colors were blue and green, almost like a light soft blue with a light soft green.  So, it was only natural for me to choose a blue inspired cardstock to create their DVD envelope.  I then added some ribbon and lace to give it that extra touch:

Pin It

Cupcakes in a Jar!

I was browsing along the twitter account of Danielle Pasternak, who is a wedding planner in the Lehigh Valley, and she shared a link which showed cupcakes in a jar.  Yes, you heard right, cupcakes in jar.  Now, who could turn down a good cupcake?  I know I can't. My favorite is red velvet with butter cream frosting.  While reading the article, I thought it would be a good and economical way to have an alternate dessert instead of a wedding cake.  They are easy to make, you can use recycled baby food jars, and it's just all around awesome.  Take a look, this snippet was taken from  mycakies.blogspot.com:

March 25, 2010
DIY: cupcake in a jar
Going to the other side of the spectrum, from a vegetable garden to loaded with all things bad for you, but tastes so good cupcakes. You won't think I am such a genius anymore once I tell you how these are done. It really is easy and makes for such a visually appealing way to dress up cupcakes, not that cupcakes need to be dressed up as the name itself is cute and enticing!

I pretty much use Paula Deen's recipe, but with a few of my own tiny tweeks to the ingredients (see*) and then I pretty much follow the directions in Paula Deen's recipe to make the batter and frosting, though I change it up a bit (time in the oven) when it comes to baking it.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- *2 1/4 tsp cocoa powder
- *1 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tbsp red food coloring
- 1 tsp white distilled vinegar
- *2 tsp vanilla extract

for the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 pound cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- *2 tsps vanilla extract
- 4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Batter is ready to be put in cupcake pan.
baking cupcakes

2. I spray the pan with pam and then fill each hole up 2/3 with the batter. Note: I do not use liners, but you could if you want, just pull them off before putting them in the jar.
cupcake pan

3. Usually they are done after about 17 minutes in my oven at temperature of 350℉, and I take them out and put them on a wire rack to cool completely.
cool down

4. Once they are cool, I slice them in half. You will have a stack of tops and a stack of bottoms.
sliced in half

5. Place 1 bottom in each jar.
bottom of the cupcake

6. Put a layer of the frosting.
frost the middle

7. Take the top of the cupcake and place on top of the layer of frosting.
the top

8. Flatten (gently smash) the top part of the cupcake inside the jar. You want to get the top sort of flat.
flatten the top

9. Beautifully frost the top of the cupcake.
pipe on the topred velvet in a jar

10. Cover with lids and package however you like! It will be heartbreaking to eat, as it is so pretty, but it is so yummy!
red velvet in a jarred velvet in a jar
Easy, right? See, I told you I am not a genius. I did also want to give a crack at actually baking it in a jar (crossing my fingers that I wouldn't shatter or explode in the oven) and it came out pretty good too.

I followed these instructions, but the lid I boiled shrank, so I just ran it in piping hot water right before I put in on the jar. Also, I didn't listen to the "ping" because knowing my ears I wouldn't even hear it (I have small ears, so I have bad hearing! At least that is why I think I can't hear well.) I let the whole jar cool completely, which was 2.5 hours. After it cooled, I opened the jar up, I scooped out a hole in the middle and then filled it with frosting. I finished it off by frosting the top too! Then, I sealed it again and packaged it to my liking. Something I would change next time I bake it in a jar, is to only fill it up a quarter of the way because it came up higher than I wanted it too.
cupcake in a jar
Just as cute and delicious as the other way of making it!

Here is a little supplies list with a link to where I bought my goodies for packaging:
- 8 oz glass jars with gold lid
- wooden spoons
- round stickers (I did have to cut them down a bit to make it fit the top)
- bakers twine
- pastry bag and decorative tips
enjoy
Now, go and enjoy as I am sure most of you will be itching to bake or make something (anything) in a jar! It is really darn cute that you have to give it a try! Don't forget to listen to this song as you bake! Happy baking!!!

Pin It

Wedding: Sarah and Seth

Today was the wedding of my good friends Sarah and Seth.  They were wed at Greenbank Mills in Wilmington, Delaware.  It is a pretty location, that has a gorgeous stream running through it.  It is very picturesque.  It was so hot I was tempted to hop into the water!  Their wedding was small and intimate with close family and friends, my husband was the best man.  They were great to shoot with!  Here are a couple of shots of the day.

Pin It

Awesome Wedding Promotions!

Hello folks, I have some awesome wedding promotions for you!  Since I have recently been Wedding Wire Rated, I decided to offer two new promotions for couples who contact me through that site. So here they are!

When you book 4 hours, the bride gets a free boudoir session! Definitely something fun and unique.  A great gift for your husband!

When you book 8 hours, the bride gets a free trash the dress session! Now don't be alarmed!  We are not actually trashing your dress, unless of course you want to.  But this gives the bride a chance to throw on her

And I definitely do not want to leave the grooms out, especially after coming across the awesome website TheManRegistry.com , so I want to give you guys something special also.

If you book 8 hours, the groom gets a free "GQ" session. It's similar to a trash the dress session, but this time aimed toward the groom.  You can opt to wear your tux or wear something casual, but the session is all about you!

Pin It

Wedding Wire Rated!

There is a great website that I am listed on, WeddingWire.com.  It helps couples plan their wedding by providing them a list of vendors and such that are needed to throw off an amazing wedding day.  I am proud to say that I am now officially Wedding Wire Rated!  That means that I have 3 or more wedding related reviews on my page.  This is big considering this is my first official wedding "season".  I am extremely happy about this. The next goal is to obtain the Wedding Wire Rated Silver badge, which is 10 or more reviews. And I have a feeling that I will be obtaining that quickly thanks to my awesome clients!

//

And here are some of the reviews:

Read all of our Wedding Photography Reviews at

// So tomorrow is the wedding of my good friends Seth and Sarah.  They are getting married at Greenbank Mills in Delaware.  I am not only their photographer, but their guest! It should be interesting trying to juggle both roles, especially being as that I tend to get in the "zone" when I have my camera.  But I'm sure it will all go smoothly and I cannot wait!
Till next time! Pin It

Twitterific!

I am a social media addict. I love my facebook, myspace, and twitter.  They are such great ways to spread the word around to lots of people.  I want to share with you some awesome twitter accounts and their websites that I have come across with a focus on weddings!

First is mywedding.com! You can follow them on twitter @myweddingdotcom.  They are a great website that features guides to help plan your wedding by the state that you live in.  They show you photographers, catering, reception spaces, dresses, flowers, and more.  It's basically a one stop shop that you can visit to plan your wedding in one place!  I'm even featured on the Delaware photographers page!  So if you are a vendor dealing with weddings, I highly suggest hooking up with this site. And if you are a couple about to get married, what are you waiting for?  Get on over there!

Second is themanregistry.com Follow them on twitter @themanregistry.  Contrary to popular belief, the wedding is not all about the bride.  Most times the grooms are left feeling left out. This awesome website focuses on the grooms!  Feature gifts, registries, and guides for the groom!

Next is thegreenbride.com Follow them on twitter @greenbrideguide The green bride guide is an awesome website featuring green weddings and how to make your wedding awesomely green! Unique ways to have your wedding turn out to be an awesome event.

And lastly, it's me!  If you have yet to, follow me on twitter!  @loveshutterbug I'm always updating, retweeting, reposting! You can ask me a question and i'll get back to you there quickly!

Have a great day folks! Pin It

Wedding: Tiffany & Kevin

This Saturday, Tiffany and Kevin tied the knot at a gorgeous estate located in Elkton, Maryland.  When I woke up that morning, and saw that it was raining, I was mortified!  They planned an outside wedding, and I hoped that everything would still go as planned. Luckily, it stopped raining just in the nick of time, and the wedding and reception were still able to happen outside.  Although hot, their wedding was a blast to attend! And it was truly my pleasure to capture their amazing day.  Here are some shots of the day:

Best of luck to Tiffany and Kevin in their marriage!

Pin It

The Brossman Center

Hello everyone! I hope that all of you have been doing well, and staying cool despite this massive heat wave.  Today the humidity was so thick, I could literally see it! My glasses were fogging up every couple of minutes.  I believe we hit 99 degrees in my area?  To me, it felt like 100+.

But the day was not all about heat for me, today I ventured up to Pennsylvania to meet with Rita from the Brossman Center.  The Brossman Center is an event center located in the Mt. Airy community of Philadelphia that houses weddings and other events.  The grounds and buildings are amazing! The architecture is a mix of the old world meets the new modern world. It is truly breath taking.  Besides the gorgeous chapel, the building and grounds have all sorts of hidden nooks and crannies where great photos can be taken!  I am now one of the house photographers there, so I am extra happy to tell all of you about it.  Like I said, it is gorgeous! It is easy to locate, not too far from I-95 and the Philadelphia International Airport.  More information can be found on their website, http://www.brossmancenter.com/about.html http://www.brossmancenter.com/about.html

Here are a couple of shots that I was able to get while touring the grounds.  Be prepared for the shot inside the chapel with the stained glass, the lighting in this place is wonderful. It creates such a great ambiance for pictures.

[gallery columns="2"]

Isn't it gorgeous?  I absolutely loved it, and their event liaison, Rita Faison is such a pleasure to work with!  If you are looking for a location for your wedding, then definitely contact her. There is a contact form on the webpage.

Have a great night! Pin It

Happy 4th of July!

I know it is a bit late, but Happy 4th! I had a very busy day today.  With good food, great friends, and an awesome time.  The heat was just a bit too intense for me though, so I tried to minimize my movements.  Which meant that I didn't run around and take pictures at all during the day.  But of course, I couldn't miss the fireworks that the University of Delaware put on this year.  Here are a few shots of the evening.

[gallery]

I hope you all had a good day. I have a very busy week coming up. Meetings, client lunches, and a weddings!

Have a great night! Pin It