Anniversary

Nate and Chelsea had planned a wedding of their dreams and as the story recently goes…. Covid hit. The state shut everything down at 8pm that evening and within hours to go before the shut down, they decided to head to the court house and knew the only thing that mattered going into a global pandemic was that they were married. They contacted me afterwards and we planned to meet at another time and date so we could capture their formal bridal portraits.

After so many unknowns last year, we agreed to wait until the cherry blossoms bloomed at Highland Park and after a full year, we were finally meeting! We met at the Lamberton Conservatory and surprisingly had the entire area to ourselves and they looked AMAZING!

We started with some formal portraits but the real fun came when they showed me their leather jackets and told me it was more their personality and I was in LOVE!

We spent the evening under the cherry blossoms and it didn’t take long for these two creating beautiful images for their long awaited bridal portraits. We had a cloudy day which allowed for us to start shooting earlier I LOVE how it gave us a little more time! It was a PLEASURE getting to know these two a little more during our session and my only hope is that these images were worth the wait! Happy Anniversary Mr & Mrs Jay!

Last year I had the honor of being Ben and Nicole’s Wedding photographer. This year they are celebrating their first year as Husband and Wife and when we started talking about their Anniversary session, I had the perfect idea!

About a week earlier, my son and I were on our way to go pick up our take out from a local restaurant. While driving through town, I happen to spot this beautiful green truck parked on the side of the road with the owner sitting in the drivers seat. I had about 4 seconds to make a decision to stop and talk to him but I was also in my pajamas so I swallowed my pride and came back around the circle so I could park across the street and run across to get his attention; meanwhile, my son begging me not to embarrass him lol. I walked up on the truck and noticed he was on the phone, whoops! He saw me and gave me a “one minute” look. He hung up and came onto the sidewalk with me. Once I apologized for interrupting AND that I was in my over-sized pajamas, I told him that I loved his truck and would be elated to have use of it for a photo shoot sometime. He gave me his number and told me to contact him when I was ready! YES!

So now what… I have this truck to use and the perfect couple for their anniversary but where should we go? Where can we park this truck so that it’s level, not going to be damaged, not going to be in bright harsh sunlight and have some sunshine behind it like in my vision. So the search was on. Everywhere I went I was searching for the perfect tree. My husband teased me every day about my tree obsession. 🌳 lol There were some good contenders but none gave me the feels like one that I passed on my way to Dunkin Donuts every morning. It sat off the road, gave a good light source from the front and had a beautiful field behind it where the sun fell behind the beautiful leaves and it was just what I was looking for. So after a few weeks of stalking the house for someone to be home, I finally left a card with a little note. About a week later, I get an email from the land owner letting me know that he was willing to let us use his property! This is all coming together!!

My next move was to see if there was another wedding vendor that wanted to join us and I knew just the person! At Ben and Nicole’s wedding, I had met their florist, Val, from Sungrove Blossoms and Events and after seeing the STUNNING arrangements she had for their wedding and becoming friends on social media, I knew I had to ask her if she wanted to join the fun and without missing a BEAT she was on board! All I had asked of her was to bring whatever she wanted and to use her own creativity; and oh did she ever!! Which brings me to the day of! We all arranged to meet and when She brought a beautiful bouquet for Nicole, bucketed florals of all sorts and an unbelievable sunflower garland that she hand made, I couldn’t believe it!! 😲🌻🥳 LOOK AT THESE!!!

Once the truck was in place and the sun was just peaking through the tree, ⛅ just as expected, forals were set up and it was time for our couple to arrive! Ben and Nicole pulled in and came to greet us in such perfect outfits for this session (as always with these two!) It was time to start! It was the vision that I had from the beginning when I saw this truck for the first time. Within minutes of us starting, I knew Ben and Nicole were so comfortable in front of the camera from our previous times working together. They knew their poses so fluently! This was just a perfect example of why I love to watch a couple grow together. Last year I was shooting their wedding with some of these same poses and now, here we are, a year later and so much has changed! They’ve even added a beautiful little daughter to their family (but you’ll have to watch out for the family blog on their family session coming this fall!)

The sun lit perfectly behind the branches of the tree and started falling off towards the right of the field and the rest of us vendors faded away. Ben and Nicole had a few quiet private chats that brought so many natural smiles and laughs. I always wonder what those small conversations are but they are none of my business, I just hope their not making fun of me for being…. well, me.. ha! 🤪

We transitioned to the back of the truck after about 15 minutes and my vision came to life! The garland, the bouquet, the buckets of flowers, the truck, the tree and THE perfect couple, it was everything I wanted it to be!

What a lovely way to celebrate your One Year Anniversary!! They are such a great couple and it was amazing getting to spend some time with them after not seeing them for so long! I cannot wait to meet their beautiful daughter in the fall and capture all the memories of their family of three but for now, I wanted them to be able to spend some time together and document this milestone too which is far too over-looked! Document everything you can 🥰

I am so glad that I decided to act like a crazy person to pull this team together to make all of this happen! Thank you so much to everyone for their patience with me as I navigated through this idea! Nicole and Ben, I’m so glad I got to celebrate another year with you and I can’t wait to spend time with you again this fall and meet your beautiful daughter! To Dan, my second shooter, thank you so much for your help and assistance! I personally think EVERY ONE needs to go check out Sungrove Blossoms website, facebook and instagram pages for all of their floral needs! Thank you so much Val!! And finally Pat and Steve, the gentleman with the car and beautiful property, I cannot thank you guys enough for all of your flexibility with this and it would not have been possible without you! Thank you!

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot! Feel free to pop on my facebook page and give Nicole and Ben a heart ❤ on your favorites and feel free to share this blog post with your friends and family or if you’d like to book your own Anniversary session, feel free to contact here!