You first saw Jackie and Adam in their fall engagement shoot we did last fall on location in Bucks County… Now we are excited to share some of our favorite images from their big day!

With the help of wedding planner extraordinaire and all-around pleasure Christina Lupo, one of the fabulous Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, the new Mr. & Mrs. Winter had a wonderful day full of love and excitement! Their wedding ceremony took place in Bryn Mawr, PA at the historic and beautiful Bryn Mawr Presbyterian, and we took pictures of the wedding party back in the city in Rittenhouse Square Park where the light was just right for some late-afternoon portraits.

The sunny yellow of the bridesmaids’ dresses was complimented beautifully by colorful bouquets by Eventricity and lush white table arrangements brought the ballroom at the Westin Hotel to life! Speaking of the ballroom, the band, Paris, from EBE Entertainment kept the dance floor packed all night!

Enjoy the photos below, and if you (understandably) can’t get enough of this event, we’ve posted a slideshow on our “Real Weddings” page!

For the behind-the-scenes images….Here is (clockwise from left) the lighting assistant, Hernease, packing up equipment after a fun reception, the 2nd photographer, Matt, shooting images of groups against a black background at the party, and me, Faith, taken by Matt against the background.

And here’s a cool photo shot by Matt at the end of our cab ride back from Broad Street to grab Jackie and Adam’s photo in front of City Hall….

]]> http://faithwest.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/01/bryn-mawr-presbyterian-westin-hotel-philadelphia-jackie-adam/feed/ 0 http://faithwest.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/25/mayfair-farms-wedding-anna-and-jeff/ http://faithwest.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/25/mayfair-farms-wedding-anna-and-jeff/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:31:00 +0000 Faith http://faithwest.com/blog/?p=517 The new Mr. & Mrs. were married at Mayfair Farms in West Orange, NJ on a beautiful sunny day surrounded by family and friends!

One of our favorite parts of this event was their fantastic band Nafshenu Orchestra – they were able to handle a lot of traditional Jewish music, plus standards and current dance singles, all with a tight sound and skilled musicianship.

And we were so impressed with (and delighted by) the food by Mayfair Farms’ staff – everything from sushi to baked chicken was inventive and delicious. There was even a cupcake tower instead of a cake! Yum!

Can’t forget shout-outs for my invaluable “A” team — Matt Bender was my 2nd photographer and Herb Way was our lighting assistant.  See if you can spot us below – that’s me of course, goofing off in front of the black background, that’s Herb helping with gathering groups for the background, and that’s Matt taking the photos against our studio-style black background!

The ceremony was held at St. Mary’s Church in Lancaster, PA, and the reception was at the lovely Bent Creek Country Club in Lititz, PA.  Blooms by Vickery provided gorgeous floral decor, and Shumaker Design did the spectacular lighting. And the Don Eaton Orchestra was fabulous as always. Mary was stunning in an original creation by Janell Berté, the amazing designer and owner of Posh Bridal, based in Lancaster.

Since the wedding was held on the day of the Kentucky Derby they used it as a completely unique, fun theme – instead of place cards, guests received racing forms with their names and table numbers on them, and during the cocktail area guests enjoyed traditional mint juleps while placing “bets” on the big race, which was on several TVs in the bar area. Plus, there were red roses everywhere, another symbol of the Derby, and there were shamrocks everywhere to symbolize the luck of the race!

Many of the female guests played up the theme by wearing Derby day hats throughout the wedding reception. Even the bride’s dog wore a Derby day hat!

Last but not at all least, there was an artist capturing the ceremony on canvas as it happened! How neat is that?!

The reception took place at the Bent Creek Country Club, which backs up to the same golf course in Lititz, PA as the bride and groom’s house. Because the happy couple didn’t have to go outside the development to go back home, the bride and groom’s “getaway car” was a golf cart with a Just Married sign on it! (Although they did have an elegant old-fashioned Rolls Royce deliver them to the church and back.)

We love seeing so much thought and love put into a wedding and are so excited to share these photos:

Darlene at Precious Petals provided arrangements filled with luscious pink peonies, soft pink roses and fresh green hydrangea for the tables, beautiful feminine bouquets for the girls and more. We just love working with her, she makes it all look easy!

Conroy Catering did a great job as usual with delicious food and a friendly helpful waitstaff, not to mention one of the yummiest stations we’ve seen in a while – a hot/cold dessert bar with bananas foster and brandy peaches over ice cream!

To see more of this gorgeous day go to our Real Weddings page

As you may suspect, great pictures don’t just happen… that’s part of the reason we are so proud of our staff here at Faith West Photography.  In fact, we thought we’d share some behind the scenes shots to show what goes into making a great picture…

Brides paying attention and not being distracted by all the people ohh-ing and ahh-ing:

And check out this shot of Faith doing whatever it takes to get the shot (yep, that’s her laying on the city street!):

But that crazy looking angle gets this crazy-beautiful shot:

Simply gorgeous… and its always worth it when we see how beautiful our brides (and grooms and everyone) look on this most special of days!

Jasna Polana served the delicious and beautiful food, the Franklin & Alison Orchestra kept the dance floor full all night long, and Brittany at Petals Lane did a beautiful job, as always, with lush full floral arrangements and bouquets featuring huge pink peonies, fresh white tulips, and fluffy hydrangea.

We hope you enjoy their pictures as much as we loved being a part of Sharon and Steve’s big day!

Of course, my team and I braved the roads too, and kept an eye out for cops telling us driving wasn’t even allowed that day!!! All the vendors made this day come together beautifully, especially Beautiful Blooms and Conroy Catering.

I was so privileged to photograph Caroline & Joe’s wedding. They have a great story behind their marriage. They met years ago, when she was a beach badge collector and he was a lifeguard. They didn’t date, though, and went their separate ways. They didn’t meet again until years later when a mutual friend re-introduced them, and romance blossomed. In the interim when she wasn’t in touch with Joe, Caroline was an Eagles cheerleader. There were many former Eagles cheerleaders at the wedding– they led a raucous Eagles cheer after the first dance! Kimberly Fink of Kimberly Fink Events provided her typical stellar level of professionalism. I love working with Kimberly as wedding coordinator. She doesn’t hover, she’s sublimely pleasant, and always appears when she’s needed to lend a hand or provide logistical advice. She’s really great. Other wonderfully professional vendors at the event were the always-entertaining Paris band from EBE Entertainment, and the incredibly talented Donna O’Brien of Beautiful Blooms. And, of course, the stately and incredibly beautiful Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (the old building, designed by Frank Furness) provided a stunning backdrop for the reception.

I had the great privilege of working with Kimberly Fink of Kimberly Fink Events on Saturday for the wedding of Sarah & Ben. The ceremony was held at the second-oldest Catholic church in Philadelphia, Old St. Mary’s in Old City (built in 1763), plus the most rollickin’ reception I’ve ever seen followed at Sheraton Society Hill. Ben danced like Michael Jackson while everyone watched, and his brother rapped with apparent ease to the Sugar Hill Gang with the awesome band, Rio of Eddie Bruce Entertainment. The talented Ilonka Floral Decorators provided the fabulous flowers and lighting which set the stage in the ballroom for drama and magic. — Faith West