•  I’ve known Jen for about 4 years or more – we met in that early social media place called Live Journal (although I can’t recall how?) and quickly became friends, especially once realizing how close we lived to one another.

•  You may remember her from the photos I took of her beautiful cat Oreo this spring.  For those wondering sadly Oreo passed not long after our session together.  I hope that her and Sage are having a grand time in Cat Heaven.

•  Jen and Dan had an entire different vision for their wedding when they originally booked me but then they found THE house and decided to downscale the wedding and have it in their new house’s backyard.  I love, love, love backyard weddings.  My first wedding ever was shot in the bride’s backyard and it was such a perfect day.  Jen and Dan had the same perfect day that they did.  There’s just something so sweet about getting married where you spend your life.  I love it.

•  Jen and I became fast friends in part due to our shared love of books.  I was delighted to find out that Jen incorporated books into much of the wedding day including by having a book bouquet (by far my favorite bouquet EVER) and books in the centerpieces.  LOVE!

•  Another loose theme of the day that coincided with the book theme was a “The Bloggess” theme.  You read that right, this awesome bride incorporated the amazing Jenny the Bloggess into her wedding.  You know you now consider her to be one of the coolest brides EVER right?  Dan knows of Jen’s love of The Bloggess – she is a faithful reader and he also thinks that they favor one another.  Around the time of the wedding, Jen had read one of her hilarious posts about getting a Sloth for her husband for their anniversary.  Jen was obsessed with the idea and informed Dan that she wanted a sloth for their wedding.  Dan however, was not so keen on the idea as sloths give him the heebie-jeebies to the nth degree.  While Jen was getting ready, we kept talking about it and she said that she was still secretly hoping for a sloth but had a feeling that was a hard line that Dan wouldn’t cross, even for their wedding.  Dan however, proved to be the most awesome groom ever and actually TRIED TO GET HER A SLOTH.  Seriously.  That is beyond awesome pants.  Since he was unable to procure a sloth for the wedding day (sad!) he instead gifted Jen with her very own copy of “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” which immediately was deemed to be decor and promptly taken outside to be part of the wedding day.  This is why I love these guys.

•  My favorite part of the day (it is quite hard to chose!) was when the officiant said this:

Welcome, friends and family! Good evening everyone. Please be seated. Dan and Jennifer invite you to be truly present at this special time. Please, turn off your cell phones and put down your cameras. The photographer will capture how this moment looks — I encourage you all to capture how it feels with your hearts, without the distraction of technology. If Dan can do it, then so can you.

• I know that guests LOVE to help capture your day but often they inadvertently ruin images and make my job that much harder. I’ve blogged about this in the past (and have plenty of new images which I intend use for a refresh post soon) and the fact that unplugged weddings are becoming more and more popular make me do a major happy dance!

Wedding Vendors

Bridal Gown:  Allure Bridal Couture viaUniverse Bridal
Coffee Bar:  Muggswigz
Cupcakes:  Vegan Sweet Tooth
Family Medaillon:  Precious Charms and More
Florist:  Every Blooming Thing
Hair & Makeup:  Sin Pretty Beauty
Menswear:  American Commodore Tuxedo
Officiant:  Rev. Catherine Daniels
Wedding Rings: WingedLion (Engagement Ring), Peaces of Indigo (Bride’s Wedding Ring), Minter and Richter (Grooms Wedding Band)

I love that they did a first look and love the location in their home they chose!

Colin, Jen’s son, took a while to warm up to the camera.

Vincent, Jen’s nephew, got a lot of loving from Grandma!

The kiddos were getting a bit restless and wild in the hour before the ceremony so Jen’s mother rounded them up and started telling them stories.  It was so awesome!

They didn’t want a lot of posed portraits for the day preferring the candid moments to the posed but I’m glad that I managed to make them smile for a few!

Favorite!!!

These were wands for the guests to wave after the ceremony and they bonused as their favors as a CAT TOY!  How brilliant!

I know I’ve gushed about these centerpieces already but aren’t they amazingly perfect?

These custom straws made me giddy!!  So adorable!

Look how seamlessly The Bloggess fits into the decor?  Her cover even matched the color scheme!

I love twinkle lights!

This sign was beyond awesome.  

The backyard looked amazing!

Love love love!

Vincent’s allergies kicked up so he was rubbing his eyes and nose the entire walk to the ceremony and I still don’t know what the heck Colin was doing but the end result makes it look like they are doing some kind of coordinated dance.  Love!

Jen’s parents both escorted her down the aisle.  <3

The reading of the request to have an unplugged ceremony.  Be still my heart! 😉

Jennifer and Dan chose to have a hand warming ceremony of the rings (much like my wedding in Cozumel did) and I loved how serious Colin took this element of the day.

They also included Colin in the ceremony and Dan gave him a Family Medallion to seal their vows to be a family.

Yes, the rings were held in a book of sonnets.

The rings were being a bit pesky due to the heat.

THE BOOK BOUQUET!  Yes, this bouquet made up of William Shakespeare’s love sonnets made my heart stop.  It’s brilliant.

Jen’s niece Summer read the poem “The Owl and the Pussycat” which was a poem that Dan’s grandmother read him often.

Few children are able to resist the lure of a microphone and Colin was not one of them.  He decided to sing “Soft Kitty” to us… a few times.

Their first dance and here you can spy their awesome game table they had!

Colin had a bit of a meltdown right as the dance started because his best friend had to leave and he wanted his Mom to stop them.  He kept yelling for her and she ignored him until he came over and started tapping her back.  It was hilarious and I’m sure he’s going to be teased about this often in the coming years.

Dan and his Mother danced and sung along to a favorite song of theirs.

Jen and her father also shared a sweet dance.

You knew this was going to happen right???

Detail of the awesomeness that the book bouquet was.

Eventually I got out The Game of Life and played with the rings for a bit here.  I loved this shot.

However I also loved this one as well.  Which one do you prefer??

A relaxed portrait in front of their gorgeous new home at the end of the night!

Thanks SO much to both of you!!!  Congratulations!!!!!