Life of a Wedding Photographer – Behind The Scenes 2015

Celebrating the Everyday, The Story Beyond  //  23rd December 2015

2015 is definitely a year for the record books! Not only have we interviewed and photographed close to 100 couples for Amazing Life Together on the Amazing Marriage Adventure, but we have also photographed many sweet couple’s weddings and engagement sessions! We traveled to 49 states and have put more than 40,000 miles on the RV! ;) We flew to more weddings this year than we drove to! We photographed Liz and Ryan couples in Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, St. Lucia, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Virginia, and of course Maryland!

What a year! And by the looks of these photos, we certainly had a great time doing what we do! ;) Ohh the life of a wedding photographer!

That time Ryan slipped in the snow and was covered from head to toe!

I am not sure what these faces are… but at least we are consistent when checking our light! ;) I promise we are not in pain! lol!

Yep… this is pretty common!

Being a wedding photographer often means many different things on a wedding day. Ya know, like chair mover, wedding planner, bow tie tier, floor cleaner… you name it! ;)

Our RV even made it to a wedding! 

Even when you think you plan for everything, things happen! This rain came out of nowhere and forced everyone to take cover during the wedding! Which meant a lot of mud on the dance floor. :( Thats ok though… Ryan took care of it! ;)

That time we went on a 10km bike ride in The Netherlands to a castle for Renee and Joost’s engagement session and my bike tire went flat as soon as we got to the castle. lol.

Yep, we could photograph in the Germany vineyards every day! ;) 

Ohh Italy! Ahhh! Can we please go back soon?!? ;) Those few days documenting Casey and Alex’s Italy Destination Wedding are some of the most amazing memories we have as wedding photographers! What a treat!

This is Ryan’s reaction to us saying… “We are photographing a wedding in a Castle in Italy! WHAT!?!?! ;)” Or… he is doing his best Superman pose?!?

Photographing Tracy and Joe’s St. Lucia Destination Wedding was definitely a treat too!

That day it POURED the entire day!?!? 

Don’t worry- those are non-alcoholic beverages! ;)

Ohh Ryan! ;)

Yep, sometimes I just don’t even ask questions! ;) lol.

It happens. ;) lol.

The best photobomber ever! ;) Love him and love working by his side always!Here’s to a super exciting and adventurous 2015! So grateful for all of our couples who made it everything we could have ever dreamed it to be!

The Story Beyond – Special Guests at Sarah & Trevor’s Wedding

Celebrating the Everyday, The Story Beyond  //  8th July 2014

Ever since we posted the photos from Sarah and Trevor’s wedding, we have had all kinds of questions about why there was a Raven’s wide receiver and a real penguin at the wedding! ;) Believe me, when it was all happening, we were pinching ourselves too! ;) So to  fill in the story, here is The Story Beyond from Sarah and Trevor’s wedding!

It is not often that I get to photograph the groomsmen with Ryan. However, for Sarah and Trevor’s wedding, it worked out perfectly that I would be able to join in the fun! As soon as we started photographing Trevor with his groomsmen outside of the Mansion House at the Zoo, one of Trevor’s groomsmen (who just happened to be running a little behind that day! ;) ) drove by with his window down frantically looking for a place to park! Of course while giving him a hard time for being late, the groomsmen just pointed him up the street and said park there quickly and then move your car later!

About 3 minutes later (not kidding, it wasn’t long at all) the security for the zoo came over and asked us if we knew who was driving “that car.” “That car” happened to be the car that the groomsman had just parked and he just happened to park Torrey Smith in. Whoops! ;) Of course everyone kind of just stopped in their steps and said wait… Torrey Smith is here?!? ;)

Now you have to understand, Trevor and Sarah are both HUGE Baltimore fans. Ravens and Orioles and everything in between! In fact, their toast given by the best man for the evening was all about their love for the Ravens! ;) It was so perfect that Torrey Smith just happened to be at the Zoo the day of their wedding!

Trevor and his groomsmen quickly jumped at the chance to have their photo with Torrey. And I must say, Torrey was incredibly willing and went out of his way to make Sarah and Trevor’s day! ;) Trevor invited him to the wedding, but he actually had another wedding to attend that evening (you know, Ray Rice?!? ;) )!

So anyway- that is the super fun story of how Trevor had an extra special groomsman for their wedding day!

And Tails, the Penguin… he was just hanging out at his home at the zoo and came by to say hi during cocktail hour!!! ;) So incredibly fun! Definitely a day we will never forget!

The Story Beyond – The Selfie

Celebrating the Everyday, The Story Beyond  //  6th June 2014

This photo just brings the biggest smile to our faces! ;) Without bringing that horrible song into your head… the words “let me take a selfie” has definitely been overheard at every single one of our weddings this year! It is always too funny to watch the action. I am pretty sure this photo was taken after Samantha offered multiple times to take the picture for her ladies, but they thought a selfie would be more fun! ;)

With the smiles on their faces and Samantha’s laugh (it probably doesn’t even matter how the selfie turned out!!!) I am pretty sure the experience did not disappoint! ;)

Whatever you are doing this weekend… do it with great fun! And while you are at it, take a selfie and share it on Instagram! ;) Tag us at @Liz_and_Ryan and @amzlifetogether so we can share in the fun too! ;)

The Story Beyond – A bonus celebration!

Celebrating the Everyday, The Story Beyond  //  30th May 2014

We absolutely love the opportunity to capture more than “just the wedding day!” There is always so much that goes into a wedding celebration and it is usually those moments before and after the big day that hold such a special place in our couple’s hearts! For Katie and Ben, that is especially true!

We joined Katie and Ben and just a few of their family and friends on Fire Island on Thursday before their Saturday wedding. We photographed their engagement session that evening and then joined up with 5 of their family members and friends for an intimate dinner party! Greg and Rob, Katie’s uncles, welcomed us into their home in such a spectacular way and treated us to the most AMAZING dinner to kick the festivities off!

As we sat around the dinner table, we laughed harder than we have ever laughed! I am pretty sure that is not an exaggeration, but the truth! ;) That evening was the perfect example of what to expect over the next two days!- a lot of laughs and certainly a lot of celebration!

After the incredibly AMAZING dessert of grilled peaches and ice cream, Ben quietly got up from the table and whispered something into Sergio’s (the caterer) ear. Without skipping a beat, Sergio nonchalantly started placing champagne glasses on the table. I am pretty sure I was the only one to notice as everyone else was so focused on their cheeks hurting because they were laughing so much! ;) I quickly excused myself and went downstairs to grab our camera because I had a feeling something big was about to happen. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Ben had a special announcement to make. As everyone got quiet, Ben read an email from his phone stating that the offer he and Katie made on a house was accepted and they were now homeowners!!!! How incredibly exciting is that?!?! Their housing search had been going on for quite some time and they were about to move on without even hearing back from this offer because it technically had expired. But the night before their wedding festivities officially began, sitting around the dinner table with some of their closest family and friends, they received the exciting news and started the celebration early! ;)

I am so grateful we were there to capture that happiness! I am sure when they look back on their first home buying experience, that dinner will be one they remember full of stress relief and complete joy! ;) It was the perfect way to kick their wedding weekend off! ;)

The Story Beyond

The Story Beyond  //  29th April 2014

A few weeks ago, we found ourselves in Ohio hanging out with Ashley and Jeremy Kester, two people who have touched our hearts in big ways with very limited time we have spent in the same place at the same time! We were chatting about their most recent business ventures and soaking in the passion that poured from their hearts!

Jeremy was sharing his heart and love for H.H. Boogie (a company he and his AMAZING wife started over a year ago). They produce the most gorgeous wooden keepsake boxes that we have come to love in so many ways! ;) More to share on these in the future…

But as we were sitting there, Jeremy was explaining that when he shares wedding images with his clients, he pulls out a sampling of photos and explains the meaning behind that image and why he took it. He writes the story on the back of the image and gives that gift to his clients. Whoa. That is magical. That hit me. Every single image that we take has a story within itself. Just as our brides and grooms have their own emotional memory and story of their images, we often have our own little stories of why we took that image at the moment that we did. We often share those stories with our couples during their reveal party (which is why we LOVE doing reveal parties so much!!!) But we thought it would be fun to start sharing 1 or 2 images from each of our weddings along with our emotional memory or story of that image here on the blog!

These images will not always be the “prettiest,” but they certainly are pretty on the heart and we can’t wait to share them with you!

To kick things off, here is one of our favorite images from Jill and Tripp’s wedding:

Most people looking at it would see a regular old high five. Pretty awesome. But actually the story is even more awesome. This is probably one of 10 high fives Jill’s mom has given in her lifetime. She does not like high fives and thinks they are strange. (Side note: I just heard a commercial on the radio yesterday about how strange high fives are because it is as if you are hitting each other. Haha… too funny. To be completely honest, up until Jill’s mom shared her dislike for high fives, I had never heard of that before! ;) ). Only on super special occasions will she give a high five. I would say by the look on their faces, this is certainly a high five worthy super special occasion! ;)

When I look at this photo, I see pure joy. Jill’s mom was a source of pure joy throughout Jill and Tripp’s entire day (and beyond!)! She radiated! And when she was in the same room as us, we knew it because the positive energy just flowed everywhere! I am not kidding, I am pretty sure there was not a moment on Jill and Tripp’s day that she did not have a gorgeous smile beaming from her face! We hope this image will be a forever reminder of what pure joy looks like! (It certainly will for us!)