RSSRemember Carly & Bobby’s wedding? The one with the flash mod, amazing details, and a couple that just absolutely rocks our world?!?! ;)
Today, their wedding is featured on The East Coast Bride!! Wahoo!! If you are in need of some sweetness, definitely check it out!… complete with a description of their day from the fabulous Carly herself! ;)
February 22, 2012 - 10:01 am - Love this! Thanks for submitting it for us :)
Ahhhh! Bucknell! Such a magical place. It is kinda like Disney World… at least the way it brings a huge smile to our faces when we are within 2 miles of campus! ;)
Ryan and I are gearing up to speak at Bucknell’s Student Leadership Institute this weekend and we couldn’t be more excited! To be asked to speak at our alma mater is kind of like getting a hug from Mickey Mouse! ;) Pretty magical!
As we make the finishing touches to our talk on Risk Taking & Following Your Dreams, we ask for your prayers to give us the strength and confidence to speak from our hearts and touch the lives of the students in a special way!
We are so excited and honored to have this opportunity!! Thank You Bucknell for making our hearts smile… over and over again! ;)
Ohh and by the way… did I mention this picture is of Rooke Chapel where Ryan proposed to me 6 years ago on Valentine’s Day?!?! ;) So happy! ;)
February 17, 2012 - 9:44 pm - Hey Liz, I'm still following your career, and cheering for you and Ryan! My son Sam is graduating in May!!!! Enjoy you Bison visit!!
With engagement season upon us, we are getting so excited about our upcoming engagement sessions! The Pinterest Boards are already forming and the ideas are making us smile! ;)
We LOVE engagement sessions! In fact, we think they are such an important part of the Elizabeth Ryan Photography experience that we include engagement sessions in all of our collections.
We often talk about the importance of feeling comfortable with your wedding photographers. In fact, the most important advice we ever give Brides & Grooms is that they choose wedding professionals that they not only feel comfortable with, but will provide a positive experience for their special day. The engagement sessions give us an opportunity to get to know our Brides & Grooms a bit more, while they also get to know us! By the end of their engagement sessions, we often feel like friends… and knowing we will be taking pictures of our friends on their wedding day is such an amazing feeling!
Did we mention that engagement sessions give the Bride & Groom an opportunity to be in front of the camera before their wedding day?! This is HUGE! Ryan and I have been in front of the camera recently (in fact a few times) and we know it can be a little intimidating. For many of our couples, being in the “spotlight” is something new for them. However, after their engagement sessions, they are pros and know just how to ignore it while soaking each other in!
Wedding planning can be overwhelming. Many people get caught up in the details and lose focus on what is most important. As wedding photographers, it is our goal to capture this incredible time in people’s lives… the time that they are so in love and so ready to make this commitment in their lives. Engagement Sessions allow us to give our couples an excuse to escape the everyday distractions of life and wedding planning and focus on each other! That is most important in life!
Ahhh! Engagement Sessions are so much fun!! And not to mention… they definitely provide for some AMAZING photos! Yes, wedding photos are AMAZING as well. But engagement photos are totally different… they capture the everyday amazingness of this incredible time in our couple’s lives! And that is why we LOVE engagement sessions so much! ;)
For those of you who are recently engaged … don’t miss the opportunity to enter our Love Story Contest and the chance to win your very own life{styled} engagement session! We can’t wait to give you an excuse to escape the everyday craziness and focus on each other!!… while capturing some pretty AWESOME photos too! The deadline for submissions is the end of the day on Sunday (19th)!! Already an Elizabeth Ryan Photography Bride and Groom or currently a married couple, don’t worry, you can still enter for a chance to win a special life{styled} anniversary session instead.
It’s that time of year!! Time for us to have our mega Love Story contest! This year, we are mixing things up a bit and it is SOOO exciting!!
The 2012 Share Your Love Story Contest is open to ANY engaged or married couple! AND this year, the contest will be hosted on our Facebook page!! All of the details will be live at 12:00 a.m. tomorrow morning (Tuesday!). Don’t miss out! If you know any engaged or married couples looking for a special treat, send them our way!
We are so excited to giveaway a FREE life{styled} session to a loving couple!! Everyone deserves a little break in their everyday to celebrate each other and get some amazing photos to last a lifetime!
Check out the Facebook page for more details beginning at midnight on Valentine’s Day!
February 13, 2012 - 8:02 pm - Having already had one of these with you guys this past year...I can guarantee that it is an amazing experience and so worth sharing your love story with the world!! Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Friday Y’all! Ahh! This week has been such a good week! Hope you all are feeling the same way!
Between a super fun meetup with the fabulous Caitlin and Allison, a super sweet photoshoot with our new friends at Garnish Boutique and Petals & Print, AND the Grand Opening of a Starbucks in our neighborhood… AHHH! What a fabulous week!
(Side note: We just have to mention that Starbucks blew us away last night! We went to a “Friends & Family Night” as a preview before their opening today. As we entered, they offered us pastries and then invited us to counter for a FREE drink!! Anything we wanted… totally free! ;) How much fun is that?!?! ;) WAY TO GO Starbucks!!).
Anyway… if you need to find us in the near future…. we will likely be at the neighborhood Starbucks! ;) haha. Just Kidding. Actually, we have a lot of excitement happening in the next few weeks and we will be busy busy!! Can’t wait to share everything with you! Because I am super bad at secrets… I have to give you a hint. There is something super exciting beginning next week!! And it might just include something for everyone who is in LOVE!! Don’t miss it!! The announcement will be on the Blog!
Have a fabulous weekend!!
As we were posting about the First Look earlier this week, it had us thinking about our wedding day and the first time we saw each other! ;) It is a funny story that makes us laugh, so we thought we would share it with you!
A little back story… I am a very traditional person. When I dreamed of my wedding as a child, I dreamed about that walk down the aisle. (As you know, we had never even heard of a First Look at this point, so that was never even a question.) Leading up to the wedding, I would often ask Ryan if he was going to cry as I walked down the aisle. (Of course, that was what it looked like in my dream.) Ryan would laugh the question off and say, “it depends how beautiful you look!” haha. ;)
Sooo… It is now our wedding day and I am standing at the back of our church getting ready to take the walk that I had always dreamed of. However, it didn’t all go as smoothly as I thought it was going to! ;) I remember having to pace back and forth outside of our church because I was so nervous… truthfully I was just holding back some tears of my own and thought being by myself would be helpful! ;) I walked into the back of our church. At that point, our ring bearer, Sammy, was handed the ring pillow without the rings tied tight. The rings dropped and as they clinked across the floor, my dad chased after them. The girls were making their walk up the aisle and my dad and I rushed to take our place (of course, trying to hide from all of our guests at the same time… because, in my dream no one saw me before that walk!). All I wanted at that point was to be at the front of the aisle with Ryan! So, my dad and I started that walk. (Oh and did I mention that I totally forgot to let Sammy walk in front of us?!? He followed us up the aisle. :( ). As I think back, I don’t remember much besides crying! ;) I remember trying my very best to hold back every tear I had and to look strong. And of course help my dad hold back his tears too! By mid-aisle, I believe I looked up enough to see our photographer at the end of the aisle. Yes, the photographer…. not Ryan! Besides a sneak peek I took as soon as I walked into the church, I don’t even remember seeing Ryan until I was standing right next to him!! :(
After the wedding, (honestly, I don’t remember if it was the day of or days later) I asked Ryan if he cried…. because, of course, that determined if I looked “beautiful” or not…. haha…. and he did not. :( Sad day!! ;) haha. (No worries, I still felt incredibly beautiful that day anyway! ;) ). But it is fun to give Ryan a hard time about that every once in awhile! ;) When Ryan tells the story, he prefers we not bring up the “beautiful” comment. However he also notes that there was so much going on that he didn’t have a chance to cry. With over 200 of our closest family and friends watching us, it was a little overwhelming!
It is funny for us to look back on this moment on our wedding day, especially almost 5 years later! At the time, I was so focused on that dream I had always had and never really took the time to just appreciate the moment as it happened. I was anxious, nervous, worried about crying, etc. If we did it all over again, I would hope that I would be able to put all of those nerves aside and just focus on Ryan! ;) (The First Look would have definitely helped that situation!… maybe not the tears! ;), but at least the nerves!)
So, the morals of our story… (From Ryan) Never connect whether or not you are going to cry to how beautiful your significant other is… (haha) and (From Liz) On your wedding day, the only thing that matters is you and your soon to be bride/groom. Forget about all of your preconceived notions and let your real dream unfold in front of you!!
Photo Credit of Ryan & I on our wedding day: Llew Wenzel
February 9, 2012 - 2:05 pm - What a GREAT story!!! It actually gave me anxiety just reading it but the moral(s) of the story are so true and something Kicker and I have been talking about too to help us put things in perspective. You guys are so great!
When Ryan and I got married, the idea of a First Look was never introduced to us. In fact, we had no idea it was even an option. When it came to planning our wedding, we pretty much just did whatever we thought we were “supposed” to do.
The first time we were introduced to a First Look was actually by one of our amazing couple’s (Morgan and Rob) on their wedding day. We were going through the motions of their wedding day… doing everything that we were “supposed” to be doing and then Ryan appeared in the Bridal Suite unexpectedly to deliver a message that Rob wanted to see his beautiful Bride before she walked down the aisle. Caught off guard, but excited about the chance for them to see each other, we rolled with it and arranged a meeting for them. It was MAGICAL! Really, beyond magical! That moment where they saw each other for the first time and were able to soak each other in with a warm embrace forever changed the way I feel about wedding days!
From that magical moment on, we now make it our responsibility to introduce the First Look to all of our potential clients. Many Brides & Grooms are already aware of The First Look as it is becoming more and more common. However, most of the Brides & Grooms that we meet are either totally against the First Look because tradition tells them to be or they are totally in favor of The First Look because it will give them the chance to be at their cocktail hour and have fun with their family and friends. Both ideas (for and against) are definitely reasons to take into consideration when deciding whether or not to do a First Look. However, for us, after witnessing so many First Looks, they are the least important reasons to take into consideration when deciding about whether or not to see each other before the ceremony. Instead, getting our couples to think more about how they want to share their day with each other is so important to us and often can be the deciding factor for or against The First Look.
In order to get a feeling for what First Looks can be for Brides and Grooms, we asked Allison and Tom (another one of our amazing couples) to share a little bit about their First Look experience in hopes that it will share a first hand experience of this magical moment.
Why did you choose to do a First Look?
Allison: At first I really wanted to have a first look to be able to enjoy the entire time of the cocktail hour and reception with our guests, most of who traveled from out of town. As we got closer to the wedding, I realized that I wanted to share the entire day with Tom. If I had to wait the entire day without talking about everything with my best friend, I don’t know if I would have made it! The only detail of the wedding that we did not plan and pick out together was my dress and I was so excited to see Tom’s reaction, that again I don’t think I could have waited until the ceremony.
Tom: Allison actually thought it would be a great idea so she explained what it was and I thought the same. She was right. It really helped ease the stress. First look also allowed us to spend time together and have some fun before all eyes were on us at the ceremony/reception.
Was the First Look everything you hoped it to be?
Allison: I absolutely loved our first look. The setting is so relaxed that you actually get to see your husbands’ reaction to how beautiful you look and feel! I felt that we could take a minute, really see how we both looked, and have time to tell each other what we were thinking and how much we loved each other, without having the nerves and jitters that accompany walking down the aisle, where everyone sees you for the first time at the same time, and then having to repeat your vows.
Tom: I really didn’t know what to expect. It was definitely nice to see Allison before everyone else. Being able to have those first moments to ourselves was really very special and something I will always remember, not only a mental picture, but also those emotions and feelings that overwhelmed me when I first looked at Allison.
What was your favorite part of doing the First Look?
Allison: My favorite part of the first look, was seeing Tom’s face up close when he turned around to see me. It was a look of love and amazement. Then he managed to say how much he loved me and how amazing I looked. I was so glad that we were able to spend such an intimate moment before all the craziness began!
Tom: My favorite part was, of course, seeing my wife to be in her wedding dress for the first time. She looked absolutely beautiful. I also have to say that when I heard she was in route to the first look the nervous anticipation was also fun. Getting all those feelings out of the way before the ceremony was a great stress reliever for both of us.
For many of our grooms to be, they are against The First Look because they do not want it to take away from “that moment” that his bride walks down the aisle. So, I asked Tom to share how he was feeling when Allison walked down the aisle during the ceremony.
Tom: I felt like the luckiest man in the world and really realized how much we loved each other and how great our life together was going to be. She looked so awesome that I knew the rooms eyes were now on her for the duration!
And just one more thought from Allison: I would definitely recommend that couple choose to do a first look. You are able to have an intimate moment and express all your emotions to each other before all your family and friends arrive. Plus, I was definitely nice to be able to enjoy our entire cocktail hour and reception with our guests! You put so much effort into planning every aspect of your wedding day, that it is nice to be able to enjoy all the fun!
Hope this is helpful for all of the future Brides and Grooms! If you want to chat more or have other wedding related questions that we might be able to help with, please definitely let us know! We are here to help!
February 9, 2012 - 10:26 am [...] we were posting about the First Look earlier this week, it had us thinking about our wedding day and the first time we saw each other! [...]
Over the past few weeks we have met with quite a few brides & grooms and wedding professionals! It is that time of year… some people refer to it as “booking season,” but we like to think of it as the Season of Love. It is so exciting to think about all of the people that are taking that next step in their love story! Ahhh!! So happy!
In the midst of celebrating this incredible time in people’s lives, we have come to the realization that we have an an AWESOME opportunity and a responsibility! We often forget that most of our Brides & Grooms have never planned a wedding before! For many, this may even be the first wedding they will have ever been too! In recent years, there have been so many new trends for photography and weddings that it can easily be overwhelming for couples. We see so many couples just settle for what they think they are supposed to do because that is what tradition tells them to do even if that is not necessarily who they are as a couple. Why should seeing each other before ceremony be taboo? Why should people get upset if you decide to forgo the bouquet toss? Your wedding is 100% YOURS and is a once in a lifetime experience! As professionals, it is our responsibility to help educate Brides & Grooms and help them realize that they deserve something special and that is perfectly unique for them!
Over the next few weeks, we are planning to feature a few blog posts that will hopefully help educate all of those fabulous Brides and Grooms who are taking this next step in their love story! If you are a future Bride & Groom or you are a friend or family member of a future Bride & Groom, we hope you all will enjoy these posts! Our goal is to help you all dream of unique wedding experiences!
Some of the topics to look forward to:
A Different Look at The First Look, Myths of Wedding Traditions, A Boutique Experience, Great Photos… Now What?, High-Low…what is all of this Res stuff?
If you have any topics that you would like to hear more about, please let us know! Or if you are a former Bride & Groom and have suggestions of what you wish you knew, please let us know that too!
We are looking forward to sharing some great info and insights from our very own Brides & Grooms! In the meantime…enjoy this Season of Love!
February 11, 2012 - 6:17 am - Thanks for sharing. I agree this is the 1st step for the soon to be Mr & Mrs. Todays brides and grooms are flooded with so much information it becomes difficult to filter out most of it.
A couple of months ago, we were chatting with friends and the idea of hosting regular Wine & Cheese parties came up. We have always been interested in learning about the different types of wine (this coming from the girl who buys every bottle of wine based on the label alone) and cheese (coming from the same girl that always asks for help at Whole Foods when buying cheese and actually threw out a whole wedge once because I thought the idea of “stinky cheese” was a good one! haha.)! It is definitely time to start learning. ;)
Last night, we got some friends together and hosted our first monthly Wine & Cheese Night. We decided to pick a region of the world and find fabulous wines & cheeses from that region. For this month, we had all things Italian! The wines and cheeses were pretty fabulous, but the homemade Focaccia, Bruschetta, and Italian Vegetable dish made it pretty much amazing! ;)
(*For all of you who are saying to yourself… wait, I thought they weren’t eating dairy right now… you have awesome memories! ;) Since we had actually planned this idea before we watched “Forks Over Knives,” we decided to make an exception! We are okay with it because a little wine & cheese consumed in moderation – especially with good friends is the only good reason for the perfect exception!)
Here is a glimpse into our first monthly Wine & Cheese Night! Can you tell we like to host?!? ;) (Ryan even used his Type A skills to create a Cheeses of Italy Guide so that we did not get lost along the way!) Love him! ;)
February 11, 2012 - 12:23 am - Love this!!! :) I wish you guys were closer we would totally be down for a wine and cheese night!
by elizryanphoto
1 comment
add a comment link to this post email a friend