Buffalo Wedding Photography » Modern, Photo-journalistic Wedding and Event Photography by Jenn and Ben Ayres, husband and wife creative photography team based out of Buffalo, NY.

Michele and Daryl are one of those couples that we just instantly loved. They are such warm, amazing people, and we feel so grateful to have met them!  They are both beautiful, inside and out, and their entire wedding day was a reflection of their love for each other, their families, and their friends.  It was an honor to be a part of it!

I started out the day with Michele and the girls at Cielo Salon in East Aurora.  I love it when I get invited to the salon portion of the day!  It’s always fun to shoot in a busy salon – challenging, but fun.  :)  The weather that day was a little crazy.  It was a typical cold, rainy, windy Fall day in Western New York, but Michele wasn’t bothered by it in the least.  She was so excited!!  There was no way a little bit of wind and rain was going to bring her down!

One of Michele’s Top Five Wedding Day Memories:   “Waking up to the horrible “wedding day weather” (40 degrees, rainy, windy), but still feeling so excited that despite the elements, I was going to marry my best friend!!  It was as if nothing could spoil how happy I felt.”After the salon, we headed back to Michele’s parents’ house to have lunch and finish getting ready.  This part of the day can be very “harried” at times, but everyone here was as cool as a cucumber.  It was awesome!  I even got to put my camera down for a few minutes, and enjoy a vegetarian wrap with the girls.  ;)Michele had her wedding jewelry made at Wild Things on Lexington.  The center piece on the bracelet was her grandmothers, and the talented artisans at Wild Things re-worked it into a stunning new design.  I also bought my wedding jewelry from Wild Things, and I’m sure a lot of other Buffalo gals did, too.  If you’ve never checked it out, you should pop in ASAP.  ;)A friend of Daryl’s has a vintage Packard that he let them use to arrive at the wedding in grand style.  This car is a beauty!  I have kind of a “thing” for vintage cars, so I get really, really excited whenever I get to shoot one as part of a wedding day.  It definitely adds a little something special to the photos, so if you have the opportunity to borrow or rent one, GO FOR IT!!  You won’t regret it.  ;)
The only tricky part about the Packard, was that it had a tiny back seat, and watching three bridesmaids shimmy carefully into the back was definitely at least a little bit funny.  ;)

Another one of Michele’s Top Five:  ”Watching Lisa, Molly and Christine (my bridesmaids) getting into the two door Packard. OMG…it was hysterical seeing them maneuver themselves in fitted dresses into the backseat of the car all while maintaing their beauty and composure! I think it was good comic relief for all of us.”
Ben started out the day at The Roycroft Inn, with Daryl and the guys.  I always find myself wishing that there were more shots of our grooms getting ready, but across the board, there are so few.  Ben keeps assuring me that “there’s just not that much involved with men putting on a suit,” so I guess I have to believe him, since I’m not a man and certainly wouldn’t know about these things.  He definitely took some super awesome group shots of the guys after they were ready, though!   My favorite…what a cool angle!  Shortly after this shot was taken, something crazy happened.  I’ll let Daryl tell you about it.  Here’s the first of his Top Five Favorite Wedding Day Memories:  ”Prior to the ceremony, there was this moment where this guy accidentally knocked over one of our glass candle holders at the top of the stairs which proceeded to fall into the glass candle holder on the next stair creating a domino effect.  It was as if time stopped in the middle of all the chaotic last minute wedding prep, as we stopped and watched glass shatter down the entire staircase.  It somehow relaxed me.”

I wasn’t there to see the candle incident, as I was still with the girls when it happened, but Ben was there, and from what I hear, it was quite something.  You’ll have to ask him about it sometime.  ;)  I took this next shot of the candles on the stairs when I came in, so I don’t know what they looked like before this, but I would have never known that some were missing.  The ceremony site looked amazing!!  The Roycroft is such a gorgeous place.  Everything there has a “timeless” feeling to it, like it could never go out of style.  I love that.Two more of Daryl’s Top Five:

“Seeing my mother crying as she whispered to me, ‘just wait until you see Michele, she looks absolutely amazing Daryl, amazing’.”

“Seeing Michele walk down the aisle and look absolutely amazing!”

Another of Michele’s Top Five:

“I remember feeling nervous about walking down the aisle. Yet, when I approached the ceremony and looked down the aisle, the only person I saw was Daryl.”

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful.  It was brief, yet profound, heartfelt, genuine – perfect.  Here is another one of Daryl’s Top Five:  ”Hearing Michele’s vows (we wrote our own). She told a story that I had never heard before and it was extremely moving. This was a reminder to me of what a special woman I was marrying.”After the ceremony, we a few minutes for some portraits of our gorgeous bride and groom!  It was still cold and rainy, so we explored some of the rooms of The Roycroft first, which resulted in this lovely shot.  :)We did get a few minutes of non-rainy weather, so we took a few more shots outside with the very handsome Packard!  (Yes, that is Daryl behind the wheel, wearing the driver’s cap.)  I absolutely LOVE this shot.
Then, it was party time!  Michele and Daryl were announced in, and immediately had their first dance!

Here’s number five of Daryl’s Top Five!!  ”Being introduced to the wedding reception party as Husband and Wife! We couldn’t stop smiling and I felt so happy.”And, here are the last two of Michele’s Top Five Wedding Day Memories:

“During the father/daughter dance, my dad and I chatted about how the wedding was going so far, all the people who were there, etc. At the end of the dance, my dad said to me, “If I haven’t already told you this tonight, I want to say you look really beautiful”. I think I’ll always remember that.

“I loved seeing the video that Matt (Daryl’s brother) made for his “Best Man speech”.  It was perfect and it was fun to be in on the secret. ;) The video was memorable to me because it showed how each of us grew up, and then us growing together as a couple.”

After two wonderful speeches, a marvelous dinner, and two very moving dances with their parents, Michele and Daryl’s dance floor opened up, and it was quite a party.
Due to the weather, we didn’t really get a chance to shoot the wedding party outside, so Ben came up with this awesome idea of using the front porch of the Roycroft!  Our people (and lighting equipment) got to stay dry, and I took this shot out in the rain with Ben holding an umbrella over me.  Sometimes, Ben can be quite the creative genius.  ;)  And then, of course, we got to grab Michele and Daryl for a few night shots!  I love these!

Michele and Daryl have offered this awesome wedding planning advice to our other couples who are still in the planning stages.  Thanks so much for sharing, guys!!

“As you are planning your wedding, let your love for each other be the focus, and everything else will fall into place. Even when things get stressful, (ESPECIALLY when things get stressful), find humor in the situation! With too much attention spent on the details of the presentation, you can lose sight of the true meaning of the day.  The feedback that we received from our guests after the wedding brought it all into perspective as we continued to hear about how meaningful the ceremony was, how sincere and beautiful our personalized vows were, and how clear it was to everyone that we are truly in love with each other.”

Michele and Daryl – thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day!! It was truly an amazing day, overflowing with love, and we enjoyed every moment. We’re so glad we had the opportunity to get to know you both a little bit over the past year, and we hope that you’ll stay in touch!! Much love to you both, J + B :)