chris + matt // Avanti Mansion

We had so fun much with Chris and Matt on their wedding day at the Avanti Mansion in Buffalo, New York! These two made it easy as pie from their sweet smiles to their adorable first look- we knew we were going to come home with some great shots!! Their color scheme of greens, blues and white gave the day a colorful, fresh feel and the mismatched bridesmaid dresses were absolute perfection. They also may have had some of our favorite place card holders of all time!!

Chris and Matt passed along some wedding day memories and were more than happy to allow us to share them with all of you!

Chris: “Matt and I got engaged during his 4^th year of medical school. Matt was traveling around the east coast for residency interviews and clinical rotations while I was working in Boston.  Matt’s family graciously offered to scope out wedding venues for us while we were out of state and when we heard of their experience at the Avanti Mansion we were hooked.  The first and only time we saw the venue with our own eyes before the wedding was a few days before Christmas.  It had recently snowed and was pouring rain at the time of our visit making it nearly impossible to imagine what it might look like when the pond wasn’t overflowing and the grass wasn’t covered in muddy snow.  But after an unseasonably cool summer we were blessed with the most beautiful day of the year and a truly stunning venue on September 26^th.“

Chris: “Planning a wedding can feel really daunting, especially when doing so at a distance.  But by making checklists and doing a little bit every day the process felt completely manageable.  People tease me for my compulsive list-making – but it always pays off!  On the Tuesday before the wedding I tore up my lists.  Anything that hadn’t happened by that time wasn’t going to happen and it was a relief to be able to give myself a break, have a glass of wine, and accept that things were going to play out well because I had planned for them to do so.  Like everyone always says, the only person who notices the little things that don’t go right are the bride!  Everyone else is just happy to be there.“

Chris: “Anyone who knows me well knows that I cry at absolutely anything and everything.  When we arrived at the Avanti for our rehearsal, I turned to Angie, our bridal consultant, to ask if it was normal for people to cry during the rehearsal.  When she said, ‘Absolutely, though everyone who cries during the rehearsal rarely cries during the actual ceremony.’ It felt like permission to let it out!  After that I was overcome by utter calmness for much of the wedding day, until about 10 minutes before Matt and I saw each other for the first time.  The walk to our first look felt like the longest walk of my life, but all of my nerves dissolved once Matt turned around and our eyes met for the first time that day.  He always knows how to make me laugh and he kept me more tear-free than I could have imagined!“

Matt: “One of my favorite memories was seeing all of the hard work and countless hours that my wife put into planning the wedding pay off in spectacular fashion.“

Matt: “Seeing my soon-to-be wife walking down the aisle was a special moment by itself.  But when she surprised me by walking down to one of my favorite songs, it left me speechless.“

Chris: “Music was such an important of the day for us.  We spent hours upon hours putting together our playlists and wanted to get the ceremony started off properly with songs that had personal meanings for the both of us.  I’d always wanted the wedding party to walk down the aisle to ‘This Must Be the Place’ (Naïve Melody) because it was such a light and sweet love song, and one of my favorites from the past.  But I knew that I’d wanted to surprise Matt by walking down the aisle to ‘Halo’ by Beyonce.  His facial expression when the first notes played was priceless!  In pictures, it looks like abject horror, but it’s sweet knowing that he was genuinely surprised (and concerned that I might be furious about a mistake in the program!)“

Chris: “There were what felt like 300 stairs leading down to the area where the ceremony was to take place.  Completely calm and unfazed, as per usual, my dad took my arm and gracefully led me down the aisle.  Yes, I may have stumbled once, but it was comforting to have my dad’s support, as in so many times in the past.“

Chris: “I can’t describe the pure elation I felt when we first turned around after the ceremony to see the most important people of our lives standing before us in support of our union.  Their cheers and smiling faces are things I will never forget.“

Chris: “I loved seeing how all of the details came together at the ceremony and reception.  All of the afternoons spent crafting totally paid off in the end.  The little gold animal escort card holders were the first detail I knew I’d wanted.  They were an absolute labor of love, but so worth it.  I love hearing about how people are using them now!“

Chris: “Matt is in his absolute element on the dance floor.  I love watching him tear it up and get people to dance with him!“

Matt: “In my opinion, a wedding isn’t complete without the party.  Celebrating with everyone on the dance floor was definitely a high point of our day!“

Chris: “With all of the craziness and uncertainty ahead of us for the coming year we were desperate to keep the wedding as relaxed and low-key as possible.  Jenn and Ben made us feel at ease from the first time we met at their home.  Their ability to listen and orchestrate our vision was incredible and we wish they could be around to document our everyday life.  Somehow they perfectly captured every moment of the day without ever making their presence felt.  We can’t say enough positive things about them and hope to be able to work with them again someday in the future!“

Wedding Vendors Include

Venue: Avanti Mansion
Makeup: Tony Walker
Hair: Chez Ann Salon
Wedding Dress: J. Crew
Groom’s Look: Jos. A. Bank
Florist: Blossoms N Treasures
Cake: Avanti Mansion
Invitations: Minted

jessica + tony // Adirondack Woodcraft Camp

It’s no secret that we travel for weddings, but you may not have known that the Adirondacks is one of our absolute favorite wedding destinations!  We are huge nature lovers, and the Adirondacks offers us hiking, mountain treks, fresh pine-scented air, swimming, boating, camping, and so many other things we love to do, all in one place.  The Adirondack Park is very special to me (Jenn) in particular because I grew up nearby, and spent every summer there.  It was a wonderfully huge part of my childhood, and I look for any excuse to go back and spend time there.  When Jess and Tony got in touch with us about shooting their Adirondack wedding, I was over the moon!!

Jessica and Tony booked the coolest venue ever, Adirondack Woodcraft Camp, for all of their wedding day needs.  We were absolutely in love with all of the adorable signage, perfect little cabins and nostalgic summer camp vibe.  J+T’s  simple yet elegant rustic decor could not have better complimented all of the natural beauty that surrounded everyone on that day.  It rained the entire day, and although that was kind of a bummer because their ceremony location had to be changed last minute, we still were able to make some beautiful portraits of this beautiful couple in between downpours.  I am so in love with this venue, and can’t wait to shoot there again!

Be sure to check out the wedding day memories that Jess and Tony were kind enough to share with us!

J+T: “On your wedding day be sure to be prepared for anything. Our wedding was in early September and was forecasted to be in the mid-60’s and sunny. The weekend however turned out to be rainy and cold. We were prepared with indoor and outdoor facilities for the wedding as well as generators and fires in the cabins to keep our guest comfortable.“

Tony: “My favorite memory was when I first saw Jess. I like that we did the first look in a private setting so we could both enjoy the moment.”

Jessica: “There was a moment earlier in the day while I was getting ready that Tony had to ask me a question and due to the remote location of our wedding we couldn’t talk on the phone or text so we had to talk through the door of the cabin. I was very worried that he would just come in and ruin the first look (luckily he didn’t)! Seeing Tony for the first time and how handsome and comfortable he looked was wonderful – suddenly all of the chaos of the day seemed to not matter anymore.“

J+T: “The setting of our wedding is another favorite of both of ours. It was truly Adirondack and unique – we really made it our own. We loved watching and hearing people’s reactions to the venue. Even in the pouring rain – it was the perfect place.“

Jessica: “I think for both of us a lot of our memories are the day before and after when we spent a lot of time with friends and relatives who helped us set up and clean up after the wedding. We really wanted it to feel like an intimate party where everyone had quality time with each other and not so much about Tony and I and I think we accomplished this. Tony and I, of course, had our moments but it felt like everyone had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the weekend with us.“

Jessica: “One of my distinct memories was seeing my dad for the first time. I think he was so focused on getting things ready for the wedding that he forgot that this was his first time seeing me in my wedding dress.”

Jessica: “I was certainly surprised by my dad’s camouflage vest and touched that he went to that extent to bring Tony into the wedding.“

Tony: “We chose not to do most of the formal wedding traditions. I loved the campfire – getting to see friends and family with s’mores and hearing a heartfelt speech by a close family friend.”

Jessica: “I interviewed a number of photographers and ended up selecting Jenn and Ben because of their shared love of the Adirondacks. I wanted to have a photographer who could capture not just Tony and I – but the setting of our wedding as well. Jenn was flexible and allowed us to do additional shots the day after the wedding because we live out of state and could not do an engagement shoot. Those pictures from the day after are some of our favorites because it’s the true us – in the beautiful Adirondacks.“

Some great pieces of advice from Jessica and Tony:

“It goes by fast so take time to enjoy the process and the day. We both got this advice before the wedding and made sure we actually sat and ate dinner and then spent time with our guests. We limited the guest list to make sure we didn’t feel overwhelmed and could finish the night knowing we had fun and were able to thank everyone for coming.

Remember that it is YOUR wedding. There are many voices when it comes to planning the big day. Tony and I worked at reminding ourselves that it was our day and no matter how important the tradition may be for others, if it didn’t make sense to us then it wasn’t worth stressing over. We chose to keep things as simple as possible in our décor, the ceremony and the reception so that we could highlight our guests and stay stress free.“

And last but not least…

“Do it yourself doesn’t mean all by yourself. I had a lot of helping hands in the decorating of our ceremony and rehearsal space. I knew I wanted to keep things simple but personal to me and Tony. Our families really helped us pull it off without us losing our minds!“

Wedding Vendors Include

Venue: Adirondack Woodcraft Camp
Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal
Florist: Pedals & Petals
Hair & Makeup: Over the Moon Salon
Cake Topper: April Hiler Designs