Heather + Matt Wedding, 14 Mar 10

Well, what a way to kick off the very full 2010 wedding season. This is the wedding of my close friends Matt and Heather who are both from PA. My wife was a bridesmaid at this wedding, so we traveled with all three kids down to Reading PA to celebrate with all our friends this new marriage. Very excited for both of these guys, and it was my pleasure to work for them and give them these photos.

The wedding on the surface was subtly different than others I've done, but upon closer inspection there is a very principle-driven set of choices they made. The ceremony featured several of their friends singing worship songs acapella, along with friends speaking words of encouragement and faith in front of the whole group to the couple. It was very touching to see the brotherly love pour out to this couple. They will be blessed with a lot of support in the good times and bad.

The weather was minimally cooperative, rainy and drizzly most of the day, although it did stop long enough for us to sneak out during part of the reception (where I could put my surprise new equipment to use). Seeing as the couple was geared more towards traditional style photography, I delivered what suited them best (with a little artistic flavor, I just can't help it ;).

Since these are my close friends I have way more pictures than usual... but despite that I think you all will enjoy seeing them anyway!

Getting ready..

Praying over the groom

This smokin' hot bridesmaid is my wife Valarie

Ceremony

Dad gives away his daughter

Groom's family

Friends speak words of encouragement to the couple

Each guest had a candle, the flame passed down from the unity candle, then down the aisles, as a symbol of support

Brides family (dad was the 2nd officiant)

After their first kiss, Heather's dad proclaimed "I think they've had too much practice doing this" hee hee

Ladies see the wedding rings for the first time

A little group photo fun

Heading over to the reception at the Reading Country Club

Had to do bridal portraits in this cozy room. Heather looked beautiful.

More cheeky fun

After their introduction, the groomsmen had a surprise

My oldest son playing with a balloon

Heather always wears turquoise, so peacocks were a good thematic fit

Father daughter dance

At this point, all fathers and daughters were invited to dance

Then they did the bridal bouquet game... where on one side all the women line up, and on the other, all the guys. The bride starts in the center, surrounded by two guys. She hands the bouquet to one of the guys, then dances to the end of the line with the one without the flowers. The guy who is left sits in the middle, and two ladies sit next to him. Kind of like musical chairs.. and whoever is left with the bouquet at the end of the song gets to keep it. This is a pretty neat idea, and married folk can participate. It was quite funny when brother-sister combos would appear in the chairs.

The per the grooms' family tradition, the bride is stolen away, and the groom must sing a song to win her back. Here he is deciding which song

Lindsay's face is hilarious in this shot ;)

Then we got to sneak outside where I was able to use my specially modified camera. With a special filter in place, it takes photos in infrared. Green trees and grass are rendered white in IR making for some interesting effects.

This is with my normal camera

And another IR photo

And at the end, we all bid them farewell with sparklers and grease pen on their vehicle.

Congratulations Matt and Heather, enjoy your honeymoon in Arizona and living in your new home together. I can't wait to show these photos to you guys!!

-- Andrew