Tessie & Tom had an amazing May wedding in Christiana, Pennsylvania. Tessie is not only a fabulous fellow photographer (see her site here), but I’m happy to also call her a friend. We studied photography together at Cecil College and to this day, we still pair up and shoot together when we can. When she asked me to shoot her wedding, I was flattered and excited, though there were definitely some nerves. I think it’s just the way of the world that it will always be a teensy bit nerve wracking for any photographer to take photos of another, a wedding even more so. But even more than thinking about the photography, I was completely thrilled that they were getting married! Tom is a great guy and they are blissfully in love, with an amazing little daughter, so I know they were excited to seal the deal with a wedding. With a second photographer, a good sized bridal party, a kick ass first dance and plenty of time for photos, I went home with more images than I think I’ve EVER shot at a wedding before! So this blog post might be a little on the long side. Oops. 
Let’s start off with some details, shall we?
While not only positively unique, Tessie's engagement ring and matching wedding band are antique family heirlooms, passed down through Tom's family.
There is this amazing balcony on the second level of the hotel, with beautiful wrought iron railings. I immediately knew I wanted to take the dress outside and I'm so happy I did!
A little abstract shoe shot.
Petals & Beans did a great job on the bouquets.
Tessie and her bridesmaids got ready at the Christiana Hotel. Her parents have put a lot of hard work into renovating the hotel. Here she gets the finishing touches on her hair.
A great laughing moment with Tessie and a bridesmaid.
All hands on deck - it's time to put the dress on!
I love how her bridesmaid's pearl bracelet matches her pearl necklace.
A tender moment with her daughter.
This is one of my favorite bridal portraits I think I've ever taken. Tessie is so gorgeous!
Tessie made an amazing bride! Happy, smiling and downright gorgeous.
Feroche!
The ceremony was held at Latta Memorial Church, not too far from the hotel.
I think the motion blur really makes this image of the new Mr. & Mrs. leaving the church.
I love silhouettes.Especially fisheye silhouettes. hehe
Pretty big bridal party!
The girls.
The guys.
Tom cleans up pretty nice, huh? He pulls off the sophisticated GQ look rather nicely!
There's this little train station across the street from the hotel and they had this great old suitcase for a prop.
Tessie & Tom have THE most adorable little girl. They make seriously cute babies. Just sayin'.
The Christiana Hotel
Tessie's severely talented nephew entertained the guests during cocktail hour with his rockin' guitar skills.
Tessie changed into an amazing cocktail dress before the reception.
Soooo, about that first dance. It started off with a traditional slow dance, sung by one of the bridesmaids (who forgot the words halfway through, but we forgive her!).
"Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Enough of a hint???
YES! They did it! They recreated the infamous last dance from Dirty Dancing and I was hootin-n-hollerin right along with the crowd!! They did an absolutely fabulous job too. Bravo!
I think they should try for SYTYCD. Oh yeah.
She even went all Patrick Swayze at the end! It was absolutely perfect.
After their dance, we snuck outside to get some quick shots with the 2nd dress. I had them do a few dance poses.
Did I mention that Tessie LOOOOOVES to dance? If you look hard enough, there just might be a video of us (and another girl) dancing in a music video from our video production class. Maybe.
and apparently she was in good company. She wasn't the only one tearin up the dance floor.
Flashdance, anyone?
And a quick self portrait of me and the bride. Where, of course, I look like a dufus. LOL
Thank you soooooo much, guys for letting me hang out on your wedding day! It was so exciting to be the one to document your memories and of course it was totally awesome to see you finally get married!!
**You can see plenty more photos from this wedding on flickr or on facebook, where you can leave comments on individual images.
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