My good friend Beverly I and drove down this past weekend to Ft. Belvoir, Virginia to shoot the wedding of Greg & Ginnie.  Now I had only met Ginnie & her parents once prior to the wedding day, but I knew from that day & from our numerous e-mails that we had a connection.  Her dear, sweet father even asked me how my children were doing when I first arrived – how awesome & thoughtful is that!?!?  Beverly & I both commented to each other that it was so refreshing to see a wedding where two people were so much in love with one another that all they could do after the ceremony was just gaze at one another & be in each others’ arms.

And despite the sweltering heat, everyone was so gracious & so wonderful for Greg & Ginnie’s special day.

On to some photos….

Ginnie got this AMAZING dress off of Craig’s list!

Ginnie got very emotional after reading a card from her sweet Greg!  *sniff*

And he dipped her!!!!

I love Greg’s dad’s face in this shot!

The whole gang wanted to do a football team pose – they were so fun!

We almost ran out of daylight for the next set of images….almost!

Ginnie & her dad had a lot of giggles during their dance.

Ahhh….the love of a momma for her dear boy…

Ginnie’s sweet sister gave a wonderful (& funny) toast

And another touching moment between big brother & little sis

One of my favorite shots of the day.  Greg & Ginnie wanted to thank all of their guest for celebrating with them.

Greg & Ginnie are married!  I have lots more to show you in addition to this picture, but it stood out to me as unique for this wedding.  Ya see, Ginnie’s favorite color is green & she just knew these shoes would be perfect for her wedding day.  And she had wanted a photo all day showing them off.  As the last of the light was quickly fading, Beverly & I took them out in to the June heat, sat them down, and got this shot.  Congratulations Greg & Ginnie!  You’re wedding was awesomely wonderful, and I should know, I am super tired today to prove it!

As some of you may know, my dad got re-married this weekend to a wonderful woman named Sharon.  My mother is still alive and well, but my parents are divorced.  So, not only do I have a wonderfully fabulous mother, and a great mother-in-law, but now I have a dear step-mother too.  And along with that I have acquired two new siblings (as if my original ones weren’t enough to handle!!  j/k Matt & Maggie!) – Becca & Drew.  While I only got two new siblings, they got three new siblings, a step-dad, one nephew, and five nieces!  Good luck with that you two!

When Dad told me he was getting married, I quickly checked my calendar to make sure I wasn’t already shooting a wedding.  And once that was set, he asked if I could be in the wedding AND photograph it.  Um, no Dad.  That’s kind of impossible since I don’t do fancy dresses & my weird photography poses all at once.  I told him I didn’t mind either way – I would be happy to either wear a dress or wear my camera.  It worked out numbers-wise for me to photograph the wedding & save them some dough so they could take their 2 week Alaskan cruise.  (You didn’t think I’d charge my own father did you?)

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day.  And, this day was all made possible by the following vendors and wonderful people:

Hair: Beverly Miller at Headrush Hair Designs, LLC in Lancaster PA

Make up: Beth Kubinec of Mary Kay

Pastor David Allen of Calvary Church in Lancaster, PA

Jessie & Katie – the wonderful college girls who babysat all the Smith/Sroka grandchildren and got them up and down the aisle

My husband, Josh, who made the wedding reception slideshow & music possible with his laptop & iPad

And all Dad & Sharon’s kids who stood up with them on their special day.

Now on to the photos!

I had been checking the weather all last week.  I even kept checking different apps on my iPhone to see which one gave me a more favorable weather report for May 22nd.  The chance of rain & thunderstorms went from 60% down to 20% by the time Dave & Kasandra’s wedding day rolled around.  Thank you Jesus!  They couldn’t have ordered a more picturesque day.

Through a scheduling conflict, I was left without an assistant about 2 weeks before the wedding.  So, I used my trusty friend Twitter & happened upon Vida Carson as a possible assistant.  She’s from Philadelphia and about 9 years younger than me, but oh so talented.  I love her company’s tag line:  fresh. hip. fun.  That is exactly what Vida is!  It was a blast to have her as my right hand woman this weekend, picking through trash, taking apart sinks, making a flower girl diva, and just laughing a whole lot.  Thanks Vida – I can’t wait to do it again!

And Dave & Kasandra…what can I say better than your photos can show?  You two are amazing.  So in love, so kind & gentle with one another, so willing to be in each other’s presence all the time, so content to gaze in to the other’s eyes.  I loved every part of our day together – even the misplaced ring – and am so excited to show off your wonderful day to the world!  Thanks for having me!

Here are the details of the day (fairly helpful for those of you planning your own wedding in the area):

Venue:  Quiet Waters Park – Blue Heron Center

Photographers:  Mandy Sroka & Vida Carson

Caterer:  Land & Sea Catering

Flowers: The Gateway Florist

DJ: Roberto “DJ Ran” Naranjo

And now on to the good stuff….