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….

My 365 post from yesterday got moved to today because, frankly, I’m getting old & am too tired to stay up after a wedding & post a photo.  Maybe I need to take up coffee, or vitamins!

Well, I had the great pleasure of photographing Dave & Kasandra’s wedding at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland.  I got an email from Dave earlier in the week asking what my plans were if it happened to rain.  Um…not show up???   Well, thanks be to God, it did not rain until after the wedding!

We ran out of time (due to various reasons) for Dave & Kasandra’s bride & groom photos, so I begged them to let me take them out after their reception & have 30 minutes of their time.  The following photo is one of the many that made me get all giddy & teary-eyed at the same time.  Thanks so much for letting me put you in the briers…I think it was worth it!

Today I received my first KISS sample album!  I’ve used KISS before for mini 4×4 books, but this was my first full-fledged big girl book!  I used my brother-in-law & his lovely bride’s wedding to adorn the pages.  I think it turned out beautifully!  Thanks KISS.  You all really do live up to all the hype.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E.