Kaitlin and Justin had a beautiful day for their wedding on Saturday! It seems like just yesterday we shot their engagement photos; I don’t know where the last year went!! We started off at Kaitlin’s mom’s house in Mount Lebanon. Can I tell you how much I heart Mount Lebanon? All of the houses there are spectacular; the architecture never ceases to amaze me! It doesn’t matter how many times I drive through there down Rt 19, I always have my face pressed to the car window like a tourist looking at the beautiful homes in awe. But I digress… Kaitlin’s mom’s house was certainly no exception and proved to be beautiful inside and out.
When Kaitlin was ready to put on her dress, her Maid of Honor, Jamie, busted out the instructions for putting on the dress she had written down during Kaitlin’s final fitting. She also also had the instructions for the bustle as well. Big bonus points for Jamie!! This is such a smart idea, I highly recommend it to all brides. I can’t tell you how many weddings I’ve been to where the ladies struggle with the bustle for 45 minutes or more trying to wrestle the train up into its ribbonny confines. On your wedding day time is very precious, why waste it on something like that? Later in the evening, with Jamie’s instructions in hand, they had the bustle done in mere moments and Kaitlin was ready to hit the reception. But, I digress again!
We then hopped in the limo and headed to Mount Lebanon United Methodist Church. Built in 1924, the architecture is beautiful, albeit a bit dark inside. Luckily, we had our awesome new lens with us, which I’ve nicknamed Big Bertha (it’s something like 16 inches long). Basically, it allows us to take better pictures in low light situations. During the ceremony, Kaitlin and Justin invited their daughter, McKenzi up to the altar. They had a special ceremony for her where they made promises to her as they united their family. It was so sweet (and yes, I cried)!
After some portraits at the church, we jetted off to Upper St. Clair Country Club for the reception. Once we got there, we took a few minutes to get some fun images with the bridal party as well as Kaitlin and Justin by themselves. The bridal party took a few minutes to freshen up while Brian and I headed into the ballroom. Can we say gorgeous? The flowers, provided by Botanical Emporium, were stunning. In the corner, the reflection slideshow we created for the happy couple was playing on a loop. The slideshow had photos of the two of them growing up, dating, and portraits from their engagement session. Meanwhile, Jason from Big Day Entertainment was warming up the crowd.
The bridal party was announced in and Kaitlin’s father kicked the party off with a touching welcome toast. Then Jamie gave her toast, which was quite honestly one of the best Maid of Honor toasts I’ve heard in a long time. Amazingly she either had the whole thing memorized or she was speaking off the cuff, because I never saw her reference any papers or note cards. Nick followed with his Best Man toast and had the whole room laughing when he made a comment about his “sausage fingers” as he struggled a little with his note cards. Kaitlin and Justin then cut their cake, created by Signature Desserts. The cake was donned with handcrafted delicate white flowers and was almost too pretty to eat!
It was soon time for the couple’s first dance. At the end of the dance, their daughter joined them. Justin and McKenzi danced together to Taylor Swift’s “Today was a Fairytale” for a few moments before Kaitlin joined in and all three shared the floor. After parent dances, it was time for the bouquet toss. Kaitlin had a unique twist on the tradition; she just did the bouquet toss, not the garter. I thought this was a great compromise, as the guys rarely want to get up for the garter toss and the placement of the garter (where the guy who catches the garter places it on the leg of the girl who caught the bouquet) is usually awkward for everyone involved. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve gotten some great pictures of the “placement” at many weddings, but it was nice to see a new twist on the tradition. Another unique twist Kaitlin and Justin had at their reception was the desert bar. In addition to the traditional Pittsburgh cookies, they also had an array of pies, cakes, and more for their guests to enjoy.
The rest of the night was a blur, filled lots of dancing and candid photos. We capped off the evening with a few more portraits before bidding adieu to the newlyweds. We can’t wait to share the rest of the photos with you! Stay tuned for their sneak peek!!
~Lisa
