Wendy Mitchell Photography

When Heidi emailed me to tell me that she was having her wedding at the top of a ski run at Holimont, with everyone riding the chair lift to the top, I was immediately intrigued. I had high hopes, and I was not disappointed – it was a wonderful, beautiful day.

I met Heidi and her bridesmaids over at Holiday Valley where they had a room. Seven girls and a pug made the room a tight fit, but we worked around it before leaving to go over to Holimont.

Heidi and Joe are both newspaper people so of course elements of this were woven throughout the day:

Where do you plan on keeping your vows til it’s go-time?

One of the cutest ring bearers ever:

The ceremony was very nice (minus those bugs!!) and I loved the funny, personal vows. Tears were intermingled with much laughter.

We chugged through the formal photos but with a couple like this, formality quickly gave way to… awesomeness?

We rode the lift back down and went into the reception where the personal touches and Etsy-bought flourishes were just perfect.

Their guestbook was an old school typewriter recently given to Heidi by her grandmother. Of course, it fit in perfectly with everything else.

When it came time for the dancing, I was in love with the floor-to-peaked ceiling windows bathing the dancefloor in light, allowing me to shoot the entire first dance with natural light (as long as I used f/1.8 and ISO 3200-6400!). Couldn’t even narrow it down to one or two, so blam – here are seven!

The entertainment (a duo called Lori and Korki) was great and really had the dancefloor full all night. It was a really fun time for everyone. When I was getting ready to leave, Joe had taken over the entertainment and was playing guitar with one of his groomsmen, while Heidi, wearing not one but TWO ties, accompanied on a tambourine. I was sad to go, but I had a long drive home.

I hope the rest of the night was as fun as I imagine! Congratulations you two!

Not long ago, I got the nod from Cara to shoot their Sunday evening wedding at the Historical Society. Apparently another photographer had fallen through the cracks and it left them with the unpleasant task of finding a photographer on short notice. Being a Sunday, I was free, and happily agreed to do it!

I arrived at Cara’s parents’ home in Clarence to find both Cara’s mom and Lyle’s mom getting their hair done, one of Cara’s nephews in his underpants, and an absolutely beautiful wedding dress! Her other nephew asked me if I made the dress. I thought for a moment about taking credit, but then told him that no, I was just there to take pictures.

After donning his tux, her nephew looked a bit more presentable:

We stepped out into the yard to do a few photos, and Cara mentioned it was the same place they’d always taken prom photos. I wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing or not, but it was a pretty spot.

After we did a few quick snaps in the yard, the groom’s sister and I drove over to the Historical Society. I was glad she was not from the area so she couldn’t laugh at me for my hesitation in choosing the quickest route… I’d never driven straight from Clarence to the 198 before!

What a beautiful site for a ceremony! I loved it.

After the ceremony was over and the receiving line ended, I snatched them for a few more photos. It’s not every day I let someone hold my 5D at arm’s length to take a self-portrait!

I had to include this photo of the maid of honor, who was just glowing!

Then it was on to dinner and dancing, and much merry making. Of course I had to include a photo of the prominently displayed Buffalo Bills banner… bummer.

I’m glad it worked out for me to shoot for you guys! I hope the karaoke was awesome and that you guys got some great photos/video from that!

I met Gina last summer when she was the maid of honor at Rachel & Nick’s wedding, and I was glad to have the honor of shooting her wedding this summer!

At her parents’ house in Tonawanda, her poor dad was outnumbered by females at a ratio of 8:1. With the house full of bridesmaids, I told him most men would have found any excuse to leave, but since four of the women were his wife and three daughters, he just said “I don’t mind it” with a good-natured smile.

The ceremony was at Sacred Heart in Bowmansville and we were able to do some photos outside in the shrine afterwards – what a pretty setting!

After that we made a stop at the Fireside Inn in Lancaster, which is where Gina & Nelson met, while she was working there. Something about her loaning him $300 for bail the first night they met? Maybe I got that wrong… Anyway, here’s Gina’s brother doing a shot of tequila out of a hollowed-out lime *before* going into the bar.

I will spare the more bawdy pictures from the inside of the bar in favor of some pretty pictures after our arrival at Glen Oak!

We did venture over closer to one of the greens for a few pictures… it’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone yell “FORE!” and know that it was intended for me. No one was injured, but I’d prefer not to have a ball land that near me again.

I couldn’t resist photographing the head table this way, with the perfectly lined napkins & coffee cups being echoed by the lights in the ceiling. I enjoy stuff like this.

Inside, the reception got underway and the dancing was pretty great – they had a special guest DJ who played Pakistani dance music and it was a big hit. Good times were had by all.

I hope you guys had a really fun rest of the night after I left – congrats and I’ll be in touch!

Driving down to the Beaver Hollow Conference Center in Java Center, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I had tried to stop by late last summer but the gate were locked. One word describes the setting: Fantastic. It is definitely my new favorite all-inclusive site… the ceremony, reception, and overnight lodging were all within walking distance and everything was beautiful. See for yourself.

Look at this boat just sitting at the edge of the lake! I asked if they’d like to try going out in the boat for a few pictures and was met with a pretty emphatic “no” – I tried! I don’t blame them… everything was perfect as is.

Cocktail hour started and we walked down the path to a butterfly garden to do a few wedding party photos. The guys were psyched about doing an “Anchorman” jump shot and I think they did a great job!

The dinner lodge was great – open air and built right around the existing trees, and the dance floor extended out over the lake. It was beautiful! They did all of their “big” dances right away before dinner, and I’m so glad because the natural light was wonderful.

Kim danced with her dad to “Daughter” and it was my favorite father-daughter dance of the summer – at least half of everyone standing around the dancefloor was wiping away tears.

When they cut their cake I had high hopes for an epic cake smash, but Kim controlled herself and kept it nice. While dinner finished up I got some shots of people “playing croquet” (I don’t think anyone actually knew how to play) and then the dancing got underway. I even got to slow dance with the best man after he insisted… at length. Thank you for making sure I had a good time.

Thanks for hiring me you guys! You picked such a beautiful site and I’m happy I got to be there. Congratulations and enjoy newlywed life!

Look at this view. Look at it.

Have your reception at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston on an overcast day. Easy enough, right?

So anyway, Bethany got my name from Annamaria, whose wedding I did back in 2006, and when we met to go over pricing & everything I could tell that she was just my type – fun, easygoing, and happy to let me take care of the details. Rock on. I arrived at her friend’s house to do “getting ready” pictures and got to see a MAC girl doing make-up, which is cool… I don’t usually get to see that stuff! Bethany got dusted with sparkles and I don’t know if it tickled or if someone said something funny…

They had their ceremony at St. Peter’s in Lewiston (which you can actually see from the country club, which I think is cool).

From there we hustled it up to the country club because Bethany was adamant that she did not want to miss her whole cocktail hour doing pictures! Getting off the limo, this was hint #8 that it was going to be a fun night:

What a view, seriously.

My weakness strength – a love of details!

The reception was fab – the food was plated in such a pretty way, each table had its own cake, and the dancing was a documentary photographer’s dream come true.

When the groom’s dad fakes heart palpitations after lively dancing, it makes me smile (as long as he’s faking!).

Guys, I could have easily posted at least 20 more photos of just the dancing alone, but I have to cap it. Congrats, congrats, congrats. I had a wonderful time and hope to see you again in the future – for anything! Congrats!