Flowers by Design

I meet so many great people at weddings. At a wedding I shot in November I met Colleen. She introduced herself to me and asked me if she could have some of my cards to put in her store. She then explained she had a flower shop in Glassboro, NJ.

Before I agree to things I like to know what I might be lending my name to. I was very happy to see Colleen's eye for detail. Her arrangements are gorgeous. While I was there I took a few shots of a brides bouquet she had finished that morning.
Flowers by Design is a beautiful store right on High St. in the center of Glassboro. It's been awhile since I've been to Glassboro, and they have really done a great job bring the center of town back to life. There are some nice stores there. Why not stop by and give her a visit.

Celebrating 19 years!

Yesterday, my wife and I celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary! Our celebrations are a little different after 5 kids and 19 years but everyday I spend with her is worth celebrating. I don't remember where I heard the quote and I probably won't get it completely right but here it goes; "love isn't a feeling it's an act of the will". I can be very strong willed and I have no plans to give up on my marriage anytime soon. Like most men, I married up, and everyday I realize that more. My love has only grown for her and I pray that it grows ten-fold every year God blesses us together.

Bryan & Dennae's Wedding

What a great night. The weather could of been a lot worse but it stopped raining every time we needed it to. It was an unusally balmy 60 degrees.

I have never seen a bride smile as much as Dennae. I don't think I saw her all day without one. Everyone was just so great. From the ladies having fun "partying" at the salon to the guys playing on the rocks at the reception. The two little girls were amazing too. Between playing dolls and dumping the roller drawer; they had plenty of fun at the salon. I thought they would never make it to the wedding. The ceremony started at 7:30pm, I thought for sure they would be ready to crash well before then. They were real troopers and hung in there until about 11pm.

Enjoy the pictures below followed by a slide show.

Bryan & Dennae's Wedding Slide Show

The Cinderella Ball

Last Saturday night, my girls and I enjoyed a Cinderella Ball. It was a night just for dads and their daughters to have fun and dance all night. I treated my girls to getting their hair done and my Getting Ready package, gratis of course.

It was put together by an amazing 15 y/o girl who wanted to raise money for Shaohannah’s Hope. Shaohannah’s Hope was started by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife to provide grants to families that want to adopt children but cannot afford to. According to Cry of the Orphan, there are over 130 million orphans in the world today. How can we stand by and let these children be unloved. The night raised just under $4,000.

The evening was incredible. We brought most of our food home because we spent so much time dancing. At one point the girls were dancing with their friends and I was watching from the side of the dance floor. My oldest girl left her friends and grabbed my hand and asked me to dance with her. Unless your a dad, you don't know what the does to your heart. I had to hold back tears because they played "Cinderella" by SCC three times that night. If your a dad, it's a love/hate feeling with that song.

John & Hilary's Wedding

What a great day. All week they kept calling for rain, but God gave us a absolutely beautiful day.

Hilary was amazingly calm until she heard me mention to my wife that it was 1:30. The wedding was at 2. She got just a little nervous then calmed right down again. I have never seen so many people in a house before a wedding, there had to be close to 30 people there. Everyone was working on last minute plans. The Hilary's mom was making sure everyone was getting dressed and tying the rings on the pillow. John's mom was making some finishing touches on some of the deserts.

The bridal party had to cross a driveway, up about five steps, and then down a landscaped path to the gazebo. A gorgeous setting. Hilary's father is a minister, so he walked he "down the isle" and then turned to start the ceremony. Everything was going well until a car alarm went off. Without skipping a beat he continued "on that note".

John and Hilary met while country dancing. Of course, there was plenty of dancing. And what great dancers they are. After the cake was cut, John and Hilary changed into their dancing clothes and really got going. A lot of their dancing friends were there to help them celebrate.
Near the end of the evening, a sing along started in the living room. This isn't what you think. Hilary is an accomplished musician and some of her friends are trained vocalists. We were treated to an amazing concert.

This was a wonderful day. I'm so glad I was able to capture it for them. I pray that God will bless this new marriage.

Please enjoy the pictures and slideshow below.John and Hilary's Wedding Slideshow

Bryan and Dennae

This past Saturday I had a great time with Bryan and Dennae. I chose historic Pitman as the backdrop for their shoot. I love small town America. This little town is actually where I grew up and it has so much character. I like to walk around and take a few minutes in several spots, the problem was it was 9000% humidity that day. So we cut down on the locations and drove to everything.

Bryan and Dennae were so easy going. It was great to work with them. I can't wait for their wedding in November.

Enjoy the slide show below.Bryan and Dennae's Slideshow

Fireproof - the review

Well, my wife and I had our date night Friday night. We saw Fireproof. It was good! I don't care how strong a marriage you think you have, if your truly honest with yourself and your spouse you will find room for improvement. I know guys, you think it's a chick flick, it is with some good humor and decent action scenes.
Let's face it guys when romance dies off, it's normally our fault. We sometimes forget how special our wives really are. We get caught up in our own world, our hobbies, our work, and our habits and forget our partner. I know I'm not alone in saying that I would be nothing without my wife. It's not that we intend to stop wooing and chasing our wives, it just happens. The movie reminds you how special and sacred the covenant of marriage is and how it's not always easy but it's worth fighting for.
Take your wife out to the movie, buy her some flowers, and never stop chasing your wife. If you think catching her is the goal, your wrong. The romance is the chase, the pursuit. Once you've got her she'll change the rules and then the chase is on again. If you put your all into chasing your wife, you'll have her heart forever. But remember, in order to chase her effectively you have to drop all of your junk and run after her.

A Day at the Beach

I got to spend a day at the Jersey shore this past Saturday. This family wanted the "classic" beach pictures that they had seen for years. We had a lot of fun.

When we arrived at the beach, we came up over the dune to a wedding just a few feet from the jetty we wanted to shoot on. So we patiently waited for the wedding to finish. Right after we started shooting they started setting up for another wedding. I was talking to one of the chauffers and found out that there were 17 wedding scheduled for that section of beach on Saturday. While we were there, there were also 5 other photo shoots going on. I guess it was the place to be.

My Family

When I scheduled the beach shoot, I asked the family if they minded my family tagging along. They said it sounded like fun. We finished our shoot and I had them take one picture of us. After that we spent some time walking the boardwalk and of course had some pizza. Both families had a great time playing and checking out all the post-summer bargains.

Fireproof Your Marriage

My wife and I are really looking forward to our date night this week. We're going to see Fireproof. It's a new movie opening this Friday, 9/26. From everything I've heard, it should be great. They say that it could really have an impact on your marriage.

Philadelphia Harvest Crusade

There is an event coming to Philadelphia this October that is just amazing. It's called the Harvest Crusade. It's head up by Pastor Greg Laurie. If you want to see great things happen, you should attend. Click on the link below and you'll be able to watch the event live Oct 3-5.

76 Years and still going strong!

My wife's Grandmother past away last week. She lived a wonderful life and was surrounded by family and friends. She was 91, just think of all she saw in her life. And with 19 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren, and 9 great great grandchildren, she had a full life.
While we were celebrating her home going to be with Jesus, I met her brother Donovan and his wife Evelyn. He is 93 and I didn't catch Evelyn's age. He then told me that he and his wife have been married for 76 years. After I asked him how do you get a marriage to last for 76 years he gave his wife a big hug and kiss and said "that's how". I think those two held hands almost all day. What a great example!

John & Hilary's Engagement Session

I just had a great engagement session with a couple last weekend. We met through a mutual friend. Hilary went to college with an old neighbor of mine. I just love meeting new people.

Her fiancé, John, has a beautiful farm in central Jersey. What a wonderful place to have an engagement session. Fresh country air and sunshine, you just can’t beat it. I can’t wait to shoot the wedding there in the fall.

My wife came to assist me and we just had such a good time with Hilary and John. I think they’re going to have a great time together.

Enjoy John and Hilary’s slideshow below.

John & Hilary's Slideshow

The Wedding of Dennis and Sarah

What a day! Dennis and Sarah’s wedding was a whirlwind. It was small but fun, not serious, but not zany. It reminded me of the weddings I’ve heard about from my parents and grandparents. You know the immediate family and a few close friends.

There were two little boys there that were just having so much fun. One was the ring bearer. He did his job; he got the pillow from the back of the church to the front. For family pictures I had him throw things to me. He smiled, was happy and I got the shot so the family is happy. Oh, to be a kid again.

I pray God blesses Dennis and Sarah with a wonderful marriage filled with love and life.

Check out the slideshow below.

Dennis and Sarah's Wedding Slideshow

Learning the family business

I think my daughter still has a lot to learn about the photography business. I don't think this is the proper usage according to the manual.

The Wedding of Doug & Cheryl

This was a beautiful wedding. I have known Cheryl since she was a little girl. I have to admit, between teaching her in Sunday School and in Youth Group, it was a little hard to see her get married. I met Doug about a year and a half ago. They make a great couple.

The day started with rain but cleared out to be gorgeous. They say that rain on your wedding day is good luck. My wife and I have been married 18 ½ years, it snowed on our wedding day, does that count? Everything went great except for the normal few glitches in every wedding, but they’re the memories.

Rush, rush, rush! The bride left the salon so beautiful, rushing to grab a bite before getting into her dress. Every little girl dreams of the day they can put on their own dress to meet their prince. We took a few extra minutes to take some photographs of Cheryl with her Daddy’s picture. Cheryl lost her Father 8 years ago. I still remember her sitting on her Daddy’s knee in church. She carried a locket with a picture of him on his Wedding Day, on her flowers. Even though her brother walked her down the isle, her Daddy was still there.

The ceremony was perfect. I think it took Doug & Cheryl four tries to finally light the Unity Candle. It was a very hot, humid day so the a/c and ceiling fans were both on and it kept blowing out. They took it all in stride and laughed with the crowd.

We had to hurry with family portraits because the storm clouds were gathering. Everyone was so cooperative, so it went well. I kept checking the radar on my cell phone and it was coming fast. Off to a park for some pictures.

There is a beautiful park on the way to the reception hall. There was a lot to work with; gazebo, bridge, ponds, fountains, flowers… The rain never did come.

I pray God’s blessing on their marriage, may they live in His will forever.

Check out their slideshow below.

Doug & Cheryl's SlideShow

The More the Merrier

I had a great session with a family last week. They have six kids that are involved in a lot. This made things a little hard to schedule but we kept calling one another until we both had an open day. I think the geese and their leftovers were actually the biggest problem of the day. We still had a fun time.
I love large families. My wife and I are both one of four, and we have five of our own.

"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has a quiver full of them."
Psalm 127:4-5a (NKJV)

Family Portrait

I had a great session with a young family the other day. They have two little girls that are just beautiful. The mother's brother owns a feed store and that made the perfect backdrop for a casual family session. What made it even easier for me was a large park right down the street. Once we did what we could at the store we jumped down the street to play in the park. The girls were nice, relaxed and just played. When kids can just run around they just have so much more fun and much more willing to cooperate in family portraits.
Enjoy the slideshow below.

FamilySlideshow1

Assateague Island, Virginia

My family and I went to visit my wife's relatives in Virginia. On our way back home we stopped at Assateague Island. It is a great place to enjoy some wildlife and have some fun with the kids. We had a great time there. I think it was $5 a car load and you can stay all day. I'm not sure I would recommend swimming, the undertow is really strong.
As you can see in the video below, we were able to see some egrets and even wild horses, that is what the island is known for. There is one picture of a snake tail sticking out of a stump. My daughter saw it right after she leaned on the stump to look for horses. So much for peace and quiet. Enjoy!

Assateague Island Slideshow