Flowing Family Formals

Some of the most important photos of the whole day!

-The ones you really want to pass down to family.

-Whats going to go on the wall at grandmas house.

-What you and your family will really look back on.

Things that can make Family photos run late/feel uncomfortable

• Family dynamics/drama

• People leaving when they still have photos to take

• Multiple people in the crowd that want other photos

• Not enough time

TIPS for flowing family formal photos

1.Review my questionnaire I send 4 months prior to the wedding.

2.Write out your own list to put in the questionnaire.

3.Ask important family members if there are any variations they want PRIOR TO THE WEDDING.

Mom and her God daughter, all of your uncles, or all of the cousins together, etc…

These are important variations and should be noted if wanted. Just be sure to buffer enough time in for these after the ceremony or you can have your photographer take these during the reception. But you will need to have a family member or bridal party member grab the subjects in the photo for your photographer. It can get harder the later in the evening to get family together. Often drinks are flowing and attention spans are not there like they will be right after the ceremony. If huge groupings are SUPER IMPORTANT you should get them done with right after the ceremony. 

4.If you have a rehearsal dinner remind your family the night before to walk back to the ceremony right after they walk down the aisle for photos.

5.Have a family member/bridal party member hand out small pieces of paper to people who need to stay after the ceremony for photos. The paper will say something like “Please do not leave or talk to other wedding guests until after the family photos are done. Please stay up front near the ceremony space so we can get photos done in a timely manner.”

6.Most family formals can take up to 30 minutes to take. Please talk with your photographer to see the amount of time they think it will take for your specific family!

7.Having a day of coordinator or a wedding planner helps relieve the stress of family photos as well! They can help get people ready for their turn and gather family members!

The post Flowing Family Formals appeared first on Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer.

I am excited to share the first wedding of 2017 on the blog today. Sharing Adrienne and Mikes winter wedding at Heinz Chapel and The Priory! Even though this was a winter wedding the weather didn’t seem so winter like haha! We all know in Pittsburgh you don’t know what you’re going to get. It was basically in the 60’s and comfortable! Adrienne and the girls got ready at Adrienne and Mikes house as the guys got ready down at the Priory. The ceremony was held at the iconic Heinz Chapel in Oakland! After the ceremony we had family formals and bridal party photos outside in the are surrounding Heinz Chapel. We also grabbed some photos over at The Mellon steps! Once we headed over to The Priory for the reception the guests were inside enjoying drinks and the beautiful architecture. I hope you all enjoy the images from Adrienne and Mike’s winter wedding at Heinz Chapel!

Winter Wedding At Heinz Chapel And The Priory

1. Wedding colors:

   Black and White with Blush accents

2. Who is your wedding dress designer?

   Justin Alexander/Justinalexanderbridal.com

3. Where did you get your wedding dress?

   Bridal Beginning / bridalbeginning.com

4. Where are your bridesmaid dresses from?

   Various locations

5. Tuxedos or Formal Wear?

   Tuxedos/menswearhouse.com

6. Who is your cake artist?

   Priory Fine Pastries/prioryfinepastries.com

7. Who is your florist?

   Bernadette Grese / Giant Eagle- Elizabeth

8. Who is your DJ/Band?

   DJ Underdog /bookbrandnu.com

9. Who is your Caterer?

   Grand Hall at the Priory / pittsburghsgrandhall.com

10. Where did you get your Lighting,Decor,Rentals,linens etc…

    Included with wedding package at Grand Hall at the Priory

11. Who is doing your hair?

    Elegante Details / elegantedetailssalon.net

12. Who is doing your makeup?

    Brazil Raine/ brazilrainemakeupartist.com

13. Invitations/Programs/Stationary?

    RSVP greensburg/rsvpgreensburg.com

14. Who is your transportation by ?

    Tortorice Limousine/ Tortoricelimousine.com

Thank for checking out the blog! To see more work from Courtney go to www.ctgphotography.net !

The post Winter Wedding At Heinz Chapel And The Priory appeared first on Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer.

Sharing some Stonebridge Farm Nursery Wedding Photos today! Here are some of my favorites from Kalee and Gary’s wedding. Stonebridge Farm Nursery is such a unique venue for weddings. There are so many hidden treasures at this location! And I loved the variety it possessed as a venue. Kalee and Gary were married under an arbor adjacent to their reception area. You can take a look at their Stonebridge Farm Nursery wedding photos below! After the ceremony we headed around the venue for some portraits. There is a really cool tree line by the entrance of the venue that we went to for some awesome shots! And we found some skulls on the venue grounds. We used them as props because they hunt and thought it would be a great addition to the photos!  If you would like to see any other work from CTG Photography please head to www.ctgphotography.net.

Thanks for viewing !  Feel free to browse my website to see more photos from other weddings!

Stone Bridge Farm Nursery Wedding Photos

1. Wedding colors:

   Dusty teal and gray

2. Who is your wedding dress designer?

   Maggie Sottero maggiesottero.com

3. Where did you get your wedding dress?

   Bridal Beginnings Bridalbeginnings.com

4. Where did you get your Lighting,Decor,Rentals,linens etc…

   Center pieces – Ikea (made myself)
   Card Globe- (Made myself)
   Linens- JPC Events
   Favors- Can Koozies totallyweddingkoozies.com

5. Who is doing your hair?

   Kathrine Russin- The villiager II katzilla_colors on instagram
6. Invitations/Programs/Stationary?
   Wedding paper divas- weddingpaperdivas.com
   enclosure cards and place cards- made myself

7. Who is your transportation by ?

   Quality Limosine services- Pittsburgh http://www.qualitylimousine.net/

   8. Who is your cake artist?
   Prantl’s Bakery prantl’sbakery.com

   9. Who is your florist?

   Hannah DiCicco owner of Sip and Celebrate

   10. Who is your DJ/Band?

   Craig Lawrence, Owner of Red Hot Chameleon Entertainment redhotchameleon.com

   11. Who is your Caterer?

   JPC event Group www.JCPeventgroup.com

The post Stonebridge Farm Nursery Wedding Photos- Kalee & Gary appeared first on Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer.

Sharing Mellon Park engagement photos of Amber and Chris today! I am excited to share their photo with you! Chris and I know one another from College. I went to high school with a number of his fraternity brothers and a lot of my sorority sisters hung out at the fraternity Chris is a part of. There were plenty of funny nights at Pi Lam and sometimes I wish I were back in college to relive those nights! Chris was always funny and could often make anyone laugh! Amber and Chris are a great fit for one another and I was excited when they asked me to be their photographer!

The weather was perfect for their Mellon Park engagement photos. Mellon park is such a cute little park nestled in Shadyside. The architecture there pulled their engagement photos together so well. Soon after their Mellon Park engagement photos were done we headed up to Mount Washington to get photos don’t at Grandview park. I can’t wait until next year for their wedding! In the mean time I hope you enjoy their Mellon Park engagement photos as well as the Grandview photos!

To see more work from CTG Photography please click here www.ctgphotography.net 

Mellon Park Engagement Photos

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Sharing some Pittsburgh winter engagement photos done at White Oak Park! As a Pittsburgh native we all know how brutal out winter is here! But with that being said we have some beautiful landscapes that are draped with snow from time to time! One of Pittsburgh’s recent blizzards had my mind brewing ideas for a styled engagement session! That is where this idea of a red dress and a holiday feel theme came about for these Pittsburgh winter engagement photos ! Laura and Josh were my lucky couples who got to sit outside in the cold for these photos! They were troopers about it though! I actually photographed their proposal down in The south side! You can see some of that here.

I made a backdrop from Christmas ornaments that hung around them for a few photos. I also created a rose flower crown from silk flowers! The flower crown looked great with her red dress! I love how the snow looked as a backdrop to their Pittsburgh winter engagement photos ! I hope you all enjoy!

To see more from CTG Photography click here.

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