amandafales.com – the blog

Hi there! Jessica + Brooks’ wedding had such sophisticated style and amazing, classic details.  Every aspect was carefully planned and executed, from the birdcage veil to the refined, all-white reception and lovely, vintage accessories everywhere we looked.  We loved today.

Meet the beautiful Jessica and her perfect eyelashes.

How many bridesmaids does it take to fluff a 7-layered dress?   Seven!

Their first looook! (scenery courtesy of Blue Heron at Blackthorn.)

Then second, and third look.

For the rest of my life, I will remember this photo.  And not necessarily because of the beautiful bridal party.  Andy + I did our best to put the bridal party under the awning for the photo 1) because the girls were wearing stiletto heels and were sinking in the grass and 2) we were positive that rain was coming any second.  So!  I backed myself into this field that you can see a tiny pinch of in this photo.  I’m not afraid of many things.  Bugs don’t bother me.  Spiders don’t really bother me.  But snakes, … snakes bother me.  I no sooner took this very photo when I looked down, and between my outstretched feet a long gray snake slithered his way past me.  Absoulte.terror. ran through my veins! I do not! like! SNAKES!  Even as I type this, I have my little feets tucked under me on my chaaaaiiiirrr!  I can’t remember what happened after that, but I will never, in all my life, forget this photo.

Back at the church! (And so glad to be back on pavement and not in a random field),  the boys were hanging out before the ceremony.

Such sweet little hands, guiding little feets down the aisle just before Jessica + her dad.

It’s time.

Gorgeous ceremony at St. Patrick.

Bubble time.

Married!

Love these. Top is mine, bottom is Andy’s.  (I think we tied.)

Back to The Blue Heron for their fabulous, all-white reception.  All details by Merry Me! Events.  Cake by Cakewalk, LLC.

(Some of the most beautiful and scrumptious cakes we’ve ever tasted!)

More lovely Merry Me! details!

Stopping for some snuggles by a fabulous late 60′s GTO.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.  Happy marriage, you two!  Thanks so much for having us along today.   We appreciate you both!

Hi there!  Leah + Jason had such a fun wedding, despite the ridiculously HOT weather!!  They originally intended to have their wedding outdoors, but because temperatures rose to over 100 degrees (in the shade!!), everything (including most of their photos) was moved indoors.  However!  These two had incredibly good attitudes and didn’t let the crazy heat ruin their day.  They were smiling and laughing all day and made sure that everyone was drinking plenty of water!

Another detail I’ll always remember about their wedding was how many beautiful, bright colors they incorporated into their day. Just you wait!

They were married at a beautiful park, so Andy and I did our very best to shoot as many photos as we could outdoors.  We’d take the girls out in increments of three-five minutes, shot as much as we could, and then let them run inside into the air conditioning and would repeat the process with the boys.  Then, bring the girls back out.  I’m not even kidding! It was THAT hot outside.  I’ve been to India, I’ve been to Africa, and I have to say, this day in southern Indiana was hotter than those countries, combined!

Leah’s dad was an amazing sport throughout this process.  He’d hold the girls’ bouquets while they chugged water from water bottles, and then grabbed the water bottles when they needed their bouquets.  Best dad, ever.

These were two of my favorite shots from their day (we waited until the sun was setting!)  The top is from Andy’s camera, the bottom’s from mine.  They are so cute together.

Such a fun bridal party.  Hats off to all of you for having such awesome attitudes!

Out of nowhere, Jason appeared in the middle of family portraits with these giant, colorful lollipops.  And once again, we ran outdoors for two minutes to get these while we could. How could we pass it up!?

Favorite!! (I wanted to eat one, but they were a melty mess after these photos!)

LADIES! Listen up:  Candy Buffets are awesome.  That is all.  (Especially when they include Skittles.  I love me some Skittles.)

You might remember from their engagement session that Leah + Jason are kind of in love with IU.  They came waltzing into their reception wearing matching IU Chuck Taylors.  Priceless.

Loved these boys.

I must say, this was our favorite part of the entire day.  But in order to tell this story, I have to go back a few months.  When Leah + Jason sent out their invitations, they chose a beautiful white square card that fit into a beautiful white, square envelope.  Little did they know, mailing a square invitation costs $1.05, but Leah + Jason put just the normal 44 cent stamp on their envelope.  When Andy + I got our invitation, it included a yellow envelope from the post office stating that we owed the USPS 61 cents.  No big deal, we included the change and put it back in the mailbox.  But apparently! In southern IN, the post office was holding most of their invitations hostage and over half of their guests didn’t receive their invitations!  So to compensate, Leah + Jason sent out the following letter to their guests:

“Dear Future Guest, We were recently informed that our wedding invitations did not have enough postage, and therefore, the post office is holding them hostage for the sum of 61 cents.  Something about square envelopes costing more, who knew? (Not us.)  Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, but you better be sure not to short them a stamp.  We’re deeply sorry for the inconvenience and have decided to reduce the dollar dance to the 39 cent dance (We’re bringing buckets). Please accept our profound apologies.  We will make it up to you at our wedding. Sincerely, Leah + Jason”

Priceless.

After that mountain of text, I leave you with these two lovely sunset photos.  Congratulations, you two.  You deserve the very best.

HELLOOOOO!  Welcome to our NEW! blog!  We’re still working out a few kinks, but if you have any questions about how things are going to work around here, please let us know!  We’re very excited about our new look, and our little bloggie is happy about her facelift.  If you’re wondering what happened to our old blog, don’t worry!  It’s still around.  You can find photos from our past weddings by clicking the “old blog” link above or clicking here.   But go ahead! Take your time and have a peek and please let us know what you think!

We’re also happy to show you the wedding of Alyssa + John!  These two are a very sweet couple and we had a lovely time together.  Take a look!

Their first look in a pretty church.

Bridesmaids!  I adore people in purple.

The cute couple.  Alyssa carried this smile proudly the whole entire day.  I think she liked being a bride!

Her flowers were some of the prettiest I’ve seen this year!  Down in the right-hand corner of this photo, you might be able to make out some cufflinks that are “JS” — John wore his grandfather’s cufflinks for their wedding, because they happen to have the same initials.

Something about a chain-link fence, a weathered fence, and a random bush made me really like this photo.

Favorite!

More purple.

Ceremony time, ladies and gentlemen!

We like our happy brides.

We were sure it was going to pour rain on us today, but out of nowhere came this beautiful blue sky.  We couldn’t pass it up!

Alyssa + John!  Thanks again so much for having us be part of your special day.  We wish you many years of happiness and laughter and all things that are good.