I think if I knew nothing else about Dina + Travis except they are the type of couple to get married on Leap Day, I probably would've been ridiculously excited to head down to the Southern Tier for their mid-week wedding last week. But after the Marauder's Map invitation arrived (via another Nickel City Bride, Alyson,) we got a little more excited. Then the twitpic of the Azkaban wanted poster placecards came through, and the comment about Travis's hawk hitting 4 inches, and the mention of father-daughter dance being The Time Warp... yeah, we were so unbelievably stoked that D+T kicked off 2012.

And that was before the day even began.

The funny thing is, the first time we "met" Dina, she was retrieving lightscribe dvds from our front porch after we'd blogged about trying to get rid of some stuff that we didn't need in the studio. We saw her and waved as we were driving off somewhere since our front doorbell has been broken for about three years and she thought we weren't home. I had told her via email that the dvds were all hers, but she had to comment on the next six posts. That was at least 45 blog posts ago and I'm sure she hasn't missed a post.

Now it's your turn, D :).

When you have someone who believes in you and follows what you do as a photographer before she gets formally engaged, it just floors you. We constantly feel like we are just not worthy of our clients. Our couples are the kindest, sweetest and most genuine people you could imagine. So, whatever it is that we're doing, I just want to keep on working as hard as possible to keep doing it because this is amazing.

Oh, I love getting to say this, Rich - you're wrong. 96. It's been 96 posts since we first met Dina :)

But you ARE right - getting to do this is ridiculously amazing, and I love the extraordinary people we get to meet along the way. It's even cooler when we get to walk out of a wedding with an amazing day behind us and two new friends.

Also, Dina - you're full of it - neither you nor your mom are ugly criers (not that Dina said so, Dina's mom! :) ) . The moment she saw you was perfect.

Yeah, hah - 96! Ah, I want to keep talking about this ferociously awesome couple and, but we're definitely talking over their post.

A wedding day is about a lot of things and although all couples (around here anyway) do somewhat similar things on their day, all the different parts move a little differently and feel differently, too. I know, personally, that I never have a rigid plan for shooting a day. You have to have a feeling about a couple and go with your gut. You have to know who they are and what matters most to them or even the prettiest pictures aren't going to be successful.

For Dina and Travis, the day really hit me when we got to their church. Their pastor claims credit for introducing them to one another (he's also Travis' fire hall chaplain) and I could see how much the ceremony itself mattered to them. In that church, with the people closest to them in their lives. Don't get me wrong, the ceremony is a huge part of the day for all couples, but sometimes you realize that absolutely everything else about the day could be stripped away and a couple would be just as happy because of what they got to say to one another and the vows they made in that church.

Absolutely - and I loved that the ceremony was so important to them that they D+T requested no one (well, except us :) ) take photos. I've heard of people doing this before, but we've never been to a wedding that did. I love that - trying to get all the guests involved and present in the moment instead of fumbling with their cameras & phones trying to get the perfect shot and missing what is actually going on.

I was thrilled. I mean, I don't think about guests taking photographs that much. I know "Uncle Bob" leaning into the aisle to take a shot from 45 feet away with a point and shoot drives a lot of photographers nuts, but it stopped bothering me a long time ago. I figure it's just an accepted part of the day, so I've adapted to it. But it's true about guests losing focus. I see tons of wedding guests at every wedding spending 90% of a ceremony snapping photo after photo and I'm just never sure why. Enjoy the ceremony! Enjoy the day! Be fully present for the couple! Dina and Travis get all our images, they'll mail you a copy! :)

Anyway, it just goes back to trust and what's important. I don't mean to get preachy, but I'm a big fan of the "unplugged wedding" and I hope more brides and grooms make that call. It made what was a pretty intimate ceremony in a small family church that much more intimate and special in my mind.

Speaking of "preachy" - Father Mike, you're amazing. I've rarely had such a big smile on my face while working. And also? That candle-ighting shot is killer, Alyssa (Alyssa had to crouch up front the whole time since the church was smaller - paid of big time!)

Yeah - we almost never are allowed up front since there are often side aisles we can hide in, but as crampy as my thighs were from crouching for an hour, shots like this made it waaaay worth it to me (besides, I'm always in the market for an excuse for a massage :).

Also, remember that time you were all, "Alyssa, you're talking all over D+T's post. And then I'm going to write an essay every time I get a chance to talk?"

So I'm wordy. People tell us all the time they like the banter, so I'm bantering. Just with myself mostly. Wait....

Okay, so where are we? (where we are is actually both tweeting with Dina while she's at the fire hall waiting for Travis to get back from a call) TECHNOLOGY IS RIDICULOUS.

Dina and Travis wanted to get over to Elicottville for photos and for a February wedding, the weather was pretty remarkable. And in the wide shots there's even like a few millimeters of snow!

And amazing shoes and hand tie-dyed socks and mohawk and awesome.

So, D+T, getting married on Leap Day, had a Wednesday afternoon/night reception which was still totally and amazingly fun - they just jumped everything up a couple hours and finished up at 9. Which was kind of genius, actually. Of course, we have a special place in our heart for Wednesday weddings since that was what we did, too! Though not as stylishly, and definitely not with lasers.

No, we definitely did NOT have this kind of style. You guys, this is how it's done. You spend time with your loved ones, you get married, you have a great time no matter what. You just love each other as hard as you can every moment that you can. I couldn't be happier to call you guys friends and to see you married and happy. Time to shut up, get off twitter and post this thing :). Have a great weekend everybody!