I'm going to start off this post with a photo of my hubby's that I'm totally smitten with. It's just perfect this time of year - we're getting into my absolutely favorite season, and the transition to fall is just stupidly beautiful around here. The warm days, the beautiful sun, the trees just starting to turn. This city thrives on this season, and maybe, just maybe, the amazing feeling in the air around here has something to do with that epic Sunday. Rich turned to me and said, "are you sure we can't lead the post with that picture of Fitzpatrick?" His laptop's current wallpaper is a shot of Fitz with a halo, descending from the skies with angels flying around him. Pretty hilarious, but I thought, as amazing as Kristen + Brandon's sense of humor is, they've been waiting so patiently for their post, let's go ahead and start it with them :)

(Rich just walked in and announced that Fitz was named Offensive Player of the Month for the AFC. I swear, if any of your homes aren't a continuous running commentary of the Bills this week, you're lucky. We're like, the baby got teeth this week AND did you read that article about Buffalo being the best football city ever? :) )

End break, back to K + B!

I'm sorry - you did this. Guys, I grew up in Tennessee with no real NFL ties and then I met this awesome chick from Grand Island, and we started going to the Oahu Bills backers bar at 7 am for the 1 pm EST games, and I fell in love with a city I'd never even seen. When a job came up on recruiting duty and we found a house we loved, and we found out we were having a baby, and we discovered we loved shooting weddings, all in a relatively short period of time, it was kismet. So here we are, six years after our big move, and holy crap do we love our Bills.

We love our clients, too. We get to meet and work with some of the best people I've ever met. I credit a lot of this to the kind of town Buffalo is and the kind of people who grow up here. Kristen has been so good to us the last year of getting to know her and Brandon. She's a total regular on our blog, commenting on damned near every post and checking in with us on facebook and sometimes just writing to see how we're doing. We just can't do this with out brides like her. If it weren't for Kristen and Brandon and the all the other couples like them who get into what we do on their wedding day and use their bridal photo time to have ever more fun (and, wow, K + B and their bridal party had a LOT of fun) this job would suck.

Yeah - did they use their photo time well. You know how a while back I mentioned just wanting to show reception photos, because it was so fun? That's kind of how I felt about the portraits of this day, but I waaaay over think things, and I can't seem to break away from showing a whole day (always chronologically), because, well, I over think things for the blog because I'm insane. Anyway, we'll get to the portraits. First, their wedding at Holy Spirit.

It was a seriously fantastic ceremony & we got to work with Frank from 17 Video who we always love seeing!

Loved it - super relaxed morning, good friends. The first spot we hit was Harris Hill Fire Co., where Brandon and Kristen have some history. Brandon is a firefighter (as are most of his groomsmen) and Kristen's dad was, too. And the funny thing is, we've been driving by the truck bays for years on the way to and from that part of town for weddings and other stuff and we've always been, "Man, those doors are so cool and symmetrical, we should shoot in front of them!"

Firefighting helmets, ftmfw. And in the second photo, Brandon is holding a Halligan bar and a flat head axe, which combine to make what firemen call a marriage or married set. Appropriate AND bad-ass. I can't wait to show you guys all the stuff we did at the hall. That was a big win for us, and we owe you for the awesomeness.

It's funny - one of our friend's fire hall was on call for Harris Hill since so many of the firemen were at the wedding. I just re-read that 20 times and it seems grammatically incorrect, but I know Kristen is being so patient waiting for these photos, so I'm gonna let errors fly. So, I love the shot above of the bridesmaid's bouquet. Kristen was going for a freshly picked wild flowers feel, and that rocks. We then hit up the waterfront for a bit before heading back to the Hyatt for a wedding-day break. Oh sigh, the room... Kristen + Brandon had this ridiculously amazing room and their bridal party ... well, the basket on the head guy ... so, everyone in bed ... um, dance party ... so, it was funny/fun/awesome. The top photo below in this set? I love.

Then we headed down to the lobby for the best wedding day hook up ever... and it's entirely possible a groomsman hit every button in the elevator, so Rich rocked out a mirror shot at one of the stops. It's not often we're in the wedding photos :)

Yeah. I could write all about this, but what would I say that isn't here. K+B got us on the roof. Epic win. Love, love, love, love, love.

Love.

That Hyatt really owns for cocktail hour. I don't know anyone who doesn't love the lobby there. Side note - not to bring this back to the Bills again, but I once sat next to Al Davis in the lobby when the Raiders were in town a few years ago and I was waiting on a groom. He looks like Skeletor, no joke.

And then the party started for all the guests, because the bridal party had been been doing some pretty serious partying throughout us running around taking photos. Emotional, awesome good times.

Guys, I'm bummed your wedding is over (because I'd kindof like to do it all over again with you:) ) , but I'm really excited for both of you. You're a great couple, a really great one. I think you guys completely get each other and can laugh together and will laugh together for the rest of your lives. Thank you so much, again. You guys are the best :)

We're catching up on blogging our last double-wedding weekend of the year which means we are dangerously close to entering the home stretch of the wedding season. Wedding season for a full-time wedding photographer in the Northeast, where you need to shoot a year's worth in the span of a few months, can get a little crazy. But we're hanging in and are moving from the constant-editing phase of the year and into the design-a-billion-albums phase of the year. We've got nine left for the year and we shoot right through NYE, but we're feeling really good about the year and all the amazing couples we've worked with so far.

Of all the memories I have from this year, I'm going to have a ton from Chels and Jay's wedding. Heck of a wedding day for them and we were very, very happy to have gotten to know these two and all their friends and family. It was one of those days where you walk in and you're instantly welcomed and it feels like you're very much a part of the day, not just witnessing it.

Yeah - it was pretty amazing. They couldn't have been a more amazing group of people, and it was a pretty amazing day.

You know, Rich and I don't see each other's photos from a wedding day before the blog, and he never mentioned anything about the above photo, so I'm scrolling through the wedding figuring out what we're gonna put on the blog and then, Shrek. I have no idea why it's there, but I love it :)

It was that kind of day. I mean, we could probably have done an entire blog post of groomsmen with pocket knives photos. Engraved pocket knives are a cool groomsman gift. Really. Even if drinking is involved. Really.

And it was an outdoor, yet covered venue. Great light, awesome emotion. I LOVE that long shot of Chelsea and her dad before walking down the aisle.

Since we were at Kloc's, we popped out back for portraits during cocktail hour before heading into the reception. I do love how the place is covered, yet outside. I know that pretty much every wedding that takes place in California gets to be outdoors because it rains 10 days a year, and in a place that does have rain and (yes, even on unexpected wedding days) snow, outdoor weddings aren't as common, so it's nice at Kloc's that you have the open-walled, out-door feeling but a cover (and outdoor heaters) in case the weather doesn't cooperate.

If we ever have a daughter and she gets married and I have to do a father-daughter dance - I'm going to be a HUGE MESS. I know this because Chelsea and her dad had a pretty amazing moment and I got choked up. And then Jay and his mom tore it up. And, hey - do I get to do anything at our sons' hypothetical future weddings other than booze it up?

I don't think you get to do much, except maybe pay :)

Anyway, it was an amazingly fun day and the reception was no exception. It was a blast, and it was so much fun to photograph. We're cutting out to go prep for tomorrow; Chelsea + Jay, thank you a million times over. It was one hell of a day!