Buffalo Wedding Photography » Modern, Photo-journalistic Wedding and Event Photography by Jenn and Ben Ayres, husband and wife creative photography team based out of Buffalo, NY.

We’re getting ready to head out to Chicago for the weekend for an e-shoot, but we didn’t want to leave town without first blogging Jamielyn and JC’s fabulous wedding!  We can sort of say that this wedding was the “official” kick off to our wedding season because late April is generally when our season starts, but this year was different for us than years past, in that we really had no “off season.”  Typically, the winter/early spring months are slow, which gives us a chance to re-group; but, this year, we had weddings to shoot every single month!  It was pretty amazing, and we are so very grateful.

So, anyway, what better way to ring in the “official” 2012 wedding season, than with a gorgeous wedding like this one.  We had so much fun with Jamie and JC, and all of their friends and family.  I could go on and on about what an incredible day it was, but if I start babbling, then I’ll never get this posted!  I’ll just let our bride and groom do the talking.  Thanks for sharing your Top Five Favorite Wedding Day Memories with us, guys!  :)

I started out the day with Jamie and her girls (and the always fabulous Heather and Nikki from Glam on Location), at the Hampton Inn in downtown Buffalo.  It was a very relaxed morning, and everyone was just so happy to be there.  Such a great group of ladies to hang with!

Jamielyn:  ”Getting ready for the day was completely surreal… how was the day finally here?  But I loved taking the time to get our hair & makeup done in the hotel, and just hanging out before all the craziness really set in!  It was a great way to start off a very long day!”

Ben started out the day with JC and the guys at JC’s parents’ home, and then they headed over to the Botanical Gardens to do some photos of the guys around the grounds.

Here’s what JC has to say: “I had the opportunity to greet everyone with my groomsmen before the ceremony started. It was fun just watching everyone come together for “Jamie and J.C.’s” wedding. Just seeing our family and friends took “the edge” off. My mom came up to me beforehand and said “Jamie looks amazing” and hugged me. You could tell that she was so proud.”Jamielyn:  “I really had no idea how I was going to react at the ceremony– bawling like a baby vs. stone-faced! After JC’s mom just hugged me and I started to cry, I could tell I could be in some trouble!  Walking down the aisle, I knew if i looked at JC I would start crying, so I unconsciously saved that until I was over halfway down… good thing I did!  Seeing his face was priceless and really indescribable, definitely the best moment of the day for me by a landslide!”

JC:  “Jamie standing in front of me just before we got married was probably the best moment. I kind of had one of those moments where everything flashes before you and its all leading up to this. Then she is finally in front of me about to cry… I took her hand and squeezed, and just said a simple “Hi.” That was all it took for her to relax a little bit and not cry.”

The ceremony was so beautiful!  Jamie had her mother do a reading, which was very sweet, and such a great way to incorporate her into the ceremony.  The Rev. Sue Samuels did a lovely job officiating, as always.  :)  Right after the ceremony, we did a whole bunch of family photos, and then we walked around with our bride and groom to grab some great shots of them throughout the Gardens.  I love that this place exists in Buffalo…it’s SO beautiful.From the Gardens, we headed over to the Ellicott Square Building for more pictures.  These guys were all so much fun to work with!  They had us cracking up!  We had a great time, and got some really stunning shots.

Jamielyn:  “Once family pictures were done, the whole time in between the ceremony & reception with our bridal party was really fun!  It was nice to have it just us and our best friends, taking it all in while being goofy and get some amazing pictures all at the same time.”

What a ridiculously STUNNING bride!!!  She was an absolute pleasure to photograph.  ;)And, a few more shots of this gorgeous couple at the Ellicott Square Building, before we headed on over to the reception at Pearl Street!Jamielyn:  “I could NOT wait to see all of my hard work put together at the reception! Natalie and the staff at Pearl Street do the most amazing job (I can’t sing their praises enough), and I knew our details would all be executed better than I ever imagined!  It was so nice to walk around during cocktail hour to take it all in, and finally see that all of the time & stress spent was completely worth it in the end!  Plus I know JC was really excited to have all of that “stuff” out of our house!”

JC:  “I wish I could have seen this, but I was part of it… I didn’t know until later the next day when my mom told me, so it’s from her point of view. My grandmother was in the hospital Friday, yelling that she wants to go home so she can make it to her grandson’s wedding, and she did!  As we started walking out after being announced at the reception, my grandma started crying and told my mom she ‘wishes that my grandfather could have seen this, he would have been so proud.’ “

JC:  “Dancing with my brother (the best man) in just our vests to “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice. My college friends knew that it was going to happen eventually and they wanted to see it, so they made sure to keep reminding us. I was like “Steve, lets take our shirts off and dance in just our vests.” That’s all I had to say– next thing I knew, we’re in the stairwell undressing and then running onto the dance floor. This was also one of my mom’s favorite moments. She told me numerous times, and everyone thought it was planned.”

Jamielyn:  ”Last but not least, I loved seeing all of our different “circles” interacting on the dance floor and having a great time! My best friends growing up, our different sets of high school & college friends, coworkers, plus all of our family… having everyone together was a great feeling, and I wish we could do it all the time!!”

JC:  “I would have to agree with Jamie’s 5th memory. I loved seeing all of our friends and family interacting and having a great time. Most of them had never met each other before. You wish you can hold on to that entire day because its a once in a lifetime event.”

Jamie and JC were both tearing up the dance floor all night long, but we did manage to grab them for just a few minutes for some night shots on the balcony!  Love these two!!!

Jamie and JC were kind enough to share some AWESOME wedding planning tips with our readers! Thanks so much, guys! These are all super helpful! So, if you’re still in the planning stages of your wedding, take note!!!  :)

The months after we got engaged were pretty much spent on weddingwire, reading reviews and researching our top vendors. I am crazy about reviews, and have to look them up on pretty much everything haha… but it works!! Especially when you have NO clue where to start wedding planning. I was the first person out of my closer friends to get married, so I really had no help with picking vendors or any ideas (other than the florist who did my MOH sister’s wedding, which was backed up by reviews lol). But the main thing I want to get across with this, is to trust your instincts. Sure I picked my top people for everything, but you have to meet them to make sure! And as soon as you do, you’ll know if you want them or not!  That’s exactly how it was with Jenn and Ben, but also for everyone else too (DJ Tony, Status Limo, L-egant chair covers).

 Try not to buy everything that fits into your color scheme… I can’t tell you how much purple & green random stuff we have leftover!! But if you do buy it, get everything on sale or clearance! It’s the only way to go.

 JC says not to stress about the small stuff, when it doesn’t go your way (like everyone taking candy before they’re supposed to, drove me nuts!). That’s not in my nature, but you can try haha.

For me, there would be weeks where I would think about the wedding nonstop, and then weeks where I would try to ignore it… just give yourself a break if you need it!

Jamie and JC – thank you both SO MUCH for choosing us to be a part of your wedding day!  We seriously had such an awesome time working with you guys from start to finish, and we’re kind of sad that it’s over (but, at least we still get to work with you on your Wedding Album over the next several months)!!  We hope you had an amazing honeymoon, and we wish you both all the happiness in the world!  Much love, J + B :)

A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I made the journey to Utica, NY for Laurie and Pete’s fabulous wedding!! I’m sure most everyone knows by now that I was born and raised in Utica, and that it will always be a very special place for me. It’s a small, quirky little city, but man does it have heart! It makes my whole day, week, month, and year when we get to shoot weddings in Utica, because it means that I get to see my family – and that doesn’t happen nearly as much as it should.  It was an incredible weekend, and we had an amazing time celebrating with Laurie and Pete, and their awesome family and friends!  :)

I started out the day with Laurie and her lovely bridesmaids at her parents’ home.  Their house is so fabulous!!  They completely renovated an old commercial building in downtown Utica.  I wrote a bit more detail about it in Laurie and Pete’s engagement post, so feel free to check it out!  L and P were kind enough to share their Top Five Favorite Wedding Day Memories with us, so I’ll be including those throughout the post!
Laurie was an incredibly beautiful bride!!  Simply STUNNING.Ben started out the day with Pete and the guys at Hotel Utica!  If you’re ever in need of a hotel in Utica, NY, this is the place!!  It’s lovely, and has so much history.  :)While we were waiting for the ceremony to start, I grabbed a few shots of Laurie and her Gram (who is also MY Gram!!).  I absolutely LOVE these next three shots.Then, the ceremony began!  It was probably the shortest ceremony we’ve ever seen in 6 years of weddings, but it was exactly the way they wanted it – short, sweet, and beautiful.  Here are the first two Top Five Faves from Laurie and Pete:

Laurie:  “Walking down the aisle with my dad, waiting to see Pete standing in the front.”  ”The mayor pronouncing us man and wife……and then the kiss!”

Pete:  “Waiting for my beautiful wife to come down the aisle in her dress, seeing her for the first time.”  ”People arriving in Utica from a far to be a part of our wedding.”

I caught this moment between the bride and groom when they made it to the end of the aisle after being pronounced husband and wife.  They look so happy!!  The entire day was filled with so much joy!
It was a little chilly that day, but we made it outside for a few quick bride and groom portraits.  Utica PD even stopped traffic for me while I was shooting in the middle of the street!  I have to say, as much as I love Buffalo, that’s never happened here.  ;)Then, we did a few lit portraits inside Hotel Utica before heading into the reception.  I love this one at the piano so much.  It was totally Ben’s idea – so creative!!Their little half-moon sweetheart table was so cute!They came in and immediately started their first dance to a beautiful song that I had never heard before, but am now completely in love with.  It’s called This Kind of Love by Sister Hazel – so awesome.

Another one of Laurie’s Top Five:  “Our first dance together to our favorite song.”  I love that Pete was singing it to Laurie during their dance.  It might just be me, but I found that if you listen to the song while looking at the next three photos, you can actually feel how much they love each other.  It’s wonderful.  Try it.  ;)

After their dance, Laurie surprised Pete with a video of all of his family back in Germany who weren’t able to be at the wedding.  It was such a beautiful moment, and definitely made it onto both of their Top Five lists!!

Laurie:  “Surprising Pete with the video of his family from Germany!”

Pete:  “The video of my family that could not travel from Germany to be here that my wife made for me.”

One of Pete’s relatives from Germany who was able to make it sang a love song for them in German!  It was a huge hit, and one of Laurie’s Top Five Faves!

Laurie:  “Jurgen singing to us in German.”

So many good times were had at this wedding – SO much laughter, so much love, such a beautiful celebration!  Here is the last of Pete’s Top Five Memories!!

Pete:  “Seeing all of our friends and family enjoying each other and having a memorable time at our wedding.”

We were able to steal this gorgeous couple away for a few night shots (of course), and these next two were our favorites of the bunch!  Laurie and Pete have this awesome piece of wedding planning advice to share with our lovely readers, and it’s a good one, so take note:  “When going through all of the wedding chaos, remember that it’s about love and nothing else.  Even if things go wrong, your love will still be there. Do what’s important to the two of you.”  Well said, guys…well said.
Laurie and Pete – thank you SO MUCH for choosing us to capture your amazing wedding day! You two were a pleasure to work with! We love you both dearly, and wish you all the joy and happiness in the world!! Can’t wait to come see your new digs in Saratoga!! Much love, J + B :)