With the start of wedding season in full gear, we thought it would be fun to share 10 tips for brides and grooms on their wedding day! We actually started brainstorming these for a little something special we sent over to Natalie and Huey before their big day last week! As we wrote them out, we realized maybe this is something all of our brides and grooms could learn from. A few tweaks later… here are 10 tips for brides and grooms on their wedding day:

1. No matter how crazy your timeline looks on your wedding day, take 10 minutes to just be alone together! Whether you are doing a First Look or not, make sure you have time built in just for you to be together. “Bridal time” flies by and everyone wants a little of your time on your wedding day! Be sure to be proactive and build in time for yourselves!

2. Forget about the details! You have worked so hard up until this point to put everything together, now is the time to just relax and enjoy the day!

3. Take every chance you get to let each other know how much you love each other!! Don’t ever miss an opportunity to tell each other over and over again how much you mean to each other.

4. Trust your professionals! You have hired them for a reason… let go and trust that they are going to do their job and make your day as memorable as possible!

5. Take in every single moment that someone tells you how AMAZING you look! Stand up proudly and enjoy the feelings and emotions that come with being one of the happiest days of your life!!

6. Do not let anything bother you! Nothing at all! All that matters is that you are together with your love and you are getting married!!!!

7. Do whatever you want, whenever you want!!! Forget about what you “should do”!! This is your day… enjoy every minute of it!

8. Eat! One of the biggest things we hear after weddings from the bride and groom is that they are bummed that they didn’t eat. Whether it is nerves or just that there is so much going on, you are going to want to have some of that AMAZING food at some point during the night! ;) Before the wedding, ask your caterer to make sure they save a few of the appetizers for you! And if it comes to the big day and you are just not hungry at the time, ask them to box them up for you! By the end of the evening- you will be hungry for sure! ;) Ohhh and don’t forget about the dessert! If you do a cake cutting, you will definitely get a bite. But let’s be honest, you should have more than a bite! ;) Enjoy!

9. During the reception… While you are eating!!!!…. Take a look around and recognize that everyone who is there is there for you!! They are there because they love you! And remember that there are many others who might not be there physically, and are thinking about you at that exact moment too!

10. Have FUN!! You have planned the most AMAZING party of your lives! Enjoy it!!!

Our excitement for Kait and Adam’s Rehoboth Beach Wedding began the day we met them! By the time Saturday came around, we were literally high-fiving with smiles beaming from our faces! Kait and Adam’s happiness and excitement for an incredibly special wedding celebration rubbed off on us and everyone surrounding them!

We arrived on Thursday and were immediately greeted with warm hugs and a room full of love. Kait and Adam were surrounded by their family for a welcome dinner… this was the beginning of a weekend long celebration that brought two families together as one. What a beautiful thing to witness and to be a part of… because let’s be honest, going way back to their beer-nic engagement session ;), we definitely consider ourselves one of the family! ;)

On Friday, Ryan and I sat down with Kait and Adam for a little interview. We asked them what they were most excited about for their wedding day and Kait had 3 very specific things that she was looking forward to most. As she shared them, my goosebumps got bigger as the anticipation for their wedding day grew closer! In Kait’s words, these are the 3 things she has been “geeking” out about the most! ;):

1. Wearing my mom’s dress is very special to me and also my Godmother wore it too. So I think that is really special.
2. Walking into the church and down the aisle with my dad… that is something every girl thinks about.
3. And the last, which I didn’t know until 3 years ago [when she met Adam], walking back out of the church with you [Adam] as your wife… husband and wife!

Ahhh! The goosbumps are back just thinking about it! Kait and Adam’s wedding day (and the whole weekend, really) was perfect! Everything about it! Watching Kait’s dad light up as he walked in the room to see Kait for the first time was one of my favorite moments from the day!… ohh and did I mention the time Kait and Adam went to Funland on the Boardwalk and rode the Carousel and played Skee Ball before their Reception?!? Yep, that was pretty AMAZING too! ;) Oooo! ;) And how about the K+A heart that was drawn in the sand during the Cocktail Hour by a sweet family who was just hanging out at the beach right outside the window of the Reception and the quiet moments Kait and Adam shared on the beach right before sunset!? Clearly we have a lot of favorite moments from their special weekend!

We can honestly say, this is definitely a weekend we will never forget. Kait and Adam and their entire family have made us feel like we are one of the family since the first day we met them. One of my favorite quotes is:

“Spread Love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – by Mother Teresa

Kait and Adam and their families are the perfect example of living out this quote! Their joy and love radiates from their smiles and we are so beyond grateful to be within their glow! Thank you does not say enough! We are so grateful for all of you! Rick, Kath, Marianne, and all of our new friends in the “Fun House”… you all have touched our hearts in such a special way! Thank you for being so hospitable and… Fun! ;)

Kait and Adam… you two are AMAZING! Honestly there are no other words to describe just how special you are! Thank you for sharing your love with us and for radiating happiness that will never grow old! We are so beyond excited for you and this next chapter of your lives together!! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Pecina! We could not be happier to have been a part of the AMAZING #Pecinapartyof2!

One of our favorite things about weekend long celebrations is that we have the opportunity to get to know our brides and groom’s families so much better than we do on a typical wedding day. We have the chance to chat with them and hear their favorite stories of the bride and groom along with their emotions of excitement and love they share for the couple! This was especially true for Kait and Adam’s celebration and we are so incredibly honored to have been able to be a part of their whole weekend! We can’t wait to share more of their whole weekend celebration in a fusion video coming to the blog soon! (We want Kait and Adam to be able to see it first during their Reveal Party, once they get home from Costa Rica!) Don’t worry- we will not forget to post it! We can’t wait to share it with you all!

Huge thanks to all of the wedding professionals that helped make Kait and Adam’s weekend so special:

Stationery & All things paper: Allison Barnhill Designs | Bridal Hair and Maekup: Jenni Keeley | Florist: The City Florist | Church: St. Edmond Catholic Church | Officiant: Deacon Dan | Ceremony Music: Judy Bennett | Reception Venue: Salero on the Beach | Caterer: Salero on the Beach | Bakery: Pasqualini’s Bakery | Band: Doug Segree Band | Transportation: Jolly Trolley | Bride’s Attire: mom’s wedding dress & reception dress by Shoshanna from Nordstrom | Groom’s Attire: suit from Carlton’s, tie from Vineyard Vines | Groomsmen’s Attire: sport coats from Michael Kors, ties from Vineyard Vines, and pants from Lands’ End | Wedding Bands: Khalsa Jewelers | Photography: Liz and Ryan

After two days full of photography fun with Kait and Adam and their AMAZING families, I woke up on Sunday bright eyed and ready to start the day! Crazy enough I was feeling more refreshed than ever, but my body was definitely aching as it usually does after a wedding day (that 70-200 lens definitely gives me a workout! ;) ). Ryan was still sleeping peacefully… so I flipped the TV on for some low background noise and started culling the photos from Kait and Adam’s big day! I couldn’t wait! ;)

As the TV came on, I was greeted by Joel Osteen preaching on a random channel that I am pretty sure we have never seen before. I really wanted to change the channel to the Today Show ;), but something in my heart made me stay and listen. The first words I heard him say were, “It’s not happening to you, it is happening for you.”

Joel went on and shared some stories of challenging events in his life that have led him to some of the most AMAZING moments. In the thick of hard times and challenging moments, it is so easy to question things and take the “why me” approach. However, even when it is not obvious or visible at the time, God is working wonders and has a plan. Always.

There are plenty of examples of this in our lives (both big challenging life-changing situations and smaller questioning everyday moments) and it is so incredible to look back and see where God’s plan has led us. In every situation, there always seems to be an outcome that is so much greater than we ever could have imagined.

This past weekend, we celebrated one of the most AMAZING wedding weekends with such an incredible group of people. Seriously, Kait and Adam’s family have touched our hearts in such a special way and we are so grateful to have had the chance to be there to capture this AMAZING time in their lives! So grateful!!!

The importance of our job as photographers and memory capturers became even clearer for us this weekend! On Saturday, our good friends Natalie and Huey also got married! As excited as we were for Kait and Adam’s wedding!!! (and believe me, excited doesn’t even describe it! ;) ) leading up to Saturday, we secretly wished we could be in two places at the same time so that we could be there for Natalie and Huey too! This little challenge, that seemed so big in our hearts at times, was one of those examples where “it was happening for us.” By not being at Natalie and Huey’s wedding, we were reminded of just how important our job as photographers and documenters truly is!

Days before Kait and Adam’s wedding weekend began, they had a few friends and family who could no longer make it. Every time Kait shared that with us, our hearts exploded knowing we have the opportunity to provide them with the pictures that will make them feel like they were a part of it! Photos have a way of taking people right into the moment… emotions and all! We met up with Natalie and Huey on Monday to celebrate with them on their way to their honeymoon! ;) As they described the most magical day of their lives and shared the few photos they already had from the AMAZING Katelyn James, our goosebumps were HUGE and the happy tears filled our eyes! Memories are so incredibly important and how special it is that we get to capture them and make them permenant!?!?

On Saturday morning, Ryan and I had more excitement than ever to document Kait and Adam’s day in such a special way! Seriously, before we even left our room, we removed our game faces and slapped each other high five and said “Let’s rock this out!” ;) We were definitely documenting it for Kait and Adam and their family and friends who were there… but a special place in our hearts definitely gave us extra energy and excitement to rock it out for all of those who could not be physically present that day!

We are so grateful for the way God works and for those subtle (or not so subtle! ;) ) reminders of “It’s not happening to you, it is happening for you.”

We could not be more excited to share Kait and Adam’s wedding memories with you tomorrow!!!! ;) Definitely check back… there is AMAZINGNESS to be seen! ;)

Happy Friday Everyone!  We officially kick off our 2013 wedding season this weekend with Kait and Adam’s weekend celebration in Rehoboth Beach, DE. WAHOOO! We are so excited to get our season started with such an AMAZING group of people… Kait and Adam’s friends and family are truly incredible! (We have officially made them our adopted family! ;) ).

After a few days of rest, relaxation, and exploration in Nantucket, we are officially well rested and ready to kick our busy season into high gear! Before doing so, we had to share a few photos from our Nantucket Adventure!

We can officially cross off “Go Sailing” from our summer bucket list! :)

A trip to New England would not be complete without a Lobster Roll!

Ryan decided to go fly a kite! :)

HUGE thanks and so much love to these AMAZING friends that we adventured along with to celebrate Mary’s birthday celebration!! We ate so many incredibly delicious meals, we drank some of the tastiest drinks ever, we laughed, cried, and everything in between! It was such a great getaway and we could not be more grateful for these friends! HAPPY 1-day after your birthday Mary! Can’t wait to see what this “why not” year has in store for you!

Have an AMAZING (extra long) weekend everyone! ;)

Give yourself permission to let go.  That is definitely easier said then done especially if you are at all like us.  I love feeling in control of our own destiny, having control of the decisions in our lives, and believing that our successes are entirely our own doing.  Unfortunately, this often results in a lot of anxiety and stress for no reason.

We sat around the table last night at dinner with some close friends.  The lights were dim and the environment was perfect: warn brick walls, bench sitting, the flicker of candle lights, and plenty of good food and conversation.  The conversation eventually came to the point of how we’ve (the entire group respectively) have gotten to the current places in our lives that we are today.  I thought about it for a moment, and realized that although we try to plan for the future, we are the type of people that create 1, 2, 5 and 10 year goals for our lives and try to check off the boxes in half that time. It has often been when “we let go and let God” that we have found ourselves the most fulfilled, the most happy, in the best places, and the most successful in life.

The conversation from dinner spilled out the doors and down the street. As we slowly pushed our way through the thick Nantucket fog, I reflected further upon how we have gotten to this moment in life.  It is crazy to think sometimes how many single decisions could have been made that would have changed our lives entirely.  What would we be doing if I had actually accepted the first job offer I had to work at GE in Erie, PA?  Where would we be if I had decided to go attend Purdue (my second choice college) over Bucknell?  What would I be doing if I never picked up a camera and continued pursuing a career as an electrical engineer? Where would we be if Liz and I never started dating in high school? These are just a few of the decisions that immediately come to mind.  In all of these moments, we didn’t analyze all the possible outcomes of life, or where we would be 10 years into our future.  Instead, we gave ourselves permission to let go, follow our hearts, and let God do the rest.

If you are struggling to find purpose today, take a moment to think about where you currently are in your life, business, relationships, and then give yourself permission to let go.  The freeing power this gives you will give you a new clarity in life to see what’s next, and somehow, although you may not be sure in this moment, you will find a way if you “let go and let God”

Think about where you are currently in life, is it where you thought you would be 5 or 10 years ago? Is it where you want to be? Have you given yourself permission to let go?