when i was in elementary school our whole class got paired up with pen pals from various places around the world. i was geeking out because i loved meeting new people and learning about far away places. my pen pal was a girl from australia. double bonus right? she never wrote back. to this day i still have not gone to australia. maybe someday i’ll chuck a sickie and bring a plate down under.
where am i going with this?
i still love meeting new people and learning about far away places, especially when i get to travel to those far away places and meet people in-person.
before august of this year we had never been to new york, let alone done a wedding there. thanks to our new pals, cameron, marcella, whitney, and man, we not only got to meet new people and see new york, we got to shoot their weddings there. i posted cameron and marcella’s wedding at the brooklyn botanic garden about a week ago. it was beautiful, but it was over in a flash and we had to leave hours after their wedding to do melissa and nate’s wedding back in san diego the next day.
the day after melissa and nate’s san diego wedding we all hopped in a rented swagger wagon and headed out on a roadtrip of epic proportions (to be blogged sometime in the near future). we were east bound and down. destination… rochester new york, site of whitney and man’s wedding 6 days later. it was a crazy couple of weeks.
we were super stoked to finally meet whitney and man. like cameron and marcella, we had never met them in-person before hand, but they were awesome on paper. whitney found us on a wedding blog. i’m not sure if it was junebug weddings, Â style me pretty, snippet and ink, or the wedding chicks (all of which are awesome wedding blogs btw) but no matter where she found us, i’m glad she did.
at long last we finally got some face time with whitney and man the night before their wedding when we attended their rehearsal dinner. the first thing kim and i noticed were their smiles. they looked so happy, not just because they were relieved to see that we had made it all the way across the country. they were genuinely happy with life, with being together, with the knowledge that they were getting married the next day.
and what a wedding it would be.
after spending a nice evening with their family and friends we called it a day. we came back the next morning to meet whitney and her bridesmaids at the woodcliff hotel and spa. as we entered the room we saw whitney smiling again. she is seriously the happiest person i know. as she went to finish touching up we saw her exquisite vera wang wedding dress hanging in the corner. sure, it looked good hanging there by itself, but it looked amazing after whitney slid into it. she has that effect on things.
one ring was gifted to the race of man, who above all else desired whitney. within this ring was bound the strength and will to govern each spouse. but he was deceived, for another ring was made. in the land of concord massachusetts, in the fires of mt doom, the platinum lord mark morrell forged, in secret, a master ring to control all others. and into this ring he poured his love, his honor, and his will to dominate all life.
two days before the wedding, there was no sight of frodo. the ring had still not arrived. it was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that man, son of the king, took up his cell phone. the enemy of the unwed peoples of upstate new york was defeated. the ring passed to man, who had this one chance to destroy it. but the hearts of men are easily corrupted, and the ring of power has a will of it’s own. it betrayed man, and some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. history became legend. legend became myth. and for 1 day the ring passed out of all knowledge until, when chance came, it snared a new bearer. the ring came to whitney, who took it deep into the misty mountains of rochester.
can you tell we love lord of the rings? yes, that was a semi true story. whitney’s rings (that’s right, both of them) didn’t arrive until the day before her wedding. man had been trying for a year to get the perfect engagement ring made for whitney. everywhere he went just couldn’t get it right, until mark morrell got his hands on it.
notice i didn’t say anything about that pointy eared elvish prince kim drools over. she’s still upset that legoland shot down her idea for an expansion named legolas-land.
literally every minute we shared with whitney and man was filled with something awesome. as i followed the s and s limo around the corner and saw this church my eyes got so big they hit my steering wheel. there are a lot of beautiful churches in new york but this one really spoke to whitney and man. they didn’t know what it was. sure it was breathtaking, but something else made them choose to have their wedding in saint michael’s church of rochester new york. come to find out, this was the first church man had gone to as a child when his family first moved to rochester. i can see what drew them here. it is honestly one of the most beautiful houses of God i have ever seen. built in 1890, it’s incredible craftsmanship outshines even the coolest looking building in our home town, the mormon temple in san diego.
man was just buttoning that top button so the s on his chest wouldn’t show.
man’s mother called in a few miracles and battled through some serious health issues to make it to his wedding. everyone was stoked to see her there. after meeting her, we know where man learned to be so cool.
man awaits his beautiful bride
nobody knows this more than man, but whitney looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress.
i know, right.
april got this sweet shot of whitney and man basking in the light of the Lord, post i do’s.
family and friends anxiously awaited whitney and man’s grand exit from the church.
bubbles!
…spins a web
any size
catches brides
just like flies
look out!
whitney had a list of qualifications for her bridesmaids. one, you have to be fun. two, you can’t be lame. check and check.
captain america provided safe escort for the bridal party and made sure the limo got everyone to whitney and man’s two scheduled stops… get married, and party.
we thought we were seeing things when we noticed this cat following us. it’s the same cat we saw at palo santo when we did cameron and marcella’s engagement session in brooklyn one week earlier, 321 miles away!
how crazy is that?
not nearly as crazy as when whitney picked it up and found out it was actually professor mcgonagall.
whitney’s beautiful bouquet from chases greenhouses in rush new york.
before becoming bored with jet setting and switching to their current professions, whitney and man toured the globe as super models and eugoogoolizers. whitney for mugatu, and man for balls models.
apparently, the sunken garden at highland park is rochester’s tiny version of balboa park in san diego. it’s beautiful and someone is always getting married there. as we arrived, there was already a wedding party in the garden. as we left, another one arrived. a groomsman from one of the other parties said “i bet you’re sick of shooting here. are you here every weekend?” we said no, this is actually our first time shooting here. he looked confused, until we told him we’re from san diego, then he looked really confused. “you guys came here all the way from san diego to shoot a wedding?” we said “hell yes! have you seen our couple?” he then proceeded to high five kim.
no, whitney, we said meet us by the brick house. haha. actually, when we stopped by shea’s outhouse whitney sprung into action. before we could tell her that we just wanted to shoot near it she had opened the door and got punched in the sense of smell by five fingers of funk. it was hot and humid that day. nuff said.
on a side note, whitney gets an A for effort. she doesn’t take herself too seriously, even on her wedding day. in fact, whitney and man are both risk takers, always down to try something different and fun. this is exactly why we love them.
one thing we hope is getting across to anyone out there viewing this site is that it’s ok to have fun, especially on your wedding day. don’t get caught up in the stress of trying to make everything perfect.
spoiler alert!  one: we’re all imperfect  two: life rarely goes as planned, let alone weddings.  i hope i didn’t blow anyone’s mind there.
if you are lucky enough to find someone who loves you enough to marry you, they are the only thing you should be thinking about on your wedding day. take time with them to stop and smell the roses, not the outhouse.
red rover, red rover…
send everyone on over!
sure these chair place cards looked cool, but they were waay too small and they just smashed down flat when we tried to sit on them. not very practical whitney and man. i kid i kid. speaking of which, when whitney and man started thinking of a theme for their wedding reception all they knew is that they wanted everyone to feel like a kid again and have fun. what are two things kids love? candy and carnivals. YES! let’s run with that.
the gorgeous wedding cake from dessert deli bakery in buffalo new york was muy delicioso. luckily, whitney and man opted out of the deli meat cake filling and went with something a little sweeter.
speaking of sweets, whitney and man had plenty of cavity causing confections on site to keep the crowd wired well into the night. whitney’s mom and dad tag teamed the bases for the giant whirly pops that were the center piece for every table.
whitney and man hand picked all the candy to match. our time and our candy gotta coordinate.
every guest also received a bit of luck to take home with them in the form of baby bamboo. the lucky bamboo is luckiest when received as a gift.
ixnay on the wishing for more wishes
on the limo ride from saint michael’s church to the reception at eagle vale golf course april kept hearing a voice say “i am iron man” every time they went over a bump in the road. at the time she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
during best man mike’s speech it was revealed. man is not an everyday normal guy. (nfk)  he is…
whitney’s first dance with her super hero was appropriately enough, come away with me by norah jones.
this isn’t the river dance anymore. (nfk)
not man, but awesome nonetheless.
the original plan was to have cotton candy centerpieces on all the tables but it melted too quickly. scratch that idea. center piece or not, the fluffy sugar still made an appearance at the reception in the form of a cotton man-dy station.
no, you’re not hallucinating from all the sugar you’ve already had. whitney and man had coldstone creamery set up shop at their wedding reception. they actually brought little cold stones and all the fixins, just like you see in their stores. all the options were printed on the back of the aforementioned tiny chair placeholders. everyone just circled what they wanted and blammo! coldstone at your wedding ftw!
we couldn’t be greedy and take all the photos at their reception, so whitney and man had showcase photobooth set up a sweet vintage style photo booth for their wedding guests. is that hiccup’s helmet?
there were some classic shots.
this is what happens when you have endless supplies of candy, ice cream, cake, big kid beverages, and dj naps on the 1’s and 2’s.
whitney is hilarious. when her jam came on man was not in the room so she started dancing with herself, a la billy idol.
april sketched out this little picture to put in whitney and man’s wish bowl. they’re cute in real life and in the cartoon version.
during whitney and man’s rehearsal dinner we found out that whitney is a huge fan of hello kitty and man, well, he is iron man. whitney even had cute little hello kitties painted on her toe toes. after leaving that dinner, kim and i scoured rochester to find something that said whitney and man to us.
we hope we nailed you in the ring shots below.
whitney and man, you are awesome in so many ways! it may have taken you ten years, but we know you both got it right. you are perfect together. we don’t drive 2,715 miles to see just anyone. now that we know you, we’d happily do it again. you are two of the most genuinely nice people we have ever met.
normally we don’t bring rain with us when we shoot weddings, but yours afforded us a special opportunity we couldn’t pass up. for the first time in rain’s life, we took a cross country family road trip and got to see a lot of the country we had never seen before, together. on our way to see you, we saw us. with our ridiculously busy schedules, that is something very precious to kim and i. spending time together is more valuable than anything. we will be forever thankful to you both. you are the reason my family has these memories to share for the rest of our lives.
thank you. thank you. thank you.
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CLICK HERE TO SEE PART ONE OF WHITNEY AND MAN’S AWESOME AFTERMATH SESSION THAT WE DID THE DAY AFTER THEIR WEDDING
AND
CLICK HERE TO SEE PART TWO THAT WE DID IN AMERICA’S OLDEST MUNICIPAL GRAVEYARD!
OOOOOOOOO! JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN.
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thanks to everyone that helped make whitney and man’s wedding awesome:
ceremony venue: st. michael’s church of rochester
reception venue: eagle vale golf course
photographer: ohana photographers (that’s us!)
dress: vera wang
ring: mark morrell
flowers: chase’s greenhouses in rush new york
dj: dj naps
photo booth: showcase photo booth
cake: dessert deli bakery in buffalo new york
ice cream: coldstone creamery
cotton candy machine: hank parker’s party and tent rentals
limo: s&s limousine
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A-friggin-mazing shots of the church dude! KILLER!