Amy and Pete's wedding

Amy and Pete's wedding

What can I say about Amy and Pete ... other than they are two of the most amazing people I know. I remember when I met Amy for the first time. She came over to my house to see if I would be interested in working on a project with her. A project that, it just so happens, was her dream: to create a local online women's magazine in Cincinnati. Yes, everyone, I'm talking about CincyChic. After talking with her, I realized something that made me want to work with her ... she had a PASSION that most people never experience in their entire lifetimes. I immediately fell in love with her (so, I know exactly how Pete felt when he met her - the poor guy had NO chance).

When I met Pete, I knew it was a match made in heaven. They were two peas in a pod. Style, personality-plus and a giving and honest heart.

Now fast forward almost two years to today ... Amy and Pete have become good friends of ours and, if Amy and I weren't the busiest women I've ever known ... would see each other MUCH more often. Needless to say, when Amy asked if I would photograph her wedding, I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't imagine a wedding I would want to photograph more and I was honored to be asked.

Without further delay, on to the pictures! We started at Amy's house that morning ... she was making brunch for all of us!

We sat out on her patio and enjoyed an amazing brunch ...

then Amy worked on some notes ...

the shoes were amazing! As you know, the shoes are always one of my favorite 'things' :)

One of the girls doing her makeup ...

Amy getting her hair done ...

I love this shot. Her wedding planner, from Aviva Events, popped her head in to see if Amy needed anything ... I just love the narrative of the shot ...

Here Melissa is recieving her brother's ring to hold until the ceremony ...

One of the girls getting her sash tied ...

Cecily, from Zoe Cosmetics, working her magic ...

and, just to give everyone an overview of just exactly what Amy's front room looked like ... (in case you didn't know this, she's kind of a big deal ;) )

getting the final touches to her makeup ...

And Melissa seeing her makeup for the first time ...

Amy looking totally fabulous!!!!

The girls looking on as Amy gets into her dress ...

getting her necklace on ...

a fun shot of two of the girls helping lace Amy's dress ...

Amy, after getting the veil on ...

Amy getting a beautiful bouquet of roses and a card from Pete ...

Speaking of Pete ... Karen spent the morning with the guys ...

where they shared some male bonding ...

Pete making sure every hair is in the right place ... it's a process.

his classy cufflinks ...

writing a note to Amy ...

Pete's grandmother was unable to make it to the ceremony, so they stopped on the way to see her. I love this moment between the two of them ...

then they headed to the Bell where they met up with the 'man'. They had someone special there to tie all of the groomsmens ties. Yes, he was amazing. Every tie was PERFECT.

the gorgeous flowers from Courtenay Lambert ...

Amy all ready to go!

a few photos of the girls ...

showing off their uber cool gold shoes!

Amy's mom seeing her for the first time that day ...

I love this shot of Amy's dad smelling the flowers while Amy puts her mom's corsage on her ...

Amy's brother seeing her for the first time that day ...

And the 'men' looking quite dapper ...

I really wish that the guys would have relaxed a little bit though. You know, shown some personality or SOMETHING?! ??

And then, let's talk about those Italians ...

they could have been a 'little' bit more expressive ...

I mean really ... they could have given me SOMETHING to work with ...

throw me a bone, people! Ha!!

Our dashing groom, Pete ...

The table cards ...

Pete seeing his bride for the first time ...

Amy with her dad ....

I totally love this shot of Amy as Pete gets ready to put the ring on her ... her face gives it ALL away. She CAN'T wait!!!

Amy giving Pete his ring ...

the new Mr. and Mrs!!!!

walking out of the ceremony ...

and then it was outside for some more shots ...

the wedding party having a great time ...

and a couple of silhouette shots before going back inside for the party!

they had stations set up with food ... and I have to say that the pasta station was my favorite! It even included a light show :)

the maid of honor's speech ...

which got Amy a bit choked up ...

and the best man's speech ...

Amy's big surprise for Pete was their honeymoon destination. So,Amy had the groom's cake tell the story and the path they were going to take on their Italy honeymoon!

cutting the cake ...

the couple's first dance ...

I love this shot. I had run upstairs (which, if you've ever worked at the Bell, you know it isn't easy!) to get some overall shots of the first dance. And was still up there when Amy's dance with her father began. I love the light as he kisses her hands before their dance ...

Pete dancing with his mom ...

Then KellyRed took over the mic ... she ROCKS!

and people celebrated ...

but she didn't have it for long before Pete got up to sing ...

and then Pete's dad joined in ... not to be outdone by his son!

the garter retrieval was very ... 'animated'

the bouquet toss ...

and retrieval ... by the maid of honor!

Amy's sorority sisters singing to her ...

and then one of the groomsmen, Eliot Sloan, (who happens to be in a little band you may have heard of - Blessid Union of Souls) picked up the mic and dedicated a song to Pete and Amy ...

during the song, others joined them on the dance floor and I love this moment with Amy and her mom during the dance ...

He truly has a gift and we were honored to have him share that with all of us there ...

Amy and Pete, I wish you both ALL the best that life has to offer and a lifetime of happiness. I thank you both from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be such an important part of your day. To say it was a blast would be an understatement. You definitely know how to throw a 'chic' party!

Since I can never post as many pictures as I would like to on the blog, I like to include more in the slideshow. Please click the link below for more pics from Amy and Pete's big wedding adventure :)

SLIDESHOW

A big thank you to Karen for taking such good care of the guys and for being my right-hand all day. Great job!