Lehigh Valley Wedding Photographer | Bear Creek Mountain Resort | Julie & Chuck

Julie and Chuck are nontraditional. They’re about as low key as you can get while still throwing a gorgeous wedding. They chose Bear Creek Mountain Resort for their wedding venue since the two of them go snowboarding there all the time. It was raining all week leading up to the wedding but that day was beautiful – sun and stunning blue skies. You might remember these two from their beachy engagement pictures from Ocean City, MD. We got the shore and the mountains represented.

They saw each other long before the ceremony that day and they were a-okay with that. We did do a first look for Chuck’s first time seeing Julie in the dress.
 


Julie looked incredible and her blue eyes are just unbelievable. Stunning. Seriously. She wore some J. Crew flip flops while Chuck and the guys sported purple argyle socks.
 

Chuck cleans up pretty well himself. Loved the steampunk cufflinks!
 
We took some time before the ceremony for formals and pictures of just the two of them. One request that I got from Chuck: “Go easy of the kissing pictures”.
 




We had a few onlookers.
 
Her bouquet was a woodsy blend of whites, greens, and purples.
 
They signed the paperwork and got ready for the ceremony.
 

The ceremony was fantastic. Despite having the train removed from her dress, Julie’s father tripped on her dress leading her to the altar. Love Chuck’s expression!
 


They had readings from the Velveteen Rabbit and Taylor Mali’s poem, “Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog”. It was a hit with the crowd.
 


I got a few minutes with them during cocktail hour for some shots on the ski lift.
 

The cocktail hour and reception blended seamlessly together. The room looked great. You might recognize some pictures on their table numbers.
 


There was no fanfare or big first dance, exactly as Julie and Chuck wanted it. It was a night of dinner, dancing, and just having a good old time! I loved that they set up a whole station for the sushi that they brought in from their favorite restaurant, Umai.
 




Trust me when I tell you that this group had some serious partiers!
 
And I can’t be 100% certain but I kinda think the bouquet toss was rigged in favor of the maid of honor, Carrie, who was also celebrating her birthday that day.
 


And just get a load of this funky cake!
 
We stole away for a split second to play with sparklers.
 
Julie and Chuck, congratulations on a great day. I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures together.
 
I know I usually just include a little snippet, but this was too good not to include in whole:

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?  

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.  

Is love good all the time?
No! No! Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.  

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain, just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!  

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.  

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.  

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.
~ Taylor Mali, “Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog” 

Ceremony: Bear Creek Mountain Resort 

Reception: Bear Creek Mountain Resort 

Wedding Photographer: Lindsay Docherty Photography 

Hair: The Spa at Bear Creek 

 Makeup: The Spa at Bear Creek 

Wedding Gown: Ella Bridals 

Gown Shop: Arielle Bridal 

Shoes: J. Crew 

DJ: SilverSound DJs 

Catering: Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Sushi: Umai 

Cake: Creative Cake Company

Perkasie Wedding Photographer | Jen + Casey

I dare you to find me a bride with more expressions than Jen. Jen and Casey’s wedding was phenomenal. It was held at her parent’s house in Perkasie, PA where her other two sisters had been married as well. The place looked incredible and the day was gorgeous. More than anything, though, was the happiness that surrounded everyone that day. I’m pretty sure that a map of the area would have shown a warm bubble of love and bliss centered directly over this "backyard wedding". I can’t even count the number of times I heard Jen say, “I’m so happy!”. Now that’s a good wedding!  (By the way, you've seen them before from their 30th Street Station engagement session not too long ago.)

The timeline for this wedding was a bit different. It started with a cocktail hour. Jen and Casey wanted to mingle with their guests for as long as possible. For them, they wanted less focus on the details and more on the people. Jen started out the day in a one-shoulder floor length pink gown.



I love this one of the best man writing his speech in the gazebo before the ceremony.
 
One of the best parts about this wedding was Jen’s dress. A million brides can talk about wanting to pass down their wedding gown to their daughters. This time it actually happened. Jen changed into her mother’s veil and wedding dress. This dress was worn 40 years before, almost down to the day. This time it was paired with a bright pink sash and hot pink heels.
 

While the ladies were getting ready, I got a few shots of the guys.
 

Jen was taking quite a while getting ready so I went back to check in on her. There was a bit of a wardrobe malfunction. The old zipper had broken and they were literally sewing Jen into her dress. How did this bride respond to this emergency? All smiles and laughter!
 

The couple opted for a first look before the ceremony on the front of the house while the guests were around the back.
 




The ceremony was beautiful. Tealights in mason jars and bright arrangements of wildflowers hung in mason jars down the petal strewn aisle. A string quartet played. One of her bridesmaids, Jessica, was to read a poem that had been misplaced. She got up to the microphone and began with, “Roses are red, violets are blue…” It was a hit.
 





The officiant talked to us about what Jen and Casey saw in each other. Despite being a tomboy for years, one of the qualities Casey saw in Jen was her sexiness. This got the crowd in giggles.
 


As I said, everything looked incredible. A tent was set up between the ceremony and the house for the reception. It was next to the family’s pond and the whole setup was like a dream.
 

Tables were dressed in black tablecloths with black and write damask runners and pops of color from the orchid centerpieces.
 
The escort cards were postcards that Jen and Casey used to handwrite notes to each of their guests (including me!) in thanking them for being there and letting them know which table was theirs.
 
Jen and Casey entered the tent and wowed guests with a salsa dance before the blessing and speeches. Everyone raved about this perfect pairing. Family and friends were so loving and passionate.
 



They shared their first dance to Michael Buble’s Everything.
 
The food was divine. I loved their cupcake table with so many different kinds of treats, Jen and Casey carving into a larger red velvet cupcake.
 

It was a joyous day and joyous night. So much happiness exuding from this group.
 


Jen and Casey, thank you so much for letting me into such a wonderfully loving day. Many, many congratulations!
 

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you,
You make me sing.
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything. 

~ Michael Buble, “Everything”

Ceremony: bride’s family’s house

Reception: bride’s family’s house

Wedding Photographer: Lindsay Docherty Photography

Wedding Coordinator: Todd Snovel

Hair: Main Street Salon

Makeup: Viviana Romero

Wedding Gown: bride’s mother’s

DJ: Joe Mazaka

Catering: Catering by Karen Hunter

Cupcakes: The Lucky Cupcake Company

 Invitations: mother of the bride