The entire day was marked with pretty reminders that it was autumn, even thought it was so warm.  There was a subtle masquerade and  and travel theme throughout.  And one of the coolest cakes I have ever seen.

Many thanks to Michele and Phil and all of their family and friends for having Leo and I along and for making us feel so welcomed.

It was one helluva party!

To view Michele & Phil’s Slideshow

Click here! 

Seriously, LOVE my job.

A few weeks ago I got to meet the two of them, for the first time, at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.  It’s a wonderful landmark and a favorite spot of mine to shoot.  Every time I’m there, it’s completely different experience than any other time. I just love that!

As most of my wedding clients know I believe that Engagement Sessions are important for so many reasons, but really it gives us a chance to get to know one another, learn to work with each other and to get fun images that tell a little bit about who they are.  But this time I can say that I learned something.

We went from the train station to a favorite pub, Plough and the Stars.  You know… tell a little bit of their story…. This is where I learned what a Dirty Hoe is.   It’s a Hoegaarden Wheat beer with Framboise.  Thank you, Meghan!  I feel it’s important to point out, that, although we had work to do, and places to go still, there was no beer wasted in the making of these photos.

I left them late that day, really happy to have made new friends and well, laugh… a lot.

I simply adore this couple for who they are, what they mean to each other and well, because they are every bit as beautiful on the inside as they are in photographs.

Meghan and John, thank you for making my job so easy and for the reminder that love is always really beautiful.

I cannot wait until your wedding day!!!

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Meghan & John also have a slideshow available from this session! You can view it here.

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Quite a few, actually.

But that’s not want I want to tell you.

I first met Jaime on December 2nd, the day my husband entered Jefferson Neuroscience’s ICU in Philadelphia.  Jaime was his nurse.  She was also my rock for those first 3 very difficult days.  To say she has a special place in my heart might be an understatement. I only vaguely remember the conversation about me being a photographer if I were to tell the truth.

After a few weeks passed, my husband was home,  rehabilitating, and one night we were talking about our overwhelming gratitude for the many people who saved his life and for the amazing medical care he got..  We tossed ideas around about what we could do as a thank you.  Maybe a gift basket?  ”OK, a gift basket….”  How does one thank someone for giving you second chances in life, right?

About an hour later, while working on my laptop, an email came in.  It started with “You may not remember me…”  Ha, right!  It was Jaime and she just got engaged.  I literally cried.  The idea of being able to shoot her wedding seemed like the most amazing thing in the world to me.

You want to hear another crazy thing?  After spending an afternoon in snow up to my knees, making snow angels and just being with them, I cannot imagine a more perfect fit for Jaime.  Tom and Jaime fit.  Perfectly.

To Jaime and Tom, I honestly cannot wait until your wedding.   I am deeply honored to be there and cannot wait to see you two start your new life together!

L’Chaim. To Life

I’m going to start off with a beautiful couple from an engagement session in Philadelphia. I already did a sneak peek of them before my leave. This is larger selection of images from that session.

When Benjie first contacted me she told me about their love story and that they’d known each other since they were small children. I spoke about that in the sneak peek post, so I’ll get onto the session. When we first met, at the Kimmel Center, in Philadelphia it was soon after Benjie had returned from her home in Thailand. She brought me back a beautiful scarf that has quickly become a favorite of mine. I was so touched by her thoughtfulness and that was just the start of a really fun day.

We shot the entire session in a 1 block radius with City Hall and Broad Street as our backdrop for several as well as the Kimmel Center (a place I love and use often for the way light plays in there and the architectural features). Both Ken and Benjie are avid photo enthusiasts and well I won’t lie… That makes things even more fun for me. Lots of ideas and spontaneity… A lot of laughter and wow, they’re just gorgeous.

My only regret of the day was not having more time with them. Seriously– I could shoot this couple all day long, easily.

So, OK, once again, Benjie and Ken…..

They have a slideshow with more images here.

I got a note from Benjie during my leave that they will be needing to change their wedding date in Bangkok due to a family emergency. It was originally scheduled for March of this year. I Know how important family can be, so….

Benjie and Ken, whenever you two kids are ready to have that wedding day, I’m there for you (as long as I’m not already booked). I mean that. It would be my great honor. In fact, any old time you want to go out and play again, I’m there!

It started thirty years ago. THIRTY YEARS AGO. That’s when they met as children in Thailand. They grew up with parents doing what good parents do: Keeping their children on track and telling them not to rush things.  School comes first.   And so it was that Benjie went to the US to study and Ken, to Sydney, Australia.

Ten years later, Ken moved to the US to be with his beloved.

I don’t want to give too much away though… This is just a teaser post, after all.

Isn’t love absolutely beautiful?

Enter their beautiful love story.

A few years ago they were to be married but duty called and John got deployed.  He and and Emily were not able to have their wedding day they dreamed of.  Instead the opted to do a quiet and private ceremony with the idea that they’d one day celebrate with friends and family. Lots of people say that,  but not a lot actually do it.  Somehow life interferes and there’s always one reason or another why it can’t happen. But Emily and John will have their beautiful wedding day.

This weekend actually!

On September 4th, in front of all their friends, brothers in arms and family, they will renew their vow to one another and have the wedding day the always hoped to have.   I honestly cannot wait.  I love a good love story.

This is definitely a good one.

Funny tidbit: Emily has a beautiful sense of humor.  She said that now she will have a much better chance of being able to celebrate at least one of her anniversaries with her husband now.  Just in case, I think they should do it again in another few years.  Wink Wink

Don’t ya just love love?

So what to do?

They didn’t want a photo album.  No photo guest book.  Jay wants to look at them on his big flat screen TV.  Hmmm.

Then I had an idea.

It took me about 3 weeks to work up the nerve to ask Pam and Jay what they thought.  I thought they were the perfect couple for this kind of thing.

“It’ll be a stop-motion movie that tells the story about how you met, what occurred since and in a way that tells us a little bit about who you are to one another and individually.”   I said it with as much enthusiasm as I could. It was like pitching a movie without knowing what the script would look like.

There was dead silence followed by questions.

The truth is I’d never done anything like this and this was an ambitious project.   I had no idea if I could pull it off.  If they would be willing to take the risk, and indulge my whimsy here, it could be kind of neat.  Or it could totally suck.  I was not sure.  I only knew that it had potential and that it would be quite a lesson, either way.

Here’s how you know you have two really cool people.  Not only did they agree to being stuck in the studio all day with me, but they were really great to work with.  Pam and I worked on the story board together before hand and my husband and I got to our chalk art the day before.  I mean… What else would you use as a background for two teachers?   It was truly a collaborative effort and I got to know more about them because of it.  That makes my job as their wedding photographer a much more satisfying experience.

So, without further adieu… Please put your feet up and spend the next 12 minutes getting to know two very funny, witty and amazing people.

Untitled from Shari DeAngelo on Vimeo.

I learned so much from this first try that I’m  dying to try it again with those lessons in mind.  So… who wants to indulge me in more crazy ideas for engagement sessions?

During my initial consult I usually recommend we do their engagement session in a place that is meaningful to them.  It can be a place they met, fell in love or where they spend a good deal of their time now building new memories.  For some people, this is not so easy.  I’ll be introducing you to such a couple in a coming post. This couple, though, it was easy.

In fact everything about them is easy going.  Maybe it’s the teacher in them.  I don’t know… But I will tell you Kate is on the ball and because of her attention to detail it’s truly a wedding I’m really looking forward to.  And yet, she makes it all look easy and stress free.  Yes, it must be the teacher thing.

They’ll be getting married next June at St Paul’s Catholic Church and their reception will be held at The Nassau Inn, both in Princeton, NJ.  It’s going to be an amazing affair with Kristin Rockhill of Details of I Do planning the affair.

For those who know me, you’ll know I get excited about things like dresses and shoes and stationary and well any other meaningful details.  Kate’s ideas get me excited for June 2011!

So, without further adieu… Meet Kate and Andrew…

Love completely and great love is yours.

From the moment I met them on that freezing cold day last winter, I knew I would.  You get to learn a lot about people when you spend a few hours in that kind of climate. #1- Their lips turn blue when they are cold.  #2- They are not complainers and #2 – Marc can make anyone, even me,  laugh with just one look and #3 – They are both  genuinely kind, gracious and just plain fun to be around. I feel incredibly honored to have been included in their wedding day and touched by how warm their friends and family were.  From the Ever-Enjoyable Father of the Bride to the little boy who danced dangling from my leg, I honestly enjoyed every minute of it.

They were married at high noon at the beautiful Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, NJ.    Reverend (Dr) Marks  did the honors and it’s always so meaningful when the officiant has known one of them their whole life. That was the case with Brittany.  He  was good for a few laughs and tender moments too.  I asked Brittany which things were most meaningful for her when I was preparing to shoot her wedding and she said, “Our family, especially  those who we don’t often see in one place together.” It was amazing for me too.    There is no doubt where Brittany gets her good looks and amazingly infectious smile.

To Marc and Brittany,  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful love story.    I was truly touched by watching your grand parents together at your wedding and was left hopeful that one day you two will be dancing at your own grand daughter’s wedding.  They remind me of something I heard once about great love and how it never grows old.  Such a beautiful thing to see!

Wishing you great love….