Running Down Memory Lane-Jill Shcnabel

My niece, Jordana, got married on Father’s Day. It was going to be a quick little courtroom marriage while Tyler was on a 3-4 week leave from the Coast Guards, but my sister-in-law and brother-in-law talked them into getting married at their home. They invited 20 of Jordana and Tyler’s closest friends and family for the wedding. They rented tables and converted their living room/dining room into a beautiful dining hall. A friend made Jordana’s dress. She’s a tiny little thing…hard to find a size O at the last minute! My sister-in-law, Denise, made the cake and wedding bouquet. She basically put the entire wedding together in 2 short weeks, complete with a sit down steak and prawn dinner. She’s a pretty decent stepmom, don’t ya think???? My brother-in-law, Dan, is quite a gardener, so they got married under his grape arbor. We were all a little nervous when it started to thunder and lightening 2 hours before the wedding, but the sun made an appearance and it stayed away until much later that evening. It was a privilege to be a part of their special day.

Denise asked me if I would mind taking a few pictures. I was nervous at first but I actually got kind of excited about it. Why not? They weren’t expecting anything more than a few people taking snapshots. I know my photography skills aren’t even close to normal wedding standards, but they were thrilled with some of the moments I captured. I took over 300 photos and I’m as slow as a slug editing, but here are a few of my favorites. I have been trying to learn Photoshop, so I'm played around with converting some images to black and white an even tried my hand at a vintage look with some hand tinting….kinda fun! I still have to learn how to clone some distracting pots and whatnot out of a few photos but I’m taking it slow and learning as I go. Most of these images aren’t ready to be printed yet, but it will probably be forever before I’m satisfied with them, so I thought I'd share some of them as is.

P.S. Doesn’t my brother-in-law, Dan, look a lot like Mike???

One of my all time favorite pictures. Denise was trying to pull those little hanger staps down Jordana's dress. Love the way she's getting her from all angles!

Jordana's place setting

getting ready!

They converted their living room/dining room into this seating area for dinner. They rented the tables, placesettings and tableclothes. Nice Job, eh?

Dessert dishes all ready for the wedding cake.

Dan bought Jordana a peal necklace. I wish I would have used a lower fstop ...I wanted Dan to be somewhat out of focus, but this just makes him look blurry. Not quite the effect I was going for, but I still like the moment!

Denise makes beautiful (and delicious) cakes. Best butter cream frosting EVER! It's always been one of her specialties and it must have meant so much to Jordana that she made it for her!