Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers | Krystal Healy Photography: January 2020

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Keith & Julia’s Twelve Oaks Mansion Wedding

Keith and Julia were married on July 21^st, with a ceremony at St. Peter’s Reformed Church (website) and a reception at Twelve Oaks Mansion (website).

These two are extraordinary together! We laughed the entire time they were taking pictures, especially when they were willing to climb a waterfall for me during their engagement session. As you can tell, these two are always up for an adventure, and that meant my second shooter, Kristy, and I were along for an epic ride on the day of their wedding.

Julia & Keith’s Twelve Oaks Mansion Wedding

Although these two live in Buffalo, they wanted to have their ceremony in Julia’s hometown church. There was a real feeling of warmth and homecoming not only at the church but during the photo session, when we took pictures at the same places Julia took her senior photos! And yet even with all of those nods to her childhood, these two waved a literal Buffalo flag with pride! They were a lot of fun!

In fact, these two had me laughing during their exit from the church with the most amazing confetti exit! It was the best high-flying confetti and seriously floated through the air for five minutes! It was magic!

I also loved the sunset photos at Twelve Oaks Mansion. That venue is beautiful on its own, but it has one of the most amazing vantage points for sunset pictures that we knew we had to take advantage of. Those pictures were some of my favorites of the whole day. Add to that Joel Lindsey as not only the DJ but a live performer and the reception was just as much fun as the ceremony!

Julia & Keith, thank you for a day full of laughter and adventures! It was a joy to be your wedding photographer. I know you two will be amazing together!

Thank you to their Pennsylvania Wedding Vendors:

Dress Designer and Shop Purchased: Allure Couture — One Enchanted Evening

Suit/Tux Shop: Men’s Wearhouse

Hairstylist: Debbie Laslavic

Invitation (Paper Goods): Vista Print

DJ/Entertainment/Live Band etc: Joel Lindsey

Ceremony: St. Peter’s Reformed Church

Reception: Twelve Oaks Mansion Inc (Website)

Officiant: Jim Bertoti

Florist: Wanda Shelley

Limo/Transportation: Red Carpet limousine

Reception Coordinator: Bethany Santa

Bakery: Autumn Bupp — Cakes by Autumn

source https://krystalhealy.com/2020/01/keith-julias-twelve-oaks-mansion-wedding/

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

“Must Have” Wedding Photos

Golden Hour Wedding Krystal Healy Photography

When our couples are planning, one of the biggest questions we get asked as wedding photographers is this: Are there “must-have” wedding photos? If you’re asking that in person, I will basically shout “yes!” from the rooftops!

But the answer is actually a little more complicated. Yes, there are must-have photos. You absolutely want your “end of the night” photo in your wedding album. But that “end of the night” photo can be taken during any one of three times.

Golden Hour Wedding Photography

The first time is the “golden hour.” If you’ve talked to photographers or had professional outdoor photos taken, you have most likely heard this term but might not know what it means. Well, the “golden hour” is about an hour before the sun sets, when the sun is in the perfect spot in the sky to give us photographers little butterflies of happiness in our stomachs. You can see from the examples here that the golden rays of sunshine peek out from behind the trees at the most perfect angles.

Sunset Wedding Photography

The second time is one of the most popular options: sunset. This is pretty straightforward: I’ll take my couples outside and take photos while the sun is setting for about 10 minutes, about 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the official time of sunset. Of course, if you have time, you can sneak out for BOTH the golden hour and sunset!

Night Time Wedding Photography

The third and final option is the night shot, after the sun has completely gone down. That means we’re working in the darkness with whatever lighting happens to be around, like lamps or building lights. We can get creative and highlight whatever you want—whether it’s you and your love or the city scenery. Just let us know what you want—and take a look at some options here for inspiration.

Of course, if you want to go big with your photos, you can absolutely do all three. We can take half an hour and catch the end of the golden hour, keep going through the sunset, and then photograph in the dark. It’s a little easier to get all three in the summer months when the sun sets around 9 pm, but if you really want to pull it off, I can of course plan the timeline accordingly! We can accommodate your wedding vision however you want—even if you just want to duck out during a lull in the reception for a quick night shot!

Ten minutes can really make the difference in the timing of your end-of-the-night shoots, so make sure you’re prepared and know what you want. And don’t be afraid to talk to me about your vision! This is one of my favorite topics, so please, send in your questions!

www.krystalhealy.com

Pittsburgh Wedding Venues Featured:

Pittsburgh PPG Zoo and Aquarium

Armstrong Farms — Fieldstone Barn

Betsy’s Barn — Cheeseman Farms

Twelve Oaks Mansion

The Mansion in Butler

Edgewood Golf and Country Club

Five Pines Barn Wedding

Succop Nature Park Wedding

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Weddings

Heinz History Center

Pittsburgh Field Club

Omni William Penn Wedding

Renaissance Pittsburgh Wedding

PNC Park Wedding

The Crystal Point

The White Barn

source https://krystalhealy.com/2020/01/must-have-wedding-photos/

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Jake & Tara’s Grand Estate at Hidden Acres Wedding

Hidden Acres Wedding Krystal Healy Photography

Jake and Tara were married on July 14^th 2018, with a ceremony and reception at the Grand Estate at Hidden Acres. I loved being a part of their celebration!

Almost 11 years ago, Tara and Jake met for the first time in Pittsburgh through mutual friends and started to gravitate to each other at social events. They both thought they were “just friends,” but in August 2014, they met up just the two of them for the first time. Neither of them was sure if it was a date, but they were excited to see how things went.

Unfortunately, Jake texted Tara the morning of the “maybe-a-date” to tell her that he was in the hospital—he had torn his rotator cuff! Jake insisted that he was completely fine and that it didn’t really hurt, and she was immensely relieved that they didn’t have to cancel their plans! He showed up to the evening with a sling, but that didn’t seem to matter once they got talking for eight hours and finally took the step from being friends to being in a relationship.

At the time, Tara was moving to Boston for law school. So, for 3 years, they worked things out long-distance. They would fly out to see one another across 4 different states! During one of the times they were together, they hiked to the Roanoke Star at the top of Mill Mountain, where Jake proposed. So now, needless to say, they are excited to finally be married and no longer be doing the long-distance thing.

Tara and Jake’s Grand Estate Wedding

Tara and Jake wanted to get married at the Grand Estate because they both grew up surrounded by the woods and wanted to have a gorgeous outdoor venue. My associate photographer and second shooter, Lizzy, and I have to agree that this was an amazing choice, too. The Grand Estate at Hidden Acres was the perfect venue for their wedding with its gorgeous scenery and stunning gardens. It was so fun to photograph—and it was great for the “glorified slumber party” that Jake and Tara wanted to have with their bridal party, since most of them were traveling from out of state.

One of the moments that stuck out to me the most for this wedding was when the groomsmen presented Tara with a love letter that Jake had written to her. They played intro music and everything as they brought her a scroll on a “royal” pillow and bowed to her on the way! He’d even written the letter in Old English. I’ve never seen anything like that!

Tara & Jake, thank you for letting me be part of your wedding celebrations as your wedding photographer. I’m so excited for you both as you take on the world together!