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Whispering Pines of Carlisle Wedding Photographers: Amy & Matt

Natural beauty– fields, mountains, sunshine and love…
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Amy shared, “I am very into photography and Lisa was definitely my top choice.  I chose Lisa because her photos are very high quality and creative, which is very hard to find.  I was very familiar with her work, as she photographed several of my classmates’ senior portraits, and knew that her photos were amazing and that she would exceed all my expectations.”
She continued, “Lisa produced amazing photos in every single wedding and I knew I could rely on her.  I knew that I did not have to worry about photography at all, instead I would anxiously await them, like a child on Christmas morning.  I’m so excited to see her capture our unique story.”
One element that I really thought was unique about Matt and Amy’s wedding, was the role that nature played, it felt so beautiful, organic, authentic and joy-filled.  As I scouted out locations at their venue, Whispering Pines of Carlisle, I noticed this bee gathering nectar on wildflowers.  For me it was the perfect opening for their story.  How sweet it is 😉
whispering-pines-of-carlisle-pa-wedding-photographers-unique-creative-vibrant-best-2Matt shared, “Amy’s natural beauty is what drew me to her, but it was her kindness, thoughtfulness, honesty, and strong character that made me fall in love with her.  She is a strong woman with a great moral compass and is compassionate towards others.”
Something about Amy’s loose curls, flowing auburn hair (worn mostly down) said “open field” to me.  I found this field at her venue and was so happy, I think both her strength and softness really come across in this image.
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Matt continued, “Amy also is very creative and has a strong work ethic.  I love the most her big heart and her attention to details.  I feel like she knows me better than I know myself.  Seeing how we are very similar, yet complement each other in our differences is what made me want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
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Amy shared, “Over the years I learned that Matt is a very caring, patient and non-judgmental person. He loves me for who I am, flaws and all. He is a kind, genuine person with a heart of gold.”
Matt’s upbeat, fun-loving nature were apparent from the get-go, his smile is absolutely contagious.  Matt is on the right and his brother is on the left.  I told you, contagious!
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Matt explained, “My groomsmen were really people from different areas of my life, so the bachelor party was key, and we really bonded over that weekend.  We did a bunch of different things– paintball, an escape room, etc.  Everyone got along really well!”
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Matt continued, “We all had a great time on the wedding day, we were all comfortable just being goofballs and you guys were there to capture it all, haha.”
I have to say my second photographer, Richard, did an excellent job with the photos of Matt and his groomsmen– love this one!
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It was time for the first look.  Matt stood in the open field as Amy walked to meet him.  I love the anticipation of this moment…
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Amy you are stunning!!!
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Matt smiled, “When I saw her for the first time on our wedding day, I said “Wow!!!” but kept saying “she looks *AMAZING* in my head over and over and over.”
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Amy’s smile says it all!!!
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Matt said, “I am looking forward to all of the adventures and experiences that we will get to share together.”
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With Amy’s gorgeous hair, my go to was color, but I added some black and white shots into the mix, especially this one with white wild flowers…
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Haha, Amy saw an image on my Instagram feed maybe a year ago, and loved it, so I tried to do something similar for her.  It is a very tricky shot, but I think we did just fine– I’m shooting through Amy’s engagement ring.
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I love to capture different aspects of my couples and their personalities throughout the day.  I thought this one was pretty sweet:
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Amy noted, “I grew up with a family who loved spending time outside. A majority of family time centered around activities like hiking, biking, swimming in the lake and camping. It was a great way for us to take a break from our day-to-day routine. For me, time just seems to slow down when I’m surrounded by nature.”
Whispering Pines is in Carlisle and very close to my home, and one of my favorite aspects of Cumberland Valley is the incredible mountain views:
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Amy smiled, “One of the first things that really stood out to me when I met Matt was his personality. He’s very down to earth and is comfortable being silly and making people laugh.”
I love to play with lenses and perspective and used a super wide angle lens way up high for this one– I love the lines and color, too!
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We met up with the rest of the bridal party who were super excited to see the happy couple.
A few wondered why I climbed into the planting bed– it was to incorporate this gorgeous fall foliage 😉
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Strike a pose…
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Amy smiled, “Caroline and I have been friends for almost 20 years and the photo of us playing dress-up as kids at my house was something we did often. Since I had a photo of us playing dress-up with me in a wedding dress and her by my side, I thought it would be a great idea to remake that photo on my wedding day.”
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Amy explained, “We used mostly burgundy, dusty rose, mauve, grey and rose gold for our wedding colors, I just love how they work together. Silver dollar eucalyptus was my top floral choice and I incorporated that into a lot of the décor. I enjoy being creative, and designing the décor for our wedding gave me that opportunity to do what I love.”
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You can see all of the rose gold and other colors as well as that natural, organic look incorporated into her invitation.
I really wanted to bring nature in as much as possible– a tree literally “held” it for me as I photographed the wedding invitation, it’s colors complimenting those on the invite:
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Time for the ceremony to start!
Matt shared, “The string trio was a suggestion my mom made when we were looking at music for the ceremony, since she had a friend that was a part of one.  After reviewing their music, we decided that it would be a nice change of pace from the ceremony to the reception and would create a nice atmosphere for the guests before and after the ceremony.”
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The ceremony began with Amy’s father escorting her down the aisle…
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Flower petals and strung eucalyptus lined the aisle.  Photographically speaking this was a *great* idea not only did it look really pretty visually and kept guests from accidentally stepping on the petals, too.
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There is something so sweet and intimate about their hands here during the ring exchange:
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Matt’s beaming smile and shiny new wedding bad took center stage, but I loved the gorgeous wisteria drapery that Amy chose:
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Amy shared, “ We chose Whispering Pines because we thought the location was nice and loved that the ceremony area was next to the reception.”
The vibrant colors were incredible.  The sun shone brightly and brought out the most vibrant shades of blue and green.  I captured this shot from a distance so you can get a feel for the entire space.
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Matt shared, “Since we both like to be organized and plan things way ahead of time, it helps us to be on the same page at the same time.  We also have a perfectionist eye on most things, especially as we were planning our wedding.  I think we butt heads sometimes when our perfection differs, which challenges us to accept the other’s “perfection.”
They are also able to smile when life gives you lemons, here Amy laughs as she tries her hardest to ‘put a ring on it’ 😉
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Matt continued, “My favorite part of the wedding day was walking my wife up the aisle after we said “I do.”  It meant to me that we had officially started our life together.”
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Nat King Cole’s classic song L-O-V-E caught Amy’s attention when she heard it in a movie as a kid.  She said to herself, “When I get married I want our first dance song to be L-O-V-E.”
Here she and Matt practice a few of their moves before the first dance.  I captured the reflection off of the window.  The double pained glass gave a cool effect…
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Grace…
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Toasts…
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Amy shared, “I found a dance routine for the song L-O-V-E and thought it looked pretty straight forward. So I showed it to Matt and we decided to do it! Having a long distance relationship made it challenging, but we spent maybe an hour or so practicing the dance once a month, until the month of the wedding, when we practiced it more frequently with a dance instructor. Matt and I had a lot of fun with that!!”
Amy: “My favorite part about the wedding was our first dance. I wasn’t nervous or worried how it would turn out, and just had a good time; cherishing the moment.”
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Sugar…
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The shoe game:
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Matt, the party animal 😉
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I tried to capture the motion and emotion here– all that energy, support, love and laughs:
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My favorite feature in the Whispering Pines ballroom was the chandelier– I played around with compositions, finding ways to work it in.
The wobble– love how Matt’s mom is leading the crowd, beaming, front and center:
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The confetti exit– I wanted to capture the light, emotion and energy here as well.  If you look closely you can see lots of tiny pieces of confetti starting to fall…
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Even more…
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Lol, their hair!
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After the confetti exit, Amy and Matt took some time alone, soaking in the sunset and the incredible day that they had just experienced.
As they stood in the sunlight in the open field, surrounded by trees and wildflowers, they prayed together.  When they did the sunlight was just unreal!
Amy shared, “We both want to make it a priority to build our relationship with God and therefore each other, which is something that is incredibly important to me.”
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Amy continued, “I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him. I love that we can be goofy and silly with each other. I am a lucky girl to have such an amazing man to go through the ups and downs life has to offer.”
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The end of the day and they are still spinning…
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And laughing…
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While I love capturing natural moments and getting creative, I also make sure to capture several more standard portraits as well.
I really like how the golden light of sunset looks in this portrait in particular…
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After the sun had set, it was still reflecting on to this small wisp of cloud in the darkening blue sky…
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And they lived happily ever after…
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Amy and Matt, thank you for trusting me to capture your wedding day, and for following my work since you were in *high school,* it means so much to me!  I hope that these photos are just the sort of heart-felt, high quality, creative images that you were hoping for.  I hope you feel like a kid on Christmas morning seeing them :).  I have hundreds more coming your way very soon.
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