Brittany & Callen: A traditional Catholic Wedding On the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Brittany & Callen were married this past weekend in Chestertown, Maryland at St. Benedict Catholic Church and held their reception at the charming and historic Stepne Manor. It was a day filled with joy and it was an honor to photograph it. Special details adorned the day. Brittany’s mother was her matron-of-honor and two of her brothers served on the altar during the Mass. Furthermore, right before the ceremony, Callen’s grandmother bestowed to Brittany a gold bangle to wear down the aisle. The bracelet was a family heirloom that had been worn by all the women in her new family on their wedding day. How special! The bangle is like a link in a chain, connecting the past to the future! It was so touching to see the two families coming together to celebrate this wonderful couple!
Congratulations Brittany & Callen!
Thank you to all the vendors below!
Venue: Stepne Manor
Catering: Luisias Cucina
Florist: Wildly Native
Tent: Eastern Shore Tents and Events
Photographer: Allison from G Photography & Films
2nd Photographer: AnneMarie Hamant
3rd Photographer: Regina Jelski
Blog Post made by Alyssa Girone
Maria + Anthony - Traditional Latin Nuptial Mass at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Cleveland with Nuptial Veil
Maria & Tony’s beautiful mid-November wedding was such an honor for us to photograph! Their whole wedding day looked like it came right out of a fairytale - from her dress with it’s little flecks of shimmer to the love they shared, everything had a magical joy to it. They are just the sweetest couple and had an amazing group of friends and family. It was our pleasure to capture all the smiles, laughs, and tears (happy ones) on their wedding day!
Read MoreChristina & Robert || A Fall Wedding In Downtown Steubenville
Robert & Christina’s charming November wedding was a pleasure to photograph! Not only are they two of the kindest people (and so are their family and friends), but there were so many sweet moments we got to capture. Their wedding day was filled with many unique details!
Christina wore her Grandmother’s wedding dress which fit her like a glove and had the most beautiful beading around the neckline. Her veil was 16 feet long and was lined with lace hand-sewn by her mother. She also wore a perfume that she had purchased in France (long before she was married) with the intention that she would someday wear it on her wedding day!
The ceremony took place at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Steubenville and the Reception was held in the Leonardo’s Coffeehouse Ballroom. We did some additional portraits at Beatty Park. They were so in love and getting candids was a dream with these two. Christina had told us that Robert was a great dancer and we certainly got to witness that as he twirled her amongst the ruins of Beatty Park.
The reception ballroom at Leonardo’s is a hidden gem in Steubenville and, on this day, it was filled with so much dancing, laughter, and celebration in honor of Christina & Robert. They wanted their reception to have a feeling of community and the guests were seated at long tables. There was mulled wine, candelabras, a long display of charcuterie, and a 3-tier cheese wheel cake which was such a fun replacement for the typical sugar and flour wedding cake. After speeches, her mom and relatives all sang to the newlyweds - it was so fun and a first for us! There were also so many families showing off their moves on the dance floor. What a joyful day we got to photograph!
Robert & Christina, you two have so much love for one another and we wish you all the happiness! Thank you for entrusting us to capture your wedding day memories!
Ceremony
The bridal party
Bride & Groom
Reception
Thank you to everyone who made their day possible!!
Ceremony: St. Peter’s Catholic Church
Reception: Leonardo’s Coffeehouse
Florals: Dried florals arranged by Christina & her bridesmaids
Catering: Cynthia Welker
Photography: G Photography & Films
Anthony & Cecilia: A Historic New Castle Wedding
The whole week leading up to Tony & Cecilia’s wedding at Historic Penn Farm & St Peter the Apostle Church, the weather called for rain, all evening and especially during their time for portraits. We knew we could make it work and we were prepared with umbrellas and ideas for covered locations. However, when their day finally came, there was good weather during the getting ready, ceremony & portrait part of the day and the rain that did ensue created such a cozy atmosphere in the barn at Historic Penn Farm!
There were so many beautiful moments to capture as these two families converged to celebrate. Cecilia is the first of her large family to get married and it was the same for Tony. So the excitement was truly doubled. Allison and I are only sharing a fraction of the images we captured last week - there were just too many to share all at once!
The Bride and Groom added many special touches and traditions to their wedding and we found them captivating. Cecilia had hand-sewn pieces of her grandmother’s lace added to her dress sleeves. She wore the same gold cross she had worn to her other Sacraments on her Wedding day. She reenacted a coming-down-the-stairs shot that her Mamere had when she was married. At the Church, she and the groom, separated by a partition so as to not see one another, prayed the Rosary with both sets of families and Bridal Party before the Wedding Mass. At their Wedding Mass they were lassoed with a large rosary and the Priest prayed the accompanying prayer and he also prayed and blessed their crucifix for them.
At the Barn Reception, Priests from Harlem traveled with the Groom’s family from NY and gave the blessing of the meal. The Bridal party entered the barn wearing hats combining and joining parts of the Bride and Groom’s last names. The dancing was non stop and spirited and under the twinkle lights in the barn rafters with added percussion of the rain on the tin roof. Everything was special and so is their love and union. We could not be happier for them and truly felt their love. Cecilia and Tony, thank you! Thank you for the honor of letting us witness and capture these moments with your tremendous families….so much love exuded!
Getting Ready & Details
Rosary in the chapel
The Ceremony at St peter the apostle catholic church
Lasso Rosary
The Lasso Ceremony is a symbolic declaration of intention that you are voluntarily binding yourselves together before your family, friends and God. A prayer for the couple is then said as they stand or kneel.
What Is a Wedding Lasso Rosary?
A wedding lasso rosary, also called el lazo, is an oversized rosary large enough to be entwined (lassoed) around the couple. After the couple has exchanged their vows, their wedding sponsors (witnesses) called el padrino and la madrina, place the rosary around the couple’s shoulders, starting with groom’s shoulder and then the bride’s shoulder, to form a figure eight shape. The priest recites a prayer, similar to the following: "Let the union of binding together this rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary be an inspiration to you both. Remember the holiness necessary to preserve your new family can only be obtained by mutual sacrifice and love."
Portrait Time
The weather radar was forecasting thunderstorms but we were blessed to have some time to capture stunning images of these two before the storm rolled in. There were so many good portraits that I had a hard time choosing which ones to share!
Reception At Historic Penn Farm
The Bridal Party
Speeches, Toasts, and Dancing
WOW did their guests know how to celebrate! From the chicken dance, to the YMCA, practically everyone was out on the dance floor celebrating the newlyweds. They also played the wedding shoe game which filled the room with so much applause and laughter! What a fun celebration!
Both Cecilia & Tony chose to do thank you dances with their guests. Pictured below is Cecilia & her grandpa’s emotional embrace during their dance at the end of the night. It was one of the sweetest wedding traditions we’ve witnessed!
Allison & I love bringing clear umbrellas to our rainy day weddings because we can get images like this one! The barn lights and the rain drops create such a cozy ambiance.
That wraps up the end of this post but there are still so many images left to share! Congratulations again Tony & Cecilia & thank you for entrusting us to capture your wedding day! We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together.
Thank you to everyone who helped make their wedding day a beautiful event!
Florist - Ramone's Flowers
Wedding dress - David's Bridal & Her mom and Nana (they made the sleeves and overskirt)
Bridesmaids dresses - Baltic Born
Table and chairs - Freedom Farm Tables
DJ - Terry O'Sullivan from DJs Available
Photography - G Photography
Maria & Austin - Swan Harbor Farm Wedding
Congratulations to Maria & Austin! It was a pleasure photographing this couple’s beautiful wedding day. Their wedding ceremony took place at St. Patrick's Church in Havre De Grace, MD with the reception following at Swan Harbor Farm, (which is a truly gorgeous venue by the way.)
We are so grateful to all the brides who have trusted us to capture their wedding day memories. Check out their wedding day images below.
The Details
A sixpence in a her left shoe for good luck. A tradition that originated in England in which a sixpence coin is placed in the Bride’s left shoe before walking down the aisle. This was such a fun piece to photograph!
Bridal Getting ready & first look
Maria had a bridesmaid who could not be physically present because of the Pandemic, but she was present and dressed for the festivities via her phone!
The 1st look. First looks are an amazing opportunity for our brides to get some of the most heartwarming photos. Maria had already planned on having a first look with her bridesmaids, but in the moment there was a great chance to set up a first look with her grandmother. The moments captured were filled with sweet emotion!
The Groom’s Details
Ceremony - St. Patrick’s Havre De Grace
The Bridal Party
Reception at Swan Harbor Farm
The lights in the tent gave a lovely bokeh effect to this picture of the centerpiece! And they had these adorable personalized hand sanitizers at every table. What a great idea!
Swan Harbor Farm had gorgeous weeping willow trees that we used for these photos.
Maria’s beautiful flowers came from Amanda’s Florist & Gifts in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Allison posed these guys perfectly and asked them to show some “swagger!” I think they did pretty well. Don’t you?
The awesome thing about having two photographers is that we can capture pretty much every aspect of the wedding day. We also loved interacting with the guests and family! They were such fun people to photograph!
One of the best parts of wedding photography is watching these happy moments unfold and getting to document them for our bride & groom.
Right after dinner, we snuck the bride & groom outside for some sunset portraits. The gardens at Swan Harbor Farm had the most beautiful little spots to photograph. Allison and I are just obsessed with the way the sun bathed them with a golden light.
If you made it this far, thank you!
Please visit our Weddings & Engagements page and Client Galleries.
Vendor Credits
Swan Harbor Farm
Amanda’s Florist
Desserts by Rita
Richilin Catering
G Photography & Films