September Oglebay Wedding

Hello, everyone! Happy Wednesday!  It’s hump day! YAY!  I just survived homeschooling my two kiddos and now I’m blogging my last wedding!  You haven’t gotten to meet these two yet (except for their sneak peek on Monday)!  Colleen and Chris booked me JUST a few weeks ago!! That’s right!  I got to chat with them over the phone but that’s about it!  Turns out…they are two of the nicest people we’ve worked with.  They also LOVE photos and you’re going to see (and read) all about that right here in their wedding blog.  So, give them all your Hannah Barlow Photography love!  Their September Oglebay Wedding is on the blog RIGHT NOW! Enjoy!

So, I had chatted with Colleen over the phone about the timeline and all the important parts of the day.  She got it!  That’s why she texted me before I even arrived to Oglebay to let me know we’d have to do the men first because it was taking longer at the salon than expected! No problem!! And let me tell you…we had a blast taking these!  I’m telling you.  I’ve never met a group of people who loved photos as much as this group at this wedding!  I mean, what more can a photographer ask for, right?!  Introducing…Chris, the groom, and the men in his bridal party!

They brought their drinks.  MOST of them brought their masks (we gave him a hard time about it…HA!).  We took ALLL the personality shots!  You’ll even see that we included Colleen’s father and Uncle Dave in the photos because they were there…they were part of the fun…and they were helping!  We took ALLLLL the photos!

Then, very quickly, I was off to meet Colleen!  We were on a tight timeline at this point and it’s always my goal to give every couple all the photos regardless of time/timeline!  She was all dressed and ready to go when I arrived too!  I grabbed all her last minute details and snapped these beauties.  A few years ago, blush pink was VERY popular.  There for a while it felt like it was all we photographed!  Then, it kind of disappeared and I didn’t realize how much I actually missed it.  It’s very “wedding” and very “soft” and just feels good, right?!

Colleen’s mom and friends helped her with the finishing touches!

Of course, I squeezed in some photos of her by the window!  Isn’t she beautiful?!

Then, off we went with the ladies!  AHHHHHH!  That dress!  It had the most amazing detail (especially around the bottom).  I was up and down and all around taking these bridal shots!

I kept apologizing to the ladies because it was so chaotic trying to squeeze all this in!! I knew we had an even tighter timeline after the ceremony so I was moving FAST but they were A OK with it all and kept smiling and laughing along with me!  Remember, I’d only just met them about 30 minutes prior to this!  You’d never know, right?!  They are “go with the flow” kind of people!

Personality shots!

…and because I could tell they loved photos already, we put mom in there too (just like we did Dad and Uncle Dave with the gentleman) even though I knew we’d do them again up on the patio after the ceremony.  Two pretty ladies!

We got Brandy in there too (Chris’ sister).  Or is it Brandi?!  Haven’t I told you all I’m the WORST with names?!  AHHH! She was stand in videographer and was by my side most of the day so we really got to know each other!

…and because they love photos…we moved them over and took more per Colleen’s request!! EEEEKKKK!  I love these ones SO much but I also LOVE color so that makes sense!! SOOOO MUCH color and happiness!

It was very important to Colleen that no one see her before the wedding.  I felt like 007 moving through the halls because I had promised her I would make sure no one saw her but I also knew we needed to get these photos done before the ceremony.  Then, Larry came by…and I got nervous!  She assured me it was fine because he’s the officiant (and that’s his service dog, Kayla).  He even stopped for a photo!! It’s like he KNEW about the blogs! HA!

Whewwwww!  We did all of that in less than 2 hours (including reception photos I haven’t blogged) and I’m still not sure how we did it BUT we did!! WOOOOO!!  I felt so relieved to have that done so they all could sit back and relax for a bit!  Because Colleen was dressed when I got there, I didn’t do all the details I’m used to doing so I literally (and I’m serious) asked her to take off her shoes so I could take those! HA! I’m a crazy person…I know…I know!  I’m also a creature of habit!

…and JUST when I thought we could relax…someone called and said a button had come off one of the groomsman’s jacket! AHHH!! So, Ashleigh saved the day! She went on a wild goose chase through Oglebay lodge and found a sewing kit (at the front desk…because they are the best) and coincidentally ran into the groomsman in the hall and sewed that baby right on!  Give her a round of applause!

You probably noticed this necklace above in the detail shots with the shoes.  This necklace was a gift from the bride’s Uncle Dave (who quickly became one of my very favorite people).  We made sure to get lots of photos with it because it’s very special!

I headed over to the West Spa patio for some photos before the ceremony!  I ran into THE Jonathan Mihellis (of Finest Events) and his right hand man, Ted!  He was testing his microphones and gave me the most obnoxious “welcome”.  “Welcome”…is that what you call it?  Introduction, I guess! Nonetheless, I kind of love it…it gets me pumped up!  It definitely always makes me laugh!  I was a basket case trying to get caught up on time too (you know I’m allllll about my timelines) so they had a good giggle!  LOOK how pretty…it is ANOTHER great sky day!! Maybe that’s a thing when you go from summer to fall…I’m going to have to pay attention now!

I thought maybe it was just the bridal party and family that loved photos.  Nope!! It must be something in the water for this group!! EVERYONE enjoyed having their photo taken and that included guests who were walking by and asked for a quick snap!! I’m always happy to oblige, of course!  Also, can we talk about those GIANT flower arrangements by Masterpieces?!  OoO my goodness ME!! AHHHHHH!  Go big or go home…I love that theory in weddings!

It was time for the ceremony!  I’d called Cassie (Oglebay Cassie, of course) to see what we could do to hold down this aisle runner.  It’s windy on the Oglebay West Spa patio so I wanted to make sure it didn’t go flying!  She ran down with Lauren and helped me get the end situated.

That’s when Chris realized it wasn’t going to stay at the front and this was RIGHT before the ceremony.  I found myself yelling, “Don’t start without me!” again!  Seriously, that’s becoming my mantra for 2020! HA!  Jonathan was looking at me like I was nuts too as I ran from the front of the ceremony to my bag.  I had an idea!  In a true, “Hannah Panic”…I racked my brain and remembered I had boob tape (I know…it’s called “garment tape”…but that’s what we call it).  Chris had said, “double sided tape” and it reminded me that I had some in my bag!  So then Ted came up and helped me too (because he’s the best) and as a team we made this happen!  Cue the music!  We’re ready to go!

Here comes the bride!

It’s funny how things happen.  In all these years and after all these weddings, I had never done any ceremonies on the West Spa patio at Oglebay.  Well, in just one month, I will have done FOUR here soon!  Crazy, right?!  And three of them are in a row…this one being the first.  It’s just BEAUTIFUL up here so I’ll take it!

Mr. & Mrs. Holihan, everyone!  I haven’t seen this much joy coming back down the aisle in a LONG time!

Alright!  We had ONE hour until my “curfew” (that’s what I call it when the DJs give me a time for the bridal party to be announced at the reception).  So, we FLEW through photos!  I looked back at this gallery and could NOT believe the amount we took in such a short period of time BUT…when you have a couple who loves photos as much as these two…anything is possible!

The ladies requested more photos! Here we go!

The guys could not be left out!  They suggested this…not me!  That’s right!

They even requested photos with the florists, Brad and Rodney, of Masterpieces!  That’s right!  THIS couple is so sweet they even wanted to include their vendors and while we were taking these they were praising and saying SUCH nice things about the flowers! AHHHHH!! I’m getting all sappy over here!

…and now…bride and groom portraits!! I told them to just take deep breaths because it was going to be intense and I was going to go Hannah speed x 10 on them!  They giggled and told me it was totally fine and they trusted me and they were all kinds of pumping me up!

There is nothing sweeter than standing and feeling the joy radiating from a newly married couple, I tell ya!

Can you feel it?!  This is one of the best parts about my job.  I was there.  So, I got to experience the joy first hand..but I want to capture those moments so that when YOU see the photos you can feel what I was feeling while taking these!

Colleen requested photos overlooking the golf course outside the lodge!  I kind of LOVE this background!  Ashleigh was taking photos from the side and took A LOT of these (I forgot to mention that above…but you know my second shooters are amazing and usually take 1/4-1/2 the photos for me!)

We were almost done!

I wanted to get JUST a few more to give their gallery some great variety!

At this point, I was cutting it close on my “curfew”.  I was actually RUNNING to get all these done and Jonathan and Ted kept giggling and telling me they’d wait for me but it is my #1 goal to NEVER…and I mean NEVER EVER…be the photographer who holds up the reception!

I ran my heart out and it shows…HA!  I kept getting my mask stuck on my hair! UGH!  BUT…I had to get a photo with one of my favorite Oglebay ladies!  Cassie is getting married herself at Oglebay here in a few weeks! EEEEKKK!

Seriously, she’s the sweetest.  She requested photos with all her vendors…including me!

Then, Jonathan opened it up with his introductions!

He introduced Mr. & Mrs. Holihan for the second time!

Introductions and prayers were completed.  Dinner was served and speeches were given, of course!  Then, it was time to get the party started.  And you know how I always say we have that “one guy” at EVERY reception (and I mean EVERY reception)?  We always look forward to meeting him and seeing what shenanigans go on.  Well, this gentleman…was our guy!  I even told him he was going to get some spotlight in the blog.  I didn’t even get his name!! WAHHHH!! I just couldn’t stop laughing, I tell ya!  He even looked my blog up on his phone and once he saw what was about to happen this week…he upped his game and said he REALLY needed to sneak into some more shots.  THAT is when the dance floor photo happened (bottom right below).  AND I couldn’t stop laughing!

You all know I won’t put my name behind businesses, vendors, or people, in general, unless they encompass the same professionalism I do!  Well, I can’t say enough great things about the Oglebay gals.  I walked up on stage to get some more dancing photos and found Cassie helping Colleen and Bailey get the dress bustled!! If your vendors aren’t willing to go over and above to help you out, you got the wrong vendors!  Weddings can be hard and stressful…we want to make it easy and enjoyable!

I also caught Ted (assistant extraordinaire for Jonathan, the DJ) hanging out and watching the crowd! 2020 is weird, ya’ll!

I love love love love Jonathan’s uplighting!! ALWAYS HAVE!  I love uplighting, in general.  It makes all the difference!! First dance photo magic for the win!

Then, this small group partied HARD!  Oooo my goodness.  You just never know with smaller weddings.  “Small” to me is less than 150 people and sometimes they are more intimate, calm gatherings.  Well, this reception was one of the most fun receptions of 2020!  It didn’t matter who you were…your level of dance skill…nope.  They were ALL out there!

The party was continuous and all night long!  Ash and I found ourselves dancing along, singing along and cheering everyone on!

It happened so fast!  SO FAST!  Ash and I got home and messaged the Hannah Barlow Photography group about this wedding!  We do that for all our weddings.  We all have serious FOMO (fear of missing out) so everyone who wasn’t at a given wedding always wants to know all about it!  The best words for this wedding were “the sweetest people” and “fast”.  This day went by SO FAST!  Those 8 hours flew by faster than any wedding I’ve ever done.  I uploaded the gallery last night with the biggest smile on my face too!  It has over 1100 photos in it and all thanks to this couple’s LOVE for photographing their wedding memories and the vendor dream team they hired and brought together!  I say it over and over…a couple’s mentality going into a wedding and on their wedding day combined with an epic vendor team who is used to working together makes your wedding.  Colleen and Chris, you nailed it!  Thank you for being so sweet and concerned for all your vendors.  Thank you for loving photos!  I wish you ALL the best in your marriage!  Keep in touch!  I feel like I didn’t get enough of you two!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Thanks for reading!

Congrats to the Holihans!

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Vendors

Bride’s Gown – This Magic Moment – West View

Bridesmaids’ Gowns – David’s Bridal – McKnight Road

Men’s Attire – Men’s Wearhouse – Ross Park Mall

Jewelry/Rings – Littman’s (Bride’s Ring), Kay (Groom’s Ring)

Hair – Cloud 9 Salon

Wedding Planner/Coordinator – Oglebay, Cassie Holstein

Florist – Masterpieces

Cake/Other Desserts – Masterpieces (Cake)

DJ/Band – Finest Events

Catering – Oglebay

Ceremony Venue – Oglebay West Spa Patio

Officiant – Larry Goyda

Reception Venue – Oglebay Glessner Auditorium