Bramblewood McDonald PA Wedding | Chelsey + Mike

Happy Friday…Well, SCRATCH THAT! You’re all going to be seeing and reading this Bramblewood MCDonald PA wedding on a Sunday. I actually typed this up and posted a scheduled release for the couple today (which should be Sunday if I did it correctly…stay tuned). Chelsey and Mike opted to enjoy their honeymoon the right way without any distractions so we agreed for me to delay their gallery delivery and blog post until now! So, they’re likely seeing this at the airport or on the airplane while you’re probably sitting drinking coffee or getting ready for church…and meanwhile…I’m already a whole other wedding in from yesterday. It’s WILD how the wedding photography world works right?! It’s a fun ride though…I promise!

One paragraph in and I haven’t even started talking about this wedding, in true Hannah fashion. I have so many words for it too. It filled my wedding photographer heart right up from knowing the bride and groom to knowing most of the guests, family, and friends in attendance then to taking and editing some of the most beautiful wedding pictures I’ve taken this year! It’s just SO much to cover! Here we go!

Chelsey and Mike were a dream couple to photograph and their summer Bramblewood wedding is on the blog right now! Please give them all your Hannah Barlow photography love and enjoy. HUGE shoutout to my second shooter, Lacey, ahead of time for alllllll the second angles and detail shots we captured for this wedding! *high five*…I can’t wait for you all to see it! Let’s do this!

Due to the timing of the actual wedding ceremony, we got a later start in the day than usual. Felt nice for a change! We arrived at THE Bramblewood McDonald PA wedding venue at approximately 1:30 PM with the bridal party arriving right behind us at 2:00 PM. So you know what we do! We get right into details.

When you have 12 groomsmen, you never know what’s going to happen. When you have 12 groomsmen with personalities like this… which I do know a good bit of them… I wondered how photo time was going to go. You see, I went to high school with many of these guys and they’re definitely not the black tux, dress up every day for work.. type of men. I wasn’t a bit surprised though when they were all on time dressed and ready to go and gave me absolutely no issues for photos. I’ve seen it happen time and time again…these kind men mean business with whatever task you give them…even if it’s a fancy wedding – they’re perfect gentlemen, if you will. AND ACTUALLY… even though Mike didn’t want any getting ready pictures, I got them anyways. These friends of his were on the ball without anyone even asking and made sure that he looked just right. “MIKEEEE…you gotta fix your tie!” Chad then proceeded to fix Mike’s tie. HA!

It didn’t stop there either! His vest needed adjusted too!

…and here I thought these ones I sneaked in the barn were the only ones I’d get.

…the double checking of the suits went for Chelsey’s dad, Ernie, too! For a bunch of men who don’t get dressed up very often, they sure did know exactly how things should look. I’m here for it and I appreciate it SO much!

Now that everyone looks just right…the groom and groomsmen, everyone! The barn at Bramblewood in McDonald, PA is a gem, I swear, that many don’t know about!

We were on the clock and it was getting HOT! Once we finished up with the men (they did say they’d time me when I promised to be 15 minutes or less). Off we went to photograph the ladies getting ready!

Most of those (above) were actually taken earlier in the day! Stay with me! If you’re new here, this is typical for the Hannah Barlow Photography blogs. I’m all over the place telling the story of the day…but making it make sense! SO, these ones below were taken right after we returned from photographing the men!

THESE ONES…OOoooo my goodness ME! Well, they are definitely some of my very very favorites!

Bridal portraits for dayyyysss…and Chelsey had a great hype crowd!

The women were not to be outshined by the men! So, one of these dresses came in the wrong color…can you see it? I bet you have to look reallllllllll closely. This has been a common “thing” in the last year or two. One dress, for whatever reason, always comes wrong. I told Chelsey and the girls it was SO close…people wouldn’t even know. You know, until I point it out in the very PUBLIC blog. It’s a fun game!

Lil’ miss didn’t love the idea of photo time at first untilllll…we played a little baby Shark and she got to spend time with her Aunt! AND these are just the highlights! Mom and Grandma were totally surprised too because they’d already gone inside!

Check and check! Next up…reception decor before the ceremony! We had a great timeline and plenty of time to enjoy the absolute beauty that is Bramblewood McDonald PA’s barn!

The sweets at this wedding took up a whole corner of the barn!

Off to the ceremony we go! And once again, these men didn’t miss a beat. Handing out parasols? Not just handing them out…they made a whole show of it!

Time to get these two married! I particularly loved the genuine moments after the ceremony…cheers…bride fist pumps and all!

Alright, people! It’s crunch time! We had one hour (slightly less if you consider travel on the golf carts) to get ALL family photos, full bridal party AND couple portraits complete! HUGE shoutout to every single person who was a part of this. We didn’t lose anyone…no one went missing (Ashley’s Mike DID try to sneak off to the bathroom…but he asked politely…I said politely “no”…and we got all the family formals and bridal party done quick). HA!

That’s also just a preview of a whole BUNCH of family formals…all kinds of angles and orientations were taken and different groupings BUT I had to show off and give credit where credit is due. I wish all family formals went that well! One can dream! Take notes from the Stucin/Colley family group!

Full bridal party portraits were next! For as many people as we had, we really did these FAST! I obviously do a LOT of weddings…it never goes this smoothly. “If we finish this, you can go to cocktail hour!” YAYY!

…and now…*drum roll*…it’s time for these couple portraits. I already KNEW based off Chelsey and Mike’s engagement session (see it HERE) that these couple portraits were going to be something. If you click there, you’ll see we ALSO did them at Bramblewood in McDonald, PA in some of these same locations!

What I didn’t expect…was for them to be this dramatic and fabulous! Making some of the same photos black and white really did something spectacular for this gallery!

Who says you need lots of time to get variety? Those photos from behind above are the same moments as these ones below…I just had to sprint by them and turn around! They’re actually just seconds apart – all while they laughed at me, of course! Sometimes I want to see it live…and then I think better of it.

The wind really showed up in a good way. That veil became a whole main character. I usually like things neat and tidy but I was really feeling the organic ones.

Details for dayyyyys.

The wind and sunshine really did say, “let me HELP you…”! And at this point, I was squealing so loud…I echoed off the mountains (true story).

The one thing I noticed about Chelsey and Mike is that they can fake it till they make it in the heat. Last year’s engagement session for them was very hot and sweaty. While it wasn’t quite as hot and sweaty this day, they were dressed in much heavier clothing and we were moving at a much faster pace. While I wouldn’t usually take a couple to the tippy top of a hill in the blasting sunshine…I knew from their engagement session we could make this simple little mowed path in the fields dramatic and fabulous!

…and we did JUST that!

“This isn’t about you two and your wedding…this is about my website. Suck it up”! Those are non-professional things excited photographers say when absolutely losing it over the photos being taken. HA! AND they laughed at me…and it was magical. How many times can I use that word in this blog? AND THEN…Mike dipped her and I could have just laid down and died in a great way. A bit dramatic? Yes! Do I do this every weekend? Also yes…but there’s just something about these two!

I can never and don’t think I’ll ever get enough of weddings!

…but wait..there’s more! And just like the rest of this blog…these are just a FEW!

All great things must come to an end and we had a party to get to! JUST a few more!

Alright! We did it…now, off to the reception! The new Mr. and Mrs. Colley entered their reception, cut cake, had dances (which actually happened later but stay with me for blog length purposes)…and then there were speeches! AND…may I add…they were some of the best speeches I’ve heard in a long time!! I told them they could sell speech templates on Etsy (they were THAT good). Speeches have been SO good in 2024!

First dance as Mr. & Mrs. Colley!

Let’s get this party started! AND it was quite the party. People danced…people mingled…people spilled drinks…you name it. I wouldn’t have expected anything else from this group! It gave us so much to photograph!

I had set the bar high in my head for this wedding…and the bar was met plus some! Chelsey and Mike are local to me…so they had a lot of photographers to choose from and many of them are familiar faces. I sure hope these photos met the expectations. I know it wasn’t once…or twice…that I joked “this isn’t about you…this is about my website” and then we laughed and giggled as a group. AND while that’s kind of true (it wasn’t but my excitement couldn’t be contained), I sure hope these photos make it all over their wall too! HUGE shoutout to Bramblewood and their staff too for making sure we always have everything we need AND drive us around so we don’t have to exert any extra energy on an already exciting day like this. They’ve probably removed the goose call decoy that keeps them away from the pond after all my hoots and hollers! AHHH!! I could keep being sappy and excited but then this would never end. Where does one stop when it was a perfect wedding day?!

So, here we go! Thanks for reading and one more time…CONGRATS TO CHELSEY AND MIKE!

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Disclaimer: Hannah Barlow Photography blogs only represent a small portion of photos the couple actually receives in their private gallery.  The blogs are meant to highlight favorite photos and favorite moments of the wedding day and do not represent an entire gallery.

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If you’re interested in having your own wedding at the Bramblewood McDonald PA barn you can click right HERE to go to their site and request more information!

And if you’re interested in me photographing your wedding, you fan go to my contact form and we’ll chat about it!

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Vendors

Venue – Bramblewood McDonald, PA Wedding Barn

Bride’s Gown – J. Jones

Hair – Briana Fernandez Beauty

Makeup – Biond Beauty

DJ – Music Done Knicley

Catering – PW Catering

Transportation – GG&C Bus Company

Officiant – Darlene Sperlazza (Family)