Allison & Todd’s Wedding | Pittsburgh, PA

Say “Hello” and “Congratulations” to Mr. & Mrs. Buczynski!

Allison and Todd have been faithful clients of mine.  We’re so used to working together, so you can image how excited I was for this wedding reception!  These two actually got married in Florida the week before this reception.  They had just beat the storm (literally) and came home to celebrate with family and friends on October 15h!

The reception was held at the Sheraton at Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA.  Allison had everything planned and scheduled.  I was so excited!  The original idea was that the florist and the DJ were going to get there in the morning to set up.  This reception hall plan was elaborate and those two vendors needed lots of time to make the magic happen!  After they were finished, I was to arrive at the Sheraton at noon.  At that point, I’d have more than enough time to shoot the entire reception hall before I even met up with the bride and groom! YAY!  It all sounded so glorious and was going to give me lots of time to photograph the beautifulness that was the reception hall!!!

Welllllllllllll, it didn’t quite go as planned.  When I first arrived and told the front desk I needed to find the reception hall for the Shorts wedding (Allison’s old last name), they took me to a huge reception hall, cracked the door, and showed me a room full of 300 people listening to a speaker.  PANIC.ATTACK.  I explained that I had understood the reception hall would be finished at this point.  He then explained that the “Schultz Wedding” wouldn’t begin to be set up or decorated until after the conference taking place in that room was finished.  SCHULTZ?  Who the heck is Schultz?!  I need SHORTS!  That’s what I was thinking, at least!  I kindly corrected him and explained that we must be in the wrong hall because I was the photographer for the Shorts wedding not the Schultz wedding.  So then this kind gentleman proceeds to tell me there is no paperwork on the Shorts wedding and I must be in the wrong place.  BIGGER PANIC ATTACK! AHHH!  I whipped out my contract thinking I had, in fact, gone to the wrong place! Nope.  I was in the right place!  Finally, he finds the paperwork and leads me to the big reception hall.  Whewwww!  He really was so kind.  We had a great laugh.  I “yelled” at him for giving me a mini heart attack.  THEN, we get to this bigger reception hall and there are a bunch……and I mean a big bunch of medical vendors set up at their booths.  There are no beautiful decorations.  I don’t see any flowers……. so cue the heart palpitations all over again.  He explains that I shouldn’t worry because all the vendors have been notified and would be arriving later.  Well, that’s bummer because we had a pretty good plan!  I panicked for Allison because she had planned everything out so perfectly! AHHHH!

 Long story short, the reception was amazing!  Just wait until you see it!  Because of the wonderful florist and DJ and an extremely calm bride, groom, and parents, the job got done and quickly!  I was able to sneak in right before guests got in to get all the pictures done!  Seriously, you just wait until you see it!  Had I not just let the cat out of the bag, no one would have even known the schedule was thrown out the window 5 minutes after I arrived!  That’s what weddings are like sometimes!  You have to just fly by the seat of your pants!  I shot almost all of these pictures leading up to the reception in 1 1/2 hours!  We did it! Woot Woot!

ENJOY!!!

When I was styling these details, there was a man in his office doing paperwork right next to where I had decided to shoot and I spotted this purple chair.  Since Allison’s colors were shades of purple, I put on my friendly Hannah face and kindly asked if I could borrow it!  He was a super nice guy and didn’t look at me like I was nuts!  He let me borrow it and I returned it promptly!

Here’s some pretty black and whites of the bride getting dolled up!

I love when grooms have great details and Todd had GREAT details!!!

He looks pretty spiffy dressed up too!

Time for the first look!!

Allison picked this location on the balcony at the Sheraton!

Post first look shot!

The many personalities of the bridesmaids!

Good looking group of girls, huh?  Aren’t those chalkboards neat?  More details on where you can find them below!

At this point in the game, I was given permission to use my “Bossy Hannah Voice” to keep things moving since we had a new schedule and were short on time.  At one point, Todd even asked me to talk louder!  If you know me, that is the best thing I could even be told to do! HA! 

The theme of the day was “What time is it? Be ready by this time! Be there at this time!”  Ironically, all the guys received watches, so this was definitely a must have shot!  They were really good sports!  Three of those guys are really used to my company, so they just rolled their eyes (Yep, I saw you!) and let me be me!

Allison and Todd had a big announcement to make too!! Their little one was in on the secret!

Andddddddddd, now we must get ready for this eye candy of a reception hall!  All of my stressing throughout the day was to make sure I got these shots for the couple.  Allison wanted these shots and I needed these shots! CHECK OUT THIS RECEPTION HALL!!!!  If I could use the little heart eye emoji, I totally would right now!  The pictures still don’t even do this justice.  It was sooo beautiful!

This cake was just breathtaking!  I didn’t even want to get too close because it was so pretty!  I literally had my assistant Ashleigh wrap her arms around my waist to be sure I wouldn’t fall or trip or do anything to hurt this cake.  It’s never happened, but I didn’t want this to be the first time either!

After I snuck in to the reception hall and got my pictures done, we quickly ran down the street and spent 15 minutes getting some shots of the bride and groom by themselves!

Don’t they make a beautiful couple?!

Now, let’s get this party started!!!!!

Check out her hashtag! Best one ever!

#allisonisdroppinghershorts

Her last name was Shorts! Get it?! LOVE IT!

Then, they had to cut this beautiful cake.  Allison and I did take a moment to just stand back and stare at it! HA!  Check out the many facial expressions of Allison! I just love her! 

These little chalkboard signs were scattered everywhere! I loved them!  Again, check out the end of this blog for more information!

When the father of the groom and his friends are literally “getting down” on the dance floor, you know it’s a good party!

This was the neatest conga line ever!  Gotta give the DJ props!  He knew how to get this crowd going!

They had a really cool photo booth set up! The guy running it asked if we’d test it out.  You know me, I wasn’t about to say no!  Ashleigh and I got in there and posed.  The last shot I took a picture of the camera taking a picture of me! He laughed at me and said he’d never seen a photographer do that! That’s what I like to hear! Win!

When you are the photographer and people want to take selfies with you, you do it!  Sorry for the bad quality.  It’s hard taking a selfie with a huge DSLR camera, a lens, and a flash all mounted and now you’re trying to hold it out and keep it steady!  Great memories though and that’s all that matters!  That’s Ashleigh with the glasses!  She was my assistant and savior that day!  If you need a day of coordinator for help, get a hold of me and I’ll put you in contact with her!

I always try and take a moment and get the bride and groom outside.  Allison and Todd were troopers and happy to go out with me!  I know Todd appreciated the fresh air!

And that’s a wrap!!!

These two were amazing.  Despite the many stressors early in the day that were totally outside of their control, they held it together and the reception was fabulous!

Congratulations to you both!!

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Vendor Information for this Wedding

(click on the name to be directed to their website when applicable)

Dress – Allure Couture from Bridal Beginning in Mt. Lebanon

Groom/Groomsmen Attire – Men’s Warehouse

Bridesmaid Dresses – David’s Bridal

Florist – Mocha Rose

Reception Venue – Sheraton at Station Square – Pittsburgh, PA

DJ & Uplighting – DJ Jonathan Mihellis

Cake/Bakery – Bella Christies & Little Z’s Sweet Boutique

Hair – Profiles + 412-793-6658

Photo Booth – Fairytale Videography

Chalkboards – Southern Cottage Signs

Of course, if there’s anything else about this wedding you’re interested in, contact me directly and I’ll see if I can get you more information!