WHERE ARE THEY NOW – OCTOBER WEDDINGS – TAKE 2

WOOOOO!! This blog is most certainly a BLAST from the past!! We’ve got a 2016 wedding and a 2017 wedding and both from Octobers in the past!  Allison and Todd are up first and they were my third wedding EVER!  My goodness…it’s really so crazy to look this far back, right?!  It feels like SO long ago but it hasn’t even been quite four years!  A lot has happened for these two and I’m so excited to put them on the  blog again!  So, let’s throw back to their engagement session from the summer of 2016!

Aren’t they adorable and so cuddly!?

At this point, I was taking classes and learning how to manipulate light and make light!! This may have been my first silhouette  ever…HmmMmMm.  Today, I would brighten up that sky but for nostalgia’s sake, I left it!!!

Now, let’s fast forward to their 2016 October wedding.  Ashleigh tagged along with me!  I was still shooting things by myself at this point (and it’s so “ha ha” ironic that I’m back to shooting things by myself again thanks to COVID).  Honestly, I wasn’t really nervous even at my first weddings.  Allison and Todd’s ended up being a real doozie though in the stress department…so much that I cried on the elevator a little bit! HA!  So, for anyone who has heard me say, “If things get stressful, I won’t let you know…but I’ll just cry on the elevator.”  Well, THIS is the wedding where those sentences were born!! More on that later though!! First, let’s look at her super, duper colorful and PURPLE (WooOO my favorite color) wedding!

Groom details!! WOOOO!! I must have done a lot of groom details in the beginning!

They were my very first first look too!!  ANDDDD it sure was a goodie!! Look at them, they look like they practiced!

I don’t get to photograph in the city very often but it’s so fun when we do!

Look at these pretty ladies!! Gosh, this is probably my FAVORITE purple palette  to date!

The guys weren’t missing a beat BUT this is where the stressful story comes into play.  All vendors (except me) were supposed to arrive at 8 am to get the reception set up.  That’s right.  It was going to take the DJ and florist and other vendors at least four hours to get the reception hall ready.  The reception was THE center point of this wedding (you just wait and see).  Well, I was supposed to arrive at noon to start photographing ALL that first.  Well, there was a change of plans and no one was notified ahead of time.  They decided to set up a medical convention in that hall in the morning and didn’t let those other vendors start setting up until noon…which left me with less than 2 hours to do ALL the photos I usually do the ENTIRE day leading up to the reception.  That’s right.  Read it again.  I now had to do EVERY SINGLE PHOTO…that’s reception shots, details shots, getting ready, family formals, bridal party formals, and bride/groom formals…in just 2 hours…less than 2 hours actually.  I also had NO idea how I was going to get into that reception hall before the guests given I was taking all of these group photos first!  Well, I had been checking my watch ALL DAY LONG.  The new timeline I had literally left me SECONDS (AND that’s no exaggeration) to spare.  That’s why I cried a little bit in the elevator.  HA!  I really didn’t think I was going to have enough time to get all the photos Allison had requested.  I was moving like you wouldn’t believe AND these guys were being great sports about it!  You know…making fun! HA!  Checking their watches just like me all day long!

BUTTTTTTTT…it all worked out!  Holy moly!  To this day, this is my very very very favorite reception.  It’s over the top…purple everywhere…glitz everywhere…it CALLS to me.  This was also the first wedding Jonathan Mihellis and I got to work together!  He was just as stressed as I was…it’s true!! What a way to go into a wedding together!

This cake is also still one of my favorite cakes EVER!  Jonathan lit this thing like a DREAM!  Have you EVER seen ANYTHING like it?!

I totally forgot about this until I was going through their photos!  The photo booth guy needed someone to test it before guests arrived so Ash and I jumped right in there!!!

These two officially tied the knot at the beach so this was a huge celebration for their family and friends!  Allison even had two dresses!! WHATTTTTTT?!!!  OOo man…I SO love the city feel!  I don’t get to do it very often!

I still love those signs too!!  They were everywhere and fit the whole theme of the wedding so well!

Per Jonathan’s usual style, the dance floor was packed and the party was rocking!

Awwwwww!!! Look at us!  I guess THIS was my first selfie with a couple!  I grew up with Allison and her brother DJ and those goofballs in the upper left hand corner (below) are my husband and I’s best friends (Hey, Chad and Tiff)! OooO memories!

…andddd a grand finale shot for the night! WoooOOOO!

SO, WHERE ARE THEY NOW?!  Well, after their wedding, Avalee became a big sister to Laney in April of 2017!  Not even before Laney’s first birthday, they found out they were pregnant with a boy.  Allison tells me that due to some health scares, they kept it a secret for a long time since this would be the first boy since her brother DJ.  Allison ended up having surgery at 22 weeks pregnant in August of 2018 to insert a brain shunt…OOo and she was finishing up her master’s degree too!! TALK ABOUT STRESSFUL!  Everything went well and they welcomed their little, perfect boy in November of that same year!  They now have Avalee (5), Laney Lu (3) and Grayson (1).  Allison is now a certified family nurse practitioner with a Weirton group!  Todd is still working in the mill!  They have their golden doodle Cole and they added a kitty, Kitty Kitty Meow Meow (I love that).  They currently reside in Follansbee but hope to build a house one day!!  Busy Busy!! CONGRATS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE AGAIN!

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Next up, Amanda and Tom!  AHHHH!! This one makes me SO happy!  Amanda has become a great friend and one of my biggest supporters!! I’m telling you…she comments on EVERY blog, she comes to all my meetings…you name it!! It’s soooOoOO fun to think back to our first meeting (which we still laugh about).  She was holding her 3 month old son at a bridal show.  Someone else was considering her date too.  She wanted to write me a check right then and there to book me so I took her son right into my arms (being a mother of littles myself) and he drooled all over me!  HA!! She was freaking out but I didn’t care a bit!  I was a newer photographer then too!  It’s crazy looking back!! Tom puts up with me but doesn’t love photos…you would NEVER know it in these engagement photos though!! AHHHH!! These were taken at Tom’s parents home.  They also let us use their property for Tom’s brother’s photos too!  Isn’t it beautiful?!  They have the best foliage!

The tree!  They cut down my favorite tree!! WAAAAA!!!  But for real though…isn’t this foliage amazing?!

Next up, their wedding in October of 2017!  It’s so funny because Ashleigh was with me at this wedding too!! What are the chances these two weddings would come together on the blog?!  Amanda’s details were just gorgeous!! Lace and pearls and all kinds of beautifulness!! They got ready at Amanda’s mom’s home (now Amanda and Tom’s home) and it had that amazing “family feel”!

These ladies make me smile!  It was such a laid back morning, I tell ya!  Aren’t those shirts perfect?!  It was a Hannah Barlow Photography first!

Amanda gave me a big, beautiful, long veil!  It was windy and sunny so we had the girls play with it!  I also think this was the first wedding where a cricket kept getting on her dress ad people told me it was a sign of good luck!! For whatever reason, since then, crickets ALWAYS get on brides’ dresses (or maybe I just notice it more now) and I always tell them the same thing!

This church is so beautiful!  They had an amazing ceremony!

This was the little “baby” I held a year prior!! AND NOW…he’s SOOOOOO big! WAAAAHHH!

OOooO Amanda!! AMANDA!  This was the turning point in the day when I got real stressed out! HA!  We had this big plan to use her mother’s property but allllll of a sudden, Amanda wanted to make a change!!  I’m always willing to make it happen so we took off to the St. Clairsville bridge and took photos…quickly!! SO QUICKLY! HA!  My professional, bossy, Hannah voice came out this day!  Look at these bridal party photos though!! WEEEE!

BUT look at these bridge photos!! WEEEEEE!!! SO GOOD!!! AHHHH!!  Tom may not like having his photo taken but he takes an AMAZING photo!

Then, we were off to the reception (and the same place I had my own reception).  There was NO lack of details!  I absolutely LOVED their entrance too!

It was ALL about love and family at this wedding!

There was no lack of dancing either!!! EVEN TOM got in there!! WOOOOO!! I remember it being one of my favorite points in the night!

Before I end this, I just need to show you this painting again!! A LIVE painting at their wedding.  It was the coolest thing EVER…and of course, I was creeping!

This one made my heart happy!  SO, WHERE ARE THEY NOW?!  Amanda said she feels like not a lot has happened but I beg to differ!! She’s become a stay at home mom and has THREE kids!  Of course, they’ve been out on the farm A LOT!  Tom still works for Preston Contracting at Tunnel Ridge and became the boss at the end of last year…but still working midnights, whomp whomp.  As I mentioned, Amanda quit teaching and stays home with the boys!  She was planning to sub a bit when Tom is off…but that was before Corona!  Jackson loves the barn and enjoys riding on Bell (the horse) while James loves riding his bike and working with Tom!  Tom and “H” have just finished new fencing and are redoing the barn roof!  Their third little boy is on the way (Noah)!! She’s most definitely a boy mom!  James will be 4 and Jackson will be 2!  BUSY BUSY BUSY!  Amanda also said photos of her and Tom together don’t exist (I’m not surprised).  I know the struggle, girl!! I love you both all the same!! See you in September!! WOOOOO!! That’s when Tom’s brother is getting married!! EEEEKKKKKK!

WOOOO!! October is DONE!! November is up next!! I’ve already got the rough draft typed!! WEEEE!!  December brides, you’re up!

If you want to see these weddings on their own blogs, use the links below!

Allison & Todd

Amanda & Tom

…I also just realized they are both “A&T”!! What a coincidence!