Emily & Brady: Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe Wedding Photos

I've been looking forward to Emily and Brady's wedding for quite some time since their North Shore engagement session (click here to see it!) early this year. Thankfully - their wedding day was slightly warmer than the day we took their engagement photos! ;) And even more thankfully - it didn't rain, as we expected it to!

Emily and Brady's wedding day started out at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe, a beautiful hotel right in Canonsburg! Emily's bridesmaids wore a slate blue dress color, which definitely has to be one of my favorite wedding colors I've seen at any of my weddings this season - it's classy, refined, and photographs like a dream!

After some getting ready photos around the hotel, we headed over to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the heart of Washington, PA for the ceremony. Afterwards, we stopped at Washington & Jefferson College for bridal party & bride and groom photos. And seriously - this has to be one of my new favorite spots for photos! There is so much beautiful architecture, along with quaint historical buildings, that make it the perfect spot for wedding photos with tons of variety!

I know that everyone is supposed to be madly in love on their wedding day - but these two really were. In the midst of the craziness of a wedding day, it's easy to feel the need to push past really savoring moments with one another throughout the day - but it was easy to see that Emily and Brady took the time to truly enjoy themselves, each other, and their family and friends who came to celebrate with them, without getting caught up in the craziness. THOSE are my favorite weddings to be a part of. The ones that aren't just about a one day wedding - they're about a marriage commitment, and a lifelong love between two people.

Without further ado, I'm SO excited to share just a small fraction of my favorite photos from Emily and Brady's wedding day. Congratulations, you two! 💛Thank you for the honor of being a part of your day!

Vendors:

Ceremony: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Reception: Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe

Bride's Dress: Exquisite Bride

Hair: Hair by Bri

Makeup: Veiled Complexions

DJ: All Star Events (Jason Lacko)

Cake: Bethel Bakery

Florist: Washington Square Flower Shop

Second Shooter: Ashley McLaughlin

Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer: Jenna Hidinger Photography

What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Photographing Weddings

Can I tell you about my first wedding for a second? Oh my goodness, was it ROUGH. And no, not because of the couple (who was amazing!) or the photos (which I actually think were pretty good for my first wedding!) - what made my first wedding rough was all of the things that I didn’t know going into it. That’s true with anything, but for a girl who had only been to one wedding my life (as a flower girl when I was four), you could say that there was a lot I didn’t know about weddings.

The truth is, I didn’t have a whole lot of grace for myself in that initial learning period. Maybe you can relate: you start something new, you give it everything you have – and, still, your expectations for yourself fall a little flat. You know what you want, but you don’t necessarily know how to get there yet. Truth be told, that’s a lesson I am still learning, and one that I’ve dedicated a big portion of this year to learning. And in honor of this lesson that I’m learning, I want to share four things I wish I would’ve known when I first started photographing weddings – or maybe, more aptly, four ways I wish I would’ve given myself grace that first time around.

1.     It’s going to take some trial and error.

You know what the funny thing is about doing something for the first time? YOU’VE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE! Or, maybe from a different perspective – you really have little to no experience. When I shot my first wedding, I had second shot with a few other photographers before, but nothing would fully prepare me for my first wedding as lead photographer. I felt so much pressure to make sure everything was perfect, and in the process, totally forgot (or really, neglected) to give myself the grace of knowing that there would be a bit of a learning curve. And you know what? I’m still learning six years later, and I'm still having to practice giving myself grace with every single session.

2.     Learning from other people is a necessity!

And speaking of learning – learning from other people is a COMPLETE necessity! I used to feel embarrassed asking other people for help, or even just asking clarifying questions to people who were kind enough to teach me. But when I photograph my first wedding, I had to seek out people who could show me the ropes, and even more importantly – I had to be willing to hear their critique and learn from them with an open mind so that I could improve faster!

3.     Know your gear inside and out!!

Here’s a funny story for you – for my first wedding, I rented some new gear that I had never used before. I had seen it online, I had read the reviews, watched the tutorials – but when I got said gear in the mail (including a camera), I noticed that the camera I had rented took a different type of memory card than what I had! I had literally no idea what to do because I never even knew that there was a different type of memory card out there that I could use!

After shedding a few tears, I ordered a few memory cards that I could use in my fancy rented camera and overnight shipped them to myself. By the grace of God they made it on time, but shortly after, I realized that I had actually spent more money renting gear and buying memory cards than I received in payment for the wedding. And since I didn’t know how to use that gear – I fumbled through the wedding day with it. Looking back, I realize now that it would’ve been more to my benefit to use the gear I already had and was confident using instead of renting a bunch of gear that I didn’t even know how to use, just because it was “fancy!”

4.     IT’S OKAY TO TAKE A BREAK.

One of the hardest things for me to do during that first wedding was to sit down during dinner (when there was literally nothing going on to take photos of!) and EAT. And hydrate. And go to the restroom – like a normal human being. I remember Nick (my now husband) physically forcing the camera from my hands and coaxing me to sit down at the spot my couple had so graciously reserved for me to eat dinner. I didn’t realize that it was not only okay, but necessary for me to give my body a teeny tiny bit of rest and refuel – I believed that I had to be taking a photo every five seconds, even while people were eating (and who wants their photo taken while they’re eating?!). Breaks are not only good, but necessary!

What about you? Where do you need to give yourself a little bit of grace? Is it time to give yourself the rest you need? Maybe you need to bow the knee and give yourself the grace and humility to learn from those around you. Or maybe you just need to let yourself fail so that you can pick yourself up and try again next time. Whatever your “thing” might be – give yourself the grace to do it at your own pace. Decide to hold yourself to a standard of grace – not perfection.

Hockenberry Family: North Shore Family Photos

One thing I LOVE about photographing people in Pittsburgh is that there are an overwhelming amount of amazing backgrounds to choose from - which was so true with this family session!

I had the pleasure of photographing this family with their extended family a few years ago and was so honored when they asked me to take a few photos of them in on North Shore this year! I love how thoughtful this family was when choosing their location, too - Sherry (Mom) is an engineer who works on bridges, making the bridges of Pittsburgh the perfect background for their session! They also have a painting of Gus & YiaYia's iceball stand on the North Side that these photos will hang near - making the Pittsburgh theme come full circle!

I'm so thankful for you three, Sherry, Bill, and Logan! Thank you for an awesome evening!!

Herbie's First Birthday: Mellon Park Family Photos

I met up with Nicolas, Natalie, and Hera (Herbie) at Mellon Park a few weeks ago for the most beautiful little first birthday session!

This sweet family recently moved from Durham, NC (fun fact: that's where I was born!) to Pittsburgh, PA - and I'm pretty sure they have the cutest baby EVER! These three were complete naturals in front of the camera, and I'm so honored that I was able to capture all of Herbie's one year old cuteness! Check out a few of my favorites below! 

Lauren + Cody: Downtown Beaver, PA Engagement Photos

If you've been following the blog for a little while, you might remember Lauren and Cody from their adorable Moraine State Park family session last year (click here to see more!). 

A few weeks ago, Lauren reached out to me and let me know that her and Cody would like to have their engagement photos taken in downtown Beaver, PA! I had never been to downtown Beaver before (even though I've lived nearly 25 minutes away for basically my entire life!), so a few days later, I headed down to check it out. And oh my gosh - was I BLOWN away!

Downtown Beaver is the perfect mix of quaint buildings and bustling town life! The main street is full of adorable and eclectic restaurants, ice cream & donut shots, as well as lots of great little window shops. To say I was excited for their session was an understatement! During their session, we walked all around town, and even had time to visit the nearby historic train station! We had SO much stinking fun!!!

Lauren and Cody, you two are a blessing to work with and I could not be more excited for your wedding day! 

7 Ways to Blog More Efficiently

If someone told you that they could give you a tool to market your business for FREE online, up your Google rankings, increase trust with your current and future customers, all while making your clients feel like a million bucks, would you believe them?!

This is EXACTLY what blogging can do! Blogging is one of my FAVORITE marketing tools I use in my business and has been essential in my business’s growth over the past few years! Though I most definitely have SO MUCH to learn in the technicalities of blogging, today I wanted to answer a frequently asked question that I receive from other business owners: how do I go about blogging consistently and efficiently?

Having a blog is a double edge sword. If you have one and you’re not posting on it – it doesn’t look too great, like you don’t have any work to share (and clients love to work with people who other people love to work with!). But on the same note, blogs can be incredibly tough to keep up with when you’re trying to manage a million other facets of your business.

There are seven techniques I’ve implemented throughout the last couple of years to ensure that I am blogging as regularly and as efficiently as possible. If YOU want to blog more but aren’t sure how to get the most out of the time you allot to blogging – these seven tips are for you! First:

1.  Choose a blogging schedule that you can actually STICK to, and make it consistent.

I’m no SEO (search engine optimization) expert, but I know that Google loves consistency and rewards websites that post consistently! (Read more about how blogging consistently affects your Google ranking here!)

In addition to being great for SEO, being consistent with blogging builds trust with clients and lets them see that (1) you are busy, and (2) that you have consistent knowledge to share that will add value to their lives and to the service you are/could be providing them! Because clients want to know that you are knowledgeable and in demand, it’s important to find a blogging schedule that is consistent and that you can actually stick to. Both of these things take time – it might take some trial and error to figure out what the best blogging schedule is for you!

For example, last year, I decided I wanted to blog FOUR times a week. Before that, I was only blogging maybe once or twice a week, but I was determined that four would be the magic number that would work best for me. Well, low and behold, my four day a week blogging schedule failed after the second week because I just couldn’t keep up! Instead, I decided to cut it in half and commit to blogging twice a week. THAT I’ve been able to stick to for almost a year now! But your optimal blogging schedule might be different. Maybe blogging once a week is perfect for you, or maybe blogging once every other week is just right! Whatever the case, choose a schedule and decide that you’re going to stick to it!

2.  Answer frequently asked questions.

This is one of my favorite tips for people who are looking to blog more. First: know who your audience is, and second: answer their burning questions! No matter what industry you’re in, chances are you have some type of reader, customer, or client who has a question for you, and answering those questions makes you an expert in your field (or, in their eyes!) and someone that people can rely on for knowledge. For example, as a senior photographer, lots of people ask me what to wear for their photos. Here’s a post I wrote answering that question! As a wedding photographer, lots of people ask me about what I think about a “first look.” Here’s a post I wrote on that! And as someone who owns a photography business, LOTS of people ask me what type of gear they should buy, and what type of gear I own. You can check out those blog posts here and here!

Not sure what questions you should be answering? All you have to do is simply ASK! Ask the people who read your blog or who buy your product/service what they want to know, and I have a feeling they’ll tell you!

3.  Keep a list of ideas handy!

I used to think of a great idea for a blog post while I was shopping, driving, or having a conversation with a friend, only to sit down later to blog and completely forget what it was! I decided I needed to start writing down my ideas as I had them so that I could have a plethora to choose from when the time came!

My favorite tool for keeping track of my blog ideas is Wunderlist. Wunderlist is basically an app that allows you to make lists on your phone – super simple, but super effective!

4.  Batch work.

This has been one of the BIGGEST game changers over the past year! I used to write blog posts the day before I wanted to post them, or I would write a blog post and want to post it right away. But by batching the writing and scheduling of my blog posts I now actually get more done faster, because my brain is already in the “writing” mode, and isn’t switching from one task to another. I’m also able to write a couple of blog posts within a span of a few hours so that I’m (usually) ahead of the game and prepared to post content a few weeks (or months) in advance! Whenever I schedule time to work on blogging, I typically try to take the first four or last four hours of my work day to do so, so I can REALLY get in a groove and pump out some good content!

5.  Schedule your posts on social media.

So now that you’ve written your content, you need to make sure you’re promoting it so that people can benefit from it! Using a variety of platforms to promote your blog content is key to more views and interaction. I love to use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to promote my blog posts, in particular.

Because I batch write and schedule my content, I love to use social media scheduling apps like Hootsuite (for Facebook) and Grum (for Instagram), where I’ll write a short (and hopefully engaging!) description, paired with a photo, to promote and lead people to the post.

6.  Re-share your content.

I used to be afraid of resharing my blog content because I was afraid of what people would think. Why is she sharing this again? Didn’t I just read something like this?! But after listening to a podcast/pep talk from the host of the Goal Digger Podcast by Jenna Kutcher, I realized that no one is paying that close attention. If I wrote a really amazing blog post a year ago – you better believe I’m going to share it again a year or even a few months later with a different spin! And because I’ve gained new followers (and because there’s no way that ALL of my followers saw that particular blog post the first time around), it’s not going to seem too repetitive!

7.  Use apps like BlogStomp to create blogs with images MUCH faster!

I don’t know where I would be without BlogStomp! BlogStomp lets you quickly “stomp” (or save) photos into a web-sized format, and even lets the user create different collages with their photos (i.e., two vertical photos right next to each other). If you are someone who includes lots of photos in your blog posts, I promise that this will save you a TON of time and make your blogging move so much faster!

This post is in NO way meant to be your end all, be all for creating a blog. There is so much more to creating a blog than simply working efficiently, and honestly, still so many things that I don't fully understand that have to do with using key words, back linking, Google analytics and more technical things. I highly recommend checking out some additional resources to make sure your blog is running as effectively and efficiently as possible!

Peters Family: Hartwood Acres Family Photos

Hartwood Acres Mansion is one of my FAVORITE spots for family photos, and this session was no exception! We had the most beautiful evening for the Peters family photo session in celebration of Brooklyn's first birthday. Heather (mom) even brought some fun props for Brooklyn to play with! Happy birthday, Brooklyn! 

Kylee A: McConnell's Mill Senior Photos

Kylee is an incredibly ambitious soon-to-be senior who is actually right in the middle of getting her cosmetology license! This down to earth senior has a love for Chick-fil-A (same, girl) and Gray's Anatomy, and is truly just one of the sweetest people. I'm so excited for you, Kylee! You are going to do AMAZING things!

Maddie + Tyson: Renshaw Family Farms Wedding Photos

Did you know that Pittsburgh has 36 "blue sky" (completely cloudless) days per year? Somehow, Maddie and Tyson's wedding day happened to fall on one of those days! And, as you can imagine, and as you'll soon be able to see - it was absolutely beautiful!

To be honest, it's easy to talk about how pretty the day was - because that's what photos do. They capture the essence of what something looks like in order to preserve it for forever. But what really stood out to me on Maddie and Tyson's wedding day wasn't the details or the weather or the attire. It was their hearts.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - one of the best parts of the wedding day is getting to know the bride and groom through toasts and speeches, and Maddie and Tyson's wedding day was no different! Even though I already knew these two were a killer couple, I learned quickly that these two are known for some pretty amazing things: Maddie is the friend who will do anything for a friend, known for her loyalty equally in the good times and bad, and Tyson is an incredibly hard worker, known for the intense effort he puts into everything he does. And on a personal level, these two were throwing encouragement at US all day as we photographed them - which further shows a little glimpse of the amazing people they are!

Maddie and Tyson, you two were a blessing to photograph. Praying for you two as you start this next adventure!

Vendors:

Ceremony & Reception: Renshaw Family Farms

Bride's Dress: One Enchanted Evening (Maggie Sottero)

Bridesmaid Dresses: One Enchanted Evening

Hair: Brooke Rockwell Hair Design

Makeup: JL Makeup Studio

DJ: 2nd II None Productions

Uplighting: Elegant Chair Cover Designs

Cake: Sam's Club

Flowers: Rosebud Floral

Invitations: Minted

Videographer: Modern Era Weddings

Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer: Jenna Hidinger Photography

Favorite Budget-Friendly Date Ideas

“I’ve probably spent tens of thousands of dollars on you throughout the years,” Nick said to me shortly after we got engaged. “And every penny was worth it.”

As sweet as this statement my now-husband made was, it made me wonder: why is dating so dang expensive?! As much as I love dating my husband and going on adventures with him, after being together for almost 10 years, I can only imagine how much money we’ve spent on dates throughout the years. Not that that money isn’t worth it – but now that we’re buckling down on paying off debt and saving for a home, we’ve been trying to find intentional, consistent ways to spend time together without breaking the bank. So if you’re in the same boat, this post is for you! I’ve compiled a few of my favorite budget-friendly date ideas that we absolutely LOVE – and I hope you will, too!

1. One of my favorite dates was Nick’s idea – we each got a couple of dollars and went to the dollar store. We had to choose and buy three things that we thought represented the other person and tell them why we chose each object. It was so much fun to see what each of us chose! I still remember one of the objects that Nick chose that ended up being SO meaningful – he bought a little plastic microphone and told me that it reminded him of me because of my soothing voice and encouraging words. Yes… I cried.

2. Around Christmas, Nick and I love to buy some hot chocolate and drive around local neighborhoods in search of the best Christmas lights (while listening to Christmas music, of course!). In 2017 we stumbled across the BEST house that literally had a radio station that played songs that they had coordinated their lights to. SO MUCH FUN! Another year, we stumbled across a house that had SO many lights that were going SO crazy that their neighbor’s dog was literally sitting and staring for a solid ten minutes. Then we came back about a week later, and there the dog was AGAIN, in the same spot, staring at the house. You never know what you’ll find!

3. As a summer alternative to our Christmas date, Nick and I will either buy smoothies or take popsicles on a walk around our neighborhood (we live in a small town that’s soooo much fun to walk around!)

4. One of our new favorite dates is candle making! Believe it or not, it’s actually NOT that expensive (though maybe slightly more than five dollars!) and actually yields something that you can use around your home! We like to save glass jars from foods we eat (pasta sauce, salsa, and pickle jars are our go-to’s!) to cut down on the cost, then buy the wax and wicks from Amazon (click here for wax, click here for wicks!). If you want to get extra fancy, you can even buy some scents to put in! (Click here for some of our favorites!). If you want to make your candle wax a different color, cut off a small piece of colored crayon and throw it into the wax while it’s being melted!

5. Another new favorite date for us is bread making. All of the ingredients are soooo cheap, and really, it’s not that hard (we like to bake while we watch movies!). It’s something fun you can eat or give away (we started this date habit while eating low carb – whoops!!).

6. MoviePass is our NEWEST favorite thing!! Have you heard of it? It’s basically the Netflix of the movie theatre world. You buy a subscription, pay a certain amount of money per month (I think it’s $9.95 right now, but they run deals on the regular!) and then you can go see a movie a day. Literally. Any theatre, any movie, any day. Not like anyone really has the time to see a movie a day, but if you do the math and commit to seeing at least two movies a month – you’ll have two budget-friendly dates a month that are already pre-paid for!! For us, this was worth it, because we have trouble leaving the house (home bodies right here!) and this is a good motivation to go do something outside of the house a few times a month!

7. Volunteer or serve together. While this might sound like kind of a weird date idea, it’s (typically) totally free and lets you get outside of yourself a little bit. Whether it’s serving together at a soup kitchen, putting together care packages for people, or doing yard work for a neighbor or grandparent, serving is a great way to form a connection with someone and lets you love on someone else in the process! This is one we have a goal to incorporate more of into our lives within the next couple of months!