Racquel is a senior whose week of high school was the week of her senior session! She is planning on attending WVU post-graduation for biology, with hopes of becoming an occupational therapist.
What better way to finish out the last week of senior year than with some senior photos? 💛 Congratulations on being finished with your senior year, Racquel! You are just the sweetest!
A girl (Megan) from Pennsylvania and a guy (Richard) from Wales meet in an online chat room for Paramore fans. They start talking, become friends, and then, years later, begin dating.
Mid-May, they celebrated their movie-like love story by exchanging rings and saying vows in the church where Megan's mom and Grandma both were married, years before. With so many details representing them both, along with their unique relationship, including: Disney music on the violin before the ceremony, the groomsmen walking in to the church to Lord of the Rings music, a small, white Bible with gold lettering carried down the aisle by Megan that was carried by her mother and grandmother before, lilies in the floral arrangements (the official flower of Whales), a sand ceremony utilizing sand from a beach and Whales and a park in Pennsylvania, and a cake topped with the word "cariad" (the Welsh word for "love") - their day was beautiful, romantic, and full of so much joy - and so incredibly personal to them!
Megan and Richard, it was an honor to be a part of your wedding day. Thank you for the incredible honor!
Vendors:
Ceremony: First Presbyterian Church (Beaver Falls)
Reception: Montour Heights Country Club
Florals: Patti’s Petals
Cake: Cakes by Brenda McGee
DJ: Steven Vance Entertainment
Makeup: Marie Miclot
Hair: Revelation Hair Designs
Bride’s Dress: Mary’s Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal
Invitation Suite: Blake Pawelec
Decorating: Vintage Alley Rentals
Calligraphy: Simply Stated Lettering
Cupcakes: Batter and Dough
Room Blocks: Courtyard Marriott
Pittsburgh Wedding Photography: Jenna Hidinger Photography
A huge thank you to Taylor Dymond for being an amazing second shooter on this wedding day!
I read an excellent blog post by Pittsburgh wedding blog extraordinaire, Burgh Brides, titled “One Very Important Thing to Consider When Hiring a Wedding Photographer” not too long ago. As a wedding photographer myself, I was immediately curious as to what one thing could refer to. How could there be just one important thing to consider when hiring a wedding photographer?
What I love so much about this article is that in it, Victoria (Burgh Brides creator) talks about how important it is to know how much coverage you’re going to need on your wedding day, and therefore, how many hours you’ll need to book with your photographer, based on your preliminary timeline. It might seem like a far stretch to try and think through your timeline a year to two years before your wedding day actually happens, but having a general idea of when things will be happening will help you make a more educated decision when it comes to the number of hours you’ll actually need! Or, as Victoria puts it:
“When you’re just starting to plan your wedding, a certain number of hours of coverage may seem like enough. Later down the road though, when times are more finalized, you may quickly realize that the package you booked won’t allow for photos of some moments, like your hair and makeup being done or the last dance of the night.”
Thinking about the important points of the day ahead of time - the beginning of the day, the ceremony, and the end of the night - is so important! Below are a few questions I put together to help couples who might be unsure of how much coverage to book get the ball rolling on figuring out a preliminary timeline:
When will the ceremony take place, and how long will it be? This will be the starting point for figuring out how many hours of coverage before and after the ceremony you’ll need! You might need additional coverage if you’re having a longer ceremony (like a full Catholic mass) opposed to a quick 15 minute outdoor ceremony.
Do we want to have a “send off” at the end of the reception, and do we want it photographed?
Will we have a first look? You’ll need more time before the ceremony if you do!
…or will we opt to have our photos taken during cocktail hour? Make sure you leave enough time for photos during your cocktail hour if you opt to go this route!
Will we be traveling a lot on the wedding day? More time in the car = less time photo taking time, which means you might have to book additional coverage! For example, if you book 8 hours of coverage with your photographer, but the ride from your getting ready location to the ceremony is 30 minutes, then the ride from your ceremony to your reception is another 30 minutes, that’s a whole hour that your photographer will be driving and not taking photos. So you actually only have 7 hours of coverage, not 8, and might want to consider booking another hour (or two!).
What is most important to us when it comes to our wedding photos? Maybe it’s portraits of the two of you. Maybe it’s you and your girls getting ready. Maybe it’s your grandma dancing at your reception! Or maybe you really want to make sure you have epic detail photos of your dress, invitation suite, and rings. Know what’s important to you, and then ask your photographer how much time they think they’ll need to capture those important parts of your day! Here’s a sample timeline I made for my couples to help them figure out how much time to allot for each part of their day!
With all of that in mind, check out one of the best timeline graphics I have ever seen (thank you SRW Joyce)! This graphic lays out the typical events of the wedding day, along with an estimate to the left of the events of how much coverage you’ll typically need to capture those consecutive parts of the day.
Graphic representation thanks to SRW Joyce
And if you’re looking for an estimate of what the majority of couples choose for their coverage, based on the weddings I’ve photographed, most couples choose packages with 8 to 10 hours of consecutive coverage. Most couples who choose 8 hours are not traveling between different locations on their wedding day. Couples who are traveling between different locations (getting ready to ceremony, or ceremony to reception, or ceremony to a photo location, or all of the above) almost always end up booking at least 9 to 10 hours of coverage!
If you’re a bride who’s unsure of how many hours of coverage you should book, or a bride thinks she might need a few extra hours of coverage, I’d be happy to help! Feel free to reach out to me directly at jhidingerphotography@gmail.com (or via the contact tab in the top navigation) for a second opinion!
A huge thanks to Victoria from Burgh Brides for writing such an epic article! 💛 If you’re a bride in the Pittsburgh area looking for wedding inspiration, I highly recommend checking out the Burgh Brides blog!
And until next time - happy planning!
Robbie and Jordan first met in 7th grade, when he proclaimed his "undying love" for Jordan in front of the entire class. After that, Jordan put Robbie in the friend-zone until 10th grade, when they finally started dating. This past Thanksgiving, Robbie asked Jordan to marry him in Venice, Italy, where they met up while were both studying abroad in Europe 💛
What's equally impressive about these two, along with their fairytale story, is their immense love for each other, and the joy they both radiate, inside and out. Love can be challenging, but they make it look easy, and that sort of love is the kind that comes from a different source outside of themselves.
Every couple who books with me gets a little questionnaire, so I can get to know the two of them and their relationship a little better before working together. There was one answer on Jordan and Robbie’s questionnaire that jumped right off my screen: Jordan’s biggest dream is to have a God-centered marriage, and to raise kids that love the Lord. I so admire you both, Jordan and Robbie, for so intentionally focusing on how your lives and your relationship will impact your legacy, and how your choices and actions will reverberate throughout eternity. I couldn’t be more excited and honored to be photographing your beautiful wedding day! 💛
I love all of my couples and engagement sessions, but this session in particular was one I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time!
Brielle is the daughter of one of my dad's best friends, and I took both Brielle and Stephen's senior photos in 2013 and 2014 when I was first starting my business. I couldn't be more thankful that they trusted me as I was just starting this journey, and I'm so excited to be the one documenting this new adventure of becoming husband and wife!
For their engagement session, we hit some of my favorite outdoor locations, including McConnell’s Mill, Cleland Rock, and Moraine State Park - and we had the most BEAUTIFUL day with gorgeous, sunny weather, which is always a gamble in Pittsburgh!
Brielle and Stephen, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate your marriage next year! 🎉 Congratulations again on your engagement! We love you guys!
A few weeks ago, my dad texted me out of the blue about a personality test he had recently taken, called the “Human Needs Test.” And before you think not another one of those personality tests (or maybe that’s just me? 😉 ), let me tell you something: I’ve never in my life taken a test that pinpointed me so accurately as this one did.
It might just be me, or just my results – but I was literally astounded when I finished the test and read my results. And this isn’t one of those super well known tests, either, like the Myers-Briggs (INFJ here!) or the Enneagram (type 3 here!), which was another reason why I was cynical. And yet, I would venture to say that I learned more about myself from the Human Needs Test than from both of those tests combined, possibly because it pinpointed an inner conflict of mine that I haven’t been able to nail down before!
This test takes you through a series of 84 quick questions, designed to pinpoint your top two human needs (the needs that drive your decision making, or as their website says, the “needs that form the basis of every decision we make in life”) out of six: certainty, variety, significance, love & connection, growth, and contribution. Below is a quick explanation (directly from their website) that outlines each need:
· Certainty – the need for safety, stability, security, comfort, order, predictability, control and consistency
· Variety – the need for surprise, challenges, excitement, chaos, adventure and change
· Significance – the need to have meaning, be special, take pride, be needed & wanted, have a sense of importance and worthy of love
· Love & connection – the need for communication, to be unified, feel connected, intimate and loved by others
· Growth – the need for constant emotional, intellectual and spiritual development
· Contribution – the need to give beyond ourselves and to care, protect and serve others
With over 620 potential pairings from these six needs, you’re bound to get a pretty accurate “needs” profile! And mine was exactly that.
Out of the 620 possible combinations, my test results showed that my top two human needs that drive my decision making are: certainty and growth, with contribution coming in as a close third. Knowing myself and having taken lots of these personality tests before, this wasn’t too surprising to me… I didn’t necessarily again anything “new” from simply knowing my two top needs. But it’s the results of this combination that blew me away and helped me learn so much about myself! Here’s a small excerpt of my results:
“Because your top need is for certainty and your second need is for growth, your inner conflict is that you want to feel comfortable, safe and secure. You need a predictable environment and you don’t want to take risks. Yet to grow, you need to put yourself out there, take risks, extend the limits of your comfort and stretch yourself. To satisfy your need for certainty, you prefer to avoid new people and new situations. To satisfy your need for growth you need to become involved with new people and new situations. This inner conflict preoccupies you and makes it difficult for people to help you to satisfy your needs, since they don’t know whether certainty or growth are more important to you. One way you can resolve this dilemma is that you can always be certain that you can grow, because there are always new things to learn and new skills to be developed and the way to resolve your conflict is to satisfy your need for certainty by always growing. You might have difficulties at work if you don’t feel that you are growing and, at the same time, that you are in a comfortable, organized, predictable environment.”
“Since your top need is for certainty, you need to feel secure, safe and comfortable and you need to make sure that you will be secure, safe and comfortable in the future. Avoiding pain is very important to you as well. You can't be happy when you are uncertain about things.”
My first and third result (growth & contribution) explain exactly why I love writing blog posts like this (even though they might seem a bit random and out of place!).
But that last part above is really what got me: “You can’t be happy when you are uncertain about things.” I don’t think this necessarily means that I will never be happy when I’m feeling uncertain, but it’s just a lot harder for me to be happy when I’m uncertain about something. And that can be a problem, since life is literally FILLED with uncertainty.
To be honest, that part of my results kind of bothers me. I’ve always wondered why I tend to envy people who are willing to take risks without having 100% certainty… and now I realize that it’s because I value certainty above almost everything else.
What I think is the MOST interesting part about this test is how it applies to different areas of my life, like my marriage, friendships, and business.
Marriage? Easy! I’m certain about that, Nick and I are in it for the long haul – both of us. I don’t tend to worry as much when it comes to my marriage, since it’s something routine and stable.
Friendships? Maybe a bit trickier, since there’s nothing saying that someone has to stay your friend. They can get up and leave at any time they want! No wonder I’ve struggled with friendships – I tend to put people at an arm’s length if I feel like something is wrong in the relationship, because it feels uncertain and unstable.
Business? Possibly the trickiest out of the three. Maybe because I’m a small business owner who doesn’t necessarily know what jobs I’ll have in two months, six months, or two years. There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to bookings, and when it comes to things like locations and the types of clients I book, as well as the conditions I’ll be taking photos in. Will it rain? Will it snow? Will there be a huge wind storm?! (This might be especially true since I live in Pittsburgh - haha!)
You know what I REALLY find interesting, though? The fact that, even though we have these basic human needs that drive our decisions, that doesn’t mean we are controlled by them. It’s easy to take a test like this and put myself in a box of what I can and can’t do based on my results. If taken in an unhealthy way, these “needs” can quickly become excuses.
From personal experience, I think it’s easy to compare something like this to the extrovert/introvert concept. Let me explain: I used to think things like, “because I’m an introvert, I can never/will never/could never ___________ (fill in the blank with every excuse an introvert could use).” I will never run a business. I could never direct a group of people (hello tipsy bridal parties!). I could never start a random conversation with a stranger. Interesting, though, how I am currently doing all of those things and more, even though I’m an introvert.
So what’s the final thought, after all of that rambling? If you decide to take this test – great! I hope you do, and I hope you find it helpful and that it teaches you a little something about yourself. But I hope you don’t use any part of your results as an excuse for whether you should or shouldn’t do something. Because when we start making excuses and saying things like “it’s just the way I am!” We lose in so many ways. We lose in our marriage, in our friendships, in our business, and ultimately in our lives.
If you decide to take this test, I’d love to hear your results, and if you think they’re true to who you are!
Thanks for reading, friends!
Ever feel like you’re in a season where everyone you know is getting married? Or having babies? I’m currently in the latter, and I am loving seeing so many people I know become parents and enter a new season! It just so happens that two of those people are Laura and Josh, two good friends of mine and my husband, who are due to welcome their first son into the world in June!
Laura and Josh moved down to North Carolina last year (but since have moved back up to the ‘Burgh), and I remember Nick and I sitting down with them at First Watch for breakfast in October of 2018 (when they were visiting town) talking about our goals and desires for 2019. Specifically, I remember Laura saying something like “I want to have a baby. Who knows, I could be pregnant right now!” And the next day… she found out she was!
And now, fast forward to May 2019, and baby Hamilton is set to make his grand entrance in just a few short weeks. Laura and Josh, we are so excited to see you two become parents and to walk into this next season with you! Love you guys! 💛
And, of course, we had to celebrate this new season with some photos at one of my favorite spots: Hartwood Acres Mansion! You may even see Nick and I make an appearance towards the end 😉
After hearing Becca & Brandon's story, I could not WAIT to meet them on their wedding day. You see, these two met when Brandon bumped into Becca (accidentally) at Barnes & Noble, and offered to buy her a new coffee! (Sounds like the start to a great movie, right?!) A little over a month after their first run in, they became "official" when Brandon asked her to "go steady."
Fast forward slightly down the road to the proposal - where Brandon proposed to Becca in their chicken coop (amazing, right? 🐓). Surrounded by their chickens, Brandon kneeled down in the coop (& in chicken poop!) and asked Becca for her hand in marriage.
And in April of 2019, Becca and Brandon tied the knot in a very different setting than a chicken coop - starting with a ceremony at Mount Saint Peter Church in New Kensington, and ending with a gorgeous reception at the Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh! It was such an incredible honor to spend the day with these two, along with their friends and family. Here's to many more years together, and many more chickens!
When the bride and groom ask for the last photo of the evening to be a photo of the two of them with me and my second shooter, no matter how sweaty we are, we are always so honored! 💛
Vendors:
Reception: Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh
Bride’s Dress: Exquisite Bride
DJ: Andy Booth Productions, Pittsburgh Wedding DJ
Cake: Bethel Bakery
Florist: CAP Floral Designs
Signage: Victoria Fiaretti
Makeup: Allison Renock
Hair: Simply Stunning Hair Salon
Invitations: Simply to Impress
Photographer: Jenna Hidinger Photography (Second Shooter: Taylor Dymond)
Some of the best things in life are the things we never saw coming - sometimes that phrase rings true on a wedding day, too! While I’m a big fan of location scouting and planning locations, poses, and ideas in advance, the truth is, on a wedding day, you never know exactly what you’re going to get in terms of photos! There are so many different variables that can impact a wedding day and cause things like the timeline, weather, or even location to change!
This is simultaneously one of the best and toughest things about weddings. Some photographers love to wing it, other photographers (hi 💁♀️) love to have a plan. But I’m always reminding myself, again and again, that some of my FAVORITE photos ever have happened due to things outside of my control, and were shots I never actually planned for - everything just sort of fell together at the right time!
So today, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite photos that I didn’t actually plan for!
This shot, for example, was one I never saw coming because: 1) you never know what the weather's going to be like in January in Pittsburgh 😂, so this sunset?! Totally unexpected. And 2) these horses literally came up at JUST the right time. They were so interested in Kirsten and Travis, and right after this shot tried to (what it looked like to me) lick Travis' head 😂
While I had seen Tess and Phil’s gorgeous wedding invitations in advance, this shot was one I didn’t see until I was packing up to head to their ceremony location! I had just finished photographing Tess’s bridal details when I moved my gear into a different room in her parents’ house. I saw this table and tray - both of which perfectly matched the color and style of Tess and Phil’s bay front wedding in Maryland - and arranged this in about thirty seconds! I even had a piece of ribbon that happened to pull everything together!
Also, as a side note - many of the detail photos I take I don’t really plan for, because I don’t know what details I’ll have to work with, or what those details will look like! I love trying to bring in elements that compliment or the details, so many times that means looking for items around the immediate space to incorporate into the detail photos (like the example in the photo above!)
I know this isn’t a wedding photo (this one’s from a senior session!) but one of the best things about unexpected rain at a session or wedding is getting to create an epic photo or two!
I had no idea this couple was bringing this “B” wreath with them, and it just so happened to fit perfectly on a nearby window pane in the little town of Harmony!
When you think of a December wedding, you might think: huh, maybe it will snow! But surely no rain! Nope. In Pittsburgh, it might be 6 degrees or 60 degrees on a December day, you never know what you’re going to get! For Chiara and Patrick’s wedding, it pretty much rained all day. There was maybe a 10 minute break directly following the ceremony, but other than that - nada!
So, we needed to get a little creative with bridal portraits pre-ceremony. Typically, I will try to take the bride outside for some portraits while her hair and makeup is fresh. But on this rainy December day - there’s no WAY that was happening! So instead, Chiara’s mom and bridesmaids helped me clean up/rearrange her parents’ sitting room. And wa-la! A portrait that I couldn’t have planned any better myself was born.
This wedding was quite a few years ago - but this photo is still one of my favorites! Our timeline was shortened drastically the day of this wedding, giving us about five minutes for bride and groom photos. I had planned for the photos in a completely different location - but it would’ve taken at least five minutes to walk to that location for portraits! So, I took the couple literally right outside of their hospitality room where hoerderves were being served and worked quickly within this little hallway to make this portrait. Lucky for us, this hotel had the most beautiful hallways ever, so we didn’t have to walk far to find a great location in a pinch. This definitely wasn’t planned for, but it’s still one of my favorites!
In the photo in the hallway with the yellow doors above this one, you’ll notice a pair of double doors at the very end of the hallway, which were locked for the entire wedding day… until an employee walked through while we were standing in the hallway! Curious as to what was back there, I stopped the door before it could close (and lock), and low and behold, this adorable little room was there! This little room made the perfect spot for another quick portrait!
And there you have it! A few of my favorite photos that I didn’t even plan for. As someone who loves security and planning, I have to remember that sometimes some of my favorite work comes when I least expect it. I’ll always stand by solid planning and timelines, but you never know what you can create when you least expect it!
Finals were the week of her session, prom was the next week, and graduation is at the end of the month (May 2019), but we took an hour a few weeks ago to document this beautiful season that Ashton is in before it blows right by! ✨
Ashton is a senior, graduating THIS year, who is heading to WVU post-graduation and hopes to become a Physical Therapist! After blowing out her knee while playing soccer in 9th grade, she saw the difference physical therapy can make in people's lives and decided that she wants to help other people experience the recovery and life change that she did. Talk about taking a not-so-great situation and using it for good!
Ashton’s boyfriend tagged along for her session, so naturally we had to incorporate him into a few photos near the end! They make such an incredibly sweet pair!
Congratulations on your senior year, Ashton! 💛Thank you so much for the honor of taking these photos for you!
