Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer | Elizabeth Vincent Photography » A Story Within A Story

A Story Within A Story | The Wheelbarrow

vpugliese — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 01:23:39 +0000

Weddings are known for traditions. Here in Pittsburgh, the cookie table is a staple but we have never encountered in in the nearly dozen other states where we have photographed weddings. Some traditions are more standard and predictable that others. In the tiny town of Ridgway, Illinois, their tradition stops people on the streets- literally. At some point during every wedding reception, a convoy of firetrucks descends upon the site to escort the bride and groom. The tradition is that the groom, at times unsuspecting, has the honor of pushing his new bride around an entire block on a wheel barrow. Wedding guests, as well as onlookers, line the streets and in impromptu mini- parade unfolds. Jennifer and Justin were no exception, and the only thing that drowned out their hysterical laughter were the booming sirens from the firetrucks!

A Story Within A Story | Help Me!

vpugliese — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:12:14 +0000

Practical jokes at weddings are not uncommon, especially with the guys. It is generally done either before the ceremony or during the reception when most of the anxiety and stress has faded. Erica & Kyle’s groomsmen had more of a flair for the dramatic! They plotted and eventually taped “Help Me” to the bottom of Kyle’s shoes, hoping that at some point they would be visible during the ceremony. Fast forward to the moment they knelt down next to each other at the altar. While they each paid attention to the words the pastor was speaking, a small bit of laughter was heard at the front of the church. After a few moments of giggling and whispering, the laughter grew throughout the church.
Erica quickly noticed that something was going on and turned towards her bridemaids, who at the same time were staring at the heels of Kyle’s shoes. Putting it together quickly, Erica leaned back to read the words written on her new husband’s shoes and Kyle sheepishly laughed and looked forward in embarrassment!

A Story Within A Story | Those final moments…

vpugliese — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:38:49 +0000

The anticipation leading up to the wedding ceremony is one of our favorite and most challenging moments during a wedding day. Sometimes there is unmatched emotion. Other times it’s silence. At times the girls are as giggly as a third grade class. Every so often, there is a nervousness in anticipation of what is right in front of them.

Our job is to capture it as it happens, without influence or being intrusive. This image was one of those quiet, subtle moments right before the ceremony. I was at the bottom of the staircase and the guys were getting ready to come downstairs for the beginning of the ceremony. Elizabeth was with the girls and I had a moment to try something different. I framed this image with no one there, hoping to get something of the groom walking down the stairs framed with the staircase. In a blink, he peeked around the corner to see if the coast was clear. And then he was gone.

About a minute later, the guys walked down the staircase and I got the photograph that I was originally trying for, but this unexpected one trumped them all.

A Story Within A Story | The Groomsman Celebration

vpugliese — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:35:25 +0000

Groomsmen that are thoughtful and funny are simply the best kind of groomsmen. Take the guys from Chelsea and Jerod’s wedding for example. They had it all planned out but I’m not sure if anyone else know about it. I was with the guys all morning and hadn’t heard anyone mention it. But when Chelsea and Jerod finished their wedding ceremony with a kiss, the guys busted out the noisemakers on cue to celebrate with the happy couple in their own special way!

Story Within A Story | The Cake Cutting!

vpugliese — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:53:13 +0000

Ahhh….Stephen & Stephanie! I think it’s pretty obvious from this photograph that they were a fun couple! Generally, at the cake cutting, the bride and groom gently feed their new spouse a small piece of their wedding cake and everyone cheers. Sometimes, an unsuspecting (or even suspecting!) new spouse gets a face full of frosting to start off their reception. Rarely, though, does a groom scoop a chunk of cake and frosting and down it before his wife gets a chance to try the cake! It was hilarious, had the crowd rolling and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Story Within A Story – Lindsay and Mark -Nerves at the Altar!

vpugliese — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 01:34:43 +0000

Lindsay and Mark! This was one of the classic moments that we have had during a wedding ceremony. Just as a little background, Lindsay was cool as a cucumber leading up to the wedding. No issues. Come July 5th, 2008, her nerves started to set in just a littttttttle bit. Not in a bad way at all, she was still so much fun to be around but you could tell the enormity of everything was on her mind. So when she got up on the altar for the ceremony, she pretty much stole the show. Initially (If my memory serves me right), she stopped the ceremony briefly to have to spotlights turned down because it was so warm on the altar. And it is hot up there, a few months later a bridesmaid lost it for a moment at the same church because of the heat from the lights. The photograph below was a minute of two later. The pastor let everyone know that he doesn’t do many weddings and how nervous he AND Lindsay are! I don’t remember the quote exactly, but he informed everyone at the wedding to not be surprised if either of them wouldn’t make it to the end of the ceremony. The uproar of genuine laughter completely loosened everyone up and they went on to have a fantastic ceremony. And the best part is that Elizabeth and I am photographing Lindsay’s friend Jessica’s wedding today and we get to have a wedding reunion! We can’t wait to see everyone again!

Story Within A Story

vpugliese — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:31:03 +0000

Every so often, we shoot a photograph where we can still hear the laughter that occurred during that moment years later. This was one of those times. I (Vincent) was looking for natural moments at Chelsea & Jarod’s wedding back in October of 2008 about a half hour before their ceremony was set to begin. A few moms and aunts were getting the kids prepped to walk down the aisle. On a bench outside of the chapel, this adorable little boy got a last minute touch up from his mom, and his posture and silly smiles sent the flowergirls into hysterics. When I look back, it looks like he was hamming it up for the camera. The truth is, he didn’t know I was there and that look on his face is what initially drew me to shoot the photograph. The girls giggles just completed the image.

A Story Within A Story | The Reception Peek

vpugliese — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:39:12 +0000

Brianna and Tim were so cute. They were quiet, unassuming yet so much fun. They were so aware of what was going on in the moment, they had to take a mental snapshot. So a few minutes before they were to be introduced at their wedding reception, they had to see what everything looked like inside of the party. So doing their best to be inconspicuous, they each peeked their heads around the corner at Cambridge Golf Club for a split second and this wonderful image of their partially hidden but completely curious faces was captured.

A Story Within A Story – A hug for her new mom

vpugliese — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:58:11 +0000

Welcome to a new feature for our blog that we will be adding weekly and sometimes more. It is called “A Story Within A Story” and it essentially comes from the fact that there are so many interesting, dynamic and emotional moments that we photograph at weddings but we can’t explain during our huge wedding posts. So we decided to highlight specific moments throughout our weddings and go deeper and explain more of the moment that had just taken place. We are so excited about this, we could do this post daily if we had the time to! Also, if we photographed your wedding, you follow our blog and are reading this, we would love to hear any stories that we didn’t know about that we photographed.

This image was captured and Ashley & Craig’s wedding back in March of 2008. This is Craig’s oldest daughter and it was not hard to see how much they adored Ashley, and she loved them just the same. The anticipation prior to the ceremony by her and her little sister was brought on by more than the excitement of being in the wedding. They were about to have Ashley as a mother. They were laughing and giddy throughout the morning and she even snuck over to her soon-to-be-mom during the ceremony to get another hug. Right after the ceremony, though, was the most emotional part for me. This little girl started crying as she reached for Ashley, giving the strongest hug she could muster. Other guests were piling out of the church and offering their congratulations but it didn’t deter her one bit. She held on. Ashley was so patient and they looked at each other and simultaneously said , “I love you!”

It was a wonderful, touching moment that was memorable for me and is so worth of our inaugural “Story Within A Story”.