Real Brides & Weddings

Story and photos by J&J Studios, LLC Swolemates. WODs, cleans, deadlifts. These are just a few of the things CrossFit has to offer. For Hannah Levy and Jason Marable, it was all of these and more. It’s a sweet story bound to get your heart pumping. When the two decided to compete together on a CrossFit team out of Requisite in East Falls, they fell head over heels together. They spent endless hours training and encouraging each other, which ultimately sparked a fiery romance. Their relationship is already built off encouragement, willingness to work, and common goals – and that’s something every couple needs. Cue The Tears Jason proposed while on their vacation in Hawaii. He led Hannah out onto a rock jetty overlooking the ocean (we are swooning). It wasn’t his original plan though. Initially, the plan was to …

Photos by 8 Miles Inland

Story and photos by Megapixels Media An interesting thing happened in 2020 besides the global pandemic, the quarantine lockdown, and the BLM movement. Due to those 3 decisive factors, something interesting happened to the wedding industry. A spotlight was shown on the inequality that has gone on in the wedding industry since the very beginning. Couples and Wedding Vendors were beginning to notice and speak up about the discrepancy of who was being featured in mainstream wedding media. Everyone gets married but it was common for black couples to be overlooked in major wedding publications. It was shown that not only couples of color were not being represented by many publications but also black wedding professionals were not being featured. This was one of the main reasons my husband and I started our wedding photography business, Megapixels Media. Because when …

Photos by J&J Studio, LLC

Story by Shine Event Design  Photos by Robbie Negrin Photography Ana and Tyler gathered their closest friends and family for a day of honoring their cultures in their ceremony and celebrating personal moments through their reception. The outdoor lakeside ceremony began with a traditional conch blowing, welcoming guests, and signaling a new beginning. The couple’s pet dachshunds were walked down the aisle, wearing sweet floral collars The groom worked with a local metal artisan to design the alter as a surprise to his bride. (The structure stands in their garden today!) During the ceremony, the couple’s mothers united the families by providing leis for the couple. Tyler, who loves the lore of Sasquatch, arranged for the rings to be brought down the aisle by a close friend dressed head to toe as the Pacific Northwest forest-dwelling Big Foot.  The crowd …

Story by Enchanting Events and Designs Photos by Jeffery Lynn Media This Contemporary Garden of Eden styled shoot, designed by Giovanni and Cabena Plummer, Co-Owners of Profound Elegance Romance Concierge, is a modern take on the Garden of Eden. In the mist a global pandemic and social unrest, we wanted the world to know that paradise can be created no matter where you are. The venue, Suite Four, an industrial space located in downtown Durham, NC, was transformed into our version of a garden paradise. Floral Designer Lyn Graves of Fresh Affairs brought the vision to life with beautifully sculpted floral arrangements. Carmen Rice Settles of Full Street Wings crafted a delightful and tasty meal using locally sourced fruits, seafood, and vegetables. The spirits created by Diesha Banner of Toast it Up, LLC coupled with the cake by Randi Smith …

Story and photos by Sarah Elizabeth Photos  I met the bride, Nikki, at another wedding in the Spring of 2019 while working together. She is also a creative, amazing videographer, and photographer. When we met last year to talk about her own wedding day, she had a very clear vision for what she wanted for her day at The Ritz Charles Garden Pavilion and painted it so well. It was so neat to show up on her wedding day and finally see all her dreams/plans come to life. There was a lot of DIY involved in this wedding and I love that she put her own personal “Nikki touch” to just about every part of this day. Talk about a very detail-intense wedding day, from her all exquisite bridal details to the blush & dusty blue goblets on the dinner …

Story and photos by Jennifer Alyssa Photography When you think of Summer, you think of yellow lemons, lemonade, blueberry sponge cake, fruits, mimosas, and your furry best friend by your side! This styled shoot at Paradise Spring, just east of Tampa, FL., was full of all of your summer dreams! We had a romantic, glamorous gown on the bride, and the groom brought along his “man’s best-friend” Labrador retriever named Logan! A DIY mimosa was available for the bride and her bridesmaids, with an assortment of fruits. The ceremony space was set as an intimate elopement, and the bride and groom had some snuggles before the picnic. The boho-glamorous picnic was full of fruits, fresh coconuts, and yummy macarons! This was a summer elopement styled shoot to remember!

Story and photos by Joshua Harrison Photography My vision for this event began with a luxurious blush tulle gown from Opal and June and blossomed from there. By the generous invitation of the Village of Lake Villa, we were able to craft our shoot at the city’s historic Lehmann Mansion, currently undergoing updates as a wedding venue and new restaurant. I partnered with Latasha Fields of L Prestigious Events NYC to plan and design this event. We paired the blush from the gown with a deep blue in honor of Pantone’s color of the year “Classic Blue” (PANTONE 19-4052). Latasha lovingly crafted blush “flower napkins” in keeping with our theme; and she curated numerous other small details to accent our tablescape. Because this event was planned and executed during Illinois’ Phase 4 of COVID reopening, we crafted scenes that would …

Story and photos by John Malloy Photography  If you’ve ever imagined a fairy tale wedding with a beautiful princess and a handsome prince, then you can envision exactly what we saw on the day of Danielle and Jacob’s wedding. In her stunning Hayley Paige gown, Danielle was the picture of loveliness, and Jacob looked as if he came right off the page of your favorite fairy tale romance. The whole day was incredible. The weather was perfect…warm and sunshiney for an October day. One of the sweetest couples I’ve ever met, Danielle and Jacob were so kind and appreciative. They first met at college. Danielle was studying for a test and thought she looked a mess, but when Jacob saw her, he thought she was gorgeous…especially her freckles. Later that same day, he happened to see her again. This time …

Story by Bad Boss Bride Photos by Wicked Petunia Photography A styled bridal shoot turned into a surprise vow renewal! Caitlin and Matthew had a gorgeous large wedding planned unforeseen issues came up and they had to cancel that wedding and have a smaller courthouse wedding. But it was Caitlin’s dream to get married in nature. We asked Caitlin and Matthew to serve as models for our styled shoot and secretly planned a vow renewal with her husband Matthew to surprise her with!

When a lady of Alpha Kappa Alpha fell in love with a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha, Amaya and Theo Woodley wrote a love story that was worth sharing. Like many true loves, Amaya and Theo had been right under each other noses all along, after meeting briefly on campus and reconnecting two years later. From college sweethearts to lifetime lovers, this couple begin their new life together with a daytime brunch wedding that exudes class and glamour, captured by Temilola Ajibulu Photo + Cinema. Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal. A: Theo and I actually met my first day on campus at college as he was my assigned freshman orientation leader. We didn’t start actually dating until my junior year of college after we reconnected during the summer prior and we never looked back. Theo …