Brian & Madara

Brian and Madara were married last summer at the The Bischwind, which is a gorgeous English Tudor Manor House nestled in the Pocono mountains. It was built back in 1886 and in its past, has hosted such notables as Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Igor Sikorsky.

Madara is from Latvia, and she and Brian met via the internet in a christian chatroom. After that Madara made several trips to New York where Brian would drive up and meet her. It took them 7 years and overcoming many obstacles, but they finally have their happy ending. During the ceremony Brian's mom talked about how she felt that God had brought them pretty Madara from across the ocean to be a part of their family and it was a love that was meant to be. :_)

A big part of Brian and Madara's ceremony (and my favorite part ;) was the dove release. I previously posted a blog with many more of the pics, but I just can't help but post a few of my favorites again! The doves were provided by Say it With Doves and I have to say I was very impressed. The doves were obviously happy and well cared for, and it's standard procedure for couples to have an appointment ahead of time to learn how to hold and release them so they are not accidentally harmed in any way. My fiance and I had been tossing around the idea of doing a butterfly release, but once I saw the doves that was it - I was sold. We are totally going to add a dove release to our ceremony!

This next shot I really wanted in sepia. The problem is that a big part of the story of this image is the rose petals. In black and white or sepia they were not noticeable at all. Honestly even in color they kind of got lost because the image is rather busy  - people in the background, the trellis, etc. So I made a sepia layer, then reduced the opacity to around 88% - giving it just a hint of color. Next I used a layer mask and painted all the rose petals color back in by hand, as well as some of the flowers in the bouquet. Can I take a minute to comment how tedious that was! Took me about an hour. Not that it wasn't worth it - it was. I am super happy with how it came out. But there are many times when I seriously wonder as to the state of my sanity when I put myself through all that detail work, lol.

Brian and Madara gave us a good hour for their couples portraits, and with such a beautiful location - both outdoor and indoor, it certainly paid off! Here are just a few of my favorites:

                                                                  On to the reception!