Personal Project Announcement

The idea of this project came to me one late winter more morning almost three years ago and this post and the Entry Submission page have sat in the drafts folder here on my website now for over a year. As a creative, I’m always dreaming up different project ideas. Sometimes I am able to dive right in, but other times the timing doesn’t feel quite right. This project has been one of the later, as I have been afraid of not being able to give it the attention I know it deserves between my workload and family responsibilities. But, 2024 for me is about diving in and going after the passions of my heart: starting first with this project! And on this note, it brings me much joy to (finally!) be putting this out into the world and officially begin accepting applications for participants!

Please note in advance, I will only be accepting applications for a limited number of weeks, with an entry deadline of March 15, 2024. So if you are interested, please be sure to get on this right away!

Who will this project be for/about:

Parents (women, men, or gender fluid/non-identifying) in the WNY community (Buffalo and immediate surrounding suburbs) who have become full-time stay at home parents or who have and are still currently scaled back in their careers after welcoming children (biological or adopted) into their lives. Whether you chose this path willingly or if you had no other option but to go this route, I welcome you to share your story and your unique why for leaving your job/career or scaling back in work to experience the shift of working less to provide more care for your child(ren).

A little backstory:

Before asking applicants such deeply personal questions and inviting you to participate in this project, I wanted to take a minute to openly share with you my own story, which is the inspiration for this project.

 

Photo of my boys and I taken by Sarah Bridgeman in 2023

 

Before I began my photography business and long before I ever had children of my own, I knew that one day when I had babies of my own, I wanted to have flexibility in my schedule to care for my children the majority of my days while still working a schedule I was in control of setting. Even though I had already been passionate about photography since I was in grade school, this goal was ultimately the driving force for me going out on my own in photography full-time instead of just having it as a side passion to the full-time career in graphic design/advertising I had worked since college.

However, after our first son was born and my busy season began, I quickly learned it was not as easy to still work the hours I had been working while caring for my child like I wanted. I focused my days solely on being with and playing with my son, gave up trying to get any work done during the times he was awake during the day and began working only in the evenings after bedtime. This was often challenging since he would wake up every 2 hours and I’d often end up staying up way too late for his early morning wake ups. I had looked into daycare options for 2-days a week, but of course was put on a wait list (a list I can only assume we must still be on since I never received a call to tell me a spot opened). Then when my son was a year old, we hired a babysitter who helped out a few hours one day a week so I could work during the day, but that was not as productive as I had hoped it would be. Feeling overwhelmed, I started to limit the work I took on in an effort to not get too burned out. Then, just before our oldest turned two, everything shut down (a year that is forever a blur!) and the year after that we welcomed our second child (which was probably a crazy thing to do because it was also my busiest year work wise since having our first son). It was ROUGH trying to watch both kids during the day without help and work tirelessly editing in the evenings after bedtime. So I decided to scale back even more on work in 2022. I booked only what I needed to, blocked off certain weeks so that I could plan to space out my editing and not get too backed up, and decided to start scheduling things not so far out. And that’s been my plan and will be until I’m ready to dive back into work in a greater capacity.

Taking the cut in workload and setting other business things off to the side for now (like blogging, advertising, etc) has been a necessity for me in order to give me this time I’ve desired to have with my children. Has it been challenging at times, for all of us? Of course. My husband and I are constantly rotating schedules around one another since we don’t have babysitters lined up or other family in the area who drop in to help out. But this time with my children has been EVERYTHING and I would not trade it for anything, even on the hard days. They are only little for such a short period of time and I’m so incredibly thankful to be the one with them during most of their days, teaching them and wondering with them, while still working as needed and saying yes to only the weddings and sessions I feel most passionate about.

My why for starting this project:

It is not lost on me that I am very fortunate to have chosen this path. While I know there are other parents like myself who have scaled back in work to raise their children out of a desire to do so, I also know that there are many others who had NO choice. For starters – and only one of many possible reasons – it might not make sense financially to have children in daycare when the costs of care are higher than the paychecks received. And on the flip side, many parents do go back or continue to work full-time because possibly their family needs their income or they have no desire to be the ones at home with their child(ren) all day, so those parents instead are mastering the balance of both full-time work and family life. Regardless of of how we spend our days, we are all amazing parents; all doing our best to raise the next generation. And that’s something we can all be truly proud of.

Since my own experience has been the one of scaling back on work, however, I felt very inspired to hear more from other parents who are on this journey, too. And from this, the Parenthood Shift Project was born.

If you are interested in participating in what I hope will be a unique project highlighting parents in our community who have sacrificed the traditional expectation of working and raising a family, I invite you to apply on my application page, via the link below. This page will dive further into the qualifications necessary and what YOU will receive from your time sharing your story with me and our community!

Thank you so much for being here and most of all, for your time. I look forward to connecting with you soon!

Allie & Tyler's Buffalo December Wedding Celebration with Secret Garden Vibes at The Foundry

Allie and Tyler were married in a beautiful, intimate Florida wedding a year ago today, and in December 2021, they had the celebration of their dreams at the Foundry Suites in Buffalo, NY. Allie’s vision for both days were simply stunning, and the florals and room decor themselves for the Buffalo reception I’m about to share today were something out of a dream – a dream with secret garden vibes to be exact!

I loved everything about working with Allie and Tyler and the plans they had for this special celebration. From the low key only wanting a few posed portraits of the two of them, with the focus instead on details and candids of their guests; the decor itself was breathtaking, the live music performed by Steve Balesteri; the unique drink and food options they provided their guests, the out-of-this-world dessert table; and of course, the packed dance floor with some of the kindest people! It was the perfect December evening of loved ones coming together to celebrate an amazing couple and it was such an honor to be a part of their day!

Happy anniversary, Allie & Tyler! May this next year together be even better than this past year! <3

Special shout-out to all the vendors:

Venue: The Foundry Suites
Wedding Planner/Coordinator: Allie :)
Photographer: Dawn M. Gibson Photography
Florist: Bows & Arrows
Caterer: The Foundry Suites
Cake/Bakery: B Sweet Designs
DJ/Band/Entertainment: Steve Balasteri Music
Transportation: Buffalo Limousine
Invitations: Minted.com
Hair & Makeup: Groom Service Buffalo
Attire: Bride: Cinq a Sept, Groom: Hickey Freeman custom tailored by Omero’s Custom Design
Shoes: Bride: Aquazurra, Groom: Bruno Magli
Accessories: Hair Piece: Maria Elena headpieces
Decorations/Decor Design or Rentals: Tesoro Event Rentals & All Seasons Rentals
Favors: Etsy
Late night food/snacks: The Foundry Suites
Any additional vendors used you'd like to mention: Banga Booth (Harry Potter Themed live photo booth)



Jane & Billy's South Buffalo Wedding Ceremony at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Elegant and Classic Statler City Reception

It is always the biggest honor to be invited to photograph the wedding of a sibling, family member, or friend of a past couple. I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing bride, Jane, several times over the last few years – first for her sister Sarah’s wedding and then for their good friend Ashleigh’s wedding. So when Jane reached out to me with the exciting news that she herself was about to be married, I was so honored and so, so overjoyed with excitement. After meeting with them over coffee pre-pan, I could tell they were an amazing match for one another. And I’m pretty sure their families and 300 wedding guests would all say the same.

The morning of their wedding, Buffalo experienced it’s first snow! I pulled up to the house and Jane’s dad was thoughtfully shoveling the driveway for when the girl’s would need to leave. Makeup and hair were fully underway by the incredible Mallory Reid of Makeup by Mal and Kassie Depke of Groom Service Buffalo. A few of the girls were putting together a well-thought out Reel for Instagram that was so fun to be witness to (ladies, I might seriously need to hire you to get me going in the reel department haha), and Jane and Billy’s nieces were all smiles, ready and excited to be a part of their special day. Everyone was stunned when Jane came down the stairs in her wedding dress – a dress perfectly fitting for their wedding styling, and I’m pretty sure Billy’s velvet suit takes the cake for all suits in existence!

The ceremony was held at the church Jane grew up going to in South Buffalo, St. Thomas Aquinas, and mass performed by Father Dave Richard, Billy’s cousin’s cousin. Following their exchange of vows and family portraits, we headed to Billy and Jane’s favorite bar, Eddie Brady’s, for some casual wedding party photos before stopping by the Electric Tower for more formal photos with their group. And finally we headed the Curtiss Hotel (where Jane and Billy actually got engaged!) for sunset photos on the rooftop and the remainder of their wedding party portraits.

We arrived at their reception venue, Statler City, at the start of cocktail hour – yay! (Side note for anyone planning a wedding: I LOVE and highly encourage couples to do this on their wedding days so it a) gives you a chance to be a part of your day mixing and mingling with guests, and b) gives me time to photograph your reception details as well as candids for the full duration of cocktail hour, vs losing that time to portraits. Win, win!).

After cocktails, their families and wedding party members were introduced and then it was probably my favorite part of the day (second only to personalized vows!): time the speeches! I’m a sucker for speeches, guys. Even the really long ones! I LOVE getting to know my couples ahead of their wedding days, but sometimes hearing more about them on their special day from those who have known them often their entire lives, really gives me an even greater insight on their relationship and interests and I love that so much. I also love that these speeches and the stories told often bring out the emotions of the couple and their parents and let me just say, I am HERE for it (and on the look out to give you photos of those emotions)!

A Frank Sinatra signer, Joe Bolognase, sang music during dinner and afterward, the dance floor was packed thanks to the musical talents of the live band, Party of Nine. We took a few classic but freezing cold end of the night photos outside of Statler City and just as I was about to pack up for the evening, Billy’s dad and a few other men came to the front of the stage and did a dance routine that was wild and I’m so glad to have still been there to catch that action!

You guys. Jane and Billy’s wedding truly was the perfect day from start to finish, with the most incredible people surrounding them both the entire day through! And it gives me an unbelievable amount of joy to finally share these highlights!

Thank you so, so much Billy and Jane for having me document your day. I hope this is just one of many amazing days to come in your relationship and love story together. <3

And thank you all of you for being here to relive the moments they shared! If you’re still here, drop a comment below with your favorite part of a wedding day! I’d love to hear!

Special shout-out to all the vendors:

Ceremony Venue: St Thomas Aquinas
Reception Venue: Statler City
Officiant: Father David Richards
Photographer: Dawn M Gibson Photography (Second photographer: Kelly)
Florist: Williams Florist
Caterer: Statler City
Cake/Bakery: Muscorelis
DJ/Band/Entertainment: Band- Party of Nine
Transportation: Zoladz Executive Transportation
Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations
Hair: Kassie Depke - Groom Service Buffalo
Makeup: Mallory Reid- Makeup.By.Mal
Bride/Groom Attire: Groom- The Blk Tux / Bride- Lovely Bride (Designer: Vagabond)
Shoes: Monoloblonics
Accessories (jewelry, hairpiece, cufflinks, ties, etc): Necklace - Zoe Lev Hairpins- Jennifer Behr
Wedding Party Attire: Groomsmen - The Blk Tux Bride Bridal Party- Black MIDI/Gown Dresses
Decorations/Decor Design or Rentals: Buffalo Balloon Co. Jessica Kane- Signage
Late night food/snacks: McDonald’s
Cocktail Hour Music: Violena Music 
Dinner Entertainment Music: Frank Sinatra singer - Joe Bolognase

Kara and Ian's Intimate and Timeless Buffalo Wedding at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum and the Curtiss Hotel

It’s been a minute since I’ve had time to share a wedding from this season, and I just knew Kara and Ian’s was the one I wanted to share to “break the radio silence” as they say. Elegant and romantic, intimate and yet WILDLY fun, this was hands down one of my favorite weddings of 2021. Largely in part because it was filled with some of the most sincere, kind, and insanely fun people I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet. I mean, seriously guys, I left wanting to be their best friends because their entire group – wedding party, families, and all – were THAT amazing.

Kara and Ian had originally planned for a larger wedding at another venue but with the uncertainties brought about in 2020, they decided to change their wedding plans. With downsizing their list and the new venues they chose for their ceremony and reception (Karpeles Manuscript Museum and Curtiss Hotel), I honestly couldn’t imagine their wedding any other way. It was the perfect size group, and both venues lended to the vibe they wanted for their day. And holy smokes shout out to William’s Florist for killin’ it like always on the florals. DANG this wedding so good and I’m so excited to share.

But one last thing before diving in to this AMAZING day recapped in images, here are a few thoughts from Kara and Ian!

What were your favorite moments/memories from the wedding? 

The moment after walking back up the aisle and finally being able to say you did it and ready to party! Walking up to Curtiss rooftop and seeing a pink and orange killer sunset going down and the surprise of seeing the vision you had for the reception space come to life for the first time! And of course staring out from the sweetheart table with my HUSBAND and seeing all our favorite people in one spot enjoying the night.

Do you have any recommendations for future couples planning a wedding?

Do your wedding the way YOU both want to. At the end of the day it should be how you both envisioned it and family/friends will accept it. Be prepared to just roll with it when things go wrong on the day of the wedding, because they will whether big or small, and trust me no one will notice besides you so just have fun! Also try to consciously be in the moment and have moments of gratitude throughout the day that this special day you’ve been waiting for is actually here. Everyone says it but the day truly does fly by.

And now… if you’re still with me reading this… dun dun dun. Here are some highlights of Kara & Ian’s epic and gorgeous day!! Ahh! So stoked. <3 Thank you, guys, for trusting in me for your photography needs and being so amazingly wonderful in every way. Congratulations again!!

Special thanks to all the vendors:

Ceremony Venue: Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum- North Hall
Reception Venue: Curtiss Hotel
Officiant: Kim Salt of Kimberlily Creek
Photographer: Dawn M Gibson Photography
Florist: William’s Florist|
Caterer: Curtiss Hotel
Cake/Bakery: Cookie Buffalo
Ceremony Music: Brian Donat of Lakeside Strings
Reception Music: Whirlin Disc
Transportation: 716 Limousine
Invitations: Minted
Hair: Jessie of Joie Salon in Hamburg (brides hair and half of the bridesmaids) and Bella Paolini of salon187 in Orchard Park
Makeup: Shannon Danahy
Bride/Groom Attire: Bride- Bridal Chateau, Groom- Men’s Wearhouse
Shoes: Vans
Accessories: Hairpiece- Dareth Colburn
Wedding Party Attire: Groomsmen- Men’s Wearhouse, Bridesmaids- all different stores
Decorations/Decor Design or Rentals: William’s Florist
Favors: Watsons Chocolates