A First Glimpse at Steve + Mike's Timberlodge Wedding | Buffalo and WNY Wedding Photographer

Last Saturday I kicked off the 2017 wedding season with Steve + Mike at Timberlodge and I'm incredibly excited to share a tiny peak into their wedding day with you today while the full set of images is still in editing progress. It was a special day full of surprises and laughter, from the very start. Steve and Mike had a relaxed morning, getting ready together and then venturing out for photos before their family and guests started to arrive. Rather than spending a lot of the day tucked away or out taking photos, they were able to spend nearly every minute of their wedding day mingling with family and friends.

Even more than the relaxed feeling their day had, there was a TON of excitement. Their ceremony was so personalized and heartfelt, with laughter and tears flowing. Their formal introduction to the reception was quite simply epic, and they had they surprised guests with a dessert bar lineup to drool over and that everyone anxious to snag some! And best of all: their dance floor was a non-stop party.

I am so honored to share their a little preview into their wedding day, but first, a few thoughts from the grooms:

How would you describe your wedding vision/theme? We wanted our wedding to be breezy and casual and leave as much possible time for dancing. We also wanted things to be memorable and different, which is why we tried to be unique with our ceremony, our vows, our dessert, our first song, etc. But we wanted to make sure that people realized how in love we were and how happy we were to have everyone there! We are so grateful that so many friends and family could make it!

Favorite moments/memories from the wedding? Is "everything" an appropriate answer? We loved having our nieces and nephews walk down the aisle, we thought Cindy's first time as an officiant was remarkable, we had so much fun dancing, thought the food was amazing, the music was incredible, the venue looked gorgeous. It honestly was perfect. We loved it all! It is too hard to narrow down a "moment" or a "memory." Although...the laser picture of the cats warmed our hearts since they could not attend :)

Do you have any recommendations for future couples planning a wedding? Don't stress out! Focus on having fun. Take the recommendations of the staff at your venue and if other people you know have had their wedding at the venue, ask what they think. We trusted others' opinions and they were 100% accurate. Sometimes it's hard to alter your plans, but we just winged a bunch of stuff and didn't get upset when things didn't work out. Also, we included many people in our wedding that we have known for years (for dessert, our officiant, etc.) and that made things feel so much more significant and genuine. If that opportunity arises, we highly recommend it!

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Special shout out to all the vendors!

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Timberlodge at Arrowhead Golf Course
Wedding Coordinator: Anna Frey (of Timberlodge)
Officiant: Cindy Hickey
Photographer: Dawn M Gibson Photography
Desserts: Dairy Queen on Brighton Road (& Girl Scout cookies)
DJ/Band/Entertainment: Toy Bros.
Invitations: Vista Print (lol)
Wedding Attire for the Grooms: Banana Republic pants, Express suit coat, Calvin Klein belt, Kenneth Cole shirt and shoes, bow ties and boutonnieres from Etsy
Instead of Favors: Donations were made to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and The Human Rights Campaign
Late night food/snacks provided by: Timberlodge

** Note to website visitors and vendors, please do not take images off website for use without photographer consent.
If you are interested in sharing photos, please email info@dawnmgibsonphotography.com. Thank you! **

Embracing the rain on wedding days | Advice from a Buffalo, WNY, and Finger Lakes Wedding Photographer

Every bride or groom probably hopes not to have rain on their wedding day. Rain can throw a wrench into plans for outdoor ceremonies and receptions as well as disrupt outside wedding portrait plans, not to mention it can also cause worry and stress about hair and makeup or shoes and dresses getting wet. It's not desirable, and everyone knows it. But the weather is also the biggest thing on one's wedding day that cannot be controlled. Much like today (or this week for that matter!), Mother Nature is going to do it's thing regardless of anyone's hopes and wishes. And the best advice I have for my clients (regarding weather or anything else for that matter) is to simply embrace whatever happens, and let it be a part of your story. Because it's not worth it to stress over something as uncontrollable as the weather, especially when in the bigger picture of things, your wedding day is going to be one of the best and happiest days of your lives. My second piece of advice: plan ahead/prepare for the weather, juuust in case. Having umbrellas and rainboots on hand is a great idea. As well as securing back up plans for any portion of the day that you're planning to be outside. The more planning you do in advance will help ease some stress if there are last minute changes in weather on your special day!

Today I'm sharing a few snippets from a few past weddings where rain was a part of the couple's wedding day, in hopes to inspire and ease some worry for future brides and grooms that may have rain on their day, too!

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Scenario: Surprise rain showers following the ceremony – just in time for wedding party portraits. YAY!

The morning of Ashley and Rob's June 2015 wedding was beautiful and looked like rain wouldn't be in the forecast. But when their indoor ceremony ended, we discovered the rain had in fact decided to join us that day. We carried on with photo plans as originally discussed, and because the rain was spotty – we were able to get a great mixture of outdoor photos, not only with the various locations we had planned, but with and without needing umbrellas. Usually I tell clients we really don't need several hours of time for wedding party portraits between ceremony and reception, but on Ashley and Rob's day, having the extra time definitely helped us out. We were able to wait out heavier rain fall and had plenty of time to accomplish all their photo desires, while having FUN doing it, too. I'll be sharing their full wedding story in the coming weeks... ice cream break and all. :-)

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Scenario: Downpouring rain all day long with only the ceremony and reception venues as portrait location options.

Erin + Aaron also had a beautiful June wedding in 2015. Their plans were to get ready at the church and do a first look there before the ceremony to keep it simple. We had plans to do photos outside around the property since it was beautiful, but with rain in the forecast and nowhere else around their church to go for portraits, we improvised and did their first look and portraits inside the church. Luckily, their church had a lot of great options for us photography backdrop wise so this slight change in plans worked out just as well! We were able to create some really simple, clean, yet fun portraits. And everyone in the wedding party stayed dry before the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we were hoping maybe the rain would clear juuuust a little so we could get a few photos outside their reception venue (the Buffalo Historical Society) but alas...the rain was non-stop. So we did some portrait-type photos inside that venue just as their guests started to arrive. Before long.. everyone was out on the dance floor not even thinking about the rain happening outside anyway. It was the best, and having two great indoor location options worked out really well for us!

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Scenario: outside ceremony and reception plans altered due to constant, heavy rainfall

Jenna and Daniel had a kick ass wedding at Sonnenberg Gardens in September 2015. The original plan for the ceremony was to be out in the open, overlooking the beautiful gardens at Sonnenberg, with cocktail hour on the main house patio and celebration under a tent close by. Unfortunately with the weather that day, the ceremony had to be moved under a tent and reception tent had to have all the sides pulled down to keep wedding guests warm and dry. Despite the rain, we were still able to incorporate the outside elements... with umbrellas in tow and with a little improvising using elements of the main house (like the ivy arch entrance) to keep family/wedding parties dry during portraits. As you can see, the rain did not stop anyone from smiling on this day.

Even so... during the reception, I was peeping at the weather forecast and saw it was looking to be nice the Monday after their wedding. I just knew Jenna was hoping for her beautiful GOLD dress to be sparkling in the sun for their wedding portraits, and before leaving their wedding that night, I asked them if they'd be interested in doing a day after session before they headed back to NYC. They excitedly agreed to do this, and that Monday following their wedding, we made it happen. I'm so thrilled they now have a mixture of portraits from their actual wedding day – and from a beautiful sunny day like they had hoped to have – to cherish from their wedding celebrations! If any of my couples find themselves in the same situation, I'd be happy to try and make this happen for you, too, if we can!

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Scenario: forecast unexpectedly calling for rain last minute, so indoor locations were secured just in case. 

Remember Erin + Aaron's wedding above? Yea.. Lina and Eugene's wedding was the very next day and the forecast was looking to be just as promising. So the day before their wedding, Lina and Eugene's wedding party pulled out all the stops and reached out to several people for last minute indoor location spots. We were able to get into a local museum as well as do portraits inside someone's home (that just so happens to be one of the old mansions on Delaware). But the best part of their day, was that we were able to get in their first look as originally planned, outside on the steps of near Hoyt Lake. Because the rain was literally minutes away, NO ONE else was at Hoyt Lake (which as anyone in Buffalo knows is a rare situation on a weekend), so we had the entire area and steps to ourselves! Lina and Eugene shared an epic First Look, we did some photos there, and then headed off to their secured indoor locations just as the rain rolled in.

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Scenario: Overcast wedding day with on and off sprinkling rain throughout the entire day. Given their fall wedding date, pre-planned indoor and outdoor portrait locations were already set, so the weather didn't even get in the way of our plans. Wahoo!

Anne and Matt were married in October 2015 and the day started out a beautiful, perfectly overcast fall day. But in WNY, fall days often mean the chance of rain so I always encourage back-up rain locations juuust in case. Despite the weather looking promising that morning, by the time ceremony started, so did the rain. Luckily, it wasn't a heavy rain so we decided to follow the plan for portraits as planned originally, which had a mixture of indoor and outdoor locations anyhow. I'm obsessed with this day even still, and am so thankful for all the variety we had on their wedding day... rain and all!

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In closing, embrace the weather as it happens!! Amazing images can still come from a unique weather day, but more than that, it just makes your story even more special and unique. :-)

PS. For any of my upcoming or future wedding clients: The clear umbrellas you see in the photos above are always in my car on wedding days and I have 7 of them! :-) So fret not about going out to get umbrellas just in case of rain on your wedding day.... I've got you covered!

Additionally, if you wish to photograph at an indoor location, as a reminder, this is something you will need to set up, as many of the inside venues require deposits from brides/grooms to reserve photography time. I'm more than happy to make suggestions though, so don't hesitate to ask if you're looking for ideas that will best suit your needs! Also, in my experience, June and September have been the rainiest, but as you know... rain can happen any time of year! So be sure to secure an indoor location JUST in case and well in advance of your wedding date... especially if you're planning a wedding during those months!

Sharing Thoughts & Appreciation...

...plus another sweet photography giveaway!

FOUR years ago yesterday, was the last day I spent working for another employer. I'll never forget the day I went to give my boss the notice I would be leaving. I was a ball of anxious nerves like I'd never been before, and still haven't been since. I was terrified to be venturing into unknown waters of working for myself, and had no idea if I'd even make it past the first year. But at the same time, I was so excited to be taking the risk and just knew in my gut that I needed to make this step and transition in my life.

If you're expecting me to sit here and tell you it's been an easy, magical ride, I can assure you that has not been the case. Working for yourself – as any other self-employed person would probably tell you – is some seriously hard (but seriously rewarding) shit. There are days when I've woken up filled with energy and excitement and I'm crossing things off my to do list in true boss-like fashion. And then there are days when I struggle to get anything done because there's so much to do that I don't even know where to begin. There are days that fuel my creative soul, and make me feeling so proud and simultaneously inspired to do even better. And then there are days when all I struggle really hard to not beat myself up over something I felt I could have done better. There are days spent photographing and having conversations all day, surrounded by other people and documenting or hearing unique stories. And there are days spent cooped up in my office by myself staring at a computer screen for 16 hours straight, often forgetting to eat and forgetting anything outside my office even exists. There are days where I can say "YES, I can make it!" to a request to hang out with friends (who in all honesty, I do not get to see enough of these days) or "YES!" to a last minute photography booking. And then there are days when I'm a hot mess because not only is it the busiest time of year shooting wise, but everyone needs something ASAP, and oh, it's also fucking quarterly sales tax time, again. Needless to say, as with anything in life, there are good and bad days when it comes to working for yourself. But I would happily take all the bad days working for myself over working for someone else doing something that I wasn't passionate about, and I really am without any question, so happy (and beyond thankful) to be doing what I do.

The last several years have been one of the greatest adventures I've ever been on, and I know absolutely NONE of this would be possible without the people who trusted in me for their photography needs. Whether you were a client who hired me or someone who has followed me or given my name to others looking for a photographer, every single ounce of support is truly appreciated. I also need to give a huge shout-out to my husband, who has been helping me reach this dream of mine since the very first day we met with an endless supply of lattes, dinners, and encouragement. For all of you, I am forever and ever grateful. 

This overwhelming feeling of appreciation, the fact that I'm about to head into my 5th busy season as a full-time photographer, and the fact it's my birthday in a few days, has me feeling oh-so-loved. And more than anything, I'd love to bring a little more joy into someone else's life right now, too.

That is why, I've decided to offer another sweet giveaway to one lucky couple or family! I've outlined the full details on my website here.... but don't delay, the entry deadline is this Saturday!

And on that note... from the most sincere place in all of my heart: THANK YOU! Thank you for your support and your trust in my services. Thank you for sharing my name and recommending me to others. And thank you for reading this entire, rambling post if you did (and don't worry, I won't hold it against you if you didn't)!

Have a wonderful day, friends! xoxo

WNY Birth Photographer at Buffalo Midwifery Services | The Arena Family

While I have now photographed many hospital births, this visual story I'm about to share is to date, still my only non-hospital birth, but it was probably one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had the chance to photograph. Last April (I can't believe it's taken me a year to make this post!) the Arenas called me when they were on their way to their birthing location, Buffalo Midwifery Services, and I met them there upon their arrival since they had just a touch longer drive than I did. Within minutes of our arrival, their third child – a beautiful baby girl – entered this world. After their daughter was born, mom was able to hold on to her baby and breastfeed for a bit with the umbilical chord still attached. As soon as they felt ready to go home, they packed up their things and their newest baby, and headed on their way!

After such an amazing experience with the Arenas at the Buffalo Midwifery Services, I would absolutely love to be a part of more natural births, whether at home, at the Midwifery Services location on Summer St, or at any of the Birthing Center locations in WNY or Rochester. So as a special offer for the next 3 non-hospital births to book photography services with me, I will be providing a discounted rate for birth photography services. If you are interested or know someone who may be interested in this incredible opportunity, drop me a line on my inquire page.

P.S. The women at Buffalo Midwifery Services are phenomenal with all they do to help moms bring their babies into this world. Eileen Stewart and her assistant, LuAnn, were inspiring to watch during the Arena's Birth Story, and I cannot wait to work with them again! If you're looking for more information on their services, check out their website here.