kristin + joe // landis arboretum

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on January 09, 2016 at

Kristin and Joe’s wedding was the sweetest little DIY celebration ever!! They are seriously one of the cutest couples and their amazing, youthful energy was so much fun to be a part of! We love spending time with couples who aren’t afraid to be silly and really embrace their true personalities on their wedding day!! AND they love Star Wars as much as we do! Bonus!! We had a blast with them at the beautiful Landis Arboretum in Esperance, New York. If you’ve never been we highly suggest you check it out!!

Kristin and Joe were kind enough to share some of their favorite memories from their big day!! As you scroll through their wedding feel free to read along! We really love their sense of humor and excitement :)

Kristin: “We wanted to have a chill, BBQ, mostly outdoor, DIY wedding.  Not everything went as planned, but it was amazing anyway!“

Kristin: “Looking at my big sister’s face when I first put my wedding dress on before the ceremony was so emotional for me. Sharing that moment with her still makes me cry when I think about.“

Kristin: “The first moment when it sunk in that I was getting married was when I went to pick up my flowers that morning.  I saw the boutonnieres, with their little imperial symbol charm, and it suddenly hit me! It’s TODAY! =First cry of the day.“

Kristin: “Seeing Joseph for the first look was so fun and exciting! I love that we did that before the ceremony with just a few people around. That made it, in my opinion, more special.“

Joe: “Thank goodness for Ben from Ayres Photography!! For if not for him every picture that I would have from that day would have me with crazy eyes due to the Red Bull soaked adrenaline coursing through my system.“

Joe: “I loved the small touches of Star Wars that my beautiful bride put together. Hand painted “Choose Your Side” sign-in art, which is now hanging in our living room, the cups with the Star Wars font as wedding favors that we now use every day, and the boutonnieres and earrings on the fellas and ladies.“

Kristin: “My favorite thing I made is a toss up of our invitation and the guest book painting, which is now hanging in our living room.“

Kristin: “One of my favorite surprises of the day was walking down the aisle. I had asked my brother to play his trumpet for my entrance. ‘Anything,” I said, ‘you choose’.  I was expecting maybe something classical, or maybe something jazzy to be different.  I trust him with all things musical.  He played ‘Part of Your World’ from The Little Mermaid for me, which may sound so silly, but was so thoughtful and sweet.  Probably because I wanted to be the Little Mermaid for most of my life. He then planned with all of my friends to have them sing at the end while he played.  It was something so special to me that I will remember forever. I am crying as I write this.“

Kristin: “I can’t pick a favorite part of the ceremony because the whole thing was awesome. My Father was the officiant (and obviously a jack of all trades) which meant a lot to me. Listening to Joseph’s excitement and nervousness while saying his vows I kept thinking, ‘I want to remember all of this. I want to remember everything about this moment.’ “

Joe: “When I forgot the ring my groomsmen saved my bacon and the wedding. They went to get it from my car during the ceremony but luckily still before it was needed (perfect timing in my opinion).“

Kristin: “Taking photos with Jenn and Ben after was so fun and relaxing and it gave us some sort of alone time to take it all in.  During that time they created some of my favorite photos of the whole day. I mean, Joseph and I are not the most photogenic people… and they made us look GOOD!“

Joe: “Though not technically in the wedding, (but they did get everyone there), the invitations were f’n’ awesome. Hand painted with all of our mutual hobbies and activities, set into a game board that folded out like origami.“

Joe: “Singing and dancing like two kids in middle school to our first song ‘You Ruined Everything’ by Jonathan Coulton… Kristin and I had a moment between ourselves as everyone else listened to the lyrics and got a good chuckle. Then later on we getting jiggy to ‘Kick-Drum Heart’ by Avett Brothers with all the younglings in an impromptu dance contest (which I handily won).“

Kristin: “DJ Pat Del!  He made the day flow so smoothly and really added so many fun touches. He took our overall themes and mashed them all into a perfect wedding compilation.  He kept the energy up! Not just with songs- he also brought games and hula hoops, added Star Wars everywhere, and really brought together the upbeat silly atmosphere that we wanted to achieve.“

Joe: “The best advice that I got before my wedding, and it really helped me through… Eat everything and drink everything you can before you get up. Because once you get up, that’s it. You’re moving and going and talking to everyone you know. Because you know everyone. You two are the lynchpin of that whole day. Everyone wants a piece of you and you just want a piece of cake.“

Kristin: “I chose Ayres Photography because they have such a clean, beautiful style of photography.  They capture natural moments and details beautifully. I love the way they use depth of field. I love how they creatively frame photos. I love that they are simply edited and not over filtered.  They are so easy to work with.  I do not like to be in front of a camera, but with Ben’s silly one liners and Jenn’s calming presence and creative questions, they put everyone at ease.  They made the day so FUN!“

Joe: “Working with Jenn and Ben (why doesn’t Ben also have two N’s?!) was great. The pictures that we had taken were fantastic to my unpracticed eye and were incredible to my wife, who is a wedding photographer and second shooter herself. I know we went out of our way to work with Jenn and Ben and they went out of their way to work with us. Literally, they drove across the state to shoot the wedding. Ben did a great job of making it fun and easy going while trying to keep me grounded enough to not make me look like a lunatic.  All in all it was a fantastic day that went by way too quickly.“

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Wedding Vendors Include

Ceremony and Reception: Landis Arboretum
Hair: Mel’s Place Beauty Salon
Wedding Dress: BHLDN
Music: DJ Patrick Michael del Rosario

 

kristin + chris // tonawanda castle

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on July 07, 2015 at

We joined Kristin for her final wedding day preparations at the always beautiful Tonawanda Castle where the entire day’s events were to be held. We just love her classic, glamorous style! (And of course those great red lips!) It certainly was a wedding to remember filled with love, laughter and one heck of a dance party! I mean, how could you not have fun when you’re around such a smiley bride and groom?! They’re both beaming ear to ear in almost every single photograph! Now that’s love :)

Please be sure to read all of the memories (and advice!) from both Kristin and Chris throughout the post. Enjoy!

Kristin: “Initially, we weren’t planning on doing the first look, but Jenn convinced us that it would be a really beautiful moment where it was just the two of us before we began the day of craziness. I have to say, it was such a special moment. I will carry every detail with me for a very long time from the tap on the shoulder to the look on Chris’s face when he turned around. Having the amazing photos to remember it by and a few moments with each other was priceless and I absolutely would do that all over again. Thanks Jenn!“

Chris: “One of my favorite early memories about the day was how un-nervous I was. I remember waking up that morning, thinking that I’m supposed to be freaking out and feeling sweaty, yet it was the complete opposite. I enjoyed the morning with my groomsman and dad, shared laughs over a tv show, and embraced the feeling of brotherhood. Even if I had a sense of freaking out, I knew they wouldn’t let me. It was as the morning unfolded that I let every concern I had go, and that feeling of taking it in as it comes full surrounding me. It’s hard to explain, but it can simply be described as a euphoric and inspiring state of mind.“

Chris: “The part I wish I could relive over and over again was watching Kristin walk down the aisle and then standing at the front, hands and eyes locked while Michelle from YellowBird weddings gave the most beautiful ceremony speech I think I will ever hear. It felt as things were in slow motion, but went by so fast. The room was physically full, and it felt like we were alone in those short 20 minutes.“

Kristin: “We made sure to enjoy the party and be out there dancing and spending time with everyone, cause it goes by SO FAST. It’s also so important to take time just the two of you during the reception. We snuck away to the balcony at one point and just looked down on the reception together and reflected on what an awesome day we were having and how happy we were to be married.”

Kristin: “Our first dance was one of my favorite moments. Our dear friend Steve sang our wedding song, ‘All of Me’. He has one of my favorite voices and with the live band it was a perfect combination of everything Chris and I loved, with words that really meant a lot to us.“

Kristin: “We really wanted a fun party for our reception, that was very important to us. We hired Party Of 9 as our band and they were absolutely fantastic. I have never been to a wedding where as many people were on the dance floor all night. It was a blast. We had an amazing moment towards the end of the night where the band played ‘I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends’. It started with us standing arm and arm and swaying with my aunt and uncle, and by halfway through the song literally every one of our guests had formed a giant circle, arm in arm, all of us swaying and singing the lyrics together. It was such a magical celebration of love and togetherness in a completely spontaneous way!“

Chris: “Advice to other couples (men mainly) – whatever your future wife wants, make sure you say yes! (within reason of course)“

Some advice from Kristin on wedding planning: “Focus on what is important to the both of you. We decided what sort of day we wanted to have and really built everything out from there. We spent the money on the things we found most important and tried to do the rest being as thrifty as possible. I am super type A so I gave myself a lot of time while planning and focused on not second guessing any decisions.“

Kristin and Chris were both kind enough to share some really nice things about us, too!

Kristin: “From the moment I saw Jenn & Ben’s photos, no other photographer compared in my eyes. I knew I wanted them to capture our day. After meeting them and experiencing how laid back they were, we were even more sure. We trusted them to do what they do best and we are beyond thrilled with how everything turned out. I barely knew they were there during the wedding. They did an amazing job of capturing all of our special moments and we are so thankful for them!“

Chris: “Ayres Photography was the shining star for our night. Usually we’re the ones taking all the pictures, so we gave all of our rights over to them and it was the best move we made that day (besides saying I do). Jenn and Ben asked us if there were any special moments they wanted us to capture, or certain spots we wanted pictures in.. and we couldn’t think of anything because we were so confident in their ability to capture the moment in each shot! We wanted to have a huge party, and Jenn and Ben captured it perfectly! I recommend them for any wedding or special event. The most versatile photography company in WNY!“

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Wedding Vendors Include