kate + ron // Times Beach Nature Preserve and Larkin Square

Filed in engagements shot by Ayres Photography on September 26, 2017 at

If you know anything about Buffalo, you know that we love our food trucks. And if you love food trucks (or just food in general) and you love making the most of the fleeting summer, then you know that the place to be on a Tuesday night in Buffalo is at Larkin Square, where the food trucks and the people pile in to enjoy live music in the amazing heat of the summer along with some seriously great eats. Really though, if you’ve never been to Food Truck Tuesday then you best get moving. It was thanks to this awesome Buffalo right of passage that our wonderful couple, Kate and Ron, first met!

Kate: “One of my closest friends and I decided that we were going to make an effort to attend as many Food Truck Tuesdays as possible during the summer, and sent out a blanket invitation to all of our friends each week to join us. That fateful June evening, Ron happened to be golfing with one of our mutual friends who had promised to meet up with my friend and I at Larkin Square after their round. Ron didn’t drive, so he was forced to tag along. My friend and I arrived at Larkin Square early to avoid lines, so when Ron and I officially met I was already shoving poutine in my face while attempting to balance my glass of wine. Naturally, love at first sight!“

Kate: “I actually had to talk Ron into a first date! We had already hung out so much as a group, and were doing so many different things together on a regular basis, that an official date didn’t really seem necessary. Our relationship fell into place so naturally that realizing we should probably tick off the normal dating boxes at some point didn’t cross our minds. Plus we had already bought Bills season tickets for the year, so we were fully committed. But like most ladies with an affinity for Jane Austen novels and the dramatic, I like to be wooed, and I like dinner, so I asked Ron if we could go out to eat for an ‘official first date’, and he had to choose where we went. We went to Amici’s in Kenmore, and have gone there for each of our anniversaries since! (Funny side note: for the first 3-4 months we were dating, the only places Ron would take me to eat were Italian for some reason. I had to beg him to stop with the Italian for a while because the carb-loading was getting to be too much.) Our first date was on August 2, 2014, notable because after dinner we went to hang out with some of my friends, and Ron disappeared for most of the evening to watch the Andre Reed Hall of Fame induction speech by himself in the living room instead of socializing.“

Kate: “We got engaged on May 21, 2017 at 10:15 am in our bedroom with the dogs fighting over a toy trout on the bed as I answered the easiest question anyone has ever asked me! I woke up around 10am thinking that we had brunch with his parents at noon so I asked Ron if he wanted to have some coffee in bed and start a new Netflix series we had been talking about watching (The Keepers, worth a watch!). I went down to make coffee, and then he followed me down which I thought was odd but he said he wanted water instead of coffee. (He was really getting the ring out from behind the cable box in our living room.) Then he continued to weirdly follow me upstairs, and followed me around as I put pillows on the bed to watch TV. As I was just about to get annoyed that he would NOT leave me alone, I turn around and he gets down on one knee and asks me to spend the rest of my life with him. He’s also pulled some stunts before so I may have said no and to stop being mean a few times before I believed it was actually happening. I haven’t stop smiling or staring at my hand since!!“

Kate: “After he proposed he told me that we weren’t actually going to brunch with his family, that his family and a bunch of our friends were coming over with food to spend the day and celebrate with us, and he even called my boss to request I have the next day off from work to continue the celebrations. We went downstairs to start the obligatory phone calls and FaceTiming of my parents, who were traveling from their home in Charlotte to Indianapolis that day, and all of our other friends and family. About 10:45 the doorbell rings and Ron asked me to get the door, but I was preoccupied trying to get a picture of myself, my new bling, and the dogs and told him it was just my best friend who he’s met a million times so he could go get the door. He opens the front door and I am more than a little shocked to see my Grandma and parents walking up to the front door instead! Ron was able to get them to come to town to celebrate with us as well! The day was complete and magical. I’m definitely the planner in our household, and so I never in a million years thought he would be able to pull something like this without me knowing a thing. (Looking back, three different people asked me to go get my nails done with them the day before and I rejected all of them, but I never put two and two together). There were apparently a million different ways the day was supposed to go, but this way was my favorite. It was 100% us, low key and private. We love our home, and we love being with our boys, Mr. Darcy and Sammy.“

Kate: “Ron and I are perfect complements. He really makes me a better, calmer, more rational, spontaneous, carefree person. Being together is so easy and natural because we both understand and appreciate the importance of also having our own interests and friends as well as alone time. Spending time together is still our favorite thing, but our relationship has never been work. We’ve both known since early on in our relationship that this was going to be a forever thing, so we’ve maintained that mentality throughout any issues or obstacles or irrationality on my part. We don’t pretend to be anyone other than our real selves around each other, and that’s who we each truly love. We also laugh, a lot.“

Kate: “We value our friends, family, each other, and dogs. Our friends brought us together, our family provides love, support, and amazing examples of how we want to frame our own marriage, we have so much fun together and always love each other even if we don’t like each other very much, and our boys are our pride and joy and make our lives even more full of love and complete our little family.“

Kate: “We are very much homebodies, we love spending time together with our dogs at home. Anything we can do that involve our boys is a positive in our book. We aren’t quite to the anti-social level yet, we love when friends come hang out with us at our home! Ron is a grill master so we love any excuse to host a BBQ!! Ron is a true Buffalonian through and through, and so naturally Bills season means we have standing plans on Sundays. I am a huge hockey fan, go Bruins!, and Ron grew up playing hockey and played for St. Joes in high school and continues to love the sport to this day. (One of the first things he every said to me was that he was All-State in hockey in high school. My flirtatious response was, so? Luckily our sense of humor and ability to tease each other is one of our most endearing qualities as a couple). We have a standing bet at our house that whenever the Bruins and Sabres play during the regular season, the winner gets to fly their flag on the house for a week.“

allison + eddie // Hotel Henry

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on September 15, 2017 at

I knew about five minutes into meeting Allison and Eddie that they were “my people.”  They’re the kind of people that make everyone around them feel calm, comfortable, and loved. They are an absolute joy to spend time with, and I loved getting to know them throughout the wedding planning process. They both value the relationships they have with their family and friends so highly, and they made that the driving focus of their day. Incredible dance moves are also highly valued in their lives. They hosted a dance contest at their reception, and the winners walked away with a gift certificate to a room at Hotel Henry!!  I just love these two so much, and after you read their story and see the images from their day, I know you will, too. :)

Eddie has his dad to thank for finding his soulmate, Allison. Their story is pretty darn adorable and we’re so glad that Allison shared it with us! Read on for this sweet story, along with a few others, and of course Allison and Eddie’s favorite wedding day memories :)

Allison: “We met at Oliver’s restaurant on Delaware Ave. I was working, Eddie’s family came in to celebrate Babciu’s (grandmother’s) 80th birthday. His parents were a few cocktails deep and his dad said ‘Honey, you’re beautiful. What’s your story?’ I explained that I had just gotten back from a year abroad in France, and was finishing my senior year at Canisius College. His parents then introduced to me their embarrassed and very handsome son, Edward. After dinner, Eddie approached me to apologize for his parents. I wrote my name and number on a napkin and slipped it inside of an empty takeout container. As Eddie was putting on his coat to leave, I said ‘wait, you forgot this’ … I got a text message about fifteen minutes later saying ‘that was incredibly smooth of you.’“

Allison: “Eddie was home for a week before he had to go back to school at Xavier in Ohio… so for our first date he took me to Pano’s on Elmwood Avenue and then we went to a Sabres game. The Sabres lost, but I remember putting my arm around his waist and resting my head on his chest while we rode the subway back to UB North Campus. I don’t think he minded too much.“

Eddie: “My grandparents were not supposed to be at the wedding. My grandfather’s ailing health and my grandmother’s refusal to leave him meant that two of my family members that I am closest to would miss this important day. The day before, there was some talking that my grandmother might come, but I was not going to hold out hope that my grandfather would make it. About 30 minutes before the ceremony as I stood in a side hall, my mother calls to me from the main hallway. As I approach, she points down the hall and I see my uncle pushing my grandfather in a wheelchair with my grandmother walking beside him.“

Eddie: “My grandfather was hooked up to an oxygen tank and in a wheelchair. When the music stirred to announce that my bride was going to walk down the aisle, despite the urging of some to stay seated, my grandfather stood up out of his wheelchair with the rest of the crowd to greet her. I can think of no other memory of him that better encapsulates him as a person, and it will be a moment that I will never forget.”

Allison: “When Eddie’s grandfather stood out of his wheelchair as I walked down the aisle Eddie was a wreck. I knew how much it meant to him.“

Allison: “The proposal was perfect. I remember snuggling my dogs in bed one day. Eddie walks in the room and (talking to our dogs) he says ‘I’ve got something to talk to mommy about’ and he looks at me and says something along the lines of ‘so I’ve been looking at rings…and I need some help.’ And then cue a long line of questions about what style of ring/stone I like. Little did he know, I had just had a conversation with my mom that past weekend regarding a beautiful diamond that was left to her from my Grandma Corinne. So I scoured the internet for a vintage setting that I liked and we had one custom made. We visited out trusty jeweler, Barbara Oliver, and she did an incredible job as always. He picked up the ring and proposed to me at Glen Falls in Williamsville.“

Eddie: “The first kiss between Allison and I was like a waking up from a dream. The ceremony went by so quickly, yet hearing the officiant declare us as husband and wife and permitting us to kiss was a moment that lasted. The crescendo of applause and the warm embrace will be a moment I will always cherish.“

Allison: “We’re honest with each other, and with ourselves above all else. We’ve never had an argument. Five years and no fights because we know how to talk to each other. We don’t get defensive or make excuses and in the very rare instance that we are in the wrong, we own up to our mistakes and make it right. We have endless, unconditional support for each other. What we value most in life is each other’s happiness.”

Allison: “We love anything food-related, honestly. Cooking, going out, whichever. There’s nothing we love more than sharing a good meal together. We have two dachshunds and a kitty cat so there are tons of snuggles all the time. We walk home together from our jobs in Manhattan and lately we’ve been talking about the podcasts we listen to and what we would do if we won the $800 million dollar Powerball. The rest of our time amounts to procrastination on doing the laundry.“

Eddie: “The nerves of the ceremony were still lingering and began to mix with my nerves about our first dance. Despite countless runs through the dance, I was still worried about missing an important step. We waited in that hallway for what seemed like forever, but looking back it was a nice respite. Once we got called into the room there wouldn’t be another moment of quiet together for several hours.“

Allison: “I loved how incredibly handsome Eddie looked. Really, he looked so good. Someone asked us, in all seriousness, if we were filming a commercial.“

Eddie: “I knew that the dance with my mother was not going to be much of a dance. It was going to be me swaying with her while she sobbed, which was exactly what happened. However, I will never forget it because of how happy she was.“

Eddie: “Due to human error on the part of the gentleman officiating our wedding, we did not get a chance to read our personal vows during the ceremony.  Allison and I both felt that what we wrote was important and shouldn’t be wasted. Instead of reading them aloud, we decided that reciting them privately to each other would be more meaningful. Later that night, in a quiet stairwell painted white, we read our vows to each other.“

Allison: “It made them infinitely more special.“

Allison: “After the wedding, when we were back in our room, I was completely exhausted. I soaked in the tub and Eddie sat on the floor of the bathroom, reading all the cards and guestbook wishes out loud. People were so generous and supportive and it was so nice. It also made us incredibly happy that everyone had a wonderful time. We just sat there together and smiled. We were just relieved that everything went smoothly.“

Allison and Eddie gave some great advice for couples planning their weddings and also said a few nice words about us, too!

“You can’t plan to make everyone single guest at your wedding happy. Just try to roll with the punches. Not everything will go exactly as planned but it’s supposed to be a day to celebrate you both. At the end of it all, you’re married to your best friend and it’s awesome.

Ayres Photography gets total aces. Jenn and Ben were quick on their feet, gave great direction without being pushy and delivered some of the most beautiful photos. We loved working with them so much.“

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We loved the clean simplicity of Allison’s morning photos in her Hotel Henry suite! Click here for tips on how to ensure you get the perfect getting ready shots on wedding day!

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Wedding Vendors Include:

Venue: Hotel Henry
Invitations: Minted
Hair + Make-Up: Salon-A-Go-Go
Dress Shop: MA Carr
Dress Designer: Allure Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Anthropologie and BHLDN
Groom’s Look: Oliver Wicks
Florist: Fern Croft Floral
Cake: Sassi Cakes
String Quartet: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with Alan Ross
Saxophonist: Vincent Fossitt
DJ: Moving Music