hannah + max // Private Residence Backyard Wedding

Filed in nicole, weddings shot by Ayres Photography on July 01, 2019 at

Hannah and Max’s wedding was absolutely stunning. It was a real coming together of friends and family, and we’re not talking about just the day’s events. Every bit of this wedding was made possible by the love, support and hard work of their closest and most loyal comrades, even the set up and breakdown! It just goes to show how big of an impact friendship and family can have on your wedding day, and you know we’re all about that!

Our amazing associate Nicole had the honor of documenting this beautiful day, and we think she did a fantastic job of it. She has a lovely gift for capturing the moments in between, and if you scroll through Hannah and Max’s day you’ll see just what I mean (a little unintentional poetry for you). Hannah and Max were kind enough to share some really beautiful words about their big day and their love for each other, their family and their friends. I encourage you to read along as you check out all of the stunning details :)

Hannah: “Before we got engaged, (we’d been discussing it for a few months), Max came to me one day and told me that he wanted to propose but didn’t want to get me a ring I didn’t like, and asked for my help. We ended up designing a custom ring together and even selected some specific stones. The proposal itself was still a surprise, but I absolutely cherish the ring and view it as a real symbol of our partnership since we created it together.“

Hannah: “My mom was visiting for the weekend, and we thought we’d go look at some dresses just for fun. I hadn’t really done any looking, but thought it would be nice to find a dress with pockets, if there was such a thing. I was nervous – friends of mine who’d recently been married had told me stories of 50+ try-ons, dozens of visits with multiple groups of people, trips to NYC and Toronto and Chicago just for dress shopping. I was prepared for this to be the toughest part of planning my wedding. It just so happened that the first dress I tried on was perfect, exactly the silhouette I was looking for, in my mom’s favorite fabric (raw silk), and HAD POCKETS. We both fell in love and that was it! It turned out to be the easiest part by far – after saying yes, of course :)“

Hannah: “We decided to do a ‘First Look’ and I am so glad we did. It gave us a few beautiful moments together to let everything sink in.”

Max: “Originally I didn’t quite understand the idea of the First Look, but it was actually so helpful to re-center myself before the wedding, and it was such a nice moment between the two of us.“

Hannah: “I wore my grandmother’s bracelet and a veil borrowed from a lovely woman I met through my work that she’d worn in her own wedding in the 70s.“

Hannah: “We hosted our wedding at our home, and many of our friends stayed there for the weekend or came several hours early, to hang out and help set up. This set up two of my favorite moments: the first, looking around at all of our friends doing everything they could to set up chairs, hang decorations, lay place settings, etc., without a complaint or question, made me feel so incredibly grateful to have such a loving and generous chosen family. We truly could not have made the day happen without them. The second came on our way back to the house to gather our parties for more photos. Since so many of our friends were already there, we got to have a ‘first look’ of sorts with them too, a private moment to celebrate with them before everyone else arrived, to express our love and gratitude. It was so special and the photos from those few minutes are still some of my favorites.“

Hannah: “Our pup Sammy was our ring bearer with my brother, and wore a bow tie that matched the groomsmen. We’d intended to put him back inside after the ceremony, but he was having such a good time making the rounds and guests were having fun with him, so he stayed out. He’s family too, and we were so happy he could really be a part of the day.“

Max: “Both of Hannah’s parents walked her down the aisle, and seeing them all, so happy and crying tears of joy, felt so special and loving – it was a really nice moment.“

Hannah: “The ceremony itself was a bit of a blur. I had to hide my face in my bouquet coming down the aisle because I was ugly crying already.“

Hannah: “Neither of us is religious, so one of my best friends who has become a mutual dear friend married us, ‘by the power vested in [him] by the internet.’“

Hannah: “We wrote our own vows and made them very personal and fun – still one of the parts I get the most comments about from guests! I do remember that I got a laugh during my vows, which I’m still proud of!“

Max: “It was so cool to see the tent progressing, from the beginning when we were laying down tablecloths to the flowers being set up and everything was in it’s place. Then finally walking in when it was full of all our friends and family was so heartwarming and emotional.“

Hannah: “Our friends had a giant, epic dance off. It was so much fun in the moment and the pictures are incredible and some of my favorites from the day.“

Hannah: “Max’s groomsmen printed a notorious photo of him from our college days on a giant poster and displayed it at just the right moment during the Best Man’s speech. It was truly hilarious.“

Hannah: “Max and I danced to ‘I’d be Waiting’ by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. It’s one of our favorite songs by one of our favorite bands, and we knew we wanted to do it after seeing them live. We attended dance classes for several months to create a perfect routine that ensured no toes were stepped on :)“

Hannah: “It felt good to actually do our first dance that we had been practicing and working on for several months until we knew it by heart. It was another really nice moment to connect with Hannah.“

Hannah: “Our wedding day was also my dad’s 64th birthday, so he and I danced to ‘When I’m 64’ by the Beatles.“

Hannah: “We briefly blew a fuse and the music went out for a couple of minutes. It could have ruined the party, but instead we started a sing-along until the music came back on, which ended up being a ton of fun instead of a party foul.“

Some truly great planning advice from Hannah: “So much pressure is put on weddings and creating the perfect scene, but the key to remember is that at the end of the day, you are hosting people. They will remember their experience and how they felt long after they’ve forgotten your color scheme or the perfectly coordinated tablecloths. This made such a difference and helped us prioritize where to focus our energy and our budget. It’s much harder to get caught up in the agony of choosing things like chair ties when you’re able to say ‘how will this affect my guests’ experience?’ and just let that guide you. Was the food good and plentiful, did the bar have enough servers, were the chairs positioned so guests wouldn’t have the sun in their eyes, in short, have we created a comfortable and welcoming experience where guests can really relax and enjoy themselves. This is what made the difference for us, and it kept us from getting overwhelmed in planning or upset if anything went off-plan during the day. We still get so many comments about our wedding being one of the most fun weddings our guests have ever attended (you can see in the pictures that even our parents’ friends were breaking it down on the dance floor, it’s amazing) and I really credit this approach.“

Hannah: “We could not have had a better experience with Ayres! We loved working with Jenn and Nicole so much. They were super receptive throughout the process, and really helped us hone in on what we were looking for with patience and thoughtfulness. Nicole was fabulous on the day, and we, along with our friends and family, love the way the photos turned out.“

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Want to check out another amazing wedding from our associate Nicole?? Click here!

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Wedding Vendors Include:

Photographer: Nicole of Ayres Photography
Venue: Private Residence
Wedding Coordinator: Live Inspired Events
Makeup Artist: Amanda Lee Shamrock
Hair: Groom Service Beauty Bar
Dress Shop: Lovely Bride Rochester
Dress Designer: Rue De Seine
Men’s Suits: Indochino
Florist: William’s Florist
Ceremony Music: Rob Montone
Catering: Dinosaur BBQ
Tent and Rentals: McCarthy Tents and Events
DJ: Moving Music

rae + jon // Midvale Country Club Wedding

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on June 25, 2019 at

What can we say about Rae and Jon?? They are *seriously* the cutest couple. The c-u-t-e-s-t. Their smiles are absolutely infectious, and we had the best time with them on their wedding day. Quite frankly, given their amazing personalities, it was impossible not to have fun! It’s pretty evident from these photos that their family and friends felt exactly same way that we did (and still do!). We’re so happy to have been the chosen ones to capture all of their abundant laughter, emotional moments and genuine silliness! It was certainly our kind of day.

Like many (dare we say most, if not even all) Ayres couples, Rae and Jon definitely place a large value on family. One of our favorite subtle touches was how Rae involved her late grandmother into her bouquet. We’ve all seen the lovely brooches, the lockets, the favorite flower or special color, but Rae opted for a slightly more unique nod to her grandma. Scroll through to see just what it was (we loved it!!!), as well as reading all about how Rae and Jon met, how Jon didn’t know that they were on a date, about how they eventually fell in love, and, in true Ayres fashion, adopted a fur baby named Clarence. :)

Rae: “Jon and I met about four years ago, we had both (independently) joined an organization called Team In Training (‘TNT’), which is an endurance training program in conjunction with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Basically, we met weekly in Central Park with volunteer running coaches and ~50 people to train for marathons while also fundraising for LLS. You can pick your race, race destination, season to run in, etc. Jon and I had both participated in TNT before, but in the prior year we signed up for different races. In 2013, we both decided to come back to TNT and train for the Rock n Roll San Diego half marathon that would be in June. At that time, one of Jon’s roommates (Lee) was coincidentally a coworker of my friend (Samara) who I was running with. Lee told Samara that she should look out for Jon & his twin sister Lindsay at practice, that he thought we would probably all get along. Eventually we all met up on a Saturday run in Central Park and quickly became good friends. When we went to San Diego for the race, Jon actually asked Samara on a date (I was dating someone else at the time). Selfishly lucky for me, that date never happened and love didn’t pan out for them. We all remained friends, and started all hanging out outside of running. In fact, Jon’s sister Lindsay quickly became one of my best friends.“

Rae: “In September of 2013, Jon recently back from Israel and me recently single, I decided that we should go on a date. I asked Jon to meet me for happy hour on a weeknight in mid-September, to which he obliged. Jon was probably the only person who didn’t know it was a date, I told everyone I knew that it was. We went to a place on Houston St. called Preserve 24 and I convinced him to try oysters for the first time. We had a some drinks, some food, and lots of fun. At the end of the night Jon walked me to the Path train, which was very much out of his way home to the Upper East Side. I was giddy and smitten. We didn’t kiss, probably since he didn’t know we had even been on a date. Fortunately we went out again not long after that, on a proper date that we were both aware of. That restaurant has since closed but every year on our anniversary I insist that we try out another oyster-serving establishment.“

Rae: “Before I left for the ceremony I read Jon’s card that he wrote for me. He wrote about how happy he was to finally marry me, and knowing I felt the same way, I was so excited to go finally marry him!”

Rae: “Our first look was an amazing experience. Jon looked unbelievably handsome and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.”

Rae: “We wanted our wedding day to reflect our relationship and what is important to much as much as possible. The diamond in my engagement ring is a family heirloom, it is the same diamond that my husband’s grandfather gave to his grandmother when he proposed over 60 years ago. My grandmother, who passed away years ago, loved cardinals. I found a tiny cardinal at the craft store which I attached to my bouquet to remind us of her. Proud cat parents that we are, we also included a pin of our cat’s face on my bouquet (he was unable to make it as he is an indoor cat).“

Rae: “I loved taking our wedding party photos out on the golf course – we all drove around in golf carts in our fancy outfits laughing and having so much fun!“

Rae: “Walking down the aisle with my brother by my side, it meant so much to me, not only to have his love and support, to help me remain calm.“

Rae: “Jon proposed in August 2016 while we were on vacation in Colorado. He had a conference to attend in Denver, and we decided to turn the work trip into a vacation. One of the days we took a bus to Boulder and went for a short hike just outside the main downtown area. At one point we stopped for a breather (altitude!) / water break, and that’s where Jon proposed! After soaking it all in and hanging out together for a bit on top of the rocks, we went back into town to celebrate with lunch. We went to a local brewery and they gave us free french fries! It was the best day!“

Rae: “We both unquestionably, without any doubt, support each other 100%. Whether as serious as career/school/life decisions or as simple as what socks to wear on a given day, I know that Jon has my back (and me, his) no matter what. We may ask the other ‘WHY?!?’ when they make a decision, but once they decide, we are in it with them til the end. We value the same things and put each other first, always. We absolutely have the same sense of humor and the same (great) taste in sweets – peanut butter & chocolate are always #1. Also, we’re a pretty good looking couple of people, which doesn’t hurt.“

Jon: “I really enjoyed saying our own vows and how we incorporated a Bruce Springsteen medley into our ceremony. Then looking back and seeing all the people most important to us in the world sitting there with us.“

Rae: “Jon’s aunt officiated our interfaith/non-religious ceremony, but one important Jewish tradition that we wanted to incorporate was the breaking of the glass. Generally it is the man who does this at the end of the ceremony. However, as we see ourselves as equals, we chose to both break the glass simultaneously!“

Rae: “No question, I think our favorite thing to do is to snuggle with our cat, Clarence. We love to binge-watch Netflix at home on our couch with Clarence, whiskey (for Jon) and wine (for me). Outside of the apartment, we love to do things outdoors. Running, biking, hiking – we like it all. We both own bikes and they have become a big part of our apartment decor, as they hang on the wall. Despite our conflicting baseball views (he loves the Yankees and I love the Sox), we also love watching baseball and try to get to one of NY’s ballparks as often as we can.“

Rae: “Before we had even set a date, my mom came down to NYC (where Jon and I live) and I made an appointment at Bhldn. I had been obsessing over all the gowns at Bhldn for months… spending way too much time on their website. They have a showroom in NYC; mom coming down was the perfect opportunity to go! The dress I ended up wearing on my wedding day was the first one I tried on; I loved it so much. But, being over a year out from when we planned to get married, I was too nervous to commit to it that day. I tried on many others over the next year and even ordered TWO other dresses. I am thankful they were returnable. One afternoon I was browsing bhldn.com (I truly was obsessed) and I saw that my original gown had gone on sale! For almost half off! I took it as a sign from the wedding gods, and I ordered it that day. It was perfect to me, it combined what I viewed as a classic bridal feel (the lace top) with more modern, boho aspects (milky, flowy bottom… ugh! how wonderful it looked when I moved around!). The best part is how comfortable it was, I wish I had a million more dresses as beautiful and comfortable as that gown was!“

Rae: “Leon Bridges ‘Beyond’ was our first dance song. We struggled for a bit choosing what we wanted to dance to; there were a few we had on our short list for quite a while. Leon Bridges was an artist we frequently put on in our apartment when we were just hanging out, cooking, cleaning – he was a go-to choice for us. Leon came out with a new album in May of 2018, which we were so excited about. Listening on my way to work, ‘Beyond’ came on and I loved it. I immediately texted Jon that he had to listen to it. It came up in conversation a few weeks later that maybe we could use this for our first dance. We mutually agreed that the lyrics were beautiful and we felt like we could relate to them. It was unique, not something a million weddings had used before, and the song actually meant something to us. What more could we ask for?!“

Jon: “Even though other people were there watching – it felt like we were just dancing alone together to one of our favorite songs.“

Rae: “We incorporated the extremely fun Jewish tradition of dancing the Hora. It was one of the best 10-15 minutes of the night! Seeing the joy in our parents’ and our two grandmas’ faces when there were raised up in the chairs during the Hora was unforgettable. “

Rae: “Jon and I wanted cupcakes instead of a traditional large cake. We tested all the flavor combinations and only approved the best ones. :) Our baker set them up in the shape of a large cake – it was so great!“

A few wise words from our bride, Rae: “Planning a wedding (and the day of) can be so very hectic. A lot of people have a lot of opinions on how your wedding should be, this can be very overwhelming! We recommend sitting down together before making certain decisions to double check/sanity check/confirm that the decision you’re making is what YOU want to do and that what you’re choosing is truly important to you. In terms of day of – it is going to be crazy! Guests will be coming at you from all angles at all times to talk to you. Try to take a few minutes (more than once if you can) to check in with your new spouse, to have that special time together, and to have a chance to reflect on everything that is going on!

Working with Ayres was amazing. They made planning fun, making an otherwise very stressful process a lot more manageable. We knew literally zero about what a wedding day timeline should be or look like… Ayres not only provided guidance for us (with the most helpful booklet), but when we told Jenn our basic timing and what we wanted to do – she put together the day’s timeline for us! Just that one thing made such a monumental difference. Also, Ben and Jenn – you are awesome humans who are personable and funny and it was a pleasure to have you guys be part of our wedding.“

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Are you feeling the Country Club wedding vibe?? Click here to check out more!

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Wedding Vendors Include:
Venue: Midvale Country Club
Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas
Hair: Beautiful Moments of WNY
Makeup: Brooke Dezio
Florist: Wegmans
Dress Shop: BHLDN
Dress Designer: Watters
Bridesmaid Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu
Cake: Delicious Designs by Sherry
DJ: Turner Music Productions