We opened the 2012 wedding season with the beautiful wedding of Rachael & David at the Out of the Blue Restaurant & Marina in Jupiter, FL! All I can say is that this wedding ROCKED! We loved the venue, the band was beyond awesome, and of course Rachael & David are just two incredibly sweet and amazing people! They have really set the standard high for this year’s weddings! We can’t wait to share more of their details with you (like the beautiful chuppah made by the groom and a very fun cake design). Here’s a little something in the meantime! : )

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we met up with Rachel & Dylan (and sweet baby Emma) for some engagement photos in downtown Columbus, GA. They are the cutest little family, and the charming town of Columbus was such a great setting for their shoot! We fell in love with the old buildings that have been lovingly re-purposed for high end condos, businesses, and shops in the downtown area. We were in awe of the dam and pumphouse, with tons of water pouring out into the river (which, by the way, is the cleanest river I think I have ever seen). It was a great setting to get to know more about Rachel & Dylan and the adorable city that they now call home!

We love everything about this session! Rachel & Dylan are so cute together, and the distressed walls of the old mills and the vintage blue bus were a photographer’s dream! We can’t wait to see you both again next spring for your sunny Florida destination wedding!! : )

We love to share the story of our couples and about the special moments of their wedding day, but sometimes the photos just say it all. I look, and I remember the excitement and anticipation as Claire was getting into her dress and heading to the church. The tears in Oliver’s eyes as Claire walked down the aisle. Their smiles. Their laughter. The warmth and love felt in the room as everyone came together to celebrate the marriage of two amazing people. Sure, I can tell you what it was like to be there and how special that day was, but I really think the photos say more than words can.

The day began in Chino Hills with the wedding at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church. It was a little chilly and windy, but once we headed out to the coast Claire & Oliver were blessed with sunny skies and the most incredible sunset! The reception took place at the stunning Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, and again I think my words get lost when I try to tell you how beautiful it was (especially the sunset). The sky went from blue when we arrived, then looked hazy and dull before revealing hints of purple and yellow and finally exploding with vibrant hues of blue, purple, pink, orange, and yellow! Not only was it gorgeous, it also matched their wedding colors! : )

Guests enjoyed a cocktail hour outside as the sun set before entering the reception room illuminated by blue and purple lights. They partied the night away on the dance floor, taking breaks to jump into the photobooth and watching a slideshow of Claire & Oliver through the years. And, of course there was a money dance! It must have gone on for an hour! Eventually everyone just jumped in!

We welcome Claire & Oliver back from their honeymoon and hope that everyone enjoys these highlights from their beautiful wedding day, including the slideshow at the end. Thank you both for letting us share this day with you and for inspiring the world with your love for each other! <3

Wedding Wednesday is a weekly feature discussing all things wedding-related! To suggest a topic or question, contact Gwen at info@gwendolyntundermann.com.

We recently went on the road to shoot Claire & Oliver’s wedding in California (which we will be sharing on the blog TOMORROW!!! Yay!), so we thought we would document some of the trip so we could share it on Wedding Wednesday. We had direct flights both ways, which we definitely prefer when traveling for weddings. I’m always willing to drive down to my hometown of Orlando if it means we can get a direct flight! We also flew for the first time ever on Virgin America, and we love it! Virgin and JetBlue are definitely our favorite airlines! Great customer service and comfortable flights!

While in California, we also visited with our album vendor to pick up an album for one of our other CA couples, Linelle & Jonathan. We also saw some of the new materials they were testing out and found out that they used one of our albums as a sample! Pretty cool!

On Sunday we met up with 3 of our couples (including the bride we picked up the album for). It’s always great seeing everyone when we come out there! Sadly, I didn’t think to get any pictures with them! We were going to do a photo shoot, but it was cold and rainy. At least it was beautiful for the wedding!

In the second video, Matt reviews our LowePro 200x Roller and our LowePro Flipside backpack. We absolutely love them both! The roller carries 4 camera bodies, 4 speedlights, our 2 large zoom lenses, about 5-6 prime lenses, and a bunch of accessories. We used the backpack to carry all of our chargers and batteries. In the event that we were on a small plane that couldn’t accomodate our roller bag, we could put our two main cameras bodies, two zoom lenses, and a couple primes into the backpack. We’ve actually traveled to a wedding on a plane that had about 10 seats, so the backpack is for the worst case scenario because it will absolutely fit on any plane. It’s not likely to happen on a cross country trip, but always better to be prepared! I’m all about logistics and constantly thinking of “what if…”

I also brought my ShootSac (given to me by my wonderful friend Rupa) which packs pretty flat and Matt used the backpack as his camera bag on the wedding day in lieu of his regular bag (which is a bit bulky). We also bring the roller bag with us to the wedding to carry extra lenses, batteries, chargers, etc. We pack our tripod and lightstands into our checked bag along with our clothes. Well, Matt’s clothes. I’m proud to say that all of my clothes (except for my suit) fit into a small carry on bag! We also bring a bag to carry the lightstands in and pack it in the checked bag (it takes up very little space). If you have any questions about our roller bag or backpack, please feel free to email us at info@gwendolyntundermann.com.

Apologies for the shaky camera work. I used my iPhone to capture everything, but I hope you enjoy it! : )

We just returned to the East Coast today after an amazing trip to California for Claire & Oliver’s beautiful wedding at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach! The weather was chilly, overcast, and even rainy – except on Claire & Oliver’s wedding day! For that one day, the weather was absolutely perfect! We ran into the newlyweds at the airport yesterday as they headed to Turks and Caicos for their honeymoon! We look forward to sharing all of the gorgeous details with you when they return, but we couldn’t resist posting a sneak peek of this beautiful couple!

Happy honeymoon, Claire & Oliver! : )

November 12th was a very popular date for 2011, and we couldn’t have asked for a better couple to work with than Andrea & Phil! They had perfect blue skies for their fall wedding at East Lake Woodlands Country Club and the reception was one heck of a party!! The newlyweds are off to Ireland for their honeymoon, and we look forward to their return so we can share their beautiful wedding! Until then, here’s a peek of the new Mr and Mrs!