Congratulations Michelle & Lee Wagner

Well, I've now looked through all the photos, and here are some of my favorites set to the beautiful song that they had sung as a solo just before the wedding started!

The rest of the photos will be coming very soon! Please enjoy the slideshow for now!

A good photographer is a healthy photographer!

Here is something that I've learned. Being a wedding photographer is a lot of exercise. And if you are overweight or out of shape, its harder to be a good one. So, I've decided that I am long overdue to get back in shape and lose weight. I used to be in really good shape, back in my rugby playing days. And then I let things slide. So, today, I went to Weight Watchers. I'm excited to see how things go and looking forward to sharing, what I hope to be a great success, with you, my readers!

Congratulations Michelle & Lee Wagner

Yesterday, Dn Gregory and I photographed the wedding of Michelle and Lee Wagner at The Chapel here in Fort Wayne. Since I've only been in Fort Wayne less than a week, I was super excited to learn about new venues and meet new people. And the people of The Chapel did not disappoint. It was so nice to meet Pastor Mark, who works with couples who intend to be married and his wife, Becky, the wedding coordinator for the church. They really made my job there a pleasure. And of course, Kathy, the mother of the groom, who is also an employee of the Chapel. Both families were such a joy to work with! I met both families during the rehearsal on Friday night, but really had a nice chance to spend some time with them while Michelle and Lee were getting ready!


I actually didn't really have a chance to spend much time with the men, but Dn Gregory did, as he spent time photographing them while they got ready.



Michelle and Lee didn't want to see each other before the wedding, so we devised all sorts of methods to make sure they didn't have the chance to spot each other before the big moment! So, while I was photographing the girls in the sanctuary,

Dn Gregory was working with the men outside. I really wanted to take the girls outside, as the grounds at The Chapel are quite extensive and were a luscious green color, but unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.

But it all worked out just fine, and because of the weather situation, we had some extra time, so Michelle just decided to rest for a short while. Isn't she a beautiful bride?


My favorite part of weddings is the joy of two families coming together. This family felt the same, and the unity candle ceremony was really important to both families. Here, the families are lighting the candles from which the flame will be taken to light the unity candle. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Kathy may have shed a small tear.


Finally, the big moment was here! Michelle looked just stunning as she came down the aisle with her father.

And Lee looked so happy to see his bride for the first time!

The wedding ceremony was extra special as it was officiated by Michelle's grandfather. He shared many words of wisdom during the ceremony, and her certainly had them to share, as he and his wife will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year!


The ceremony was just beautiful, as Michelle and Lee became a family. With the vows and exchange of rings, they ceased to be two and have become one.

After the ceremony, it was time to celebrate! The cake was not only beautiful, but also incredibly delicious!

Then it was time for the single ladies to come forth and to catch the bouquet.


And then it was time for Michelle and Lee to start their honeymoon!


Congratulations Michelle and Lee Wagner!

We're here because we're here because we're here because we're here...

When I was a kid at the New England Youth Rally, we used to sing this song on the bus as we were pulling up to our destination for our many excursions. Whether it was to the ocean at Scarborough Beach or to Rocky Point Amusement Park, we also sang this little song to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". We always sang it on the way back to Cumberland, too. It seems so long ago. I was just a kid then. And yet, I found myself singing that little tune as I pulled up to my house on Monday.

My house. I own a house. We moved from a 600 square foot apartment in NY to a 2000 square foot house in Fort Wayne, IN. We have 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, kitchen, living room, family room and dining room (which is now my office). We are slowly unpacking and it is amazing. There is so much to do. Verizon came on Tuesday and hooked up our phone and internet. DirecTV was here at the same time hooking up television. And the final clean up for our flood mishap was taking place in the kitchen. And during all that time, I just had that little tune stuck in my head: "we're here because we're here because we're here because we're here...". Its amazing how life changes.

It was more than 20 years ago that I first sang that tune, as just a little girl going to Rhode Island for the first time. I was only allowed to go because my sister and brothers were there. But I learned so much during my time there. And now look at me. College educated. Graduate degree. Life experience in many many countries. Employed with a career and a passion. Married. Mother. And now home owner. Is it possible that this is my life? That I've grown up this much in just 20 years? But as the song goes, "we're here". And that is where I am: here - in my office, in my own home.

It's a mess!

Our apartment that is! We are in the midst of moving, and its all a big big mess right now. All the furniture is moved out, and its amazing how many small things we still have to pack! Its all just a little overwhelming, and right now, we are taking a break. I'll post some "during" photos in a bit!

Ksenia

Who knew we had so much stuff?

Well, we've been in the midst of some serious packing for our move to Indiana next week and wow! I had no idea we had so much stuff! There's baby stuff, office stuff, school stuff, liturgical stuff, winter stuff, summer stuff, stuff we haven't seen since we got married and stuff we've never seen! Wow! Its all a little scary and a little overwhelming. And here we are, 8 days from moving, 6 days from packing up the moving truck and it looks like we haven't even started packing yet, but we are out of room to stack boxes!

I'm glad we got the house we did, because despite the issues we are having with it, we will hopefully not have to move again. That will be a true blessing!

"Not every photo you take has to be a professional shot"

Well, as some of you have noticed, I haven't been on too much lately. That's because there is so much going on! We are moving from New York to Indiana in under 2 weeks, so we've been busy packing and sorting and cleaning! Dn Gregory is working on finishing up his papers and finals before he graduates on the 19th! And I've been busy playing with Matthias (who now just loves Elmo) and working and getting all the legal forms filed in Indiana getting the business legally established. In addition, I've just upgraded my bookkeeping to Quickbooks, so I've been importing all the fun things that I've done this year so far! Its been great!

But today, we took a break from all of it. This morning, we decided to say, "no packing, no work, no papers, no finals, no cleaning, no sorting...none of it" and we went to the Bronx Zoo! It was fantastic (although a bit hot). I even went out this morning and picked up a point and shoot camera! How freeing it is to be able to take snapshots of my baby boy and not worry about getting out the big cameras, deciding on a lens, choosing the settings and then snapping a photo, and then doing all the post-processing work. As my husband said to me, "not every photo you take has to be a professional shot". How true is that? Sometimes, its nice to just have a snapshot of my son and my husband. Its nice to be able to stick a little camera in the diaper bag and be able to grab it really quickly and snap off a photo. Is it a professional shot of my son? Absolutely not. But, it still holds a memory for me!

New Online Ordering System

I am soooo happy to roll out the new online ordering system! It'll be up and running in time for June weddings. (I'm going to try to get it up to work for Sarah and Mircea's wedding, but no promises). I just realized that the company I was partnering with was not meeting the expectations that I had set for myself, for Eighth Day Photography, nor for my customers. I expect the best, I expect to produce it, and I expect any business that I partner with to do the same. So, I switched!

Keep checking back with us for the final rollout!

Eighth Day Photography is down (or maybe not)

Update: Ok, its quite possible that the site is only down here in our house, which is extremely odd. So, if you are reading this blog and you are able to see http://www.eighthdayphotography.com please leave me a comment letting me know that you are able to see it.

I'm not sure why, but the site is down. We should get it back up soon, hopefully! Sorry about the inconvenience!

Ksenia