Alia and Ryan’s Wedding Celebration – 4.12 & 13.19

It’s not every day you get to photograph someone getting married that you’ve known for over 20 years (and who lived right up the road from me growing up)!  But, that’s exactly what happened with Alia and Ryan’s wedding! I met Alia way back in grade school riding the bus together, and when she wrote me to see if I could shoot her wedding, I was thrilled! This couple met when Alia put the call out with her friends for a Salsa dance partner, and while Ryan was unable to go, he invited her to a BBQ the next weekend and after hitting it off swimmingly, the rest is history!  These two live in Alaska, so not only was it quite the hike, but they brought their dog, Cooper, to serve as ring bearer too!  Friends and family flew in from all over the country and the world to share in this couple’s special day (all the way from Australia!).

I was there to shoot two days of their wedding celebration.  The first being the Mehndi (which is a pre-wedding ceremony), lots of blessings for the couple from family and friends, feeding of sweets, dancing, and henna! Each Mehndi I shoot is different, and this one was no exception! These two are big foodies so they had all sorts of fun food stations, from make your own Hakka noodles to a Dosa station! The bride and the groom were adorned with flowers before guests lined up to give feed the couple sweets and give them their blessings.  While they waiting, people could get henna done in a pillowed sitting area or munch on apps! Towards the end of the celebration, they had live musicians and one of their friends performed a dance for them!  What a fun night to remember! And did you check out those rain shot?! These two rocked those photos!

The next day the official wedding ceremony took place! Tables were set with a bit of a nautical theme, with the couple’s love of water, and all tables were named after famous ships! The ceremony went off without a hitch and then guests were wined and dined with a cocktail hour followed by an entrance by the bride and groom! Dances were had with their parents, which led to a cake cutting.  The cakes were done just for the bride and groom by one of their friends! They were a mermaid themed cake and a Jaws themed cake.  How cool is that?! Following cake cutting, another wonderful meal was had along with three great speeches for the bride and groom!  I snuck the couple off for some more night shots.  It was sadly too cloudy for some good sunset photos! Coming back inside, we had another live dance done by one of Alia’s close friends and his wife.  This started dancing for the rest of the night!

Photography and writing by:

Alysha Yoder Photography

(b) www.alyshayoderphotoblog.com

 www.alyshayoderphoto.com

(e) alyshayoderphoto@yahoo.com

(p) 610.762.7810

Venue:   Holiday Inn Allentown I-78

Catering: Moghul Catering

Decorator:  Pendurthi Swaree Events (Aruna is the decorator)

DJ- DJ Bhupi