Nish and Hamza Wedding – 4.21.17

Posted on June 3, 2017

Take an elegant wedding with a modern twist, add in a wonderful couple, lots of bright colors, and a stunning venue and you have Nish and Hamza’s wedding! A wedding for the photo books for sure! Not only did I have a great couple, but it was held at the beautiful venue, The Waterfall. The Waterfall, decked out in purples, golds, and reds, with fresh flowers draped throughout, two exquisite stages, and dreamy outdoor spaces for photos provided a lovely backdrop for their big day!

Nish was surrounded by her closest friends and family throughout the day. Her two aunts, who are like second moms to her, flew in from India to share in the celebration with her! You could tell by all their love and support throughout her day that Nish is certainly cherished by all who know her!

These two lovely people came together to create a truly memorable wedding day! They have quite the back story too! While both vacationing in Florida, fate collided and these two met! Nish went back home to Pennsylvania and Hamza went back home to Texas. These two continued to talk and spent a year flying back and forth between the states to see each other! Soon after, it was clear that these two were meant to be! Hamza came with his family to formally ask for Nish’s hand in marriage! Nish accepted and they had a traditional formal engagement. This leads up to their beautiful wedding day!

Following the lovely traditional ceremony, everyone gathered for photos, while guests sipped on drinks and enjoyed appetizers. With Grecian columns, fountains, and waterfalls, there were certainly TONS of great photo opportunities. The couple was then led to the reception area, where they were formally introduced and shared their first dance as husband and wife. The maid of honor, Valerie, gave a beautiful speech, to be followed by professional dancers preforming for the couple and their guests.

Dinner was served shortly after as guests wandered up to take photos with the couple on stage, and others headed to the photo booth. Once everyone had their fill of all the delicious food, the couple headed to center stage to cut the cake! The DJ began the music, and the dancing began! Everyone headed to the dance floor to dance the night away! I snuck away with the couple to take some night shots (which ended up being some of my favorite shots of the night!). As guests slowly began to call it a night, the couple was presented with gifts, adorned with flowers blessed by their family, and the couple and groom’s family headed out for the night in the luxury car waiting for them. A stunning end to a beautiful day! So without further ado, Nish and Hamza’s wedding! Congrats to the happy couple!

Photography and writing by:

Alysha Yoder Photography

(b) www.alyshayoderphotoblog.com www.alyshayoderphoto.com

(e) alyshayoderphoto@yahoo.com (p) 610.762.7810

Venue: The Waterfall

DJ: DJ Ravi Jackson

Flowers:

Bouquets – Patel Flowers

Sweetheart Table and Sign-in Table – Rhoads Garden

Cake: Isgro Pasteries

Decorator: Wedding Design New Jersey

Catering: Palace of Asia

Coconut Corn Flake Kisses

Posted on May 17, 2016

Are you guys ready? Ready to have your mind’s blown with this crazy recipe??

I’m not joking. This is like a French Macaroon, meets an American coconut macaroon, meets rice crispy treats (just made with corn flakes). Your brain and tastebuds are about to go… BOOM.

Grams was the queen of baked goods. Cooking in general. But man, every time we came to visit, grams was always sure to make your favorite meal and dessert. There were always cookies, pie, cakes, you name it… it was there. She loved experimenting in the kitchen and her desserts were no exception. I couldn’t even tell you how many different types of grandma cookies I’ve tried over the years. This recipe is one of my kitchen experiments. I’ve never seen anything like it, so what the heck?! Figured we’d give it a try.

This is actually perfect for kids. It’s a fun interactive recipe and it kind of like a healthier version of rice crispy treats. You know pretty much everything that is going in it. You could use any cereal for this and make it gluten free too!

Now again, I have used a recipe from gram’s mother’s cookbook. This recipe is originally from a Mrs. S. F. Henderson of Apollo, Pa. And yes… I know it’s spelled Cocoanut in this book but know that’s the old fashioned way of spelling coconut. This is the same with a ‘moderate oven.’ This is an old school terms for an oven at 350°-375°. So without further ado, I give you this unique 70+ year old recipe!

Cornflake Coconut Kisses

2 eggs whites, beaten very stiff (stiff peaks)
1 cup sugar
2 cups of “Kellogs Corn Flakes”
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut (found it very cheap in the bulk bins at Wegmans)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Separate eggs. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Whip in one cup of sugar. Carefully fold in corn flakes, coconut and vanilla. Make sure that everything is combined and coated well. This is a very ‘loose batter.’ Don’t worry. Trust me, as long as everything is coated, this will cook.. puff up and stay together. Once everything is combined, drop balls of about 1-2T of the mixture onto parchment paper. Make sure to space out drops evenly. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy this craziness 🙂

Ever wonder what it looks like when we’re shooting? Here’s a bird’s eye view. Anyone who tells me their space is small hasn’t seen where I shoot. Especially when the hubs is 6’5″ and sitting on the floor lol. He’s doing such a good job hand modeling though, isn’t he?

Photography and writing by:

Alysha Yoder Photography

(b) www.alyshayoderphotoblog.com

www.alyshayoderphoto.com (e) alyshayoderphoto@yahoo.com (p) 610.762.7810

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Ali & Mike – 10.9.15

Posted on November 16, 2015

Talk about a fun, quirky couple! Ali and Mike were a couple that I had the pleasure of photographing previously in their engagement session. These two agreed to get photographed at the Magic Garden in Philly (which in itself is a pretty awesome setting) so I knew right off the bat that Ali and Mike were going to be a fun couple! Talk about a few states love affair. These two met in Philly, recently moved to Boston and had their wedding in New Jersey!

Their venue, Valenzano Family Winery, couldn’t have been a stunning setting. From the vineyards where we did their sneak peeks to the barrel room where we did some fun backlit shots, there were so many unique settings for stunning photos! When I arrived, the sky had already started to turn grey and looked like rain. I asked the photo gods to hold off the rain, at least until we could get some fun outdoor shots. Who would have thunk that would work?

Literally to the minute, these two had their outdoor ceremony, walked down the aisle as husband and wife for the first time and BAM full on thunder, lighting, torrential downpour. It was almost magical. Throughout the ceremony the sky got darker and darker. There was a moment when a loud clap of thunder occurred and Ali looked back at the guests with a worried look. Thankfully no one got soaked and everyone got to clamber inside before mother nature fully released her wrath.

As everyone scattered inside they were all led to the reception area where Matt and his team had set up beautiful tiers of food all around wine barrels and decorations. Guests got to sample Valenzano Wine as they smiled for photos and chatted the night away. A fantastic (seriously awesome!) dinner catered by Summit Catering was served after Mike and Ali shared their first dance under a chandelier surrounded by their party members. Soon after, parent dances followed until everyone joined in, especially the couple’s nieces and nephews who were dancing machines! After letting me snag them for some fun shots in the barrel room the staff did a dessert dance, led by all the kids, and served everyone a huge variety of sweet specialties. Talk about a fun night! These two and all their close friends and family were such a joy to photograph. Check out their big night below!