by Rebecca Druckenmiller

Engagement picture sessions are so important to book, not only because you can get some professional pictures of you and your soon to be without all the wedding garb on but also to get to know your photographer and to get used to the being photographed feeling so you’re comfortable on the day of the wedding. 

We always recommend it to our couples, you want to feel totally comfortable with your photographers because after all you’ll practically spend more of your day with the two of them than anyone else. 

Now, Dan and I already had an engagement session when we got engaged but I also wanted to do some more casual shots. 

I also had a secret up my sleeve. 

 We remind our brides that it’s always nice to find little ways that you can include your husband-to-be in the wedding planning with things that he’ll enjoy to do.  That may be bringing him to the tasting, picking out the cake or picking out the song list with the DJ or the band. 

 I chose to surprise Dan and treat him with a surprise engagement session in the Eagles Stadium. 

I set the whole thing up with my photographers Laura and Paul and picked him up after work and started driving to the stadium.  He thought we were going to Old City but little did he know that I had our jersey’s stashed in the back to do a fun session in the Linc. 

Here are some of the shots, we also went to Laura’s studio in Old City and took some pictures in the neighborhood. 

Thanks to Laura Eaton Photography for the images, I LOVE them!

We went to Laura’s studio in Old city to change and found this cupcake truck outside, so naturally I had to get one…

We went to Laura’s studio in Old city to change and found this cupcake truck outside, so naturally I had to get one…

And Naturally I had to try to smash it in Dan’s face!

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 by Rebecca Druckenmiller

I was so excited for Rachel and Josh’s wedding on May 30 at the Hilton Hotel on City Line Avenue. 

As you’ll see in the photos, the hotel has gorgeous ballrooms (yes, there are multiple ballrooms making it the perfect place to host ceremony and easily move guests from space to space.)  

 I also loved the religious traditions incorporated throughout the day including the ketubah signing, horah, and crowning.  Rachel was also very thoughtful and found ways to incorporate her mothers gown into the wedding, she used parts of it around her bouquet and also in the canopy of the chuppah. 

She also used her parent’s cake topper for her delicious cake. 

 Gabe from Philip Gabriel Photography  was there to capture all the great details and amazing moments as was Christina and her team from Claire Pruett Videography.  Don Calhoun Draping and Lighting and Carmen Bolin Floristry really set the scene with incredible décor full of reds, purples, pinks and ivories that really popped under the pin-spotting.

I really can’t say enough about the band though, the Starlight Orchestra had kept everyone on their feet all night. What was really cool though was that they would transition from song to song much like a dj would making the sound really smooth. 

I could go on about how much fun this night was but I think the pictures speak for themselves…

Thanks for the images Gabe!

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  by Rebecca Druckenmiller

I love the elements of a Jewish wedding, they’re steeped in so much history and tradition…..and frankly many of them are so much fun!

Many of you of course know about the horah, but an unfamiliar tradition for some may be the Mezinke Tanz, which is derived from the tradition Krenzl dance.

You may know this tradition as a “crowning”. 

Rachel and Josh had a traditional crowning at their wedding as Rachel was the last child in her family to be married.  It is tradition that when the last son or daughter is married, the mother and father are seated in the middle of the room the couple place crowns of flowers placed on their heads while their family and guests dance around them. 

It’s an incredibly celebratory tradition and really makes you feel the love in the room as you watch their friends and family approach them in the circle to whisper wishes of love and support. 

Mazel Tov!

Congratulations to Rachel, Josh and their parents!

photo by Philip Gabriel Photography

Kate and Matt both have extremely hectic schedules – {during parts of the planning Kate seemed to travel more for work than she was home…}

They wanted a beautiful summer wedding that was Simple, Elegant and Stress Free and a little rustic….

We think we nailed that for them – Normandy Farm was just the right venue – accented by decor by Eventricity with entertainment by EBE Paris … and photographer Susan Stripling captured everything beautifully!

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In celebration of our upcoming engagement shoot I thought it would be fun to share with you how we chose our photographer and how we at the Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants match our clients with the best wedding professionals for their weddings. 

I’m so excited that Laura and her husband, Paul from Laura Eaton Photography will be shooting our wedding. 

When we were thinking about photography for the wedding, our decision was on one hand an easy one to make but also difficult. 

I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many amazing photographers in Philadelphia and have fallen in love with so much of their work so obviously choosing just one was going to be difficult. 

So I decided to use the same method that we use to connect our brides with their wedding professionals.  We match them up based on the 3 p’s, price, personality and product. 

We have a database full of photographers that we have taken the time to get to know and understand who they are and the type of work they can offer at what price.  Using that information we are able to recommend to our couples wedding professionals that match their needs. 

Price wise, Laura and Paul were right in the range that we wanted to spend.  We were able to customize our package and after sitting with them, we knew what we would be getting in our package for the said price. 

Laura and Paul’s product is also the type of photography we were looking for.  I wanted more candid shots and was trying to stray from the portrait look (nothing wrong with it, just not our style).  They are both very unobtrusive when they work but always still manage to get the creative images I love so much. 

Now, while price and what you’re getting for it are usually top priorities, personality was a huge one for me. 

Dan is not comfortable in front of the camera, AT ALL.  He hates the attention, which makes me wonder how he’ll make it through the wedding day {haha}. 

When he hired Laura and Paul to take photos of our engagement he had the opportunity to get to know them both a little and by the end felt very comfortable.  This was really, super important to me.

I was already friendly with them both as I’ve worked with them several times but I wanted to make sure Dan was really comfortable with our photographer. 

When we discussed our options for photography, Dan said that if we could he would love to hire them because he already knew them and didn’t feel so awkward. 

That alone sold me but like I said, they really matched all three requirements of price, product and personality.

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