A romantic weeping willow & reflective pond, celebratory Jewish traditions, covid-friendly video streaming, sweet parents gifts, a beautiful outdoor venue and a lively dance floor for this dancing/cupcake queen. The best part of all (for me) was that the groom, Joey, is also in the wedding industry and it was great to see his familiar, smiling face…
Why this videographer chose Rhinehart Photography:
One of the highest compliments I can receive is when fellow wedding vendors hire me to photograph their own weddings! I know as a videographer, Joey has worked with several dozen wedding photographers over the years, so when he reached out to me I was honored and humbled!
Joey shared, “Lisa’s work speaks for itself, every photo is unique and original. Also, she is a blast to work with and goes the extra mile at every opportunity. We can’t wait to see the photos and see Lisa’s signature look that we’ve witnessed throughout the years, finally reflected on our own wedding day!”
Ali added, “Working with Lisa on our wedding day was amazing. She had great ideas and captured everything we wanted and more. I know I will cherish these moments that she captured forever.”
Daddy’s Little Girl
Ali explained, “My dad is so important to me and I knew I wanted to do something special for him. I took one of his old blue button-down work shirts and had part of it sewn on to the back of an embroidered handkerchief. I had another piece of it cut into a heart and sewn into the inside of my dress above my heart.”
Reflecting on Cherry Blossoms
I noticed this photograph on the wall of cherry blossoms and also noticed the cherry blossom like pattern on Ali’s wedding dress. I worked to get this reflection of her dress in the photo. No photoshop required:
A Hidden Gem
I love finding little hidden places at a venue, the roses, fence, and beautiful landscape provided the perfect background for this shot. It was also very easy to get to, being that she is standing in the *parking lot,* haha, gotta love it! Ali, you are beautiful!
What Joey Loves Most About Ali
Joey smiled, “Ali is always cheerful and centered. She has a sharp mind and a good head on her shoulders. I can always trust her to point me in the right direction in life. I’m so happy to call her my wife!”
For this shot, I focused on Ali, while all the other bridesmaids were out of focus in the background…
The Wedding Party!
Smiles all around…
Same for Joey and his groomsmen…
The First Look
Joey said, “Part of the reason I was so happy to do a first look is I knew it would shake off a lot of the nerves to see her before our ceremony.”
Joey added, “Ali looked beautiful, her dress really wowed me.” 
Ali shared, “When I first saw Joey on our wedding day I felt this crazy mix of excitement and calm all at once!”
They both were teary…
Ali’s Wedding Dress
Joey added, “Then, being the logical guy I am I was like, will her dress and her dad both fit down the aisle?”
Ali laughed, “My dress was honestly not what I had envisioned for myself when I went shopping. The moment I put it on though, it was game over. I was dancing on the platform with the biggest smile on my face and knew that was it.”
He smiled, “Honestly though, I look forward to our future together continuing to have the same love and face the same chaos in this world that we’ve already faced, and keep facing it together. I have full confidence we can take on anything together as a team just fine!”
I love how he carried her train for her, so sweet!
Me, in My Natural Habitat, Getting Creative!
When it comes to getting a creative shot, I’m up for whatever. I’ve been known to jump a fence, climb a tree, and in this case hunker down in a field to really capture a creative photograph.
In this case, I got a few straight forward shots of Ali and Joey against the green of the field, but really wanted to get higher to show the bits of yellow, once I was up there I was like oooo I can bring in even more yellow and give it an even softer effect if I allow the leaves, especially yellow ones in the foreground:
I also switched lenses & angles and filled the entire frame with this tree. I took the photo in color, but made a black and white copy, too, and really like how it brings out the different textures of the leaves and field. Ali’s dress provides contrast & pops against the dark shadows beneath the tree and the couple is framed between the tree shadows and taller (soy?) field.
There is something simple and classic about it…
Traditional Portraits, too
While my main focus is capturing moments, locations, etc creatively, I also make sure to capture a few more traditional photographs, too.
This one shows off their venue, The Morningside Inn, subtly in the background as well as the beautiful tree-lined drive:
Ready for Adventure
Ali shared, “Joey is my very best friend. I’m so happy to finally be able to call him my husband.”
She added, “I’m looking forward to whatever our next adventure may be as I know it will be fun no matter what.”
Ali is His Rock
Joey smiled, “Ali is my rock and I know I can always rely on her to calm me down. She is such a positive person and I can’t help but be happy when I’m with her.”
Why Ali Fell for Joey
Ali smiled, “I fell in love with Joey because of his laid-back personality and a big heart. He makes me laugh and is always encouraging me to be my best self. Everything is just easy with us. We just fit!”
I love how the wind caught Ali’s veil perfectly here:
Two photographers, Two Perspectives
Two photographers can offer two very different perspectives on a day. When Joey kissed Ali’s hand I was taking a creative approach, underexposing the image and getting down low so they were silhouetted against the sky, white balance cooled all the way down to like 10,000K.
For me this captures the setting and emotion with vibrance and drama:
While I was photographing that, my second photographer, Priscilla, was getting the more traditional shots of the same moments.
Somebody’s ready to get the party started:
First Look with Dad
Awww and I love it in black and white, you can see the Morningside Inn in the distance…
Ali shared, “The first look with my dad was an emotional time for both of us! It meant so much to me to hear him say that he knows I’ve chosen the right man for me!”
Perspective is everything!
Again I had my second photographer capturing the more traditional photos from the middle of the center aisle, while I ran around like a little ninja getting really interesting angles and perspectives…
For this image I think my face is literally against the gorgeous shiplap (is that the word, HGTV?) siding which provides leading lines to Ali and her dad along with the railing, also framing them in the lines of the gazebo as they process down the aisle.
No worries Joey, her dress totally fit the aisle :).
Custom-tailored Vows
Ali shared, “Writing our own vows was true to us. It was happy to share exactly why I love Joey with him and to try to convey to him just how much he means to me.”
Joey shared, “While I’m glad we wrote our own vows, I was so worried about them until I finally shared them with her. I remember hearing Ali’s Mom react positively to the first line of my vows. I knew I was on the right track then.”
They obviously really touched Ali:
A Videographer’s Perspective
Joey shared, “I’ve always wondered what my own wedding would be like after filming over a hundred of them.”
I also have to mention that Joey was super sweet, always checking in, making sure the other vendors and I got food and other things, because he is used to working behind the scenes and knows that it’s like, lol!
Here I got down super low to play up the brick element, what a beautifully paved aisle!
Jewish Wedding Traditions
Man and wife– Mazel tov!
Ali shared, “The Hora is a Jewish tradition in which the bride and the groom are hoisted up in chairs signifying their union.”
She added, “Due to Covid-19, we decided against the full tradition, but still had a taste of it with a couple of our friends and family members participating. I think we still captured the joy and excitement though.”
A Special Gift for Mom
Ali shared, “I wanted to do something special for my mom. She always used to say to me that she was so glad I came to stay. At my bridal shower, she said it to me again and I knew that I wanted to give her something that reminded her of that. I had the inside of a bracelet engraved with “I’m so glad I came to stay” and the outside with our wedding date and mother of the bride.”
As they held hands, you could see a bit of the engraving:
A Little Alone Time….
One of the spaces I wanted to take them for photos was at the willow tree along the water. It would have been a little stressful to try to fit in this and the field in during the first look, especially being that they are at different ends of the property, one all the way uphill and the other totally downhill, so I suggested they take a little break during the reception, and they were game!
Here I shot through all of the branches and leaves into the water, finding a little window through that made the perfect frame. It captures the scene in a really unique way.
Here is a different take, reflecting back on that opening shot 😉
Joey’s Take on the Romantic Getaway…
Joey shared, “Our time by the willow tree was really nice. It was pretty much the only time of the day that felt quiet. The ceremony was over and we were far away from the venue, music, and people for just a few minutes of total peace. We got to slow down and take it all in, no distractions.”
Ali whispered something to Joey here, not sure what it was, but I bet they remember, their expressions are priceless…
My favorite “traditional photograph” of the two of them. They were so relaxed by this time of night!
Why The Morningside Inn?
He emphasized, “I’ve worked at The Morningside Inn before while filming other weddings and witnessed so many no-stress weddings there, thanks to the helpful staff and beautiful venue. I’ve never seen a stressed-out bride or groom there thanks to the smooth operation the venue and staff give. I knew that being worry-free was a very high priority on the wedding day.”
Joey went on, “We also knew we wanted to get married somewhere in the area, and Frederick, Maryland was a good central location. I suggested the location to Ali’s family and they loved it, right away.”
I loved working at the Morningside Inn, too! The wide-open fields, willow tree and pond, the ceremony space, we had so much to work with! I can’t wait to be back and explore more!
I loved the inside too with the tall vaulted ceilings it kind of had an old-world feel…
Cupcake Queen!
When I first tried to find Ali on Instagram, I had trouble, mostly because her name on there is “cupcake queen.” It came as no surprise to see hundreds of cupcakes in every flavor loaded on tiered trays at the wedding reception.
Ali shared, “Every little girl probably spends at least some time dreaming of their wedding day. My wedding daydreams mostly revolved around dessert. Cupcakes are my specialty so I knew they’d be at my wedding. We had five different flavors!”
She’s a Dancing Queen, Too!
Ali shared, “Being a dancer all my life I wanted to do something a little special. I think everyone expected us to do some crazy choreographed dance but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. I convinced Joey to let me do a little choreography as a nod to my love of dance and it was perfect.”
I wanted to try something a little different for this photo. I climbed the staircase to get a higher perspective that would show the guests clapping and show a bit of the atmosphere in the room:
Parent Dances
Awww joey’s mother-son dance– that smile, tho…
Bringing in more of that atmosphere and all the emotion for the father-daughter dance:
Wedding Traditions…
Finally, Ali gets her cake!!!
How pretty is this cake, and add the chocolate-covered strawberries, mmmmm….
Combo Best-Man & Officiant
Ali explained, “Zach being our officiant was so fitting. He has been a big part of our lives and our relationship. He married our other friends and now us.”
Joey shared, “I’d bet our officiant Zach’s thoughts about our marriage was “Finally”. He’s been our favorite 3rd wheel for a long time. He’s always been a good friend to both of us. he was also my best man.”
Here he smiles as he signs the marriage license. Just a simple candid shot, I was so happy that he chose a cool antique mirrored desk for this task!
Reflecting on Video Chatting
Ali shared, “One of the most important people in my life, my Bubbie, was not able to make the flight from California since she is in her nineties. We have had to FaceTime my grandparents in on cell phones for other family members’ weddings and I knew that I wanted to share thIs special day with her as well as all of our family and friends that couldn’t come due to COVID.”
She mentioned, “We also had our ceremony live-streamed, so they could feel as though they were sitting there with us. During the reception, we had a family Zoom call where we got spend a couple of minutes talking to them and enjoying time together that we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
I caught this candid shot through their shoulders as they looked down at their tablet. You can see “Bubbie” in the bottom left corner (so beautiful!) and if you look very closely, though I tried to disappear, you can see me between the two of them in the reflection:
A Pocket Watch Like His Grandpa’s
Joey shared, “I loved my wedding gift from Ali. My grandfather used to carry a similar pocket watch. (he’s passed a while ago, but I was named after him).”
Can’t find Ali? She’s on the Dancefloor!
I loved all the lights during the reception, it gave us so much to play with!
Put your hands up!
I climbed the stairs again, I wanted to show all of the layers, the couple surrounded on the dance floor, guests at tables, the reception space, etc.
I had a lot of fun playing with string lights for this! Priscilla saw me squatting down among the lights on the banister and she was kindly like hey, I have these hand-held ones! I played and played, I might have looked a little crazy, but how cool are these?
Get down! Lol!
People had such a blast, laughter, and smiles all around!
One of my favorite guests for sure– she was so much fun to photograph, always up to something fun!
Hidden Figures…
Let me draw your attention to the man who spent most of the day trying to avoid being in a shot of mine… Joey’s videography mentor, Paul Shirley. If you look closely you will see him in the corner between the cake and exit sign!
I was playing with layers in this photo, I wanted to show the cake and the dancefloor and show a little behind the scenes action from Paul.
They might not have had the hora, but by the end of the night, they did get a circle of love:
Joey shared, “Thanks to Ali, I danced more on my wedding night than ever before!”
Looking Back
Ali shared, “The wedding left me sentimental. Thinking about how I have changed over the years, Joey was a big part of that, yet I am still the same girl at heart.”
Ali explained, “My favorite part of our wedding day (aside from the obvious of getting to marry my best friend) was being able to share our love with everyone that is important in our lives.”
Joey added, “Ali and I have so many similarities, but our relationship is also about opposites attracting in a lot of ways. We work well together. I’m looking forward to spending forever with Ali.”
If you want to see more photos and stories about Ali & Joey check out their engagement blog here at Big Cork Winery, spoiler alert– it poured, they were still awesome!
Wedding Vendors:
- Venue: Morningside Inn
- Bridesmaids dresses: Azazie
- Wedding Gown: Potomac Bridals in Hagerstown, Maryland
- Hair: Nika’s Hair Studio
- Flowers: Ory Florals
- Cake: Canapés
- DJ: Let The Good Times Roll
- Videographer: Paul Shirley Video Productions.