Christmas lights, Grandpa’s Yellow Packard convertible, and the sweetest pair of accountants you’ll ever meet– this Gettysburg winter wedding worked in the square, Majestic Theater, and the Stunning Gettysburg Hotel with a fantastic group of holiday partiers from Mount Saint Mary’s. I love being a Gettysburg Hotel Wedding Photographer and working with couples like Justin & Juliette!
Why Rhinehart Photography?
Justin says, “We met Lisa at the Gettysburg Hotel’s preferred vendor show, and we were immediately drawn to Lisa’s knowledge and enthusiasm.”
Justin continues, “Lisa’s brain works COMPLETELY differently than ours does. I think what separates Lisa from the competition is her creative eye. Some of the pictures Lisa captured using reflection, and shadows and our surroundings were INCREDIBLE. The thing I love most about the pictures we’ve seen so far is how perfectly Lisa captured not only our day but our authentic selves. When I look back at these photos it’s like re-living the perfect day, and I will always treasure them!”
Juliette says, “Lisa was able to truly capture us being our genuine selves. Nothing felt “staged” it was all authentically us which is why we are so in love with the pictures. Looking at the photos she took, Lisa made me feel beautiful and comfortable throughout what could have been a very stressful day. Looking back at the photos and the day as a whole, those feelings immediately come back which is crazy!”
Justin adds, “I admittedly am a planner/stressor, so Lisa’s constant communication, detailed timeline, and experience with our ceremony & reception venue gave me the peace of mind to know everything was covered so I could focus on enjoying every moment of our perfect day. Working with Lisa on our wedding day was seamless – and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t particularly like to be photographed and had concerns about a day FULL of my picture being taken.”
Juliette shares, “We chose Rhinehart Photography because we knew we wanted a ‘winter’ wedding which presented challenges capturing our full ‘set’ with the limited amount of natural light. When we initially met and I shared this concern with Lisa, she immediately showed me how she would be able to work around this limitation and went into detail about her plan/timeline to capture our day completely.”
She continues, “Working with Lisa on our wedding day was so easy. She kept track of our timeline and kept things moving! She was like an extra wedding coordinator. She was also very aware of the weather and how cold it was. She constantly checked in to see if we were okay or if we needed a quick minute to warm up. I think we had too much adrenaline pumping through us to truly notice how cold our day was, as Lisa was bundled to the nines!”
Gettysburg Hotel Wedding Preparations
Justin smiles, “What I love most about Juliette is how loving and loyal she is. Juliette may not always like to admit it, but she has the kindest heart and would do anything for anyone which is one of the many things I admire about her. Juliette will ALWAYS be there to support you on your worst days and celebrate you on your best days.”
He continues, “Juliette is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met, and she constantly pushes me to be the best man, friend, son, and husband I can possibly be. She’s the rock that holds me down/keeps me steady & calls me out when I’m being ridiculous or overthinking something. She’s my best friend, adventure partner, the person I get excited to come home from work every day to and miss when we’re apart for more than a few hours. Juliette is my best friend, soulmate and (finally) eleven years later she’s my wife, & I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
Gettysburg Theater Wedding
Justin says, “We discovered the Gettysburg Hotel partially because it was one of the only places within a (reasonable) drive from the Mount that could accommodate our guest size with an indoor reception. However, it was a very lucky accident, because we immediately fell in love with the space and the hotel’s staff.
He continues, “The high, beautiful ceilings & the authentic vault sold it for me! Juliette and I both work in the accounting/finance profession, so I thought the vault was a super unique detail that fit our wedding so well (and it also was home to probably my favorite picture that we’ve seen thus far).”
Juliette adds, “Conveniently we also viewed a Rhinehart Photography photo book while touring, and could see the potential the Hotel had for our reception. We did tour a couple of other places, but nothing that could accommodate our guest list size compared so it was a very easy decision. As soon as we were able to try the food and confirm it was delicious, we booked!”
First Look at Gettysburg Square
Juliette smiles, “During our first look, I was so excited to start the day together finally. Going to the traffic circle, meeting my future husband, and hearing all the random cars honking their horns at us was so much fun! It kept me laughing and allowed us to be ourselves.”
Justin shares, “I am the softy/emotional one of the relationship (which I admit). But even I was surprised at just how emotional/sentimental I was throughout the day. Thank GOODNESS we opted to do a first look because I absolutely LOST IT when I saw Juliette for the first time that day. Never in my life have I been totally speechless, prior to that moment. Luckily I got (most) of my ugly crying out of the way, but I have to admit there were multiple times throughout the ceremony and reception that I was overcome with gratitude and appreciation for the sheer amount of amazing people in our lives that were all there to share in our day. It was truly the perfect day.”
He adds, “I also have to give Lisa credit for her last-minute idea! She decided to change our first-look location to the square of Gettysburg which was one of my favorite parts of the entire day. Our first look was unique in the fact that it felt private & intimate, but we also had random cars honking & waving at my beautiful bride! The huge Christmas tree in the background made for an excellent background as well! It was just one more perfect detail of our perfect day and all credit goes to Lisa!”
So Happy Together
Juliette shares, “Our ‘love story’ dates back to high school. Although we never dated during high school, we have known each other and have been friends since then. It wasn’t until The Mount where we started spending more time together and eventually started to date. I was a Freshman at the Mount and he was a senior in high school. Not ideal but somehow we made it work.”
She continues, “Over the years we became a huge part of each other’s lives. My friends were his friends, and his friends were my friends. I was watching football and he was watching teenage dramas. My nieces even started becoming more excited to see ‘Uncle Justin’ than they were to see me on college breaks. This is what I have always loved about our relationship. We are our own individual people but we fit into each other’s lives so well and effortlessly. We bought our house together back in 2017. I was untraditional and wanted a house first before a ring. Living together allowed us to push each other’s buttons while also realizing that this is exactly who I want to come home to every night after work.”
Mount St. Mary’s Wedding Party
Justin says, “The Mount will always be our ‘home away from home’, where we grew as people, grew in our relationship, and began ‘our’ love story; so getting married at the Mount was an easy decision, without even considering the fact that the chapel is breathtakingly gorgeous. It was extremely sentimental to be back at the Mount to start the next chapter of our lives together, it was the truly perfect venue for us.”
Juliette continues, “We always knew we wanted to get married at Mount St. Mary’s, as we are both alumni. The chapel on campus is gorgeous and we knew it would be a special place for both of us. We’ve made some of our best memories together on campus, why not add one more!”
Mount St. Mary’s Wedding Ceremony
Juliette shares, “Our ceremony at The Mount was beautiful. It was simple and at the end of it, we were married! Although, it wasn’t until we walked into the reception and sat down that it hit me. All these people were here to celebrate US.”
Happily Ever After
He adds, “We’ve been through so much and been together for so long it’s hard for me to think about what life without Juliette would even look like at this point because she’s become such an essential part of my life. We’ve graduated college, started careers, bought a house, lost loved ones, traveled, and attended more weddings than we can count all by each other’s side to name a few.”
Juliette smiles, “On our wedding day I was excited to be spending the day with our closest friends, family, and coworkers but most of all marry the man who I love.”
Poppy’s Yellow Packard Convertible
Justin smiles, “Incorporating my Poppy & Yiayia’s Packard convertible was super special to me because I fondly remember taking rides with the top down from a very young age, and I know they will cherish the pictures with their car forever! I was so happy we could incorporate that into our big day.”
Winter Wedding Speeches
Juliette smiles, “Hearing my maid of honor and his best man love and roast us is something I will always treasure. They had total freedom to talk about us and our love story. These are our best friends and they have seen our relationship become what it is today. From the speeches to the dance floor all night, the energy did not disappoint! We wanted everyone to let loose and enjoy the evening. I think that is exactly what we got!”
Justin laughs, “As Jamie (MOH) not-so-subtly pointed out, my first attempt to date Juliette was … not very successful! Luckily, I was not discouraged and after a few more attempts I finally convinced Juliette to go on a date with me! From there, my sole purpose was to make her NOT regret that decision, and eleven years later she’s my wife so I guess I can file that under the ‘win’ column! I think Juliette & I fell in love over time – we started dating at such a young age (I was 17) that we had a lot of growing up/maturing to do, but we did it together which I think made our bond even stronger. Even at such a young age, I knew pretty early that Juliette was my soulmate (even if I wouldn’t admit it to her at the time).”
This Gettysburg Hotel Wedding Knows How to Party
Juliette shares, “Byram and I during our college dances have always worn sneakers, so why would our wedding day be any different?! We decided to stick to who we are and be comfortable in vans for the guys and keds for the girls. After attending 30+ weddings, yes I’m serious, it was finally our turn, and we did it exactly how we wanted. A winter wedding before tax season with Christmas lights twinkling.”
Justin adds, “I’ll second Juliette’s sneakers comment – I’m honestly not sure how it started, but we’ve attended enough weddings & gone hard on the dance floor enough times to know that comfortable shoes are a major key to a successful reception experience. We figured it was ‘our day’ so why not do sneakers from the jump?!”
Wobble, Baby Bjorn & Knight on the Dance Floor, haha!
Justin laughs, “One other ‘unique’ tradition that has built up over the years (which I believe originated from me having one too many drinks at a friend’s wedding reception): the ‘wobble’ is a classic wedding reception song, and Juliette goes HARD every time it plays! Somehow, I started recording her dancing at every wedding we went to and posting it on my story to the point that people would message me and say things like: ‘did they not play the wobble?!’ If I didn’t post anything. It became such a running joke that it was super cool to see everyone go nuts for what I called the final chapter of that tradition: ‘the wife wobble’. Just a quick snapshot into our goofy relationship & our crazy friend group!”
A Chair-Raising Good Time!
One of my favorite things ever is when couples incorporate chair lifts into their reception! Other favorites include live bands and confetti incase you are wondering 😉
I also love when couples gather fellow alumni together for shots like the one at the end fo this section.
Gettysburg Theater “Spoiler Alert”
Justin shares, “Juliette was my wedding date for 30+ weddings before we finally got to walk down the aisle together!”
He continues, “I think the day was 110% what we wanted and true to who we are as a couple.”
Vendors:
- ReceptionVenue: Historic Gettysburg Hotel
- Ceremony: Mount St. Mary’s University
- DJ/Lighting/Photo Booth: Great Scott Productions (Pat McDonald)
- Suits: The Black Tux
- Justin Ring: Rustic & Main
- Wedding Cake: Karen Rodkey Cakes
- Donuts (end of reception): Krumpes
- Flowers: Fancy Florals by Quinn
- Bridesmaid Dresses: Revelry
- Wedding Dress: Renaissance Bridal
- Juliette Wedding Band: R Bruce Carson Jewelers
- Bride and Bridesmaid Makeup: Claudia McGhee
- Bridesmaid Hair: Loganne Williams
- Bride Hair: Marsha Wallace
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