Paige & Jhoan found me while searching for a creative DMV wedding photographer who was able to capture high-quality natural moments, and beautiful portrait photography, too.
3 adorable cats, their friend who played matchmaker and several close family members joined these two in their joyful union!
I photographed their intimate wedding ceremony in Spencerville, Maryland, and will be photographing their full wedding at the Omni in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania.
Why Rhinehart Photography?
Paige shares, “I was looking for candid photos with natural movement and a photographer who was close to our venue. We were also looking for someone with unique shots that showed us having fun and being ourselves too. I put Jhoan in charge of researching the photographer because he is a professional photographer himself, and so with my input, he was able to find the perfect wedding photographer for us!”
Jhoan laughs, “I wouldn’t call myself a professional, but I do real estate photography. With Paige’s suggestions in mind, I was able to select a few different DMV Wedding Photographers. Paige wanted someone local to our venue so we went ahead and looked over the photographers who were preferred vendors at the Omni.”
He continues, “I actually found Lisa through a web search. I really loved her website and how she described who she was and what she loved to do. Even before I got to meet with Lisa, I knew we would love her. She takes the time to get to know her couples and really pays attention to details.”
Cedar Ridge Community Church Ceremony
Paige shares, “I grew up going to this church as a kid and would get involved in the community service, festivals, and farmers markets that were always going on. There was always so much going on at the church, and it’s where I met Jhoan.”
Jhoan continues, “Before we started dating, we would go to the church a lot and hang out. Even when we started dating, we would continue to meet up at the church and do things with friends around the area or in Spencerville.”
Paige adds, “It was a really good meet-up spot for us and was between where we were both living. On top of that, it was a nice safe space that had acres and acres of land with so many beautiful places.
Feeling the Feels at Cedar Ridge Community Church Wedding Ceremony
Paige smiles, “It felt really good–Â we’re finally here! It was a smaller ceremony with just our family and the officiant so I think it’ll be a little different when we have our big ceremony in a couple of days. Having our informal ceremony felt right and just like us.”
Jhoan continues, “As Paige stated it, it was a perfect moment and very us. We tend to be informal people so it was nice having just us and our family. I myself was nervous, seeing it all happen and seeing my dad get emotional made me emotional, too.”
Spencerville Maryland Wedding Photographer
As a DMV wedding photographer, I love to play with perspectives— up close far away, lighting, sun flares, silhouettes, shadows, black and white, to capture the emotion present at wedding ceremonies.
Paige says, “Lisa did a great job of making sure the pictures never felt awkward. She kept our mind off of the camera and the fact that our pictures were being taken which really just allowed us to be ourselves and made us feel more comfortable.”
Natural Photos with DMV Wedding Photographer
Meet Jhoan & Paige’s matchmaker. Their best friend and best man, AJ!
Paige shares, “We started off as a trio, we were all really good friends. I was actually friends with him at first and I introduced AJ and Jhoan and they immediately hit it off as dumb and dumber. After we graduated high school, that’s when I started to have feelings for Jhoan and AJ totally supported us. AJ and I are good friends, but AJ & Jhoan are best friends and have been for several years now.”
Jhoan adds, “AJ has been through thick and thin with me and vice versa. He was really our matchmaker.”
Fun Family Moments
Paige laughs, “My family has always been pretty goofy. We all have the same sense of humor and goof off all the time. We like to call it the Simpson’s humor since that’s what we grew up watching. That’s just our personalities to goof off and not take things very seriously. We’ve always been very close and open and honest with each other and so I really appreciate that Lisa captured us being our weird selves.”
Falling in Love
Jhoan and Paige met in high school working on theater. Paige worked on building sets and Jhoan was doing the tech side of things. They were friends for a while before they naturally blossomed into more.
Paige smiles, “I just remember looking over him one day and being like, ‘I guess, yeah, he’s my boyfriend.’ We never really had our first date– We just naturally came to be, we’ve never had a sit-down serious talk about when things would happen, they just naturally happened.”
She laughs, “We went to the zoo one day and called that our first date. We didn’t even know when our anniversary was so we threw a dart at a calendar and made that our anniversary, haha!”
What Paige Loves about Jhoan
Paige says, “When we met, I was going through it! He was really supportive. He helped me through it all and accepted me for who I was, quirks and all. Jhoan always makes me laugh and anyone who can make me laugh, I love.”
What Jhoan Loves About Paige
Jhoan shares, “Since the beginning, Paige has had the worst luck. I love that she is always positive, optimistic, and realistic. She always works through anything even if it might put her down.”
He smiles, “I love how she can be quirky. When I first took a look at her, which was actually in high school, I saw her blue eyes (I’m a sucker for blue eyes). I love the way the sunlight hits her.”
He adds, “Paige & I are a great team. I do really well in hectic situations and she is a planner. When things don’t go as planned, we always work together to get it back on the rails.”
Formal Photos, too
While my focus as a DMV wedding photographer is colorful, creative, custom-tailored photography, I also make sure to get flattering, well-composed, and lit photos of each couple in addition to those creative images, too.
Paige shares, “We know nothing about weddings, obviously, so it was so nice to have Lisa there. We are very in-the-moment people, so we don’t have many pictures of us together. We just don’t really think about it. It was nice to have Lisa’s guidance to capture these images so someday when we look back on the ‘old days’, we have this perfect balance of all these lovey candid and traditional portraits together.”
Cat Family of 5 😉
Paige says, “I’ve always been a big cat person and I had a lot of cats growing up. One day I realized that I was longing for a little furry friend. We found our two cats and then got our third cat a few months ago. I just love them with all my heart.”
Jhoan shares, “We surprised my mom one year with a cat when I was a child. We got the cat without my dad knowing. He came home to a little cat rubbing up against his leg.”
He continues, “After Paige and I moved in together, we both wanted to get a cat. We ended up finding two cats, who are brothers. A few months ago, I found the black cat at a Wendy’s, where she was trying to cross the street so I pulled over and took her in.”
At the End of the Day
Jhoan shares, “At the end of the day, we just took a deep breath in the car and we were like ‘We did it! Were married!’ We called each other husband and wife when we woke up for the first time the next day.”
They laugh, “We honestly weren’t even going to do anything, but since engagement photos were part of our package, we decided to just make this an event!”
I really enjoyed being Jhoan & Paige’s DMV wedding photographer! I can’t wait to photograph their wedding at the Omni this October!
Jhoan & Paige’s Slideshow:
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Are you or someone you know looking for a photographer for their weddings, portraits, business branding, etc? I’m your girl! Contact me here, I’d love to hear all about it! Also if anyone is looking for an LGBTQ Washington DC Photographer, I’m here for you!