Jessica and Jon

Jessica had two goals for her wedding day: marrying the man of her dreams, Jon, and not wiping out walking down the aisle. She probably should have added: avoiding evacuations of her hotel, but we'll get to that in a minute. First, some getting ready shots of the breathtaking Jessica.

And a quick detail shot of her shoes:

One thing you notice immediately about Jessica is how happy she is. If she isn't laughing, give her about ten minutes, and something will make her crack up. As a photographer, that's the best quality someone can have -- a big, genuine smile.

And a quick portrait of Jessica after she got into her dress.

So toward the end of her getting ready, the fire alarm went off in the hotel. Normally, it's a bit of a pain to have to evacuate a building, but when you have to climb down seven flights of stairs in heels and a wedding gown, through cobwebs and dirt from the room you were preparing for your wedding in, it could ruin your entire day. Luckily, Jessica is very much not the bride who let it bother her. She laughed and made her grand exit from the hotel down it's back stairwell,

with about one hundred strangers,

and the Buffalo Fire Department.

Meanwhile, Rich was over with Jon and the gentlemen at the 1-1-3.

Jon rocked the sweet monogramed cufflinks.

And I really dug this portrait Rich shot at the church of Jon and his best man.

Jessica and Jon were married at the Christ the King Chapel at Canisius College. Here are a couple shots from the ceremony.

And Jon breaking the glass.

Then we headed to the reception at the Buffalo Yacht Club.

We took Jessica and Jon for an intimate portrait shoot on the docks of the club. Taking fifteen minutes to walk around alone and shoot a couple is one of our favorite things to do. We get to take photos without 100 people watching, and that allows our couples to be a little more intimate on a day when they really often spend a bulk of their time talking to other people. We always find these shoots give us our favorite shots of the couples such as these of Jessica and Jon.

I'm going to dork out a little for a minute. We really fell in love with Jessica and Jon taking these photos. They are a couple who clearly are very much in love, and they were even adorable when we weren't around.

Another thing we loved about them is that they are really into surprising each other. Jon is taking Jessica on a surprise honeymoon. They leave Wednesday, and she will have no idea where they are headed until they get to the airport. I don't know how many brides would really love that, but I think it's amazing. Rich and I weren't going to honeymoon, but he surprised me with one, as well. Though, I found out about mine the week before, and I got to know the destination. But if she has any reservations about where they may end up, you can't tell. I'd even wager she loves the idea. But back to the photos! Jessica surprised Jon, an avid hockey fan, with an amazing groom's cake. That's right, a replica HSBC Arena cake.

And we'll leave you with some dancing photos from the reception. I just want to thank Jessica and Jon, again, for having us with them on their wedding day. It was amazing.