Category Archives: St. Thomas More

Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.


Mo & Joe’s Day After Portraits

March 8, 2009 – 4:59 pm

On Mo and Joe’s wedding day, the skies were unkind and the rain barred us from getting the amazing outdoor shots that we had wanted.  So, we scheduled a “Day After” potrait session for Mo and Joe.  We did far more than we could have ever dreamed on the wedding day– starting with elegant bridal portraits at the Southwood House, moving on to the Alumni Center, then outside the church and finishing off with sunset portraits at Doak Campbell.  It was really more of an adventure than a portrait session.  :)

Long’s Photography- Tallahassee’s premier wedding & portrait photographers

2009 Tally Award Winner- Tallahassee’s Best Photographer

By Linda | Also posted in Day After Portraits, FSU Alumni Center, Southwood, bridal portraits | Comments (0)

Maureen & Joe

January 26, 2009 – 11:54 am

Olyn and I have really been looking forward to Saturday’s wedding since Maureen and Joe booked with us almost a year ago.  They are the greatest couple with the best sense of humor and fun.  Through the wedding planning, they have really become more like friends than clients.  The icing on the cake was being able to work with the absolute best vendors in town!

 

The girls spent the morning at the Governors Inn, having brunch and getting ready.  The inn is absolutely beautiful and one of my favorite spots for the bride to dress!

The weather decided to be a bit uncooperative during the day, but we still got some beautiful shots inside the church.

The guys had the great weather of the day as we did their portraits at Doak Campbell.  The bonus of having a groom that is a deputy?  No worries about a quick trespass on the field! :)

Maureen and her dad have the most amazing relationship– I don’t think I have ever seen a father and daughter who are closer.  He even fought to stand next to her in the family portraits.  :)  I think both Maureen, Joe and her dad were overcome by emotion for the long walk down the St. Thomas More aisle.

This little guy was so much fun to watch throughout the ceremony and reception– he was probably the best behaved ringbearer I have ever seen, but he definitely let loose at the reception!

The weather cleared after the ceremony, so we did have a few moments for some fun girly photos.

Just before the reception began I had some time at the Alumni Center with Maureen and Joe.  I love how Maureen photographs with her dark hair and her blue eyes– it really reminds me of those women on the cover of the harlequin novels.  In a good way of course! (Maureen will probably hit me later for that comment)

Katie’s Cakes rocked out another amazing wedding cake– beautiful and yummy, what could be better?

We snuck out of the reception for a few moments for some romantic nightime portraits. 

I absolutely love this shot of Olyn’s.  This is the last song before the night ended and you can see Maureen was fighting back the tears as she and Joe were surrounded by their friends and family on the dance floor.

The perfect evening ended with a beautiful sparkler farewell.

 Long’s Photography- Tallahassee’s premier wedding & portrait photographers

Vendors:

Getting Ready: The Governor’s Inn

Ceremony: St. Thomas More

Reception: FSU Alumni Center

Wedding Planner: John Gandy Events

Florist: Missy Gunnels Flowers

Cake: Katie’s Cakes and Catering

DJ: GT Entertainment (Check out Greg’s videoblog on his site for more of the reception!)

Video: Unique Video

Catering: Andrew’s 228

By Linda | Also posted in FSU Alumni Center, wedding | Comments (2)

Nicole & David

August 18, 2008 – 9:55 pm

Saturday was such an emotional day!  Olyn and I were at St. Thomas More and the FSU Alumni Center for Nicole and David’s wedding.  When a couple has been together for 5 1/2 years like Nicole and David, there are going to be a lot of emotions!  I’ll admit it– they made me cry… but it was mostly from laughing.  Nicole has the most wonderful sense of humor and makes you feel like an old friend after only moments.  Their friends and family were the same and the entire day was such a celebration of how wonderful they each are and how amazing their love for one another is.

Nicole’s something blue– her new name embroidered on the inside of her dress.

One of my favorite images of the day– Olyn really caught all of mom’s emotions as she saw her daughter for the first time in her gown.

Another amazing Missy Gunnels’ bouquet:

We kicked everyone out of the hotel room for a few quiet moments with Nicole.

Nicole kept apologizing for her unstoppable smiles– she just isn’t a serious person!

We went to the church for a few portraits with David before the ceremony.

I love this shot of Nicole and her mom moments before the ceremony.  They tried so hard to keep it together!

The ceremony was a bit delayed waiting for the FSU football team chaplain to arrive, as he was the co-officiant.  The result was one of the most efficient Catholic ceremonies I have ever seen!  :)

After the ceremony we had a few moments for portraits:

They kept the first dance from being too emotional with a little humor.  David is just a tad taller than Nicole..

I am always looking for details and this one really stood out to me– David’s hand with his ACC Championship ring on Nicole’s waist during their dance.

The emotions did still get to Nicole’s mom and sisters as they watched-

A little fun with the rings and the cake plates.

I loved their wedding favors– chocolate covered pretzels!  Yummy!

The toasts from the best men were hilarious and embarrassed David just a bit.

Nicole’s expressions during the garter toss cracked me up!

LongsPhotography.com– Tallahassee & Thomasville’s premier wedding & portrait photography

Vendors:

Ceremony Location: Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More

Reception Location: FSU Alumni Center

Florist: Missy Gunnels Flowers

Cake: Publix

DJ: Pro DIsc Jockey

By Linda | Also posted in FSU Alumni Center, wedding | Comments (1)

Gretchen & Chad

June 15, 2008 – 7:06 pm

Olyn and I had so much fun yesterday at Gretchen and Chad’s Hawaiian themed wedding! It was truly a day of details and laughter. Almost every surface was covered in the wedding colors of eggplant purple and lime green with orchids scattered everywhere. And every face you saw was covered with a huge smile– from the girls getting ready to the guys during the ceremony and the wild party afterwards, it was a true celebration.We didn’t have much time or space for getting ready, but this corner of the church worked perfectly!
I absolutely love these two images– both the bride and groom are fighting back tears as they see one another for the first time.Saturday at 2 was the FSU vs. Stanford baseball game in Omaha. Saturday at 3 was Gretchen and Chad’s ceremony. The priest told a story to start the ceremony, saying “One of the groomsmen approached me before the ceremony to ask how long this was going to take. And my answer was…. ” A HUGE clap of thunder punctuated his story, followed by a LOT of laughter. Many of the guests thought it was a sound effect!St. Thomas More is such a great church and we absolutely love shooting there!
We had a few minutes for portraits outside and I absolutely love these two portraits of the bride and groom!We had a good amount of time for post ceremony portraits, so we did lots of different things in the church, but all of my favorites were from just inside the doorway.When I said there were orchids everywhere, it was truly not an exaggeration!The favor boxes really fit in with the Hawaiian theme– and inside were two fortune cookies with a thank you message from the bride and groom.I loved how Gretchen inscribed Chad’s ring. What better message could a coach give?Gretchen really enjoyed her wedding reception– I can probably count on one hand the number of images with her NOT smiling!
They had some really great toasts and what better background than the huge windows of the Alumni Center?Orchids even cascaded down the wedding cake!This should be a great warning to all grooms– keep your hands on the cake knife!
This is honestly the first reception I have ever been to that had a “booty hour”. It definitely packed the dance floor!

www.LongsPhotography.com
Tallahassee and Thomasville’s premier wedding and portrait photographers

Vendors:
Ceremony Location: The Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More
Reception Location: FSU Alumni Center
Florist: Flowers by Vince
Wedding Planner: JoAnn Williams, Joyful Occasions
Cake: Heidi’s Bakery
Catering: Catering Capers

By Linda | Also posted in FSU Alumni Center | Comments (0)

Eva and Jace

May 11, 2008 – 6:47 pm

I woke up yesterday with butterflies in my tummy. We do engagement sessions for 99% of our couples so that we are all old friends by the wedding day. Since Eva and Jace live in Tampa, we weren’t able to do the shoot before the wedding, so I was a bit nervous about the day. It only took me about 10 minutes to calm down, as Eva and Jace are two of the friendliest, most down to Earth people you could ever meet! Olyn and I had an absolutely amazing day!

Eva and Jace had adorable (and yummy) favors– m&ms in their wedding colors!Missy Gunnels did another fantastic job with all the flowers!
We had a few minutes for portraits with Eva before the ceremony and I found beautiful light everywhere I looked!The girls were up for some fun portraits, so we tried a variation on the “bridesmaids formal”.Jace and the guys also gave us a few minutes for portraits before the ceremony. I love the tan tuxes with black shirts– we have seen more untraditional tuxes this year than ever and its so cool to see fashion trends for the guys as well as the girls!
Eva beamed all the way down the aisle.I loved all the stained glass and the high ceilings of St. Thomas More.
After the ceremony, Eva asked me if I saw “when Jace picked up my arm like we won a sports competition and showed off my bingo arms!” I laughed for a solid five minutes at her description, so I had to show the image.
I didn’t think it was possible, but Eva’s smile was even bigger on the way out than on the way in!We had lots of time for portraits after the ceremony, so we did portraits in the church and on the grounds outside.This is probably my favorite image of Eva and Jace– its so true to their love and their personalities!Eva had found a spot underneath one of the large oak trees and it was an ideal spot for some romantic portraits.
They were so excited to join their friends and family, they came running into the reception.
And immediately had their first dance! I hadn’t been to Capital City Country Club since I was in college and I was so excited to shoot a reception with so much natural light coming in the windows! It was beautiful!Once the party was underway, we snuck out at sunset to do a few more portraits on the grounds of the country club. The light was absolutely perfect and we had a great time doing some casual portraits.Missy did a great job adding simple floral accents to the cake.

Eva didn’t even try to feed Jace a piece of cake before she smushed it all over his face. He got his revenge in the end!After the formal toasts, Eva decided to say a few words. She spoke about how much she loved Jace, that “even at his BEST , like right now when he is hungry and hot and tired…” Isn’t it funny how misspeaking one word has such and impact? I love Eva’s face as she realizes her mistake.Eva’s reactions all day were absolutely hilarious! I love her face as Jace takes off the garter!While Olyn is the master of the action shot, I finally beat him with this one!After the formalities, they definitely heated things up a bit!www.LongsPhotography.com
Tallahassee and Thomasville’s premier wedding and portrait photographers

Vendors:
Ceremony Location: Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More
Reception Location: Capital City Country Club www.capitalcitycc.com
Florist: Missy Gunnels Flowers www.Missygunnelsflowers.com
Cake: Publix
Makeup: Randi Buchanan
Band: Key Creek Band

By Linda | Comments (0)