Ya Mon! Strike a Pose: The Wedding Party

This week in the Quiche recaps - Portraits! Sorry for the boring-to-everyone-else-but-me posts, but I have to say that I LOVE portraits :) In the age of photojournalism style wedding photography (which I absolutely love as well!), the fact we were able to get the best of both worlds with Ashley made me happy.

First up, our awesome wedding party. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends that travelled all the way to Jamaica to stand by us on our wedding day. I can't imagine saying "I do" without these people by our sides. They love and support our marriage 110% and will always be there for us. Can you feel the love?






Why my arm tends to be in the air in so many pictures, I will never know...


Behind the scenes shot that I love!

The boys then gathered on the altar for a group shot. What a great looking bunch of guys!




Mr. Quiche & his best man


With GM B-Fresh

It was hard for to get a picture of just the girls together! Mr. Quiche kept joining in! Oh well, I guess we'll let him. It was his wedding, afterall ;) and he loves my girls!





Finally :) Even if it is a Blue Steel shot (which you may have noticed that I tend to shout this out quite often. I am working on it, as it isn't a good look for me at all!).



While we were posing and looking pretty, the boys were kind enough to do some action shot testing for us.


DJ Nilly gets some serious air!



Okay, I lied. This was actually their idea and their "thing" which I insisted on being a part of.

Attempt # 1 - good, but not great. We're just warming up!


Attempt # 2 - karate time!


This picture is my favorite of all, and became our thank you card!



Okay, one more behind-the-scenes shot - I love these!



& there you have it - Part 1 of 3 portrait posts! Thanks for sticking with me :)

What about you? Do you like a mix of posed portrait shots and candids?

All pictures by Ashley Colhouer.

____________________________________________
Previously in the Quiche Jamaican Extravaganza:
Ya Mon! Back to Reality
Ya Mon! “Goin’ to Jamaica & We’re, Gonna Get Maaa-arried”!
Ya Mon! Who Zip Lines Before Their Wedding?
Ya Mon! Reggae Sailing
Ya Mon! Practice Makes Perfect
Ya Mon! Rehearsal Dinner/Party/Bonfire
Ya Mon! Jamaican Mornings
Ya Mon! Getting Pretty
Ya Mon! Crewcuts Model (aka Boys Getting Ready)
Ya Mon! The Dress, The Dress, The Dress!
Ya Mon! Our First Look & The Attack of the Veil!
Ya Mon! The Ceremony Begins...
Ya Mon! The Ceremony Continues

Ya Mon! The Ceremony Continues

Mama Quiche is my best friend (in addition to Mr. Q, of course!), so there was no doubt that she would take part in walking me down the aisle. I've known Stepdad Quiche (hereafter referred to as Petey Quiche, because it's more fun) since I was a lanky teenage, running cross country. Yes, my mom married my cross country coach :) He has made her very happy, and is always looking out for us Quichey women! I was honored to have him walk me down the aisle as well (& he may or may not have cried when I asked him, but SHH! don't tell him I told you that!).


What't that you see in the first picture? Does the veil attach Petey Quiche this time? I think it did! :)

My laid back attitude about the wedding made me not question the Jamaican trio that we had performing during the ceremony. Can you believe it never even crossed my mind as to what they may or may not be playing? I guess I figured it would be something instrumental, but imagine my suprise when they busted out with a rasta reggae version of "Here Comes the Bride". Not a fan of this particular song, it was still pretty hilarious!



I count myself very lucky and blessed that my family and Mr. Quiche all love each other so much. There were some serious hugs going on when they handed me over to Mr. Q.



As the sun started to sink into the horizon, the ceremony began.





I made the decision early on that I wanted to write our ceremony. We were provided with the stock ceremony from the resort which, while lovely, just wasn't "us" at all! It was very important to me that our ceremony and veils reflected who we are as individuals, as a couple and as a family. I still have people today tell me how beautiful the ceremony was, and I am so happy with my decision to write it.



We were so lucky to little Miss S participate in our ceremony as well. She constantly amazes me (& everyone, including her parents!) with her insignt and wisdom. It is sometimes hard to remember that she is only 12, so we had to make sure our reading was appropriate for her to read. Nothing too gushy or adult. I've always loved "I Carry Your Heart with Me" by e.e. cummings, and she read it beautifully.


All the while ROCKING that Juicy Couture dress & gladiator sandals. What a budding fashionista (okay, her mom made her wear it :) she doesn't like dresses)!

This was also marks the FIRST time I cried the entire weekend. People, I am an emotional sap...but I just couldn't cry no matter how hard I tried (you know, those special moments where you're "supposed" to cry & just can't!).

In writing the ceremony, I wanted to have a moment that included the Mini Quiches. Not only to have them feel included in the ceremony, but to also make vows together, as a family. Talk about making everyone cry! After a blessing from the pastor, we all said our famiy vows together - I will never forget that moment.



Then it was time for Mr. Quiche and I to say "I DO"!





In a Jamaican wedding ceremony, the couple and their witnesses sign the marriage certifcate before "You May Kiss the Bride" can happen. I was anxious to lay one on Mr. Q, but followed the rules and signed on the dotted line :)




Mini Quiche A always wants to know what's going on! :)

FINALLY, some kissing!!





May I now annouce, for the first time ever, Mr. & MRS. Quiche!



Petey Quiche's reactions to this are PRICELESS, and deserve their own play-by-play - don't you think?!



After everyone made their way back up the aisle, we were met by the awesome staff at Coyaba for celebratory Red Stripes and Rum Punch. YUM! It was then time for fun wedding party pics...and cocktail hour!

All pictures by Ashley Colhouer.

____________________________________________
Previously in the Quiche Jamaican Extravaganza:
Ya Mon! Back to Reality
Ya Mon! “Goin’ to Jamaica & We’re, Gonna Get Maaa-arried”!
Ya Mon! Who Zip Lines Before Their Wedding?
Ya Mon! Reggae Sailing
Ya Mon! Practice Makes Perfect
Ya Mon! Rehearsal Dinner/Party/Bonfire
Ya Mon! Jamaican Mornings
Ya Mon! Getting Pretty
Ya Mon! Crewcuts Model (aka Boys Getting Ready)
Ya Mon! The Dress, The Dress, The Dress!
Ya Mon! Our First Look & The Attack of the Veil!

Ya Mon! The Ceremony Begins...

Fresh from our first look, it was time for the ceremony to begin (we took some bridal party pictures before the ceremony, but I'll share all of those later).

I've been dying to show you how some of my DIY details made their way to the ceremony. As I've said before, the wedding lawn is incredible on its own, but I wanted to do a little "something" to dress it up a bit. It's hard to pick my favorite thing, but I love the way the "floating" flower petals look! I haven't even mentioned my pomanders yet, but the way they POP makes me sooo happy!


gorrrrrgeous, no?

And here's the "before" shot, gorgeous as well!



Okay, where were we? Oh yeah, the wedding ceremony! I was squirrelled away to Mama & Stepdad Quiche's room while our guests took and seat & everyone else lined up and began their ascent to the altar.


Using the DIY fan/programs!



The boys, assembled, & looking mighty fine.


guest photo


guest photo
Peeking out behind the lovely Miss P.

Now it's time for those gosh darn cute kiddos!!






Do you think Mr. Q is starting to get nervous at this point??

& finally, time for the bride!



Next up, Ceremony Part Two!

All pictures, unless noted, by Ashley Colhouer.

____________________________________________
Previously in the Quiche Jamaican Extravaganza:
Ya Mon! Back to Reality
Ya Mon! “Goin’ to Jamaica & We’re, Gonna Get Maaa-arried”!
Ya Mon! Who Zip Lines Before Their Wedding?
Ya Mon! Reggae Sailing
Ya Mon! Practice Makes Perfect
Ya Mon! Rehearsal Dinner/Party/Bonfire
Ya Mon! Jamaican Mornings
Ya Mon! Getting Pretty
Ya Mon! Crewcuts Model (aka Boys Getting Ready)
Ya Mon! The Dress, The Dress, The Dress!
Ya Mon! Our First Look & The Attack of the Veil!

Photoshop Fun!

*not for WB :)

I'm taking a Photoshop class right now & to say that I am obsessed is putting it mildly :D From the basic tools alone, I'd have to say that clone-stamping is my favorite thing to do. The clone stamp tool allows you to copy one portion of the image and repeatedly "paint" over unwanted things in the picture. I have some examples below, but I've used it to completely remove things from the backgrounds of pictures, to cleaning up clutter on a bed, etc.

The one thing that makes me sad about our wedding day is that there isn't ONE professional picture of Ted and I, standing up, looking in the camera in a "normal", posed wedding shot way. & there really weren't many guest pics like this, either! I have no idea how I let this happen, as I actually LOVE posed shots, but I can't dwell on it.

Luckily, my sister Jennifer took a picture with her point & shoot of us standing on the pier at sunset. The lighting isn't great & there is a ton of "junk" in the background. However, with my handy dandy clone stamping tool, I was able to wipe away all of that clutter!

Click to enlarge the original picture (THANK YOU NEN!!!):


After Clone Stamping & fixing shine on our faces, etc:


While the color is still a little dark, this picture looks 100% better than the original.

Here I tweaked the curves to allow in a little more light & color:


Still not great, but getting closer!

We don't use these in class, but now that I own Totally Rad Actions, my love for photography has gone through the roof! Taking the original clone stamped image, I "played" various actions on the pictures to achieve various looks. Actions are great because you can use as much or as little as you want of them by utilizing layer masks. This may sound foreign to those not familiar with Photoshop, but trust me...Totally Rad actions are TOTALLY freakin' rad!

Here are some of my favorites:






grungy, grainy & awesome ;)




Totally Rad Actions are also great to spruce up color on landscapes. This first image is one my mom took while zip-lining through the Jamaican mountains. Pretty, right?



Well, check out what applying an action can do to really make these colors POP! I believe the action I used had the word Green in the title, but I can't remember.




I keep bragging about my mad photoshop skillz to anyone who will listen, so I intend on making this a series of sorts to show off. :)