There are so many amazing things about this wedding, but I’m going to start here:
Loving Day: June 12th is significant and exactly why they chose to specifically be married on this day. Fifty four years ago, on June 12th, 1967, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled on a landmark case Loving vs. Virginia, that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. 9 years after that ruling Alanna’s parents were married in California. To honor their memory and the significance of the date, Alanna and Dan were married in the most beautiful ceremony in Phipps Conservatory Garden in front of their friends and family…..and they gave me the honor of documenting it!
After Phipps, they hosted their guests at the Foundry in downtown Pittsburgh with a taco bar and then treated them to some Top Golf – basically, Alanna and Dan had the wedding that everyone says they want to have! I know she has me at Taco Bar! haha!
I always ask Brides what attracted them to my photography…and here is what Alanna said:
“Dan had planned a “surprise vacation” for my birthday this year. Two days before we left, he told me it was to a spot I’ve had on my bucket list for some time, Napa Valley, California! On the third day there, he planned a tour on the Napa Valley Wine Train (if you’ve never experienced it and you love wine, I highly recommend it!). Before boarding the train, they had you walk over a bridge that happened to be a lock bridge. I pointed out the bridge because 5 years ago, when he officially asked me to be his girlfriend, he asked after a date that concluded with our own lock on the Pittsburgh lock bridge. During the “free time” at the 2nd winery, he pulled me away from the group and we went back into the vineyard. He enticed me there with a promise of an “Instagram worthy” picture and backdrop (haha). Unbeknownst to me, he had everything planned out to the “T”. Little did I know what was going to happen next! He had me take a picture facing him and then turn around and “look off” into the vineyard, that’s when he told me to turn around and he was there kneeling! I couldn’t believe it! When we got back on the train, he had champagne waiting for us and yup, you guessed it, a lock and marker to put on the bridge!
As if that wasn’t enough of a surprise and grand gesture, he had more up his sleeve. We went back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner and grab a celebratory cocktail at the bar. As I got to the bar, I noticed someone that looks extremely familiar. It was my Godfather and his wife! At first, in the haze of all the excitement, I thought it was just a coincidence that we ran into them but it quickly became clear that Dan had orchestrated the whole thing! He knew how important the Godfather role was in my family and after my parents passed a few years back, this role became even more prominent. That was something he did not overlook. I have to say, that was a moment I could have never even dreamed of happening and yet somehow, it did. I’m actually still in disbelief.
We have traveled to some pretty cool places together. So, when I asked why California? Dan said that he wanted to make sure he proposed in California, since that’s where my parents got married. The whole experience was absolutely incredible.”- Alanna
“One Monday morning, Dan was getting ready to leave for work. Preparing to walk out the door, he bent over to put his shoes on, and heard the dryer chime and turn on. He then ventures down to the laundry room to check out the situation. Half asleep, he walks into the laundry room, looks up and finds a 4 foot black snake crawling up the side of the dryer looking right at him. The snake crawled up the side of the dryer, over the on/off sensor, turning on the dryer. Now fully awake, Dan yells up to me, “Hey! come down here real quick!”. I come down and he is pointing to a snake sitting on top of the dryer, curled up and looking right at us. We have no idea what to do, but all Dan knows is that he has to get to work, so we find an exterminator to come get it, and he leaves me all alone with this snake sitting on our dryer. Now, here I am sitting on the steps, taking pictures of this snake all alone on my dryer trying to get into a fruit basket while I wait for the exterminator to come. Luckily, the snake was harmless and safely returned to the outdoors. It’s one of our favorite stories, and don’t worry, I never let him live it down that he just left me! haha”-Alanna
Three Things You Couldn’t Live Without:
(These are after each other and our family and friends of course! )
Dan- Golf, Breakfast, music.
Alanna- Pizza, espresso, pictures.
3 Random Facts About Each Of You:
Dan is left handed, is a black belt in karate, and was on a reading competition team in grade school.
Alanna has met 2 presidents, was on the boys wrestling team in 8th grade, and played the viola for 8 years.
He said it first when he asked if I would be his girlfriend at the lock bridge beside Phipps.
He’s been golfing since he was 6. So, he’s a great golfer and I’m REALLY good at… riding in the cart with him haha. We also enjoy going out on the lake and spending time at the family cabin in the middle of nowhere. This may sound cliché, but we really enjoy traveling together as well.
