Jeff and Gabe l free wedding photography winners l annapolis wedding photographer l stacy richardson

Remember the “not so in love” love story that was told back in December of last year by Jeff and Gabe? The story that won the hearts of hundreds of voters on my blog!? Well I had the awesome pleasure of photographing their wedding this past weekend and It was a BLAST!  It was up in Stewartstown PA, and if you have never been  there, you must go!  It is a small town in southern Pennsylvania with a beautiful backdrop for a backyard wedding.  The landscape was gorgeous and the couple was too!  The greatest thing about it was that I was able to give them a gift.  The gift of wedding photography.  For those of you that are new to the blog, I held a FREE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY contest back in December and Jeff and Gabe won, by popular voters like you!  Here is the letter I received from Jeff for the contest.

“Gabe and I met in the most unlikely place to find love…a junkyard.  We both were hired around the fall of 2003 to work together weighing material in and out of the scrapyard.  After the initial period of getting to know one another and being nice, it became apparent that we did not get along at all.  From getting into arguments to not talking to each other for a few days we went through a phase were we couldn’t stand one another.  After a year, things got to the point where the owner of the company had to sit down and told us to improve our communication with one another.  Rather than lose our jobs I think we both made a little more effort being courteous from that point on.  Slowly, Gabe and I began to develop a friendship.  Soon enough friendship turned into infatuation…at least on my end.  Defiant in the face of any fraternization policies at work, I mustered up enough courage to ask Gabe out on a date.  Three years later that seed of courage has grown into a relationship that values communication and friendship.  In June of 2009, Gabe and I will be getting married in Stewartstown, PA.  Gabe no longer works at the junkyard.  She had the opportunity to go back to school and get her Master’s degree in Special Education.  She is currently in her first year teaching 4th and 5th grade Special Education in Baltimore City. As we have been planning our wedding it has become quite evident that based on our modest budget, Gabe and I can’t afford to hire a photographer of Stacy’s caliber.  The thing that comes through most clearly in the photos I have seen by Stacy is the ability to capture an event’s vibe or feel.  Be it from capturing the youthful joy of a child’s face or an newlywed couple caught in a fleeting moment.  Gabe and I would be blessed to have someone like Stacy at our wedding to forever document not only the big moments of our day but also the small.  We have attached a photo taken at a recent “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party”.  We hope you aren’t alarmed by our fashion sense and wish you and yours a happy holiday and healthy New Year.”

I was thrilled to be able to spend the day with them and I wish them all the best in their life together! A special thanks to my lovely assistant Heather for giving of her time as well!

Here are a few of my favs and a mini-slideshow from the day.

The first shot shows how they REALLY felt about each other when they first met!