Hi, I'm Lauren! Welcome to my blog! I'm a Maryland wedding and portrait photographer that loves beautiful light and has an obsession with the water. This is my pretty little place to show off all of my most recent photography adventures and the stories behind them. So get comfy and have a look around!

“Seeds to Celebration” Jessie + Jeremy : Engedi Estate – Emmitsburg, MD Wedding

I’ve been putting off writing this blog post because I’ve been intimidated by it.  The pictures have been done, I just haven’t been able to figure out where to start in writing this or how to describe exactly what this wedding came to be.

This wedding was special.  When Jessie first contacted me about possibly photographing her wedding she described it as low-key.  Totally fine with me.  Then some time passed and she told me that the wedding, to be held at the gorgeous Engedi Estate, had completely transformed and was taking on a life of it’s own.  She had spoken to her catering company La Prima Catering about how she and Jeremy are both eco-friendly sorts of people and wanted their menu to be food that was organic and humanely raised.  The caterer took the idea and ran with it and came up with a brand new concept for the company….a grown-to-order wedding menu, which they now call their Seeds to Celebration program, a low environmental impact wedding menu alternative.  They teamed up with Open Book Farm to make it all happen.  The farmers planted a “wedding garden” in a piece of field on the farm that was full of things like tomatoes, kale, broccoli, butternut squash, pumpkins, bok choy, and tons of herbs.  The planning that went into growing the menu had to be thought through very carefully as they had to figure out when exactly to plant each different vegetable in order for it to be at it’s peak and ready for picking when the wedding date came to be.  They also raised chickens for the wedding menu, with it taking about 8 weeks for chicks to grow to adulthood.  The chickens were put out to pasture when they were old enough, and then were…..I’ll say “prepared”…..two days before the wedding.  Along with the grown-to-order menu, they also got all their beer from a local brewery Flying Dog and their wine was one made with organic grapes by Red Truck Wines.  Also, in order to lessen their environmental footprint even more, all food waste was composted and all glass bottles were recycled, leaving only one bag of trash at the end of the night.

It truly was a one-of-a-kind wedding that I was honored to be a part of.  In fact, it was even featured on the Washingtonian Bride & Groom blog recently!  Yep, my photos were in the Washingtonian!  How exciting!  I truly hope that this style of wedding catches on and I get to be a part of many more in the future.  I will always be thankful to Jessie and Jeremy for being the first of it’s kind for me and for entrusting me with the photos of this special event…….not only special for the environment, but also one of the most special days of their lives as they became husband and wife.  Thank you Jessie and Jeremy for being such amazing and unique environmental advocates…..and for simply being so sweet and fun.  The world could use more people like you two!!

Now some photos!!

That lady there doing Jessie’s hair is Rachel.  She does a great job and I’ll give you her contact info if you’re looking for a hair stylist for your wedding day.  😉    I’m kidding….but seriously, a big thanks to my awesome college lab partner Rachel for giving Jessie my info!

How handsome!

Jessie……seriously……gorgeous……

This tree-lined lane at Engedi was made for photos…..

 

Another green touch to the wedding was the simple but beautiful decor……the tables were lined with recycled glass jars that Jessie and Jeremy had collected over many months with the help of family and friends.

The food!!

Dessert time.  All fruits, while not grown at Open Book Farm, were still acquired from local farms.

This dude had one serious mohawk.  Totally blog worthy.

Reusable grocery totes as wedding favors.  The green aspects of the wedding just kept coming!

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