Vendor Spotlight | An Endless Pursuit

Boy met girl at Franciscan University in 2003, but for several years, the story ended there. Steve and Bernadette Dalgetty were fast friends in college, yet their future dating relationship--and eventual marriage--weren’t to be until later. For months, friends joked to Steve that he was “in the endless pursuit.”

Fast forward to 2009. Newly married, Bernadette and Steve launched their photography business with the idea that “a great relationship never stops pursuing. That's true for marriage. That's definitely true for our relationship with God as well as Catholics. We loved the idea of trying to weave that concept into how we tell stories of couples as they dive head first into marriage.”

Storytelling, in all its ability to capture raw emotion and evoke powerful memories for years to come, is a hallmark of An Endless Pursuit’s client experience. As with any story, the best one unfolds when its creator intuitively and specifically knows each person involved. That’s why Steve and Bernadette invest themselves in their clients’ love stories and wedding day priorities: from the trust and meaning they create with brides and grooms flow images that speak volumes and reveal the stories beneath the surface.

From Bernadette and Steve: We do not show up to weddings as a vendor there to check something off a list. For us, it's critical to show up with an authentic relationship with each and every couple. We can't really capture their story without a level of trust and understanding. We work with every couple up until the wedding to learn what's important to them and why.

A huge part of how we tell stories and how we look through our cameras at weddings comes from our own experiences as a married couple. There are a lot of similar elements from wedding to wedding-- the dress, the Mass, family portraits, and reception details--but at the same time, there are many subtle elements that are never the same.

Sometimes those elements are in the relationships of key people that shaped a couple's growth. Sometimes they are in the details and decor the couple worked on to convey something meaningful to them. Sometimes, they’re in the expression of a bride or a groom that can't be understood without knowing the backstory of what obstacle they overcame, the one that brought them to this day.

For us, it's that backstory that inspires what we need to capture. We try to show up to each wedding with an understanding of that, and let the day unfold naturally with that as the primary lens we look through.

See more of An Endless Pursuit's work in Robyn and Greg’s garden-inspired wedding, with beautiful springtime blooms indoors and out in the Dalgettys’ home state of Virginia, and in Emily and Ben’s elegantly rustic Nashville Wedding.

AN ENDLESS PURSUIT | WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM




 

Vendor Spotlight | Sarah Ann Design

Sarah Ann Design developed from a long-term love affair with letterform and bespoke details. Sarah Erickson, the woman behind this lovely typography and calligraphy company, believes in the character behind every letter, and the personality that every flourish brings to life.

"I'm relatively new to the wedding industry," says Sarah, "but have felt The Lord calling me to explore this realm of design." With a formal education in creative advertising and graphic design, and a passion for hand-lettering and typography, a transition into calligraphy and custom invitation design felt like a natural fit. "As much as I loved designing logos and brands, God placed it on my heart to collaborate with engaged couples as they prepare to enter the sacrament of marriage." 

A quick glance at Sarah's portfolio reveals an attention to detail that is increasingly rare in the wedding industry: "I love to hear all about a couple's unique love story, and find distinctive details unique to each one. Often, these inspirations do come from family stories and heirlooms, sentimental venue choices, or a love for spiritual tradition. I firmly believe The Lord has called me to this, and am constantly inspired by His whispers in my heart to continue pursuing this path He has laid out for me." 

From Sarah: Paper goods are one of the rare tangible memories of your special celebration; they are the first impression to your guests, and the last item you’ll hold onto for years to come. My ambition is that every piece of your invitation suite captures the essence of your unique love story. I design for the romantic couple who doesn’t want to forget a single moment of their wedding day. Ultimately, I desire to provide cherished keepsakes from this treasured celebration—reminders of true romance, a lifelong commitment, and vows for eternity.

Sarah Ann Design has been featured in Brides of North Texas, Glamour and Grace and Aisle Society

SARAH ANN DESIGN | WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST

Vendor Spotlight | Claire Watson Photography

A lawyer by day and creative soul off the clock, Claire Watson began teaching herself photography with a personal food blog. A publicist friend noticed Claire’s work as she improved, and invited her to shoot some business images for a local baker. After styling and shooting the baker’s products, Claire decided to throw in some headshots. She lent the baker her curling iron and mascara, and the realization began setting in: she liked working with people even more than with objects. She began shooting more and more portraits, loving the opportunity to give encouragement during a shoot and to witness the joy in her clients viewing their images for the first time.

Encouragement informs every aspect of a client’s experience with Claire. Engagement sessions are built into wedding packages, allowing couples not just to get comfortable in front of the camera, but to share their stories with Claire, and they receive a surprise in the mail following their sessions. Claire also specializes in timeline construction, helping her couples maximize the various locations, groups of family and friends, and desired shots that make up their wedding days. Her blog brims with wedding planning tips, and Claire loves texting with her brides to answer questions and to see when they purchase their gowns, and loves seeing the fruits of their marriages down the road.

All these investments in Claire’s client experience go far deeper than business decisions. Scroll through her blog and Instagram feed, and alongside her gorgeously airy, naturally lit portraits, journalistic images wherein a wedding day unfolds, and detail shots that nod to her start as a still-life photographer, you’ll find yourself starting to feel like you know Claire’s brides and grooms. That sense is rooted in her storytelling: how a couple met, what their personalities are like, anecdotes from their wedding day or engagement session, and boundless compliments on their choices in dress, decor, and traditions. Her stories bring a distinctively personal touch to her brand, rooted in true connection and an investment in the heart.

From Claire: Carefully watching for unfolding moments between cousin flower girls or a silently capturing that tear running down a daddy's face is what motivates me to become a better photographer. Those images only get more valuable as time marches on and I feel incredibly flattered when someone trusts me with documenting the first day of their marriage.

God looks on us with such a loving gaze, but often we don't see the loveliness He's built in us. If I can help people see a small fraction of that beauty, I feel like I'm doing good work.

CLAIRE WATSON PHOTOGRAPHY | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

Vendor Spotlight | Soul Creations Photography

Sinikka Rohrer, owner of Soul Creations Photography, is a new bride herself, and it shows. Scroll through her website and Instagram and you'll find insightful, faithful reflections on the beauty--and trials--of engagement and marriage, words that rejoice both in triumph and in suffering, knowing that every experience in a couple's life together is an opportunity to draw near to Christ. Sinikka's near-daily reflections speak to the prayerful relationship she shares with her husband, Alan, and can serve as devotionals for brides-to-be and newlyweds.

This heart for the sacrament of marriage is reflected in Soul Creations's client experience: Sinikka is a firm believer in both practical and spiritual support for her couples, happy not just to answer logistical wedding-day questions but to intercede in prayer for her clients. Her goal is to capture their testimonies and unique beauty through her images, and to encourage a lifetime, not just a wedding day, of solid faith, hope, and love.

Soul Creations is rooted Sinikka's longtime love of photography and the skill and passion that developed during an underwater photo internship in South Africa. Over the next four years, she worked various roles in the industry, but prayer brought her to a desire to glorify the Lord in her work. A wedding photography business--and ministry--was born, with a unique focus on walking alongside couples as they prepare for a union with God at the center.

From Sinikka: I absolutely love encouraging women, being blessed by each sacred moment of a wedding day, and helping others as much as I can. In addition to the spiritual aspect of the SC Experience, there is a practical aspect. I care deeply that the day that two are married is as seamless as possible. This is because the more I can help you with timelines, posing, expertise and the know-how I have on weddings, the less stressful your day is.

Jesus' eye [inspires my work]. I can't describe it any better than that. Before each wedding, I ask that he help me see what he sees.

See more of Sinikka's work in Becca and Kyle's Mediterranean-inspired styled shoot, a rustic, ethereal affair inspired by the wedding traditions of the Holy Land. You can also read her reflections on engagement here.

SOUL CREATIONS PHOTOGRAPHY | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Vendor Spotlight | Karly Jo Photography

In good times and in bad, it’s impossible to separate marriage from family: bride and bridegroom each approach the altar with their own particular origins, wounds, and strengths as they profess their love and fidelity before their relatives and as they embark on their first day as a new family. All of this transpires before the Tabernacle and the Cross, two realities that unite the entire Church: we, Christ’s sons and daughters, his body on earth.

Since marriage and family, life and love are so interconnected, then, it makes a lot of sense that Karly Schafer’s journey to professional photography was shaped by her own family. Karly’s grandfather taught his son, Karly’s father, the art of taking beautiful and technically skilled photos, and her father taught her, starting when Karly received her first camera from her mom in third grade.

Karly enjoyed photography as a hobby for years, and occasionally second shot at weddings. As she planned her own wedding, photography’s unique strength as a storytelling medium struck her, and as she entered into newlywed life, contemplating what sort of career change might lend itself well to eventual motherhood, Karly made the decision to go back to school and earn a Photography degree. By 2011, her business, Karly Jo Photography, was up and running.

These years of creative awakening were accompanied by a spiritual one. Though she’d been born into the Catholic faith, Karly’s family never practiced much. Following the death of her mother, a deeply prayerful woman, Karly was struck by a desire to make the Church the center of her life and entered RCIA. Five years later, as their family grew, Karly’s husband was received into the Church, as well. Though they’ve shot weddings together here and there, her husband generally cares for their four children as Karly travels throughout her native Wisconsin and beyond for weddings and family portrait sessions. Her intimate, film-like images convey Karly’s photojournalistic style, influenced by subtle direction and a desire to make your story--and your family--known and seen.

From Karly: I consider myself to be primarily a photojournalist. I’m capturing things in the moment, as they unfold, to tell the story of your day. Traditional portraiture is also essential, as formal & artistic portraits are a wonderful tradition which help tell the story of your family through the years.

My clients often become my friends. I love getting to know them and their families, being sure to tell the whole story from their day which includes the people they love most.

Karly Jo Photography has been featured on Green Wedding Shoes, Wisconsin Bride, Pretty My Party,  and Northwoods Wedding.

KARLY JO PHOTOGRAPHY | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

Vendor Spotlight | The Mantilla Company

Mantilla simply means “veil” in Spanish, and typically refers to the lacy chapel veils worn by older women at Mass in Spain and other Latin American countries. Although fewer young women wear mantillas to Mass on a regular basis, many still choose to wear a Spanish-style veil on their wedding day as a nod to the ancient Catholic tradition of veiling that which is sacred.

When she was planning her wedding, Gloria Franklin, founder and owner of The Mantilla Company, wanted to wear an authentic, Spanish-made mantilla to incorporate her heritage and faith into her bridal look. Her local search for the right veil ended in frustration: the selection was small, the cost was steep, and the mantillas did not have a traditional Spanish look to them. Thanks to her family in Spain, Gloria was able to find the perfect handmade, heirloom-quality mantilla at a quarter of the cost of a similar veil in the US. Through this experience, Gloria was inspired to help other brides find the mantilla-style veil of their dreams without breaking the bank, and The Mantilla Company was born.

Gloria hand-selects each veil that she sells from trusted Spanish vendors, and asks her brides to send her photos of their wedding dress so she can find the veil that perfectly complements it. The intricate and diverse lace patterns and varying lengths ensure that each bride can find exactly what she is looking for, and the reasonable prices provide budgetary peace of mind. 

From Gloria:  I truly feel blessed, honored and flattered to be able to do this work. It is so important to me to express my gratitude to my customers and I try to do that by putting a lot of thought into my selections for each bride. I love receiving emails (and photos!) from satisfied brides, whether it’s after try their mantilla on for the first time or after their wedding.

The Mantilla Company has been featured on Style Me Pretty, Wedding Chicks, Ruffled Blog, June Bug Weddings, and Want That Wedding UK.

THE MANTILLA COMPANY | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST

Vendor Spotlight | BodaMaestra

Maestra, in Spanish, means masterpiece, and that’s just what Esme Krahn wants your wedding--boda--to be. Esme was working full-time, coordinating weddings on the side, in Mexico when she first met a man named Joe, from Virginia, through online dating. Their initial conversations bloomed into a long-distance, cross-continental relationship that culminated in a Washington, D.C. proposal.

A lifelong Catholic and a lover of the Church and of her native Hispanic culture, Esme channeled her college event coordination experience into wedding planning the first few times she assisted with Hispanic Catholic weddings, and was awakened to a God-given gift. Now residing stateside with her husband, Esme earned her wedding planning certification through Weddings Beautiful Worldwide and transitioned her career into full-time wedding coordination and design. She’s served the D.C. Metro area through BodaMaestra, offering full and partial wedding planning or management plans, for over a decade.

Click through BodaMaestra’s gallery of recent weddings  and Instagram feed and you’ll find a range of gorgeous celebrations Esme has designed and coordinated for couples and venues of every origin; she happily takes on clients of any background. For Hispanic and American couples alike, her blog is a mine of practical information for brides and grooms seeking to plan a spiritually and visually beautiful day that exudes gratitude to God and to family and friends, with pieces on everything from creating an initial mood board to preserving your wedding cake to choosing the Catholic wedding readings best suited to you as a couple.

Yet Esme's specialty, the need she seeks to meet and the call she has answered in the wedding industry, is guiding Latin American couples in honoring the traditions of their heritage, through a nuptial Mass and reception that reflect the customs and rich culture of their families’ home countries. Latin America is a traditionally Catholic region with a uniquely exuberant sensibility when it comes to worship, dress, music, and other aspects of any celebration. The new union of man and wife is certainly cause to celebrate, and Esme’s ability to transform these aspects into something visible and beautiful in the particular and very needed niche she’s been called to, something guests can sense and be drawn into the the heart of God, is so inspiring to us.

Ultimately, it’s this focus on the Father’s love, goodness, and beauty that anchors all of Esme’s work and her client experience. She willingly and joyfully prays for each of her couples as they prepare to walk down the aisle, and encourages them to look beyond the wedding day as they complete their plans. Any wedding professional offers a service in the business sense of the word, but it’s this active sense of intercession, preparation, and grounding in virtue that makes Catholic wedding coordination, particularly BodaMaestra’s, distinctive--abounding in generosity and service in the truest sense.

From Esme: It is an honor to experience a couple's wedding day, as well as their preparation journey as I get to coach them and advise them on how to handle different situations. The beauty of marriage resides in becoming one and goes far beyond a one-day celebration. It is a longtime journey where the ultimate goal is to fulfill your vocation as a married couple and future parents, with God among you. To this day, I have helped dozens of couples, American and Latinos and anything in between!

I like to be there for my clients. At the outset of each coordination process, I hold discovery meetings where I find out what's truly important to the bride and groom. No couple is alike, so I take time to find out what each one’s main priorities are, what fears are hunting them and the overall feel they are looking for on their wedding day. My couples and I are a team where everyone has responsibilities and decisions to make. Our planning meetings are productive and a stress reliever--by the time the wedding day rolls around, the only thing they have to worry about is each other! My couples can trust me 100% that I will troubleshoot any day-of issues and will execute their plans as agreed. Each day is accompanied with a prayer for their life as a couple and for our team's abilities to shine and perform flawlessly.

BodaMaestra has been featured on United with Love, Ruffled, Borrowed & Blue, and Emmaline Bride.

BODAMAESTRA | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST

 





 

Vendor Spotlight | Just Love Prints

 

Lindsay Trezza, founder and owner of Just Love Prints, says that her inspiration to begin her business came from Luke 12:28: "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much." The combination of her gift for design and illustration and renewed desire to share her faith after graduating from college in 2012 led to what is now a flourishing business. 

Lindsay has a BFA in Graphic Design, so it's no surprise that in college, her walls were covered in inspirational prints that she created for fun. Three years after graduating, she felt the Lord nudging her to leave her full time job and take the plunge into Just Love Prints (as well as her second design business JuneberryCreative.com) full time. Her trust in God's ability to provide was well rewarded, as Just Love Prints has gradually become a household name in the burgeoning world of Catholic lettering and design. 

Whether you're looking for a custom-painted Bible for your maid of honor, a custom print of your wedding vows to hang in your bedroom, or an inspirational quotation from a saint or from Scripture, Just Love Prints has something for you. And each time you support her business, you can be confident that you are helping a young Catholic family pursue their vocation to the full. 

From Lindsay, on what is unique about her experience with clients:: I love connecting with my customers! Working with them to create custom pieces is what I especially love the most. Recently, I was given the opportunity to create a custom piece for a college friend of mine who is entering the Sisters of Life in September. She wanted me to create a watercolor print to give to her mother. What an honor it was to design such a meaningful gift - one that will hang proudly in her mother's home, reminding her of her daughter every time she looks at it.

JUST LOVE PRINTS | WEBSITESHOP | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | PINTEREST

Vendor Spotlight | Telos Design, LLC

Telos is a term from classical philosophy meaning “end” or “purpose.” And what, in our humanity, is our telos? To return to the Father, the source of all truth, goodness, beauty, and love.

Jessica Connolly, a wife, mother, and Catholic convert, brings our ultimate purpose into her business, striving to “[serve] others through design” and to reflect the maker’s beauty and perfect design for all creation.

A graduate of Kansas State University’s School of Architecture with seven years in the architecture field and five years of design school under her belt, Jessica founded Telos Design in 2011, shortly after entering the Church and sensing a call to pursue work that would allow more freedom and flexibility in motherhood. Her professional experience is evident in the clean-lined, geometric sensibility of her distinctive liturgical calendars that bypass pure function in favor of modern type and fine art. We can hardly think of a more original wedding gift for couples striving to live liturgically.

Unless it’s a custom gift--an offering even more original. Jessica finds herself most inspired by the natural beauty of creation; in addition to digital design, she’s also a gifted painter who specializes in personally commissioned works of art featuring brides’ own bouquets and images of the saints. Using acrylics and gold and silver leaf on wood to capture a precious memento from your big day or the spirit of a favorite intercessor, Jessica’s vivid, organic works remind us something else about God: he is almighty and the source of all, yes, but also a father who loves and knows each of us by name. Personally, unrepeatably. Eternally.

Along with calendars and custom work, Telos Design, LLC also offers beautiful prayer art prints and stationary. Jessica's passion for architecture and design extends beyond her business, too--her blog, A to Z Modern, invites you on her family's journey to renovate and furnish their gorgeous midcentury modern home in Arizona.

From Jessica, on her client experience when creating custom art: After working with high-end design clients, nonprofit organizations and surviving five years in design school, I'm used to harsh critics. And I actually work best with an outside editorial eye. So, I appreciate clients who voice their opinions while also supporting a little freedom in design.

TELOS DESIGN, LLC | SHOP | WEBSITE | BLOG | INSTAGRAM 

 

Faith, Hope, Love: A Letter From One Bride to Another

SINIKKA ROHRER

 

Dear Ladies,

As your season of planning comes to a peak, as the stress of family expectations mounts, as your patience with your beloved wears thin, I will be praying for you.

It’s in these small moments and long days that grace really shines. It’s in these stressful situations that you need encouragement to let faith, hope, and love overcome the challenges you face daily.

That said, I pray this letter slows you down, inviting you to think through what it means to look more like Jesus during this season of transition into marriage.

During our own engagement, my husband and I were often distracted by family members' opinions and negotiating costs with vendors. Our hearts were often more turned to take on the world, than to each other or to Christ.

I know you've already heard this, but it's the truth: Your engagement will not last forever. So while you are waiting anxiously for your day, I encourage you to take hold of the excitement and anticipation you and your beloved are experiencing and turn back to Christ, together.

To really see what it looks like to be the new creation he’s called you to be in this season, faith, hope, and love will be your stronghold; will help you balance the load and focus on Christ during this time of purification.

Faith

When my husband Alan and I first got into the thick of wedding planning, our minds were perpetually wrapped in budgets and expectations. One evening, Excel spreadsheets open and calculators in hand, again, I sat contemplating the idea of building our florist a website in exchange for his services, while my husband-to-be relentlessly clicked in search of affordable hotels for our post-reception stay.

Brows furrowed, we barely spoke. After we finally booked a hotel and decided we could spend a bit more for flowers, we stood up. I realized it had been hours since we last did even that! It sunk in that wedding planning had us doing things we hardly cared about, in the only time we had together. My beloved pulled me in for an embrace that almost entirely erased every angry moment, confused look, and hard conversation we'd shared about money that evening. We just were, and in that moment Alan’s love was Christ's; scooping me into his arms, reminding me that I am fully loved and fully enough. Reminding me I can lean into him when things get hard.

Hope

Alan and I spent much of our engagement job hunting. The plan was to graduate, wed, and start working immediately after college. The pressure was on. Alan had a job, but I didn't, which was critical since his opportunity wouldn’t start for 6 months after graduation. So while we planned, I hunted.

In my heart of hearts, I wasn’t sure I'd be able to get a job with the income we needed.

What we did know, though, was that God was trustworthy and that even in all of our efforts, our hearts could rest in the hope that the Lord was the one with the plans. We were just seeing them through.

It was hope in his providence that got me through multiple job applications, wedding planning trips, and networking meetings, to the one company who was ready to hire me immediately and value my potential.

Love

Okay, you say. We know about love. Christ is love. He’s shown us love. It’s both a feeling and an action. We get it.

I know that. But here’s what I hope you'll remember: even when you have the right answers, it doesn’t mean your heart is yet convinced.

The first time we walked into our mentor couple’s house, my fiancé and I held our chins high. I mean, why not? By the standards of our pre-Cana program, our marriage inventory results matched well enough, so we felt good to go. With our walls up, though, our mentors weren't able to see between the lines we were keeping hidden. We didn’t want to get vulnerable or talk about the selfishness both of us knew would be a massive obstacle in our first months of marriage (and it was the hardest obstacle we faced as newlyweds).

Love is so beautiful, and so embodies Christ, yet it’s hard to reflect his love when you’re tired. It’s hard to reflect it when the dishes still aren’t done, when you start to learn each other's' bad habits, and when you both encounter the struggle of self-discipline for the sake of another.

Throughout that first hard year of growth, the Lord saved and mended our hearts time and again. Because of Christ’s love, my husband and I finally started opening our hearts to change together, allowing ourselves to identify what triggers in the world turn our hearts to selfishness.

In this mess of our humanness, my beloved and I have had multiple opportunities to show Christ’s mercy and compassion to each other, and the healing we’ve sought since is starting to make its impact on our selfish hearts.

Love is starting to flow more freely, but not because of us. It's because of Christ in us. It’s Jesus who loves even when we don’t want to. It's his love that sees the goodness, the beauty and the person.

And so…

Let your guard down in mentor meetings. Let your planning dates slip just a bit. Let your heart be molded to enjoy your engagement, instead of to see it as drudgery.

Your day is not about you. Your day is bigger than you. Just as we, the Church, are Christ’s bride, I pray your day glorifies him, reminding all who attend of his great love, great presence, and great grace. I pray your capacity to embody his love increases day by day, that you and your beloved may find solace in the One True King that brought you both together, and that you may have peace in the waiting.
May the Lord give you the grace to allow his perfect faith, hope and love to continue through your engagement, so that the world may see His Face evermore through yours.

Sinikka Rohrer is a daughter of the King, wife of a man she'd only imagined, and lover of waking up quietly. She is the owner of Soul Creations Photography, a business on mission to capture testimonies, encourage hearts, and inspire marriages, and is a Spoken Bride Vendor.

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

Vendor Spotlight | Mary Katherine Photography

Scroll through her blog or Instagram, and you'll instantly sense that she's a traveling soul: from European Christmas markets to Carolina shores, Mary Kate Anthony's portfolio captures her wandering spirit. But, inspired by another famous pilgrim, Jean Valjean of Les Miserables--the book and musical that famously proclaims "to love another person is to see the face of God"--Mary Kate, owner of Mary Katherine Photography, knows the world isn't our true home.

Yet by capturing the love of a bride and groom on their wedding day, Mary Kate freezes in time those moments when we are reminded of our first heavenly home, the place from which we are loved and willed into existence and the place to which married couples vow to return their spouses before the Father. As a girl, she fell in love with photography through National Geographic's travel and nature books at the library, and by high school she was shooting sessions for her friends and family.

It was around then that Mary Kate began discerning whether her beloved hobby should, or could, become a career. Two weeks after graduating high school, she shot her first wedding and, through prayer, made the bold decision to defer starting college for a year in order to focus on her photography. One year later, she was the owner of a licensed business and a full range of equipment.

From Mary Kate: I am observant, idealistic and detail-oriented, with a deep-rooted desire to take care of others. All of this comes into play with my clients. Each and every one of my couples become so much more to me than clients. I fall in love with them, with their story, with their families, and with their love for each other. On their wedding day, I become a friend whom they can laugh, cry, and be themselves with. I am there to hold their grandmas' hand, to give tissues to their moms, and to assist with anything and everything I can. With a rich theological understanding of marriage, I view weddings as sacred events that I am beyond privileged to witness, let alone capture with my camera.

"To love another person is to see the face of God," wrote Victor Hugo. This sums up my philosophy of photography in eleven simple words. I truly believe each person I encounter is radiantly beautiful, because I know the profound truth that they were made uniquely in the image and likeness of God. I am inspired by the souls of those I encounter. I am inspired by the beauty they possess and might not even be aware of. I am inspired by genuine emotion, by the raw and messy yet beautiful reality that is life. I am inspired by finding God in the simple joys.

See more of Mary Kate's work in Maria and CJ's wedding, an elegantly romantic day held near Franciscan University, where the bride and groom met.

MARY KATHERINE PHOTOGRAPHY | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

Vendor Spotlight | OC Media

Attend a wedding, and you're given the opportunity to know the bride and groom in a new way, even if they're old friends: their ceremony and reception convey their values, their tastes, their style. On a day when all eyes are on the couple and the love they share, you're bound to observe something new about their relationship and interactions, not least of which is the fact that in the sacrament, a husband and wife have, in fact become a new creation, one before God and man, transformed and sealed by grace. 

The dress, the meal, the decor, and other wedding details do offer major understanding on the surface. Rightly so, that surfce can be beautiful and telling. What sets a Catholic wedding apart, thought, is the richness residing beneath the exterior. We are a sacramental people: the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of the Mass are invitations to the divine; the intangible made accessible, the Word made incarnate. The interior, brought to light, is a revelation.

It's that interior knowledge Keenan and Brianna Fitzpatrick are chasing. A few years ago, they showed up to a wedding empty-handed, with only their camera in tow, and decided to capture the day in a real, memorable way. Hours of footage and editing later, they presented their first wedding video as a gift to the couple, and the response let fall the Holy Spirit. Brianna and Keenan felt the pull to share their talent, and their husband-and-wife photography and videography business was born.

The OC in OC Media stands for Oculi Cordis, Latin for "eyes of the heart." The Fitzpatricks' work embodies this invitation to share in the inner life of their clients, to see with more than just what the eye can know. Yet it's the immediate beauty that first draws the viewer in and demands a closer look: photographs that are glowy, flooded with light, and often showcasing the landscapes of their native Colorado, and videos combining imagery, music, and speeches into something truly tender.

Clicking through a couple's wedding album or video as soon as it's posted can make it easy to forget these glimpses of the day will last far beyond the news feed scrolls and the excitement of early marriage. These images will be viewed, re-viewed, and experienced for decades. Brianna writes that she and her husband "can't help but be drawn into the present by appreciating the past." Creation is eternal.

From Keenan + Brianna: We call OC Media a ministry because we believe it is a tool and gift God has given to us to express to others the beauty that exists in their life--a beauty that is an undeniable gift from their Creator. So many moments in life, whether it's a marriage, graduating from high-school, or a baby's first steps are opportunities for us to encounter our God, ourselves, others, and the world around us in a profound way.

We desire to convey this by engaging in others' lives through relationship and by capturing moments that will hopefully be constant reminders of the giftedness of this life!

We also desire to develop real relationships with each of our clients. When we take clients, we are not just contracting a job with them, we want to get to know the couple or the individual beforehand and continue that relationship after their session. This, we believe, is the call of every human being: to encounter another in a real way.

If we are to truly capture events and important moments in people's lives, we need to know who we are capturing. We're eager to learn about each person's dreams, desires, wants, needs, loves, and even pains. We hope this sets us apart, and we hope and pray others witness the difference.

Our job and privilege is to enlighten others hearts through our eyes and your own. To be enlightened means having greater knowledge of and understanding of something. We hope that you are enlightened by the work we do, to not only see just photography or videography, but to see the beauty, truth, and goodness behind every shot, and in every video. May it open the eyes of your heart!

OC MEDIA | Website | Instagram | Facebook

Vendor Spotlight | Du Castel Photography

Real, free emotion on your wedding day--a first look steeped in joyful tears; the body language of a bride and groom with their backs to the camera, anticipating the lifetime that lies ahead; a whispered word during a first dance and the smile it incites--is fleeting. That's why wedding photography is so precious and enduring.

Brad Burckel, the owner of Du Castel Photography, was a hobbyist photographer until friends asked him to shoot their wedding four years ago. Since then, he's captured nuptials throughout his home state of Alabama, as well as other weddings on a national scale. Married for seven years and motivated by the beauty of their own wedding day, Brad and his wife Mary Margaret run Du Castel together. Equipped with a still-fresh sense of how and why to cherish your wedding photographs, he works behind the camera and her on social media. They've entrusted the business to the patronage of St. Joseph.

Brad combines photojournalism with simply posed portraits and close-ups, film with digital, and color photos with black and white to produce fine art-style images that exude a gorgeously authentic timelessness. Down to the name of the business, inspired by Brad's grandmother's French maiden name (it's derived from "of the castle") there's a tangible sense of something classic about his work. Flip through Brad's portfolio and that elegant, old-world sensibility is evident in every frame, yet what truly strikes us is the purity of emotion and candor in each shot.

The poet William Blake marveled at the reality that a human person can "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand / And Eternity in an hour." That reality is so evident in the Eucharist, and before the altar at a nuptial Mass. To have that kind of transcendence, and all its accompanying emotion, captured on film is a gift of a miracle.

From Brad: I work very hard to produce the best possible photography collection for my clients, one that truly captures their love story. With that being said, I also believe that marriage is a holy Sacrament and I try to balance the photography with the importance of the day. My own wedding day was one of the most joyful days of my life and I want this to be the case with each couple. I also focus on providing a very natural experience, and producing photographs that those closest to you will treasure.

I've been inspired by our family trips to Europe, with all its history and beauty--especially in its cathedrals. My work is inspired by photographers such as W. Eugene Smith, Rodney Smith, and Steve McCurry. My goal is classic, elegant, natural, and authentic.

DU CASTEL PHOTOGRAPHY | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Vendor Spotlight | Elizabeth M Photography

As a creator of photos that resemble film and a self-professed lover of black-and-white movies, Elizabeth Mahon of Elizabeth M Photography has a bit of a heart for the classics. What complements that old-soul sensibility is something else that's timeless and never goes out of style: generosity.

From blog posts describing her brides' and grooms' virtues--those hidden, personal qualities that aren't immediately evident when scrolling through a stranger's wedding gallery--to photos and well wishes posted to Facebook on her couples' anniversaries, to the fact that she's often hired to shoot the weddings of her friends and acquaintances from her alma mater, Franciscan University, Elizabeth embodies deep generosity of spirit in her work and her client experience. "It is often through our generosity that we are able to bring the love of God to life for others in very real and tangible ways," according to Matthew Kelly. In this sense, generosity becomes sacramental: allowing us to see, smell, hear, taste, and touch the love of the Trinity; where, in fact, is this love more tangible than at a nuptial Mass?

Elizabeth met her husband, Patrick, at Franciscan and spent a semester abroad in Austria, documenting the experience through photos the entire time. After seeing her photos from Europe, Elizabeth's friend asked Elizabeth to shoot her wedding, and the start of a business was born. "It was a beautiful Catholic wedding," Elizabeth shares, "and I remember feeling privileged to witness it in such an intimate way as the photographer." Her images that mix photojournalism with natural, unforced posing, all flooded with the most gorgeous natural light, truly capture the truth, goodness, and beauty she is so inspired by and that the Church offers the faithful unto eternity.

From Elizabeth: The sacraments have always played a large role in my faith formation. To witness so many Catholic weddings in my career is a true joy that has undoubtedly enriched my love for the sacrament of matrimony. I have shot all types of weddings over the years, but there is nothing quite like a Catholic Nuptial Mass.

I am inspired by truth, beauty, and goodness in people and in this world. I am inspired by authentic love, or most specifically, the sacrament of matrimony and the live-giving truth that it reveals about our Creator and His love for us. I'm also inspired by really good natural light, wide open fields, and contagious smiles!

ELIZABETH M PHOTOGRAPHY | Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram

Vendor Spotlight | Sea & Sun Calligraphy

In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1)...Through both Jesus's incarnation and through the sacraments, the Word becomes flesh. This truth is so tangible, so powerfully evident, in the celebration of the Eucharist and the Rite of Marriage at a nuptial Mass.

Words have power: the language of the Mass, and of a bride and groom's wedding vows, bring Love himself into our presence and very beings. So what better way to honor that profound communion than by making these words visually beautiful?

Marisol Acosta, owner of Sea & Sun Calligraphy, translates the beauty of authentic love and sacramental marriage into something the eye can see. Her love for lettering began when Marisol first picked up a fountain pen in middle-school; years later, she began pursuing new calligraphy techniques and fell for the art a second time. Her portfolio with Sea & Sun, which includes everything from hand-lettered envelopes to reception details to bridal shower elements and beyond, is a wellspring of inspiration. Sea & Sun's gorgeously lettered invitations and addressing, reception details, and bridal shower elements, along with dreamy watercolor art, invite Marisol's brides to think beyond typical calligraphed invitation suites. Extending hand lettering and artwork to other wedding elements helps create a unified wedding look, from guests' first time opening their invites in the mail to snapping pictures of the tablescapes at the reception.

For brides local to Southern California who'd like to try their own hands at learning Sea & Sun's elegant, precise style, workshops are offered.

From Marisol: Sea & Sun Calligraphy is a unique calligraphy service offering the finest detail of handwritten calligraphy designs for special events. I understand the sacredness of the sacraments, and love assisting you in adding an unforgettable touch of elegance to such lovely occasions. My advice to brides is that beginning a marriage deeply rooted in faith, along with the sacraments, and with the guidance of our Holy Mother Church, is what helps build strong and holy marriages.

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SEA & SUN CALLIGRAPHY | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Vendor Spotlight | Horn Photography and Design

Vendor Spotlight | Horn Photography and Design

The Rule of St. Benedict calls hospitality "the way we come out of ourselves. It is the first step toward dismantling the barriers of the world." In the case of photographers Michelle and Brandon Horn, it's also the first step toward creating a warm, personal, and unforgettable client experience--this Georgia-based husband and wife team embodies Southern hospitality.

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Vendor Spotlight | When Beauty Met Truth

Vendor Spotlight | When Beauty Met Truth

Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed in his 1978 Christmas Day homily that "the human being is single, unique, and unrepeatable, someone thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name." If anything, the sacrament and vocation of marriage are so deeply personal: it is a singular person we are drawn to in marriage, a specific love with which we honor and serve that person, and a mirror of the Father's reckless, divine pursuit of each individual human heart.

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Vendor Spotlight | Mel Watson Photography

Vendor Spotlight | Mel Watson Photography

Scroll through Mel Watson's portfolio and among the images of couples walking out the doors of their wedding Mass and praying together before Our Lady, you'll spot a scapular peeking out from a neckline here, a Rosary bracelet there. And her Facebook images feature profound quotes from Scripture and the saints on love and marriage. Down to the details, this amazing photographer is undeniably Catholic.

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