Sarah and Sam–On a Boat! And Married!! – Wedding on the Gateway Clipper

Sam and Sarah met nearly ten years ago when they were freshman in college at Carnegie Mellon.  They didn’t start dating until after college when their friendship transformed into a great relationship. Even though neither of them are Pittsburgh natives, they are enjoying the city so much–spending time with their dog, Ruby, and time on their own boat (that is where Sam proposed.)  How appropriate to have their wedding in Pittsburgh AND on a boat!

Yesterday Ryan and I had the enormous pleasure of photographing Sarah and Sam’s wedding on the Gateway Clipper.  Ryan began his day with Sam and the groomsmen.  Below, Sam and Ruby taking it easy.

And I with Sarah after her morning at Lewis’ Hair Salon in Shadyside.  Here is Sarah in her absolutely gorgeous SILVER wedding dress.  It was amazing and perfect!

Sarah was super excited to make her way to the ship for the wedding.

To avoid their guests seeing Sarah from the top deck of the boat, maid-of-honor Nikki carries an umbrella.  Maybe a few Dave Matthews Band concert-goers got a view, but it was quick!

Their wedding officiant was a good friend of Sarah and Sam.

These two were SOOO happy ALL DAY LONG!

Photo by Ryan.

Sam steals a kiss while we wait to go back to the top deck for some family portraits.

No “posing” here,  just smiles.  Flowers by Blumengarten.

Excellent toasts by Nikki, Scott, Father of the bride (Fred), and Sam.

Just after dinner, while the Empress staff was clearing the dance floor of the dinner stations, we took a few more photos in the evening light.

While I was setting up my camera, Ryan grabbed this next shot.

Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, Dinner, and First Dance music by the amazing Terrance Vaughn, One Man Band.  I highly recommend him if you’d like to have an excellent guitarist and vocalist perform at your wedding.

As always, a great shot of the first dance by Ryan.

Sarah and Sam were together all night.  Believe it or not, it is quite rare to see a couple together during their reception.  Dance music by DJ Jim Tolley.

I don’t know what this song was, but it made these guys go CRAZY!

They spent all night with their friends on the dance floor.

People were freaking out when the DJ played “I’m on a Boat (Featuring T-Pain).”

After cutting their wedding cake from Lincoln Bakery (left), they moved on to the groom’s cake.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more amazing groom’s cake.  Sam spent a lot of time in college as a buggy mechanic, while Sarah was/is a buggy pusher for their organization, Fringe.  Sarah surprised Sam with this buggy-shaped cake made by one of Sarah’s best friends.

Sam said just what I was thinking….”there’s no driver inside of this one.”

Photo by Ryan.

They both kept saying how happy they were that everything was so much fun/perfect/awesome for their wedding.

While coming into dock, everyone moved upstairs to watch the city roll in.

This was their real exit from the boat.

Ringshot!

Congratulations, Sarah and Sam!