The Clarion in Hagerstown has a huge ballroom and facility. But that’s not where this wedding was held. Instead, it was in the Atrium at the Clarion… same site, but closer to the indoor pool. Now you might say something like “near the pool? How weird is that?” But it’s nicer than you think.
The Atrium is laid out so that there are gardens on both sides. Many hotel rooms face this pool area and while there is that pool “smell” in the air, you quickly adapt and realize that with the skylights all around, this is a pretty neat place for a wedding. The staff was super and very supportive to everything going on… despite having another event down at the ballroom right after the wedding.
The one disadvantage which was harder to overcome was that because there was a big pool with lots of heated water, there was considerable humidity. As a result, there was little dancing. But everything else went super and Jenny and Andrew had a great time seeing family, friends and others who made it to the wedding.
This is from the ceremony, where the rings were being exchanged.
One of the most precious moments of the day, and which got rousing cheers from the guests, was when the ring bearer and flower girl were underneath the floral arch and taking pictures of themselves. This is one of several photos of that moment.
The lobby of the hotel was a nice place to take some formals. While the bride and groom weren’t big on formal photos, they were into getting some good ones. This special moment preceeded some additional fun on a balcony and back into the reception for dancing and cake.
The bouquet toss is one of those things that is unpredictable at every wedding. In many cases, some ladies won’t participate. In others, they hold their hands behind their back. And in most cases they just won’t try for the bouquet. Despite the tradition that catching the floral collection means that you are next to get married, most don’t realize that it also means you get a free flower arrangement.
At THIS wedding, there was a lot more effort than I’ve seen before. In this case, two people caught the bouquet, and BOTH of them dropped it in favor of the other. I shook my head and wondered why people give up on free flowers. I’ve put many a fallen flower into my lapel. 🙂 Here’s a shot from that big moment.
Jenny and Andrew are just great folks, and they’ve already passed along how much they loved the photos. A very nice note from Jenny’s mom did the same thing. It’s not often that you get a thank you in the mail for doing your job. 🙂
Best wishes to the happy couple.