This is how behind I am in my blogging:

Last October, my very excellent blogfriend Cassie‘s sister got married and invited my very excellent blogfriend Jessica to photograph it. Not to be left out, I somehow weaseled my way in to the shenanigans as Jessica’s second shooter and scored myself a weekend of being taken care of by Cassie in Pittsburgh.

She and Jessica picked me up at the airport–and by that, I mean they parked in the parking lot and came and met me–with pumpkin-flavored treats from Oakmont Bakery in hand and drove us to her sister’s house to start the festivities. Jessica, who is from Louisiana and only sees one season per year, was almost breathless over the rolling hills flooded with fall colors:

And if she loved the trees, she loved the country barns even more. So much so that we went out in the rain to get a picture of her in front of one of them:

Cassie’s sister, Carly, is one of those down-to-earth people you feel close to as soon as you meet her, and she wasn’t freaking out about anything, which made this, my first time photographing a wedding, so relaxed and fun. And having Jessica there as the first shooter couldn’t have been better: she knew what she was doing, she didn’t mind a zillion questions from me, and she never made me feel like I was in competition with her for the shot. She also took the responsibility of all of the important pictures so that I could focus solely on Cassie having a hissy fit at the hair salon at 8 a.m. the day of the wedding:

No, just kidding, she was hitting the bottle hard to keep herself calm:

No, just kidding, she’s pregnant. And this was the kind of classy affair where pregnant women stayed sober and everyone else drank champagne out of McDonald’s cups:

Cassie’s oldest daughter, Claire, was a total delight despite being a child and spent all of her time either entertaining the adults or taking care of her brother and sister, although I have no idea where she gets her good manners. I was in the back seat of the car with her as we were leaving the salon, and she asked why I didn’t get my hair done like all of the bridesmaids; Cassie turned around in the driver’s seat, gave my hair a disapproving look, and said, “Katie will . . . brush hers . . . before the wedding.” Harlot! Brute! Meaniehead!

I kid, I kid. Cassie, aside from hating my hair, was as good a host as the first time I met her and super-generous to boot. The weekend was a great mix of Cassie, Carly, and their charming mother enchanting us with stories from their childhoods and Jessica and me sharing a hotel room and having important conversations about politics, religion, love, books, and her hot husband. Thanks for the memories, ladeez.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from the wedding reception:

Jessica at work

Cassie in front of the awesome-for-photos light wall in Carly and Ben’s reception hall

Cassie and Jessica, being adorable

Carly and her bridesmaids

Cassie, blowing bubbles

Ben and Carly and a whole lotta Photoshop

I die.