Second Shooting a Fall Wedding at The Grayson House in Uniontown, PA.

It isn’t very often that I have the liberty (& invitation) to second shoot a wedding – my calendar is typically pretty full with my own weddings, time with my family, and weekends spent traveling to ride new roller coasters! However, when the opportunity comes knocking (especially when it’s my dear friend, Jessica Fike), I RUN to open the door!

And so that brings us to today’s blog post. I actually second shot two weddings for Jess last year – they happened to be back-to-back weekends – and at the same venue! It’s kind of a crazy story how that all happened (I wasn’t originally supposed to shoot for her that way, but some things happened – I’m looking at you COVID – and some plans were changed – ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom – and there we were!)

I have always wanted to shoot a wedding at The Grayson House in Uniontown, PA! I have heard amazing things – that it is gorgeous, that the staff is incredible, on and on good things – and I finally made my way there! Two weekends in a row! And it lived up to all the hype – it is such a beautiful venue! It definitely has it’s challenges photography-wise, but Jess had been there several times before & knew all the ins & outs (& secrets) of where to go to find the best light.

I always have such a wonderful time with Jess – and second shooting is such a marvelous break from being the main guy in charge. As a second shooter, my goal is to capture as many details as possible, as well as to look for those candid moments happening around (but not right in front of) where the main camera is pointed. It’s a totally different perspective than I have when I’m in charge & it’s a delightful change of pace.

While Jess was off shooting the guys & the girls getting ready – she put me in charge of shooting the ceremony space & the reception space.
How incredible is this?

Don’t you just LOVE these cookies they gave out as favors?! The bride & groom were each from Pennsylvania & Texas and their “yinz” and “y’all” cookie favors were perfection!

One of the really fabulous additions to The Grayson House & the venue that it is – they have a beautiful white house just over the hill for the girls to get ready in!

The bride did a first look with both her Dad and her Grandfather – it was so touching!

Not going to lie – this might be one of my favorite photos from the day! You can’t see her, but Jess is actually standing in front of the groom, taking his portrait. Meanwhile, I snuck around behind & snagged this photo of the groom’s Mom & Dad looking on at their son who was soon to be married. (And then of course, I took their picture – below.)

Something I have never seen before at a wedding – the groom ran down the hill to his wedding ceremony to The Eye Of A Tiger! He gave everyone high-fives as he jogged down the aisle – it was epic!

You have to love a bride & groom who trust their photographer SO ENTIRELY that they will happily wade into the weeds for some portraits!

This whole wedding day was absolutely beautiful – but my FAVORITE PART?! They had Coldstone Creamery come in & make ice cream for EVERYONE!! I thought I’d died & gone to heaven!

This wedding was photographed by Jessica Fike Photography, with Kara Abbey Photography acting as her second shooter. The ceremony & reception were held a The Grayson House in Uniontown, PA.