River House at Odette's Wedding | New Hope, PA Spring Wedding

July 24, 2025

Kierstan & Michael had their wedding at the River House at Odette’s in New Hope, PA.

One of my favorite things about filming weddings is getting to capture real, authentic moments. Kierstan & Michael’s day was gorgeous, with amazing pastel florals and a stunning backdrop of the River House New Hope wedding venue. But two specific moments really jump out to me.

The First Look

The first look has become a pretty standard part of most wedding days, with couples opting to see each other prior to the ceremony, easing the logistics of getting all the photos and video they want on the day. The weather in the morning wasn’t ideal, so we picked a spot under an overhang at the River House, and if I’m being honest…I wasn’t thrilled as we set up. We had limited angles, and I always try to avoid seeing cars on the road and power lines whenever I can…which I couldn’t avoid in the background. It was unavoidable, but I was a little bummed, if I’m being honest.

But it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day in spite of those “imperfections”. The moment Kierstan & Michael had seeing each other was so real, and with the setup we had, seeing their emotions in real time was so far more important than the background. It’s one of my favorite first looks I can think of!

The Best Portrait

River House at Odette's Wedding Portrait

The second moment came while we were doing their family portraits. Somehow, Kierstan and Michael were a little down the path from where everyone else was, and they did a very cute little sequence of kisses together, from forehead to lips and back, back and forth between them. The moment that isn’t in the film is when they noticed me filming afterwards, where I sheepishly apologized, to which they said, “no, that’s great, that’s what we want!”.

There are lots of gorgeous things that are posed and rehearsed on the wedding day (their rehearsed first dance turned out amazing), but those little touches, or loud geese, or the chaos on the dance floor, are what I love most about getting to capture amazing stories like theirs.