Wedding at Bear Creek Mountain Resort / Macungie, PA / Jonelle & Ryan

August 21, 2021 — Wedding Photography

Venue & Caterer | Bear Creek Mountain Resort

We had been waiting for Ryan & Jonelle's wedding for, what seemed like, forever...we had their engagement session back in 2019 and they ended up rescheduling their wedding, like many others, due to the pandemic. Their wedding cake topper stated it perfectly; "Finally." :) Holly was especially excited for their wedding because she and her husband, Matt, are friends with Ryan, the groom. They all taught Lancaster Catholic's marching band together! Matt actually attended the wedding, so it was fun to have him there along with us. ;) And then Holly knew all of the groomsmen and many other guests at the wedding - it's just so much fun when we get to work with friends and people we know!

When we arrived at the Guido residence, where the Bride and bridesmaids were getting ready, Jonelle was so chill! Ryan on the other hand, was busy making sure everything was perfect and in its place :) You could tell he just wanted the absolute best for his bride and I loved seeing all of the little details that went into their day. There were SO many fun details....from taco and cinnamon bun cuff links to the "ring security" box, they thought of it ALL! (Etsy for the win!) If you don't know this about Ryan & Jonelle already, you'll find out from scrolling through their photos that they LOVE TACOS. They specifically requested getting a photo of them eating a taco together, LOL! I love tacos too, so these are my kind of people. ;)

The ring bearer was Ryan's son, Corlin. I loved how Ryan & Jonelle included him in their wedding day and Jonelle had me in tears when she said her vows, because she also had separate vows specifically for Corlin...it was one of the sweetest things I have ever witnessed at a wedding.

Ryan & Jonelle are both teachers and that was apparent in their reception details - they gave out pencils that you can then plant in the ground as favors, there was a classroom seating chart, and they had their students fill out marriage advice mad libs for them that they put on display; those were HILARIOUS to read through. One of my favorite ones was "In order to have a good marriage you must do what she says. Your spouse will really like when you play video games with her but they hate when you play for 6 hours." That's good stuff right there, hahaha!

Ryan & Jonelle are also both hard core Eagles fans and Ryan actually plays on the Eagles' drum-line. They told us beforehand that they were going to surprise their guests with Swoop, the Eagles' mascot, making an appearance at their reception! We were so excited! He ended up hanging out for a while and it was SO much fun!

I learned something new at their wedding...have you ever heard of a Babushka dance?? This was one of the bride's polish traditions. At the reception, Jonelle's mother sat her on a chair placed in the center of the floor and replaced her veil with a babushka. Everyone would take turns dancing with the bride and would give her money, and then the guests formed a circle around her. The groom, Ryan, had to fight his way through the circle to “ransom” his bride. It was extremely entertaining! :)

Their whole wedding day was so enjoyable and we truly felt honored to be a part of it. Enjoy scrolling through their day!

-Bri