BLOG » Documentary Wedding + Elopement Photography for Romantic, Adventurous Couples - Jennifer Mowry Photography

UP FOR AN ADVENTURE? FOLLOW ME!

Yesterday I did something I've wanted to do for a

Yesterday I did something I've wanted to do for a long time; make traditional Polish pierogi from scratch. To all the chefs and bakers (and Babushkas) out there, I applaud you; you are probably freakin jacked, under-appreciated, and under-paid. Babushkas must have been so strong, mashing and mixing all that filling and then kneading the dough for an eternity...!!!?!?!?💪👵🤣 100% from-scratch cooking is a bit out of my wheel house aside from the common/easy stuff that I make all the time. Dough is new to me, and I was definitely anxious; its a lot of time and energy wasted if these pierogi suck.

But they didn't suck. And it wasn't difficult, just time consuming. Once I (mostly) got the hang of filling and shaping the pierogi, it was actually kind of cathartic. I learned a lot from spending a solo morning in the kitchen with my bare hands and honestly, Big Pierogi Energy is what I want to bring into 2023, because:

-Its never a bad thing to be stuffed with potatoes, onions, and cheese.

-Hey, your edges are fine.

-You probably need a little more water.

-Its fine to be a little thicker than the rest, especially if you've got a little extra goodness in you.

-Being uniform is overrated.

-Onions sautéed in butter with sour cream is always an appropriate topping.

-I repeat, its never bad to be full of potatoes, onions, and cheese.

I still have about four pounds of filling and half my dough in the fridge, so I'll be making more Pierogi today and freezing them for future enjoyment. Just because its the end of the year doesn't mean you can't do hard things. You don't need to wait to start something new. Just grab something from your bucket list, carve out the time, and begin - even if you're solo; it wont be any less rewarding alone. Cieszyć się! #BigPierogiEnergy

What are you bringing into the New Year??

I have not "posted" on here in a long time. In ove

I have not "posted" on here in a long time. In over a year. (I'm not counting sharing memes and strange dreams to my story😅) That is a long time to not-share, especially for a business in this day and age when every platform doubles as a place to advertise. But I am a person, too. I have slacked HARD on my "social media game" the last couple years because, for a while there, everything I saw was so negative. Everywhere. I'd see other users being nasty to each other in random comments, see rude posts, see THE worst things about people in general and I just didn't want to be associated with any of it so I just walked away.

In my time off-screen, I have learned (and re-learned) many lessons. One of the biggest hurdles for me is that there are so many things I cannot control, things that are not connected to, directed at, or meant for me; and ***I do not need to feel responsibility for these things.*** That has taken me a long time to truly learn and practice in terms of "letting go." (Plus, I'm an introvert. 🤷🏻‍♀️😅 Social media is SOCIAL, and it's sort of exhausting for me.)

During COVID my livelihood and entire industry got turned upside-down like many others, and two years later the aftershocks are still being felt. The last couple years have been especially insane with so many events getting constantly rescheduled, blocking off dates for things that never came to fruition, to working constantly and ravenously to catch up on all the things, please all the people, squeeze everything in - I had to have a sit-down with myself and figure out if I even wanted to continue in the wedding industry, with photography in general.

(Continued in comments)

Reeeeeeally not much better than mountain top elop

Reeeeeeally not much better than mountain top elopements first thing in the morning 😍 Congratulations to @jaynaann and Efrain on officially tying the knot this morning!! #wildlove #wildloveadventures #elopementcollective #elopement #radlovestories

Adorable pups, tasty beer, and delicious food 🤤

Adorable pups, tasty beer, and delicious food 🤤 Exactly how every Friday should be. #kettlehead #beersnob #beernerd #kettleheadbrewing #doublesmash #doggo #pennythepitty #pennythepittiepup

Virginia was pretty cool yesterday. I stayed in Wi

Virginia was pretty cool yesterday. I stayed in Williamsburg (will definitely be back!) and got to see these giant president heads, sculpted by David Adickes. I love the way Adickes made the eyes, and I couldnt help but love all the clothing details. (Entire adult human me for scale.) I wonder if these heads will start to become overgrown in coming years, or if more lightning strikes will do more damage. Big thank you to Howard Hankins and @johnplashalphoto ! Seeing these heads requires tickets, and they aren't available all year round-the fact that there happened to be a tour the same weekend as my spur-of-the-moment road trip to TN is kind of magical, right? ✨ #virginia #explorevirginia #giantpresidentheads #presidentheads

Just logging in now and realizing I haven't posted

Just logging in now and realizing I haven't posted here anything since I got engaged last year! 🤣 Lots of things happened, including that my now 🔥HUSBAND🔥 and I eloped! Back in when there was still snow on the ground. In February. On a random Monday. 😅 If you follow my amazing friend @jennbakosweddings (or @jennbakosphoto if you like travel and food) you've already seen some of these, but if you don't (seriously go follow her, she's awesome), here are some highlights from our wedding shoot:

-Brewery pics at my favorite place, @kettleheadbrewing Lots of looks from other patrons, but also clapping and we got photobombed by a cool sunglasses-wearing dinosaur I have since affectionately named Jimmy. Food was also 10/10 🍻🦖

-Snow! I love snow! But it was so cold and windy my eyes kept watering so that wasn't the best. Still so glad we stuck it out for outdoor photos though! 🖤

-I hand stenciled that jacket. With a Milky Pen straight out of the 90's. It took two days. ☠️ (I also made the bouquet out of random branches from around my mother-in-law's property-thank you Amy!💕)

-Trains! 🚞 If you couldn't tell, and if you don't know my husband, he is a SUPER goofball (even in public) and can (and does!) make friends anywhere he goes. I, an introvert, will probably always be mortified by these facts, but damn he knows how to make me laugh. Trying to take actual nice photos with him was a struggle because he just kept making doofy faces or pretending to "bite my head" when he was supposed to "kiss my temple." Romantic, right? 💘

We didn't elope just because of COVID-and we're not pregnant, lol-we eloped because it suited us best. I'm already camera shy and just the idea of proclaiming vows in front of a room full of people makes me start to sweat. That whole deal is NOT for me. 🤣 To all future spouses out there, whether you're my clients or not, whatever your wedding day looks like make sure its what YOU want to do, and that it reflects YOU and your love for one another.

We couldn't have made this happen without @jennbakosweddings or @kettleheadbrewing so thank you both SO MUCH! 🖤2/8/21🖤

Happy Friday to me! 😱😭😍💍✨ I love you

Happy Friday to me! 😱😭😍💍✨ I love you @andrucias 🖤