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Tina Jay Photography | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer bio picture

Welcome to my Blog-Site!

Here are a few things that make me....me:)


I love everything about Philly, from the authentic cheese steaks to the beauty of Rittenhouse Square.  I love Penn State – pretty much everyone in my immediate and extended family went to school there, and I have great memories from both my childhood years and my collegiate years.  I love my Mac... I will never be a PC again.  I love reading books on the beach and traveling for weddings.  I love my boyfriend, Jeremy.  He is a great man, and I feel lucky to have found him.  I also love our spontaneous dates in center city and remodeling our 1920s house to make it a home.  I love hanging out on our deck, talking the night away.  I love reading Vogue, and going to comedy clubs with my girlfriends.  Sometimes a girl needs nothing more than to laugh so hard her stomach hurts.  I love my family.  They are incredibly supportive of me, and I feel blessed to have each an every one of them in my life.

 

Most of all, I love documenting weddings.  I love the details that brides put together and the energy and emotion of the day.  I love how couples invite me to share in one of the most special days of their life.  I love connecting with each bride and groom, in order to bring out their unique qualities.  I love capturing the emotions of the day with my camera, so each couple can remember and hold onto those feelings for the rest of their lives.  And lastly, I love bringing a fresh perspective to a timeless tradition in this industry.

Thanks for stopping by!


Tina Jay is a wedding photographer based in the Philadelphia area, and is available for travel to any location.  For more questions regarding her photography, please contact her at tina@tinajayphotography.com, or click on the "Contact Me" link above.

(All images of Tina Jay on this blogsite were taken by Alison of Alison Conklin Photography)

Birthday Goodness

February 2, 2010 Posted in Personal

About a week ago I officially entered into my late 20’s.  It was a pretty quiet birthday this year – it was kinda nice to just relax with Jay and my family.  I’m sure Jay was thrilled it was a quiet birthday – he always says when my birthday rolls around each year, it’s like Tina-palooza….most birthdays I do something every weekend for about a month to celebrate the birth of me:)  One of my friends once said that when people ask when my birthday is, I should just answer “winter”.  What can I say?  Birthdays were always a big deal in our house growing up, and I love celebrating them:)  Check out the awesome goodies I got for turning the big 2-6:

1.     I was SO excited Jay got me a Flip video camera!  We agreed to not do any gifts this year for anything since we’re saving for our wedding, but he surprised me with this Birthday/Valentine’s Day gift…..I just got it in the mail today and I can’t WAIT to use it!  I see some “vlog” posts in my future:

2.      My mom got me the 1st season of Mad Men – I had heard SO many good things about this show, but hadn’t ever seen it.  Well, Jay and I are now officially hooked.  We’ve watched at least 1 episode every night, and we’re almost done with the first season already!  I might have to buy season 2 ASAP.  I keep wondering if that’s really how wives acted toward their husbands 50 years ago.  Whenever Betty Draper says “whatever you think is best dear” to Don Draper, Jay looks at me and says he wants me to start responding like that to him.  Ohhhh wouldn’t that be the day…..sorry Jay, not gonna happen:)

3.      The Herstyler.  Oddly enough, I was first introduced to this gem when I attended the MJ 2 Day workshop in Arizona back in May 2009…..one of the attendees raved about this straightener, that can also double as a curling iron of sorts.  I said I didn’t believe it because my hair is stick straight, and curls NEVER stay in my hair.  Ever.  I always wished they did, because I am in LOVE with curly hair, but I’ve just realized that my hair can’t be curled (despite my attempts by getting a perm my senior year in high school – not a time I like to remember).  Well she whipped out her Herstyler, curled a section of my hair, and I was astonished.  It curled my hair.  And I needed it.  ASAP.  I always kept it in the back of my mind, but hadn’t bought it for myself – so I was SUPER excited that my dad got me one for my birthday……check out my curls!  Trust me….if you have stick straight hair, you need to buy this thing:)  What do we think of the new curly look??

4.      A Vera Bradley overnight bag.  So for this gift I was too lazy to take a picture, so you’re going to have to deal with a screen shot:)  I’ve needed a new overnight bag for a LONG time now.  I don’t know why I never just bought myself one, but for whatever reason, I didn’t.  So now I’m thrilled to give up the ghetto-ness that is my overnight bag, to use this fun bag:)  The pattern is called Raspberry Fizz….I’ll admit, the name makes me love the bag even more:)

Well, those were the presents that helped me officially enter into my late 20’s.  Late 20’s.  I kinda can’t believe it.  I’ll admit, sometimes I still feel like I’m 15 inside:)  Oh well, now I’m 26, and it’s time to do big things.  With awesome curls:)

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February 4, 2010 - 2:10 pm Kylene - Love the curls Tina :) And now you have entered the Vera Bradley obsession as well!!! I love it.

February 3, 2010 - 8:05 pm Jess - Yay for 26! I LOOOOVE the curly hair! And I guess I have to get Mad Men too!

February 3, 2010 - 6:20 pm Joan - Great gifts Tina! I'm glad you had a good 26th birthday! I love those curls!

February 3, 2010 - 6:16 pm Mary - I can't stop looking at your hair!!!!!!! I want you to do mine! Lovely lovely lovely! See you soon!

February 3, 2010 - 9:54 am Sarah - So many good gifts!! Im in the process of googling Herstyler! Love the hair :)

February 3, 2010 - 9:52 am Jaime - Yay for birthdays!! I've heard sooo many wonderful things about the Herstyler!! Now that I see the results I miiight just need to buy myself a "Happy February" present :)

February 3, 2010 - 9:45 am Gail - YEAHHH - SO jealous you got the HerStyler! I'm gonna have to borrow it when I'm out there and test it out on my own mane ;) And YES to you guys loving Mad Men. Isn't it AWESOME?!!! NOW you see what I rave about that show! Just wait...it keeps on getting better!! By Season 3, you'll be all "That's right Betty, that's right!" Season 2 is when I decided it was the best show on TV. :) Happy birthday sweetie! PS - As a random aside, Vera Bradley is based out of Fort Wayne, Ind., where I grew up. Talk about the ULTIMATE entrepreneur story -- those women are amazing!

February 3, 2010 - 9:34 am Ben - Actually, I still feel like I'm about 18!

An Updated Look

January 28, 2010 Posted in Personal, Photography

I love office supplies.  It’s pretty dorky, but true.  I absolutely love going to office supply stores – I think I could walk around and just look at things in Staples for hours on end.  Maybe it’s because I’m overly organized, and all of those organizational items in office supply stores just make me feel at home:)  A few months back I decided it was time for a bit of an update to my letterhead/business cards.  The ones I had before were designed by yours truly, and well, lets face it – I’m not a graphic designer, so they were pretty plain and simple.  I was SO ecstatic to have the amazing people of Two Paper Dolls design my new look, and I am absolutely in love with how it turned out – once I ordered all of my business cards, letterhead, envelopes and all of that fun stuff, I was so excited about it that I think I checked the tracking on the package about 25 times a day…..and the day the package arrived on my doorstep, well, it felt like Christmas:)

I am in LOVE with my new business cards:)

It feels so refreshing to have all of these updated supplies now!  What do you guys think?  Anyone else as dorky as me and LOVE this stuff?

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February 2, 2010 - 2:06 pm Sarah - Love the colors and design! And I think I need a job where I can frequent Staples more and actually buy all the cool stuff! :)

January 30, 2010 - 12:22 pm Joan - They look great Tina! I can't wait to get one of my very own! I still have one of the old ones, that I thought were great too.

January 29, 2010 - 1:58 pm Kylene - I am TOTALLY with you..Staples is like a second home for teachers :) They look great Tina!

January 29, 2010 - 1:57 pm Kylene - I am TOTALLY with you....Staples is like a second home for teachers :) They look great Tina!

January 29, 2010 - 10:39 am Lauren - I'd like to think I had a say in the biz card decision :) They look great! Can't wait to pass them out to my friends. Ps. Obvi I'm a dork w/ you if you bought me a number key pad for my bday & I loved it!

January 29, 2010 - 10:09 am Roanna - Love the new business card/stationary! Very simple but classy and edgy! :)

January 29, 2010 - 9:18 am Ben - Looks great Tina! How about some jackets and hats! :)

January 29, 2010 - 8:38 am Jess - Oooh I want one!

January 29, 2010 - 12:05 am Lisa-Marie - Hehehe...I love it too!! I got gift cards for Staples for Christmas :-) I love your new cards and am happy to say I have one of my very own!

January 28, 2010 - 11:27 pm Allison - I am, I am!! I absolutely LOVE stuff like this, and would love yours even more if I could touch them with my own fingers! The design of these is gorgeous, I see why you love them!

January 28, 2010 - 11:10 pm jess - looks great! =0)

Delicious Surprise

January 25, 2010 Posted in Personal

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes!  I was SUPER excited when I got home tonight and saw this deliciousness on my doorstep:

Mary and Sarah had my absolute FAVORITE cake delivered to me from a local bakery!  I almost didn’t even take a picture because all I want to do is dive right into it…..so that’s what I’m off to do!  Thanks again everyone!

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January 27, 2010 - 5:55 pm Joan - Wow, does that cake look great! I hope you enjoyed it! I wish I was there to have some too! How very thoughtful of Mary and Sarah...you have some really good friends.

January 27, 2010 - 4:43 pm Jess - Awww, so pretty and so sweet of Sarah and Mary!

January 25, 2010 - 9:31 pm Gail - Woot woot!! Happy birthday sweetie!!

Taking a Step Back

January 21, 2010 Posted in Personal

Sometimes, I get overwhelmed.  Sometimes I feel like I have so much to do, and no time to do it…..that my life is go, go, go, go with no break.  So then I decide to not go out on a Saturday night, or not have a date night with Jay, because that means I can cross things off my to-do list.  But I started thinking lately – that’s ridiculous.  I can think of SO many nights recently that Jay wanted to hang out or go do something, and I just flat out said “no, I don’t have time”.  I realized that has to stop – I also realized my to-do list will NEVER go away, but it can wait.  But sometimes, I really need to just put that list to the side and realize it will get done somehow, some way, but it doesn’t NEED to happen RIGHT NOW.

So that’s just what I did last night.  Is my laundry basket spilling over with 5 loads of laundry that need to be washed?  Yep.  Is my sink full of dishes I haven’t gotten around to washing?  Yep.  Is my diswasher full so even if I WANTED to do my dishes, I’d have no where to put them?  Yep.  But instead of crossing more things off of my to-do list last night, I went out to dinner with my friends Sarah and Mary.  And as we sat there for a 2 hour long dinner, drinking wine, talking about life, work and guys, I realized how lucky I am.  I’m ashamed to say I sometimes forget that.  So thanks Sarah and Mary, for making me remember how lucky I am (even though you probably didn’t even realize you were doing that!) – our dinner last night made me realize how lucky I am to have such amazing friends….life long friends that I love more than anything:)  So here’s to not forgetting that, and taking a step back to enjoy life.  Even if Jay did run out of clean shirts:)

Here is a picture of Sarah and I probably from back in 2007 with an old point and shoot HAH:

And MARY – I realized we have NO pictures together!  And we have NO pictures with just the three of us!  That will have to be corrected next time we get together:)  Love you girls!

**EDITED TO ADD:  Mary was able to find a picture of the three of us!  Woohoo!

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February 2, 2010 - 2:11 pm Sarah - Ah I can comment again! lol. love this post and the 'old' pictures!

January 24, 2010 - 8:44 pm Gail - I hear ya sweetie. I didn't think about photography at ALL yesterday and it was SO refreshing. And as a result, today I've gotten a TON of stuff done! :) Sometimes you'll find yourself being more productive when you give yourself a break. At least, that's what I'm finding!

January 24, 2010 - 4:58 pm Joan - Yes, Tina, I totally agree that we need to step back and smell the roses once in awhile. I am really bad at doing that and unfortunately, you must have inherited that trait from me! Sorry! So glad you had a great dinner the other night. There's nothing like getting together with good friends and talking about anything and everything! Great post! PS-I think Katie misses her PSU friends!

January 22, 2010 - 11:26 am Jess - Very cute and very true! I completely agree that you need to take a step back every once in awhile...love this post!

January 22, 2010 - 9:29 am Mary - Oh my dearest Tina, I will be sending you a picture of the three of us asap :) We do make a fine trio! Adore this post!!!!

January 21, 2010 - 11:50 pm Katie - Awe that post really made me miss you girls! Wish I could have lived closer after college!

Sarah and Joe: Wedding

January 16, 2010 Posted in Weddings

Sarah and Joe – where to begin?  Sarah is one of my favorite people in the whole world – you’ll never meet a more genuine and sweet girl in your entire life.  I’m so happy I met her during my freshman year at PSU, and that we’ve stayed close friends ever since.  And I think we all knew when we met Joe, that he was the one for her.  They compliment each other so well, and I’m so happy they found each other:)

Their wedding at the Waterfall Banquet Center in Wilmington, Delaware was just stunning – all of the details were absolutely perfect – so let’s get to their images:)

Gorgeous bride:

Yay!

The flowers were amazing – but what else do you expect from Mary and Dawn?  I’m so excited to say they’re doing the flowers for my own wedding!

Looooved these bridesmaid bouquets – I’ll be using these flowers for my own wedding too:)

Does Sarah look like a model or what??  I can’t even explain how amazing she looked in this dress….well wait….I’ll let the pictures do the explaining:)

Loved this hair piece!

Have you ever seen a back of a dress like this?  Phenomenal!

Let me say a little something about Mary and Dawn – to say they went above and beyond with the details for Sarah’s wedding would be an understatement.  They totally transformed this empty room to have a formal aisle – and the details at the front of the room?  Stunning!  I fell in love with their decorations – they totally made it into a beautiful winter wedding theme:

This just might be my favorite picture of the whole day:)

I’m thinking I might have to use this idea for my cake too (do you like how I’m stealing all of these ideas for my own wedding? – but I looooved how there were snowflakes imprinted in the icing!

Mary and Sarah – I love these girls!

These guys were quite the entertainers – the one on the right is Mary’s husband:)

Ahhhhh all of my PSU girls – this picture just makes me smile every single time I look at it.  I’m so lucky to have so many amazing friends in my life – love you girls!

To Sarah and Joe – thank you so much for having me be a part of your special day – I had SO much fun hanging out with you all day long Sarah!  Hope you’re enjoying the honeymoon!

For even more Sarah and Joe goodness, CLICK HERE to watch their slideshow!

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February 2, 2010 - 2:14 pm Sarah - We can't thank you enough for being such a huge and special part of our big day! All of the pictures are wonderful and everyone I send to the sight can't stop raving about how talented you are. Thanks for putting together a great slideshow too :) Love ya!

January 20, 2010 - 12:37 pm Jaime - Absolutely gorgeous...everything from start to finish was beautiful. Tina, you did an amazing job capturing their special day. Sarah and Joe look great!! Oh and of course I LOVE the psu picture :)

January 18, 2010 - 9:22 am Sam - omg amazing tina! Sarah looked fabulous and her dress was perfect for an elegant winter wedding. Mary and her sister's flowers were so great; gorgeous wedding! These are your best pics yet teens.

January 17, 2010 - 1:16 pm Joan - Tina-I'm speechless after that slideshow! What a wonderful remembrance of Sarah and Joe's special day! That song was perfect; where did you find it? I have to agree with Jess, country was not something I'd imagine you'd pick but it was just right. I love the pictures of the rings on the Hershey's kisses! Sarah looks like a model, just lovely. I'm glad the pictures are finally up; I've been checking daily! Great job again Tina! Mary and Dawn did a fantastic job; I can't wait to see how they'll transform your wedding!

January 17, 2010 - 12:09 pm admin - Thanks everyone! And Jess, Brad Paisley was the song they danced to for their first dance:)

January 17, 2010 - 12:02 pm Jess - P.S. I LOVE all of the details that Mary and Dawn created! The room looked awesome! Winter wonderland!

January 17, 2010 - 11:53 am Jess - OMG i LOVE them!!!! Sarah and Joe look so happy and Sarah looks stunning!! What a great day! Love the PSU pic and I love the pic of Sarah and Mary. Great song choice for the slideshow too (country Tina? Very unlike you, but you know I love it!) Almost cried watching that slideshow...so beautiful!

January 17, 2010 - 9:21 am Kylene - Tina, these pictures are absolutely amazing--you did such a great job at capturing Sarah and Joe's special day!!! Plus, Sarah looked freaking amazing! I was so excited to see them!!! And as always, LOVE the PSU picture :)

January 17, 2010 - 9:20 am Allison - Sarah could not be any more beautiful. And she was so lucky to have such a talented photographer to shoot her wedding day and capture it all!!!

January 17, 2010 - 8:58 am Ellie Vranich - These are amazing. I guess it makes it easier when the bride and groom are gorgeous! I'm so happy for Sarah and Joe! You certainly know how to capture amazing moments through pictures, Tina! Thanks for posting - I've been checking regularly!

January 16, 2010 - 11:53 pm Mary - Sarah, your beauty blows my mind. Tina, your talent warms my heart. I love every single one, esp your fav shot of them coming back down the aisle....you can't recreate those smiles! Looking forward to seeing the albums you create for them and composing my own blog! <3 you!

January 16, 2010 - 11:38 pm Gail - YEAHHHHHHHH way to ROCK a WINTER wedding girl!!! Wow...that bride is just GORGEOUS! I love all the feathery details, the snowflakes, the way the girls decorated with the florals. FANTASTIC!