I can’t believe how fast this past year has flown by. Due to COVID, Candice and Joe made the difficult decision to postpone their 2020 wedding date exactly one year, to August 1st of 2021. Candice and Joe actually live in California, so with everything going on it didn’t make sense for them to fly back to Cincinnati and gather with their friends from multiple states (states so far away that most of their friends had no idea that Ohio and Kentucky were next to each other, haha!) so postponing their wedding date was a difficult, but necessary, thing to do. Candice & Joe have been together for eleven years now and really wanted me to focus on capturing all of the natural moments that candidly happened throughout their wedding day. Let me just say, it was such an honor to capture this day for them and I know that all of these wonderfully candid moments capture such an incredible story.
I started my morning off by meeting Candice & Joe and a few of their friends at their hotel in Newport. Candice and Joe wanted to spend their wedding day focusing on the love between them, not necessarily all of the typical wedding day traditions. One of the ways that they did this was by sharing a hotel room and getting ready together. No highly anticipated first look or walk down the aisle, no big bridal party, just the two of them getting ready to start their marriage, together. When my now husband and I flew off out to Washington to elope, we also got ready together in our hotel room. I love how special and memorable that time was, so I know that Candice and Joe will appreciate these memories as well! As Candice’s sister Leslie was finishing up Candice’s makeup, her friends brought her coffee, tomato soup, and a grilled cheese. The absolute best pre-wedding meal! I also LOVE how I was able to capture so many moments where Joe was just admiring Candice from across the room. She may not have noticed, but I know that she’ll love the photos that show it! How sweet!
After they were ready, we headed over to Covington to take a few photos of Joe and Candice together before their ceremony. We had an absolutely beautiful sunny day and I love how these photos turned out. Believe it or not, as soon as we drove from the park to their venue, the sky opened up and we had a complete downpour of rain. It stopped right before their ceremony and it was wonderful to see how the timing of everything worked out so perfectly!
Another one of my favorite parts about Joe & Candice’s wedding day was that they decided that they didn’t want to “hide” from their guests before their ceremony. Instead of staying in a back room or showing up to their ceremony right before they walked down the aisle, they built their timeline around greeting guests as they walked into their venue. Their ceremony and reception were both at Headquarters Event Center in Newport (the CUTEST little place!) and we were able to capture so many candid moments before their ceremony started since they spent their extra time mingling with their guests! Such a unique addition to their wedding day and I love how it turned out!
