Last weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Emily & Austin's GORGEOUS wedding day. When I first sat down with Emily last summer to talk about the vision she had for her day, she said that the theme was vintage, clean, & classic. With a LOT of flowers. Emily put so much time into the details involved throughout her day and all of her hard work definitely paid off. I feel like details help tell so much of the wedding day story and they bring the day together. When I was going through my list of second shooters available for this wedding, I knew I had to pick Amanda (with AC Photo ltd) because she has such an eye for capturing delicate accessories and details and as soon as we both arrived at the venue we immediately started gathering flowers, jewelry, shoes, perfumes, invitations . . . everything to start the day off right! These shots came out BEAUTIFULLY and I'm so excited for Emily to see how all the pieces came together.
After we were finished with the detail photos, Amanda and I split up to capture both sides of the bridal party getting ready. Emily and Austin chose the Nathanael Greene Lodge as their venue and it was actually the first time I had ever worked there. It was SO nice to have spaces for both the bride and groom to get ready and the outdoor ceremony space was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It was so much fun to hang out downstairs and spend the morning with Emily and her girls. They had a blast helping one another with hair and makeup and their matching PJs were perfect for group photos on the vintage couch Emily and Austin rented for the day. I always love the photos that are taken while getting ready because they're so much more relaxed and casual compared to the photos of the rest of the day. It's nice to capture a few candid moments the bride and groom have with those closest to them while they prepare to marry the love of their life.
Oh yes, let me also mention that the white robe that Emily is wearing is actually a gift from her mom. The gorgeous robe was made from her mom's wedding dress and the album Emily is looking at is the wedding album from her parents' wedding where her mom is wearing that dress. Isn't that just the sweetest? I LOVE it when little things like that are incorporated into the day. While I was downstairs with the girls, Amanda was upstairs with the guys getting photos of them getting ready and hanging out.
For those of you who are not currently living in Cincinnati, let me fill you in on our current weather situation here. Rain. Rain rain rain. There has been a LOT of rain. Constantly. Emily & Austin's wedding day was no different. It rained. A lot. They had been envisioning a gorgeous outdoor ceremony surrounded by their closest friends and family, but a few hours before the ceremony was going to start, the coordinator at the Lodge made the call to move everything inside. The rain wasn't predicted to let up and a ceremony in the rain wasn't what anyone had wanted. About 45 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to start, Austin looked outside and noticed that the rain had stopped. Suddenly the sky seemed to be clearing up and he announced that he needed some help because he was going to move everything back outside. Everyone jumped into action and helped dry off chairs, move water off the aisle, put flowers back up at the alter, it was crazy. In the whirlwind of it all, no one went in to tell Emily. When I walked back into the room she was getting ready in, I told her that everything looked SO great and she truly was about to marry a man that would do anything for her. She looked confused and I let her know that her husband to be made the decision to move the wedding back outside because the rain had cleared up and he knew she had pictured their ceremony outside for as long as he could remember, and he wanted to make sure that that could happen. And guess what? It did. It was perfect.
The rain held off just long enough for the ceremony to finish and for us to take a few pictures with family, the entire bridal party, and of Emily and Austin as a newly married couple. Their bridal party was so much fun and they were all so willing to strike a pose and get fun photos! The bridal portraits of Emily and Austin (both together and separate) are honestly just gorgeous and I can't believe we got so lucky with the weather. Everything truly turned out absolutely perfect and the craziness of it all makes for such a great story!
Before we head into the reception, let's pause for a moment and talk about Emily and Austin's cake table. Oh. My. Gosh. It was phenomenal. When I walked in to get a few photos of it earlier in the day, I asked someone if they knew who their cake vendor was because I'm getting married next year and that's one thing I still haven't gotten around to planning yet (let's be real, one of the MANY things, haha). Emily's mom actually made all of these gorgeous (and delicious!!) desserts and having all of them together on this table just pulled the entire reception room together and everyone LOVED it. Once you see these photos, you'll understand why taking this moment to appreciate these desserts was 100% necessary.
The rest of the night continued with speeches, dinner, dancing, and (of course) cake cutting. This cake cutting has been one of my favorites to date. When I asked Emily and Austin if they knew what they were doing (as in knew how to cut their cake) Emily said that "yes! We're going to cut it, Austin is going to feed me and I'm going to shove it in his face." Austin looked at me and agreed, but had a last minute change of heart! I was so surprised, but BOTH of them ended up with a face full of cake and endless laughter. It was precious! Their entire wedding day was an absolute blast and I'm so honored that they trusted me to capture such an important day for them. I know I say it after every wedding, but I truly do have the very best job. :)