This week we’d like to share with you Sophie & Josh’s wedding day which happened down in Plymouth, Indiana (about a half hour South of South Bend)!
Josh & Sophie celebrated their wedding day fully at Josh’s hometown church Trinity United Methodist Church in Plymouth, Indiana. These two got ready with their half of the bridal party on separate floors of the church and during their preparations we got to know they and their loved ones a bit more (since on this rare occasion we’d never met with them in person prior). Sophie’s bridesmaids & mom did her hair and got her veil and jewelry on her while Josh and his groomsmen got ready and did some of their groomsmen photos outside.
Sophie is originally from Texas (and her parents live in Washington state), but these two met in college at the renowned Rose-Hullman institute here in Indiana. These two currently live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but chose to have their big day at Josh’s hometown church in Indiana since they met in Indiana AND many family & friends still live in Indiana (with those like Sophie’s parents across the country able to fly in safely due to vaccinations in Spring).
These two are some of the rare folks who sort of lucked out during the Pandemic which resulted in their happily sooner-than-expected wedding-! Sophie actually graduated from college last year during the Pandemic and got a job in Washington state, but due to the Pandemic has been working remotely for the past year. This helped Sophie and Josh stay physically together and because of that, during the past year Sophie realized how important family is to her and requested from her manager that she be able continue working remotely for work indefinitely (which they’ve allowed)-! Josh proposed, Sophie said YES, and these two put together their wedding within just a couple months (instead of having to wait 2 or more years to get married if Sophie had to move across the country for work)-! Another bit of luck for all of us is that all Pandemic we had only one 2020 wedding couple earlier this year in 2021 cancel their bigger wedding (to have us make their wedding album & prints based on their smaller June 2020 wedding that we captured) and amazingly that wedding date happened to be the exact same as Josh & Sophie’s! We were suddenly available for their date and started sorting out details with them immediately when they asked if we were available less than a couple months ago-!
Back to their wedding day itself-! Soon after getting ready it was time for their wedding ceremony and we all headed into the church to await Sophie coming down the aisle.
After the families and bridal party headed down, the flower girl and ring bearer made way for Sophie. Josh was all smiles as Sophie and her dad came down the aisle to greet him at the end!
Once at the front of the church the two joined hands in front of the beautiful dark wood altar at the front. The interior of the church was pristine and maintained every detail from when the church was first constructed in the 1920’s. During part of their ceremony we even had a nice vantage point from the full second floor wraparound choir loft for a few shots from a unique perspective.
Josh & Sophie’s wedding was only the Pastor’s second wedding ever, but he made the time right before his retirement to perform the wedding ceremony for Josh and Sophie. The pastor is a family friend of Josh and his family, so he was happy to marry the two of them on their wedding day!
The ceremony was beautiful. Near the end of the ceremony these two finally exchanged vows and rings! After exchanging rings these two each took a cable up at the altar and lit one unity candle together.
The pastor gave his blessing, Josh and Sophie had their First Kiss, and they were married! These two headed down the aisle and made their way toward their grand exit.
Guests headed outside grabbing bubbles on their way out and cheered on as Josh & Sophie made their way out as newlyweds!
Their chariot awaited these two as they headed out to cheers from their loved ones! Though they’d only do a quick drive around some blocks as newlyweds before heading back for group photos, these two had a blast as Josh drove them around for their first “trip” as a married couple!
Once they were back we captured these two with many of their loved ones within the church!
Once finished, these two made things official by signing their marriage license with the pastor!
Afterward we took the bridal party outside to a spot at the church that we’d scouted out a couple days prior (for shade & nature!) and captured the final group photos of everyone with the newlyweds. Some of the bridesmaids even got in a quick swing in between (while the groomsmen were being photographed) on the church swingset that Josh’s dad actually built!
After bridal party photos were finished we headed back into the church for some newlywed portraits that Josh & Sophie were hoping to have in one of the stairwells.
It was a nice little break in the outdoor temperatures for a moment since the temperature was in the upper 80s and the humidity was at 70% due to rain that morning! Once finished inside, we took these two over to a park they requested (just 5 minutes away) for final Newlywed Portraits!
We had scouted some nice spots all close together for them there just a couple days prior and were excited to capture some gorgeous newlywed photos of the two of them there!
We made sure to include a bridge and gazebo in their photos that these two requested, captured some beautiful images of them in nature, and finally headed back to their reception!
Back at their reception their guests were mingling and enjoying some food!
We headed around to capture some reception details as well as some ring photos while these two went in to cool off, then headed around to greet all of their guests at the reception.
Everyone was very excited for these two as they went around and personally welcomed all of their guests!
After enjoying mingling for a while, Sophie and Josh headed over to cut their wedding cake! Though they had individually packaged mini bundt cakes for everyone (cautiously planned for safety in the Pandemic) they had their own wedding cake that they enjoyed feeding one another.
Due to their shorter wedding day, these two opted to forego their dances (First Dance, father-daughter, etc) and enjoy the last bit of their wedding together.
Thank you so much for having us capture your big day for you, Sophie & Josh! We loved getting to know you two and your loved ones with you on your wedding day and are so happy that you were able to have your wedding! CONGRATULATIONS again on being Married and we hope that you two had a great honeymoon traversing all around Michigan!