This week we’re still in Italy ready to photograph Kyla & Walt’s wedding tomorrow here at the villa in Siena, then head back and capture Kevin & Katie’s wedding a day & a half later on Saturday afternoon (9 hours), AND it’s our whopping 200th photography blog post after 10 years as wedding photographers with a whopping 4 full years of WEEKLY Wednesday blog posts here on our photography business website! It’s a crazy time right now and though exhausted, we’re thrilled to get to share with you some of our more recent couples celebrating their first and second wedding anniversaries this week until we get back to the United States in a couple days! *Originally we’d wanted to share with you photos from our first week here in Italy traveling to 5 cities as a precursor to being here at the villa with Kyla & Walt for 4 days this week, but since it’s been very hectic with the travel (Jenny literally driving us all over this country here in Italy and us AirBnB hopping to 4 different AirBnBs daily at times, we figured we’d cut ourselves a break and share October’s Anniversary blog post!
Anywho, this week we’re sharing with you October Wedding Anniversaries of our couples! This week we’ll be sharing recent 1 and 2 year anniversaries of our couples whose weddings we captured mainly either in South Bend (IN), Indianapolis, or Southwest Michigan! We wanted to pay tribute to these recent anniversaries because no matter how many years, it’s always important to celebrate your love and accomplishments with your loved ones AND we wanted to show how gorgeous these local-ish weddings were (and how great these couples are)! At least one of these couples now has a child that transpired in the past couple years, at least a couple others have moved states/ cities and have gotten gorgeous new houses that they purchased, and others have adopted new pets, moved in together, and have really taken on life together with new jobs and career paths! Anywho, onto the first October couple’s Wedding Anniversary:
Zach & Kelly will be celebrating their TWO Year Wedding Anniversary in just 5 days on October 14, 2017! These two started their day getting ready at Morris Park Country Club, then headed over to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at The University of Notre Dame for their wedding ceremony! Though it was a soggy day in October for their wedding day, the rain amazingly held off for a short 20 minutes so that we could photograph they and ALL of their wedding ceremony guests on the steps of the Main Building (Golden Dome), we got photos of they and their entire bridal party in front of the Golden Dome, captured portraits out there of Kelly and all of her bridesmaids with her (as well as Zach and all of his groomsmen with him), captured a ton of formal family portraits of they and their families inside the Basilica, and then got to photograph these two and their bridal party INSIDE the Notre Dame football STADIUM-!!!! We utilized the indoor portion a lot the tunnel for they and their bridal party to charge onto the field, group photos with the “Touchdown Jesus” in the rainy background, and more! We also convinced these two go to onto the field and pose for a few photos as the rain came down since we brought along the clear umbrellas and wanted them to get their football field shot! Luckily since the Grotto is covered, we were also able to let Zach & Kelly down there for an intimate moment and some newlywed portraits as well!
Afterward we all headed to Morris Park Country Club for their reception! It was absolutely gorgeous inside and their First Dance, cake cutting, and speeches were all beautiful! Shortly after wed, Zach had 4 intense months of training in 4 states, then these two moved from Chicago to Wisconsin to get a house! We waited until this was all settled before we created their physical wedding album, but it was so well worth the wait! Their album was gorgeous as was a gorgeous canvas that they ordered! (Zach’s mom even ordering a smaller version of their wedding album as well)! We hope you’re all doing well, have settled in nicely to your new home, and enjoy your upcoming 2nd Wedding Anniversary!!
Also celebrating their 2nd Wedding Anniversary in a week & a half are Megan & Nolan! These two were wed down in Indianapolis on October 28th, 2017. Their wedding day in Indy began at their hotel that is actually connected to Circle Center Mall via above-street tunnels! Since we only photographed a bit of their prep/ getting ready at the hotel separately in different rooms, we had Nolan walk through the Skywalk in the above-street glass tunnels to have his First Look with Megan in the glass domed floating-above-downtown-Indianapolis Arts Garden! After their First Look we had their limo drive they and their bridal party around so that we could capture some wedding portraits of these two in the city square and other gorgeous spots in downtown Indianapolis! It was a bit frigid for October with it hitting around 35 degrees that day, but luckily Megan’s dress had sleeves (albiet, lace) and the bottom was pretty full!
Once finished up with those portraits, we headed with them in the limo to their ceremony and reception venue: The Biltwell! Originally a factory from 1922, this venue had been rehabbed to become a wedding venue just a couple years prior! Its gorgeous interior with exposed wooden beams and brickwork were a gorgeous backdrop for Megan & Nolan’s wedding ceremony on its second floor! After their ceremony, guests headed downstairs for cocktail hour while we kept they and their family upstairs for formal family portraits! The 2nd floor was then converted into the reception hall with a full dining room and gorgeous decor (not to mention delicious foods) and the rest of the reception went without a hitch! Since their wedding these two got pregnant the following year and they now as of this year have a new addition to their family! We hope that your little family has been well and that two enjoy your upcoming anniversary in about a week & a half!
Up next are Alee & Dylan who just YESTERDAY celebrated their First Wedding Anniversary! Their wedding last year was also down near Indianapolis at the Avon Gardens on October 8, 2018. These two had the perfect day from getting ready there at the venue, to their gorgeous outdoor wedding ceremony near the pond that looked and felt like full summer with the nice humidity and warmth, to their outdoor wedding reception! It’s very, very rare in the midwest that anyone risks an outdoor reception since the weather here is so volatile, but there were nice awnings covering the guests and their meals as well as partially wooden roof covered areas for these two to have their First Dance, cut their cake under, and enjoy getting their meal under… but regardless, the weather was perfect for these two! The dance floor was also under one of these wooden roofs, so everyone enjoyed gazing out at the stars that evening as they danced the night away! We hope that you two are well and again, CONGRATULATIONS on your First Wedding Anniversary that was just yesterday!!
Another One Year Wedding Anniversary coming up in a little over a week is that of Allison & Tim! These two live in Cincinnati, Ohio, but celebrated their wedding last year in South Bend, Indiana on October 20, 2018! Their wedding day started out at Morris Park Country Club as they got ready separately in the morning. After some portraits there with their halves of the bridal party, everyone headed to Allison’s (and Jenny’s) elementary school Christ the King for Allison & Tim’s wedding ceremony! These two met just down the street at their (and Jenny’s) high school alma mater of St. Joseph’s High School, so it was fitting that they get married in South Bend at one of the schools that they went to!
After the gorgeous ceremony, we captured portraits of these two and their families at the church, then headed over to Notre Dame for some portraits of they and their bridal party! It had rained throughout the day at this point, but was ALSO the exact time of the Garth Brooks concert outside at Notre Dame (which was record numbers/ an unprecedented event) AND it was about to start hailing, so it was very chilly and windy, but the limo driver killed it and got us into a back entrance to get to the Grotto at Notre Dame for Allison & Tim’s newlywed and bridal party portraits! After finishing up there, we all headed back to Morris Park Country Club for their reception! Once we all stepped out of the vehicles it started to downpour with hail and horizontal winds, so we took some final newlywed portraits of these two inside the country club, then they celebrated with their First Dance, cake cutting, and celebrations! Congratulations on your big One Year Anniversary coming up and we hope that you two and your two pups are doing so well! We can’t wait to finish up printing your Print Credit for you two sometime this fall and cannot wait for you two to get it in the mail!
Last up also celebrating their One Year Wedding Anniversary are Sara & Chad!! These two were wed in Niles, Michigan last year (the same weekend as Allison & Tim) on October 21, 2018! Throughout 2018 we had the pleasure of meeting Sara’s co-workers when we did two corporate photoshoots for a bank in South Bend, Indiana and then captured a Family Portrait Session that Sara had gifted her Mother-in-Law, so we came to really know and love they and their family! Their wedding day was celebrated at the Morris Estate in Niles. These two came early to get ready in their separate rooms downstairs at the chapel with their halves of their bridal party (and family members), we captured some portraits of them separately, then they headed out to a gorgeous part of the property for their First Look! Their First Look by the river in Niles was gorgeous and was made even more gorgeous when they then brought their daughters in for some photos!
After some bridal party portraits, these two went back and hid in their rooms in the downstairs of the chapel and then came up once it was time for their wedding ceremony in the chapel! The ceremony was beautiful and we all teared up a lot when they had their daughters come up and they made vows to them as well (all 4 of them crying, the 2 of us crying, and not a dry eye in the chapel). After their ceremony we did formal family portraits outside of the chapel and then headed over to their reception also owned by the Morris Estate: The Supper Club. Their Supper Club reception was gorgeously set up and looked like a beautifully classy steakhouse mixed with a modern, sleek reception hall. After their First Dance, speeches, and more, everyone danced the night away with fun mega glowsticks, inflatable guitars, and more! Congratulations on your upcoming One Year Wedding Anniversary, Sara & Chad! We can’t wait to finish up your final Print Credit printed products sometime this fall for you and hope to SEE you in person this fall as well! Things have been very hectic over there with them having purchased and moved into a gorgeous new beautiful home on the river in Elkhart, so we’re in need of catching up with these two genuine, hilarious people!
____________Unrelated: Tomorrow we are capturing Kyla & Walt’s wedding here in Siena, Italy all day! We got here the same time as everyone to VIlla Catignano yesterday to settle in and catch up with them and we’re so looking forward to photographing their wedding tomorrow! We head home immediately after their wedding on Friday morning and over the weekend we’ll also be capturing Kevin & Katie’s wedding at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Indiana! This week is certainly a hectic one full of gorgeous weddings, but we cannot wait to be back in our offices soon editing and releasing Teasers of these what-will-be gorgeous weddings! Kyla & Walt’s Wedding Teasers from Siena, Italy will be going up NEXT WEEK on our Weekly Wednesday blog post (after we choose and edit 200 photos from their wedding for the first 4 days we’re home) and the following week on October 23rd we’ll be sharing Kevin & Katie’s Swan Lake Resort Wedding Teasers (just one week before Halloween)! We hope that you’re all having a great fall so far this October and we can’t wait to come back and share with you some gorgeous weddings!