I really, really love working with all of the wonderful couples I get to work with on wedding days. It's such an honor that people trust me to step in and capture their love, the story of their relationship, and the absolute bliss of such a wonderful day. Every wedding that I've ever had the pleasure of working has been SO unique, but Lydia & Jake's wedding day will always have such a special place in my heart. I first met these two while photographing my very FIRST wedding last year (thanks for being the first to trust me, Sean & Caitlyn!). Lydia & Jake were guests and I just happened to stop and ask them if they'd like me to take a photo of them together and next thing I know, they reach out and ask about me shooting their wedding as well! When we started planning their engagement session last summer, I asked them if they had any locations in mind. After learning that they were planning to have a backyard wedding, I thought it would be a great idea to take their engagement photos there as well. After seeing the old barn they had to work with and hearing their vision, I was a little skeptical. To everyone's surprise, they pulled it off. All of their hard work paid off. The yard was beautiful, the barn was perfect, the weather couldn't have been better. We truly had a great day, and I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you!
I started the morning off by meeting Lydia & her bride tribe to document the getting ready process. This is always one of my favorite parts of the day because it's so much fun to be able to see and capture the laughter and excitement everyone has while they're anticipating the rest of the day. All of the details that Lydia had chosen so carefully came together perfectly and the day was off to such a great start. It had actually started to drizzle on my way to meet everyone, but as soon as I pulled up to their house, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful rest of the day.
While I was hanging out with the girls, my awesome second shooter Amanda was busy hanging out with Jake & his guys at his best man's house. After looking through these photos, I know that they had such a fun morning! It's always crazy for me to see exactly how different the photos Amanda and I capture are just because of the drastically different way we each spend our mornings, haha! I always love delivering back completely full galleries to couples so that both the bride and the groom can see how the other spent the day leading up to their marriage ceremony. It's always so special!
After everyone arrived at Lydia & Jake's house, the ceremony started. We all gathered under a perfectly shaded big tree in the back yard and Jake's mom married them. There were so many emotions packed into this day and one of my favorite moments happened as Lydia walked down the aisle to her husband to be. Not only was Jake getting emotional, but all of Lydia's bridesmaids were on the verge of tears. It was so precious to see the love and happiness they all had for her as she stepped towards Jake. Such an emotional moment and I'm so thankful I was there to capture it!
After the ceremony we took a few family photos (sorry, those are for Lydia & Jake to share once they get their full gallery in the mail!) along with a few shots of the entire bridal party. After we finished up with our shot list, we moved on to take a few photos of Lydia & Jake alone together. The setting sun came through the trees in their backyard perfectly as we stood in the same spot as we did a year earlier, except for instead of taking their engagement photos, we were now taking photos of them newly married. The golden hour was absolutely perfect and I LOVE how many little hidden areas we were able to find in their backyard that just made perfect little photo spots!
My gosh, what a gorgeous couple on such a beautiful day! After we finished up with all of the "traditional" photos, we headed up to the top of their yard towards their reception area. Lydia and Jake worked SO hard to make everything absolutely perfect for this reception. The transformation is absolutely incredible and everything turned out way better than I envisioned it ever would. They were able to completely declutter the old barn, rework all of the landscaping around it, build a dance floor, wire in electricity, it was amazing. The whole space was incredible, and how special that this is now a fun place to spend time right in their own backyard! The entire night was an absolute blast and, from what I could tell, everyone had a great time. Their DJ was incredible, their cupcakes tasted great, there was a big bonfire going on, they really threw such a perfect party to end a great day and to start off a wonderful marriage together. The entire night was so. much. fun. Absolutely one to remember!
Once again, Lydia & Jake, thank you SO much for trusting me to capture such an important day for you! I'm so glad it all came together to become an absolute dream. Congratulations, again! I'm so excited for you to see the rest of your gallery and I hope these photos take you back to the magic of the night each time you look at them!
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