I first met Rachael & Derrick a little over a year ago at one of our very first wedding photography consultation meetings. Even though I meet with a lot of brides & grooms, these two absolutely stood out to me. As we sat down for coffee to go over a wedding day timeline & a must have shot list, the two snuggled up to one another in the booth across from me and I just knew that they would be SO much fun to photograph. Their wedding day was this past Saturday and everything came together beautifully. It was an absolute DREAM. The day started in Bright, Indiana when I met Rachael & her bride tribe at Extreme Definition hair salon. I wasn't sure what to expect since I've never had a bridal party in a wedding I've shot get ready at a salon, but I absolutely LOVED it. The morning sun came through the giant windows perfectly and all of the mirrors in the salon were so much fun to work with. Rachael looked absolutely stunning and there was a buzzing happiness in the air as everyone looked forward to the rest of the day. After everyone finished getting their hair done, we went back to Rachael's parents' house to finish with the last touches of makeup and to get dressed.
While I was spending my morning with the girls, my second shooter Abigail spent her morning at Derrick's family farm. She captured the guys getting ready before venturing out and taking a few groomsmen photos around the farm. I know that Derrick was so excited to take photos in a space so special to him and his family and he really did a great job incorporating the littlest details into his day. From the big family oak tree to the numerous family items Derrick carried with him throughout his wedding day, everything came together perfectly.
Over the past few years, I've worked a lot of weddings. Since I worked as a wedding day-of coordinator before jumping into wedding photography, I learned a lot about how to easily make the wedding day run more smoothly. Once of my biggest tips that I tell brides to do is to keep copies of their invitations and gather their accessories together before the big day so that I can document the small details that they spent so much time on. Gathering them beforehand helps create a stress-free morning and that's exactly what everyone needs on their wedding day! Rachael took my advice and gathered all of her jewelry (most of it passed down for generations!), invitations, shoes, etc. This made my job SO easy and I was able to snap a few photos of all of the things that had been so perfectly thought out. Rachael had also gone through and chosen where she wanted the photos of her dress taken at and it was absolutely perfect.
After finishing getting ready, the entire bridal party headed to the church. I've been looking so forward to this wedding because Rachael & Derrick were getting married in the same church that I'll be getting married in next year. The entire building is brand new and it's absolutely GORGEOUS inside. The ceremony was incredibly beautiful and so full of emotion. Everything went according to plan and I am so excited that I was able to document the entire thing.
After the ceremony, we took a few family photos before heading to the park to take photos of the entire wedding party & the NEW Mr. & Mrs. Batta. I had driven through the park around the time that we were planning on taking photos the day before to get a better idea for where we should go (it was really early in the afternoon & I was worried about finding the prefect lighting!) but I think I found a great spot and I LOVE how fun these photos turned out. This bridal party loved messing around and taking funny photos and it made my job so much more fun. After getting all of our group photos, it was Rachael & Derrick's turn to take a few solo portraits. You guys. These two are the absolute BEST type of people to photograph. They were full of bliss and SO happy to finally be married and their couples portraits turned out fabulous. Looking back over this wedding now, I have to say it's another (oops! I have so many!) favorite to date. The entire day was so dreamy and everything played out perfectly.
After finishing up at the park, we headed over to their reception at The Meadows in Addyston. I had never been here before but I absolutely LOVED it. The ceiling draping added so much character to these reception photos and I am obsessed with how they all came out! To be honest, I was a little worried going into this reception since it had such an early start & end time (4-8pm). Typically early weddings aren't as fun to photograph since most people never make it out on the dance floor. Oh boy. I was SO wrong. This reception was one of the best receptions I've photographed all year. EVERYONE was out on the dance floor! Photographing people dancing is always such a blast and I am so glad that everyone seemed to be having the very best time celebrating Rachael & Derrick.
Rachael & Derrick were SO awesome and added in taking sunset photos with me to their timeline for the day. These photos are some of my favorite from the entire day and I'm so glad that they saw the value in taking a few more photos together and carved out the time to do so! As Derrick said, "photos are so much more fun after I've had a few drinks!" Guys. It was SO precious. He just kept telling Rachael that he couldn't believe that she was now his wife, Mrs. Batta. The two did nothing but giggle in the light of the sunset as they truly soaked in the bliss of the day. Absolutely magical.
Rachael & Derrick, thank you so much for trusting me to capture such a big day for you! You two were beyond fun to work with and everything about your day was absolutely beautiful. I hope that you love your photos and that they take you back to this day each time you look at them. I can't wait for you to get your gallery in the mail here soon!
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