Donna + Chris :: Dayton Wedding Photography

Some of you may remember Donna and Chris from back this spring when we shot their engagement photos. We got a huge compliment from Chris’s aunt who asked Donna, “Where did you find such awesome photographers? They captured your personalities perfectly!” I think it’s a testament to the fact that we work hard to build real relationships with our clients. It’s so important to us to work with people that we would otherwise call our friends. The chemistry between you and your photographer is extremely important, and even more so on your wedding day!

Now I can say with absolute certainty, I have NEVER seen what’s in these next two photos. These are from the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding.

That’s right. Belly dancers. Dayton is full of surprises, and the Oregon District is no exception. They held their rehearsal dinner at the Boulevard Haus, and outside there were some guys drumming and these ladies showed up. Obviously Chris’s brothers (a.k.a. groomsmen) had to get them in to show him a good time. Needless to say Chris was a little embarrased, but Donna was eating it up!

Their wedding was downtown at Holy Angels church. Chris’s groomsmen consisted of his brothers and Paul Rudd. No seriously, look at that guy! (Okay, the only non-brother was his cousin Joe, but he could’ve passed for Paul Rudd on the red carpet.) The reception was at the Hilton Garden Inn in Beavercreek. Make sure you check out Donna in her purple Chuck Taylors!

In between Mindy and I followed the group around as they went bar hopping through the Oregon District. We really had fun just enjoying our time with the bridal party. It was laid back, and everyone just had a great time. Every wedding has something unique, but shooting real photos of people spending time together is definitely one of our favorites so far.

Their custom tux shirts read, “If everyone liked the same thing, they’d all be after my woman.” It was a quote from their grandfather. You could tell both sides of this wedding were really tight. We’ve had the privilege of working with a lot of great families, but these families are some of the best we’ve met!

Emily + Bob :: Dayton Wedding Photography

I met Emily last year when I sat down with her and her mom to show them some of our albums. I’ve been looking forward to their wedding since then, because you could tell they were both so excited. They had plans in place, they had a great venue, and they were pumped about our photos.

Emily has a very simple, classic elegance about her. Beautiful without being over the top. I mean come on, just look at that portrait on the porch. Stunning. She’s the perfect match for Bob too. He’s simply one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and when I met up with him in the morning he was finishing polishing his truck and applying some tire-shine. My kinda guy.

Their wedding was at the beautiful Patterson Homestead, with a reception following at the Schindler Banquet Center in Xenia. I don’t know if you can tell, but this was our first outdoor wedding with rain. It was amazing how things worked out though, it didn’t rain while we were doing any of the photos before or after, but only during the ceremony. Everyone in the bridal party were real troopers, and you could tell the rain didn’t get anyone down. It was such a joyous day, you could just see it in everyone’s eyes.

We also had the amazing privilege of having our friend Katie assist us during this wedding. She was a huge help, so much fun to work with, and as it turns out I really enjoy teaching people. A few of these shots are hers (I’m curious if you can pick them out?)

Clare + Geoff :: Columbus Wedding Photography

Feeling short on words and short on time today, so I’ll keep this brief. Last weekend we had the joy of spending Saturday with Clare and Geoff in Columbus. The ceremony was held at a little old catholic church in Victorian Village, and the reception was at the Ohio State University Faculty Club. Enjoy!

Sarah + Joe :: Cleveland Wedding Photography

Last weekend was kind of our weekend from hades. We booked a wedding in Cleveland on Friday, and a wedding Indianapolis on Saturday. Whoops. {BRAIN FAIL}

Lucky for us, both weddings were great, so other than the insane amount of driving and serious lack of sleep, the weekend definitely didn’t suck. We got to spend Friday up on Lake Erie with our fiends Sarah and Joe and Saturday with Lauren and Rob.

Please enjoy a sample of Sarah + Joe’s wedding and stay tuned for part 2 of our crazy weekend later this week!

(Check out Sarah + Joe’s Engagement Session too!)

The Perlows :: Dayton Anytime Session

David and Shannon are the masterminds behind Locke Innovations. We met them about 4 years ago during a consultation for our own wedding. They photographed our wedding back in 2006, and we’ve managed to keep in touch since then. They were an integral part of helping us form our business early last year, and they’ve continued to be a great support for us.

So needless to say, it was pretty cool when they asked us to take some portraits of them for their new website. We spent an evening in Yellow Springs talking, posing, experimenting, and just hanging out.

This first shot is pretty unique for us. It’s the first real successful attempt at “free lensing,” which creates the unique effect you see. I’m pretty excited to try this more often in the future!

Julie + Haddon :: Chicago Wedding Photography

Okay… maybe Chicago is a bit of a stretch. We had the privilage of photographing Julie and Haddon’s wedding at the County Line Orchard in Valparaiso, Indiana. It’s about an hour outside of the city. Close enough for me!

Julie is a friend of ours from Cedarville, Haddon went there too, but we’d actually not met him while we were there. Knowing Julie, we had some pretty high expectations. When Julie got to college, she predicted, “I’m not going to find a husband while I’m here.” Apparently Haddon had other plans. And I can say with certainty, Haddon exceeded our expectations.

They’re one of the couples that people just gravitate to. Mindy and I were driving back to our hotel room and both realized that we were sad the wedding was over, just because we didn’t feel like we were finished hanging out. The bridal party was excellent, the family was easy going. Overall, just one of the best weddings we’ve been a part of.

In his toast, Matt (the best man) described the couple best, “You can tell a lot about the character of a person by the company they keep.” Truer words were never spoken.