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Kala and I had fun trying out some locations that are not just the same ol’ same ol’.  To make it even more special we shot these on her birthday!   See you soon Kala!

The Jones have 5 children, and if you count the fact that the groom was best friends with their son …six!  It took a lot of growing and reaching the adult world before the bride and groom suddenly discovered they were more than kids growing up knowing each other as friends.  The bride made statements through life about never going to get married.  Ah, but then she didn’t know the plans God had.

I for one noticed they sat by each other in church, but there was no show of affection or attraction.  I was caught off guard when she said she was engaged.  My first question,  “Who,  didn’t even know you were seeing anyone”?

So!  Of course a group of the women had to go to lunch and start asking questions about the plans for the wedding.  Before you know it a group of people were volunteering their skills and talents.  What fun it was to hear the plans unfold and see each piece added.

We sat on the grass in the very park they had chosen to get married in talking after we finished the engagement shoot.  Ryan and Bethany quietly touching each other and smiling a shared secret heart in love between them as they answered my questions about the details of the day.

Both of our pastors officiated at the ceremony.  Pastor Gary and Karen Ellis.  Pastor Willie and Denise McNeal. Karen prayed over the couple, and Denise blessed them.

No!  They are not running away from the ceremony.  They ran back up the aisle after the ceremony jumping feet first into their new life together!

The bride wanted locally grown flowers rather than those usually shipped in for most weddings.  The very talented Susan Anderson arranged that aspect beautifully.

Missy, I had to do a crowd search to find you!  Were you being camera shy? lol! Melissa Kraklow made the bridal gown.

Mother and daughter team extraordinaire….. Kim and Abby Farb somehow managed to escape the cameras!  Kim was the lady of the night being everywhere helping in any way possible to keep the reception moving smoothly along.  Her wonderful daughter Abby made the brownie strawberry tort  as well as brownies.  The bride decreed NO CAKE…..BROWNIES!!

The Smith family… Roz, Kenji, Christina, and Toby pulled off a wonderful dinner for all the wedding party, families, and guests.  Roz will kill me Sunday…….. she always comes to church stylin’, and here I go showing her after a day of hard work in a very warm kitchen!!  I think it appropriate to share my assistant Tony’s thoughts on the meal, “This is the first wedding this year where the green beans actually tasted like green beans and good”!  He was right.  The food was fantastic.

The lady on the right (and please forgive me for forgetting your name) had volunteered to photograph the wedding for Bethany and Ryan.  Unbeknown I came along and volunteered Studio D.  She graciously deferred to Studio D.  She came with her camera and worked just as hard as we did, and never once did she get in our way. Over and over I watched her frame her own shots that we were not getting.  All done with a smile.  That my friends is a humble heart that I dearly love!!  She could have been offended when we took on photography after she had already said she would do it! Her and DeeDee have been friends for years!

Joel Bickford!  You were the surprise of the evening in several ways.  I almost didn’t recognize you with the new hair style!  Second, that was a beautiful young lady you were with!  Third your sets were beautiful!

There were a number of others helping that I didn’t have time to grab names and photos of.  It was all a huge labor of love from all of us.  Why? Bethany and Ryan are young and just starting out.  Remember those days? Budgets are way smaller than they are later in life.  The whole church adores them both!  They would have had a beautiful ceremony and reception  without all of us.  Perhaps a wee bit smaller.  What is really important here………… I want to say………

Oh behalf of everyone that helped in any way…………… I’d like to say……………..

Thank you for graciously accepting our giftings and talents allowing us to participate in YOUR wedding. I think I speak for all of us………. it was special!

Both the ceremony and the reception were held at Indian Trails in Colona, Illinois. Picnic themed with vibrant Spring colors, barbecue, board games, and lots of attention to details by the bride’s mom made it fun!

You would have snapped it too!  It was just so begging to put all the pieces together and “snap”!  There is a story behind the floor squeegee and grandparents have a photo with one on their wedding day also!    I never got to hear the whole story.

David and Kelsey were married this past Saturday at Indian Trails in Colona, Illinois.  Kelsey’s mom swung into action last Winter with an idea of how to decorate for her daughter’s wedding. Thousand Origami Cranes (千羽鶴, Senbazuru^?) is a group of one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. She changed the traditional strands to differing lengths, but all else was  followed.

At the reception were attractive bags for each guest.  Inside the bag was a note:

“These cranes were strung with you n mind and with prayers in our hearts. Thanks for being a part of our special day! Kelsey and Dave”

white = purity
red = love
blue = loyalty
green = health
yellow = creativity
orange = enthusiasm
purple = spirituality

Many hours of cutting, folding, stringing, and of course counting plus storing went into the project.  All the time spent was also time in prayer.

The table centerpieces were origami lilies, flowers, reeds, butterflies, and small cranes.

These 3 flowers were very tiny and adorned a letter holder out to hold envelopes from guests.  Totally adorable idea and in perfect agreement with the theme of the day.