Cincinnati Art Museum

North Bank Park Pavilion, The Scioto Mile, Columbus OH

Venue: North Bank Park Pavilion

Planner: The Crystal Collection Team

Cake: Miam Cake, Scarlett Kilzer

Floral Designs: Perla Flor Designs, Roxanne Yoder

Hair/Makeup: Haley Garber Beauty

Decor Rentals: Kosins

Tuxedo: Generation Tux

Bridal Gown: LuxeRedux Bridal – Columbus

Bridal Gown Designer: Hayley Paige

Stationary: Designed. Sealed. Delivered., Emma

Mobile Bar: Trailer Made Mobile Bar, Angela Dearwester

Models: Nathan & Kaylee Bidwell

Romance in the rain…you’ve got it! Basically, The Notebook come to life, but better! Picture a translucent canoe in the french countryside and village pub! BUT better yet is Joe and Samantha’s love story!! It’s the kind of love story that’s amazing and crazy all at the same time!!!

Let’s start with Samantha….she grew up in Ohio, but after some super tough life situations God led her to Colorado for a time of healing. While in Colorado she met a guy name Norman (aka Joe’s best friend!) Somehow after merely a sentence or two of conversation with Norman he knew Samantha was meant to be his best friend’s wife!

Norman immediately told Joe’s parents and they started praying for her over the next six months. Meanwhile, Samantha had NO IDEA about these sweet prayers or any of Norman’s ideas!! Norman did, however, tell Joe that he had found his wife for him and slowly over six months told Joe about Samantha. Let’s pause here to give you a little back story to Joe… Joe grew up in Papua New Guinea as a missionary kid until he was eleven-years-old. The culture in Papua New Guinea was that the opposite sex didn’t associate with each other AT ALL!! (He didn’t even associate with his girl cousins!) His family then moved to South Dakota…still no girlfriends until Norman’s idea entered the picture! Okay, here’s how it all went down! Six months passed when Norman finally told Samantha of his idea that his best friend, Joe, would be perfect for her. Joe left South Dakota at midnight and made the EIGHT HOUR drive to Colorado on a motorcycle to meet Samantha for the first time!! First impressions for Samantha?? Well, Joe arrived after the eight hour trip at a little coffee shop with an afro-like, total motorcycle helmet smashed hairdo and well, let’s just say he didn’t quite look like he does in these pictures! LOL! But their first blind date lasted 13 hours and included mountain hikes, easy silence, eating, and honest conversations. They both just knew it was right!

80 days later they committed to forever!! In Samantha’s words, “We barely knew each other, but we knew what counted: our foundation of person and heart. And for the first time, we found a perfect fit.”

Country Venue: French Hen Farm

Pub and Table Setting Venue: Strongwater Events

Event Planning & Florals: Inspired Settings

Gown: The Bride Babe

Tuxedo: Romanoff’s Classic Tuxedo

Hair & Makeup: Rustic Roots, Stacy Connor

Bridal accessories: Cori Lynn Co

Styled Tablescapes

Have you ever been invited to a meal and felt absolutely treated because of how the host took the time to make things special? Sometimes the smallest details on a table setting can make the biggest difference in making our guests feel at home and truly welcomed. I had the privilege of joining several local businesses to create two simple and welcoming settings.

The first is a “Tea for Two” themed party setting. Can’t you just imagine little girls having fun at this tea party?! Cupcakes, tea, flowers, and pillows to relax on! A little girls dream!

This next tablescape design was quite easy to pull together, and yet so warm and welcoming! The slight touches of eucalyptus and blue/green hues mixed with the wood-on-wood table and bowls gave the setting a natural and yet elegant look.  The finishing touches of gold utensils and hand-scripted calligraphy name cards brought it all together beautifully. It was a pleasure to work with the following businesses:

Venue: The Barn on Chapel Road

Designer: MB Design Concepts

Stationary: Calligraphy By Katie

Peter Jon and Ashley’s wedding was AMAZING!!! The weather was perfect, the couple was stunning, the details were beautiful…everything from start to finish was top notch! But all the details aside, what blessed me the most was seeing the hearts of Peter Jon and Ashley. You could tell the desire for their lives and marriage is to put God first. I’m sure the ceremony was a sweet aroma to God as they worshiped. And then at the reception Peter Jon and Ashley ate last after greeting their guests…they liked the symbolism of having their guests go first. Their joy was so much fun to capture in photos. I believe you’ll see their genuine spirits as you look through the pictures of their day… The day took place at Ashley’s home. What a beautiful setting! One of the gifts PJ gave Ashley was a magazine cover complete with details from their day and lives. For example, one of the features on the cover was, “Ash late to her own wedding…, ‘So normal’ says Peej.”  Time for their first look!  Peter Jon and Ashley are two of the top men’s and women’s Spikeball players in the world, so playing a little roundnet on their wedding day was a must! Peter Jon asked Ashley to be his girlfriend at this old one-room schoolhouse the night they graduated from high school. Over the years they’ve gone on dates at the schoolhouse, and last year PJ asked Ashley to marry him here! PJ even carved his wedding band out of wood from the school!  During the ceremony Emma painted the scene. LOVE this!!! Breakfast, donuts, and pastries!!! YES!!!! The donut wall was on “display” when the guests entered the reception area and in no time the wall was emptied even before dinner!!! When it was filled again it was guarded by at least three people for approximately an hour until it was officially dessert time! Be sure to read the story below of the donkey salt and pepper shaker. 🙂 The sunset was absolutely gorgeous!!!  First dance on the beach of the pond. Ice cream cones instead of feeding each other cake!

Florist: Roxanne of Perla Flor Designs

Wedding Coordinator/Designer: Tina Yoder

Hair & Makeup: Stacy at Rustic Roots

Wedding Dress: Wendy’s Bridal

Donuts :): Krispy Kreme

Special thanks to my photography second shooter, Emilee of Emilee Hope Photography.

Grove City, Ohio

Joe and Brittany’s wedding wrapped up my 2018 wedding season and what an ending…such a WONDERFUL day!!

We began the day with Brittany and her girls at the Courtyard in Grove City…

Brittany, you are stunning!! Then we were off to the Pinnacle Golf Club for the ceremony and reception. It was a bit of an unseasonably cold day for November, but Brittany and her girls braved the shivers and survived capturing a few pictures outside! I love this picture of Joe, his dad, and brothers. You could tell family is important to Joe and Brittany.  Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Ford!! Thank you, Joe and Brittany, for allowing me to capture the memories of your day! It was truly a privilege!

Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal

Tuxedos: The Black Tux

Flowers: Flower Man

Venue: The Pinnacle Golf Club

Wedding Coordinator: Lisa Bapst

Hair/Makeup: Nancy Shockley

Cake: Cake Creations

Videographer: Andrew E. Weber

Special thanks to Deborah of DG Photography for joining me to second shoot for the day.