Before posting the highlights of Jill & Kevin’s incredible 4/26/07 wedding in St. Kitts, I thought I’d go ahead and post a portion of their first dance from the 5/12/07 reception at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It had one of the most awkward and uncomfortable starts I’d ever seen. But then…well, you’ll see:
And here are the highlights from the whole wedding experience:
Tiffany Stoner and Nate Rowe of Nathaniel Edmunds Photography just gave my family the coolest “thank you” gift ever for the video clips I put together for their new website. Nate met us at Holiday Park last week to capture some images of the boys romping around at the huge play area, and of all of us wandering around the woods. I’ve always loved bringing the kids there, but it also has significance to me because I shot my first wedding in front of the park’s beautiful ruins with the fountain running, and it is also the last place Chris and I played with Matthew right before the twins were born. The kids are much older now and pretty tricky to wrangle for pictures, so I’m amazed at how many great shots Nate was able to get out of all that craziness. Thanks, Tiff & Nate! There are many more shots on their blog, but here are a few of my favorites:
Almost ten years after videotaping Leigh Ann Lauth’s graduation ceremony at Second Presbyterian Church and reception at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, it only seemed meant to be that I would have the honor of covering Leigh Ann & Kevin’s wedding and reception last night at those same venues. The couple certainly came ready to party, and their early first meeting gave them plenty of time to get some great shots in and outside the church with photographers Dan & Brooke Brand of Brand Photo & Design. The ceremony took place in front of about 400 guests, who easily filled this normally hard-to-fill sanctuary. The balcony was pretty full, too, as I shared space with a sizable orchestra whose beautiful music set a majestic tone for the whole ceremony. I was pleasantly surprised to see my talented friend Michael Vaughn of the Fishers Chamber Players there in the orchestra. (Our oldest kids are going to marry each other one day – they just don’t know it yet.)
The reception at the Indiana Roof Ballroom was simply breathtaking! This was also my first wedding with uber-designer Gary Bravard in almost ten years, and he came back better than ever and even outdid himself in a big way with this one. The huge ballroom is virtually impossible to truly fill with decor (not that it needs it), but Gary and his team did exactly that, transforming it into an extravagant forest of floral arrangements. One of the many highlights of the night was a surprise by the bride’s father Bob Lauth – an amazing Celtic dancing troupe to celebrate the couple’s Irish heritage. The band High Society Orchestra came down from Chicago to show everyone how it’s done in the Windy City, keeping the majority of the huge crowd – and the couple – on the dance floor for hours on end. I can’t thank Gary Bravard enough for making me a part of his great team at this event, or my buddy Rich Johnson for his invaluable help. And my kids are thankful for the favors that the couple had waiting for guests at the exit – boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts!
While I was covering Leigh Ann & Kevin’s reception at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, Laurie was videotaping Anna & Michael’s beautiful wedding and reception right down the block at the luxurious Conrad Hotel. At the rehearsal, they had toyed with the idea of squeezing their slightly smaller crowd into a third of the ballroom, but I think they made a great choice instead to spread them out over a larger section of the room. After all, you can’t have an event in a fancy venue like that and then not show it off, right? Anna gave me the impression that theirs would be a pretty subdued crowd, but they turned out to be quite the fun-loving bunch on the dance floor, aided surely by DJ Sunny Moon‘s experience at keeping the party moving. (Thanks to Sunny for the referral, as well as for inviting me to be part of your bridal open house earlier in the week!) The always-animated photographer Kevin Swan was there to cover the event as well, so I’m sure that much fun was had by all!
After a fantastic wedding week in St. Kitts and another week’s honeymoon in Antigua, the celebration continued last Saturday at their reception at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Tonya Shadoan of Circle City Planners and Gene Huddleston of Detail + Design collaborated to bring tropical chic to the Deer Zink Pavillion. What really made the room was the contemporary furniture sets carefully picked out by Tonya and provided by Watson’s, where Kevin is the sales manager. I put together a video of photographer Hether Miles‘ great images combined with my footage, and it was a huge hit with the crowd. It was intended by Jill to be the focal point of the reception, but it got upstaged soon after by the couple themselves. I’ve seen over 500 first dances, so it would take something really special for me to say that it was my Favorite First Dance Ever, but this one was by a mile. (I’ll post it shortly.) All in all, it was a magical night to cap off what Kevin’s dad called the “longest wedding ever!”
A Colt gets hitched! Here are the highlights from Melody & Dylan’s ceremony at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and reception at the Woodstock Club on 4/29/07. Enjoy!
Who’s luckier, the guy standing on the far left, or the one on the far right?
Love the cropping on this one!
Couldn’t resist asking them to twirl. Hope I didn’t mess up Hether’s shot!
Gorgeous view from the room. (The couple’s, not mine!)
I just got back from a fun little “photo club” gathering at Stacy & Mary Photography‘s downtown studio, where we gabbed, critiqued each others’ photos (thanks for not making too much fun of this amateur!), drank and talked shop for hours on end. It was wonderful as always to see my friends Stacy, Mary and Jessica Strickland, and also to finally meet photographers Lauren Chapman, Bobbi Sheridan and their husbands after hearing so many wonderful things about them. I hope that not too many details of the evening get out, but I’m guessing that some photos soon to be seen on their respective blogs will paint a picture. Thanks for hosting a great evening, Stacy & Mary!
As long as I’m thanking such wonderful friends in the biz, I should also thank the gals at the Omni Severin Hotel for borrowing my plasma TV for their booth at Perfect Wedding Guide bridal show at the Montage on Sunday. I’m so lucky to have classy people like them, DJ Sunny Moon and others display and distribute so much of my work at these shows, and then treat me as if I’m doing THEM a favor! Thanks also to my friend and neighbor, DJ Jim Cerone for going to the show with me and helping me get the TV back to the studio. While I’m at it, belated thanks to my awesome pal Angela Talley for treating me once again to a yummy lunch (and more big smiles from sweet little Lucia) a couple days ago. Did I mention how incredibly LUCKY I am?