Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center Wedding with Sarah and Mark

I love when I’m able to work with families more than once.  I photographed Sarah’s brother’s wedding a couple years ago and it was fun to work with the family again and see some familiar faces.  Their family is just a ton of fun with lots of laughs all day long.  Sarah and Robert (past Groom) are two of five siblings and their family very much reminds me of my husband’s family (whom has the same amount of siblings in the same gender).  Mark’s family is from Boston and I loved listening to their accents all day long – especially since I had just flown in from Boston a couple days before their wedding.  They were all so sweet, kind and gregarious – like most Bostonians that I know.  It was such a fun day with two really lovely families.

Sarah and Mark were a dream to work with.  They were game for anything and much preferred casual styled portraits to the formals that are often the timely part of the day.  We zipped through those and got these guys outside and everyone relaxed and had a good time.  Sarah was a bit concerned about being overly posed but they just are so naturally affectionate and sweet with one another that I barely had to guide them at all.  Even at the reception it was difficult to photograph them from a bad angle, they just radiated love all day long.

Going through these images really reminded me of not only the emotions that day but just how picture perfect it was in terms of weather.  While we were at Rocky River Reservation for pictures, Nicole turned to me and said “THIS is why you get married in October!” and she’s right.  It was a beautiful, perfect autumn day and Ohio was really showing off why October is where it’s at!  A bit of a breeze  but the warm rays from the sun warmed you enough that you didn’t need a jacket and the leaves were almost at peak for the season.  I can almost smell the leaves when looking through these images!  Come back soon October!

Vendors

Cake: Wild Flour Bakery
Ceremony: Our Lady of Angels Church
DJ: Troy Entertainment
Florist: Blooms by Plantscaping
Harpist: Xiao Lei Salovara
Reception: Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center 

 

We started the day off at Sarah’s parents house and she got ready with her family.  She was such a gorgeous bride!

bride getting ready before wedding in cleveland

I love that Sarah dressed her dog up in a pink tutu!

bride with pug dog dressed up in a tutu before wedding

It’s been a while since I’ve Been to Our Lady of Angels but it’s still absolutely beautiful.

Our Lady of Angels wedding ceremony cleveland

I loved how the flower girl waved to her adoring fans the entire way up the aisle.

flower girl waving as she walks up the aisle at wedding ceremony

This is when Mark first saw Sarah.  LOVE!

groom seeing bride as she walks up the aisle at wedding ceremonywedding ceremony in cleveland ohio

One of my favorite ceremony pictures of 2014!  I also love how Mark’s Dad is sneaking a picture of them with his phone behind them!

wedding ceremony at our lady of angels in cleveland ohio

YAY!

couple pronounced married at wedding ceremony

I think they were happy!

happy couple exiting wedding ceremony in rocky river ohio

We had a few places we’d talked about going to for pictures but we ended up at this GORGEOUS little spot in Rocky River Reservation and it worked out splendidly.  The light was coming in through the leaves and it was just beautiful.

I love how classy the long grey dresses looked and how everyone had their own style of gown.  What a good looking bridal party right??

pewter and black bridal party

I couldn’t decide which version I liked better so I’m blogging both.

bridal party in black and grey

I swear I didn’t hire these ladies to model for me, this was a real wedding!

bridesmaids in long pewter dresses in cleveland ohio

bridesmaid pose in cleveland ohio

I love how the bouquets from Blooms really complemented the dresses.

blooms by plantscaping wedding bouquets

october wedding in cleveland ohio

While I worked with the bridesmaids, Nicole had the groomsman and they looked quite dapper in their classic suits.

black and white portrait of groomsman in parkcleveland-marriott-wedding17

The bride!!

bride portrait with train and lace veil

white orchid and cream rose bouquet

The groom

groom portrait in cleveland ohiogroom lily boutonniere

See what I mean about October being awesome?

outdoor wedding portrait in october in cleveland ohio

These two were pretty great too.

october wedding rocky river reservation ohio

I could have taken pictures of them in this light, in this spot, for days!

bride and groom portrait in october in cleveland ohio

fall wedding portrait in cleveland ohio

wedding portrait in the leaves in cleveland ohio

Since that spot was so perfect we got all of their portraits out of the way and ended up with some extra time which meant that we could make a quick stop back to Sarah’s parents house and, most importantly, the dog.

bridal portrait with pug

On Sarah’s requests for pictures of the day she wanted some with both of them and their adorable pug and I’m so glad we were able to make this happen!

bride and groom portrait with dog pug

Since they made use of one photo location instead of going downtown and bopping all around, we ended up with a small bit of downtime which was really nice.  Everyone snacked, had a drink and relaxed before the hustle and bustle of the reception.  I’ve had a few weddings do that this year and I think it’s such a great idea!

While I was there I was able to capture a few wedding details they had at the house before we headed off to the reception, including their AWESOME favor: a beer koozie!

beer koozie wedding favor

While the bridal party filed off the bus I rounded up Sarah and Mark for a quick picture downtown at the fountain.

bride and groom wedding portrait in front of fountain in downtown cleveland

Yet another GORGEOUS Wild Flour Bakery cake.

white wedding cake by wild flour bakery in cleveland

The ballroom at the Marriott looked beautiful I loved the elegant decor.

elegant wedding reception decor at cleveland marriott downtown

Their sweetheart table was so beautiful, the white chairs were a perfect touch!

white chairs at sweethart table at cleveland marriott wedding reception

While the guests were being seated, Sarah and Mark opted to do their cake cutting with just their bridal party and family present, which I thought was a unique touch!

bride and groom cutting the cake at wedding reception

I laugh every time I see this picture of one of the flower girls and ring bearer entering the reception.

flower girl entrance at wedding reception in cleveland ohio

LeBron entrances are always a huge hit with weddings!

bridal party lebron james style wedding entrance to reception

This may be my favorite entrance picture from 2014.  LOVE!

wedding reception at Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center

Sarah’s sisters started off the toasts and it was equal parts sweet and sentimental.

maids of honor toast at wedding reception in cleveland ohioemotional wedding toast at reception in cleveland ohio

Mark’s brothers did the second toasts and followed suit.

best man toast at wedding reception at Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key CenterCleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center wedding reception

Mark’s father rounded things out with a toast and blessing.

Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center reception

There was a bit of downtime between courses which meant that Sarah and Mark got to visit tables and have a few laughs during dinner.

Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center wedding reception in ohio

Don’t worry, it’s just water!

flower girl drinking out of wine glass

Their first dance was what fairy tales are made of.

first dance at wedding reception at Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center

Can I just gush for a moment at Sarah’s hair?  Seriously, perfection.

Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center wedding reception with troy entertainment

LOVE.

Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center october wedding

They went right into the parent dances starting off with Sarah’s father dancing with her.

father daughter dance at wedding reception in northeast ohiofather spinning daughter during dance at wedding reception

Then Mark and his Mother danced as well.

groom and mother dance at wedding reception in ohiowedding reception in october in downtown cleveland ohio

After that they danced the night away with the awesome Troy Entertainment keeping the dance floor full all night.

wedding ring image on mirror

Thank you both for trusting me with your magical day!

 

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