One of the perks to having an earlier ceremony is often that leaves us with lots and lots of time between for pictures.  I know that this often makes things tricky when planning the wedding, especially for guests but for photographers?  It is like getting the golden ticket!!!  Cortney and Adam had ample time to take pictures all around downtown Cleveland and Stan Hywet before their reception and we made good use of the time!  It may have been a bit humid of a day but there wasn’t a drop of rain to be seen and the sun was absolutely splendid.  It was a perfect day for a perfect couple, congratulations to you both!

Wedding Vendors

Catering: Acme Catering
Ceremony:  Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
DJ:  Marino Brothers
Florist:  Creations by Lynn
Reception: Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

I love working at St. John’s – the staff there is AMAZING to work with and the church is absolutely stunning.

Cortney carried her grandmother’s rosary in her bouquet and I loved that special detail!

This little girl captured my heart.  She was desperately trying to capture images of Cortney getting ready but still didn’t quite have the camera figured out.  I’d LOVE to see what she had on this sucker by the end of the day.

This church is SO beautiful!

Cortney and her Dad giggled for a good bit of their walk up the aisle and it was a joy to see.  Her Dad was so adorable all day and just SO proud.

Midway up the aisle they picked up Cortney’s Mom for the rest of her walk to Adam.

See why I love this church?!?  SO beautiful!

The bridesmaids bouquets were perfectly laid out during the service and I couldn’t resist a quick snap of them.

I love when I catch my bride and groom during the ceremony sneaking in quick looks at each other.

Married!  Huzzah!

After the fastest round of family portraits I’ve ever taken in my LIFE, we headed out into downtown for a quick round of pictures before the masses of people began to arrive.  They were predicting over 100K visitors to downtown that day so we wanted to make sure we were long gone before traffic became a problem.  It was midday and the sun was bright but I still love these images from East 4th.

One thing I quickly found out from chatting with Cortney before the big day was that she was a huge fan of the dip and kiss.  So am I so I was glad that Adam was a great dipper.

One of my favorite spots to get a skyline view and I love the way her veil caught the wind just at the right moment.

Reassembled a little bit further away but still just as great of a group!

Pretty much every time I spotted a great patch of light I grabbed Cortney and Adam and stuck them in it – even if it wasn’t the “traditional” spaces in Stan Hywet one takes photographes at.

This ended up being one of my favorite images of the day in this tiny little nook off the path that I’d discovered int he past with Amanda and Matt.

The English Garden is by far one of my favorite spots and I was elated that we were able to fit this spot in while we were there.

I LOVED the grey suits on the guys!

That reflection pool… sigh.  So awesome.

Seriously, I wish every wedding could go here.  No bad angles!

Of course by far and away my favorite place is the birch tree alee.  It’s amazing and popular for a reason!

We had just a few minutes to capture images before the next ceremony took place there and these two hustled to make sure it happened. YAY!

At the very end of the alee near the tea houses the trees were lit up beautifully from behind by the sun, love!

Yet another favorite.

How cute are these two???

There is a new feature over by the green house that’s a children’s play area and one of the features is this bubble fountain which is just so fun.  Normally I hate out of focus pictures but for some reason this one I really loved.

A few more pictures before we all had to take a breather from the hot sun and humidity.  This bridal party was awesome to work with and they were game for anything.  THANK YOU!

The flower girl was Cortney’s cousin’s daughter and one of her must-have pictures was one of the two of them playing beneath her veil.

The cocktail hour took place in an area they call the well in the shadows of the manor house.  Definitely one of the coolest cocktail hour locations in Northeast Ohio!

Their reception was in the basement of the manor house so while my second shooter was covering the cocktail hour I ran round capturing the reception room which was dramatically lit with uplights for a bit of extra pizazz.

One of my favorite details from their wedding reception were the table numbers.  Instead of just  being a number they had the number and on each side it was that many things about him or her that you should know about them.  SUCH a fun way to personalize something that’s traditionally pretty boring while keeping it traditional with being number based (and easier for your guests to find!).

I told you, these two had the dip nailed!

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a slideshow of the bride and groom growing up but it was really fun to see again and the reactions of the guests were fun to capture.

After dinner was cleared it was time to get that dance floor open and they started with a lovely first dance to “All of Me” by John Legend.

Cortney’s ring is a family heirloom and the stone is an alexandrite which is one of my favorites.  It changes color depending on what light it is in!  SUCH a gorgeous ring!

Their favors were champagne splits with a gorgeous custom label.