Back in the Spring, I had one of my favorite engagement sessions ever with these two in front of the Art Museum.  The blossoms were AMAZING and these two were so much fun to work with, I couldn’t wait for their wedding.  I was just so excited to see them both again AND work with them again.

The thing that will stand out most to me from the day though was the amazing way that Cara kept her composure during a hell of a debacle on her wedding day (and later, Josh as well).  Some wedding days go smoothly, some just don’t.  Their wedding had a hell of a speed bump but these two handled it with grace and poise that not many would have.  What was the speed bump?  A craptacular limo service.  After 6 years I’ve seen some awful ones, but this one took the cake as they made the bride late to her own wedding.  Yes, you read that right.  Then after the wedding, despite Cara having sent locations for photos and addresses, the driver didn’t use his GPS and a 10 minute drive took nearly an hour.  Luckily I work quickly but it was almost comical how bad this guy was.  In the end I had to hand him my phone with Siri guiding us to the locations because for whatever reason he would NOT punch in the address on his GPS.  I’m still amazed at how calmly they dealt with it the day of and how neither of them let it ruffle their feathers.  They are just that wonderful.  If it wasn’t for the bride actually being LATE to the wedding,  no one would have had a clue what issues were going on.  I’m happy to say they did end up getting a refund!  Still though, there’s no excuse for what happened.

The whole day other than that?  Amazing.  Their friends were all fun and so easy to manage (some bridal parties can be a bit rowdy, especially when you add alcohol).  The weather was perfection.  The decor?  AMAZING!  If you haven’t seen Tudor Arms be prepared to be in for a treat in the pics.  I’m still in love with the bridesmaid dresses.  Their families were a dream to work with.  The icing on the cake though was just how seriously lovely it was to work with Josh and Cara though, honestly.  I even teared up a bit during their ceremony (yes, 6 years on I still do this at weddings).   I am so lucky to work with couples like these.  Thank you both for trusting me to be your photographer and capture your wedding day!

Wedding Vendors

Band:  Swagg
Cake:  Wild Flour Bakery
Ceremony:  Church of the Gesu
Florist:  Floral Dynasty
Hair:  Salon One
Makeup Artist:  Kajal By Kimberly
Photo Booth:  Shutterbooth
Reception:  Tudor Arms Hotel
Stationery:  Katie Farley Designs

I started out with the guys and they were HILARIOUS!  I could hear their party all the way at the elevators!  They were singing, dancing and just having SO much fun.

The girls were a bit more sedate but still having a good time.  One of Cara’s must-have’s was an image of her dress hanging here. Such a beautiful spot!

How gorgeous are these Kate Spade “Glam” heels?  SO beautiful!

However neither shoe nor dress can compare to how beautiful Cara looked.  Such a pretty lady!

I love this image of Cara and her ladies before they got dressed!

Once they were dressed we took some pictures around the hotel while waiting on the limo to arrive.  This is my favorite of the bridesmaids showing off their gift from Cara, a Kate Spade “Partner in Crime” bracelet, isn’t that such a great bridesmaid gift!?

Once we finally arrived at the ceremony, we all rushed to our places and Cara promptly was escorted down the aisle by her father.

“I MADE IT!”

The kiss 🙂

One of my favorite images from the day of them recessing down the aisle.  LOVE!

Cara had the groomsman man the confetti cannons for their exit and I LOVE LOVE LOVED these things!

After our “3 hour tour” we finally arrived at one of my favorite spots in Cleveland – the jack knife bridge.

Aren’t these bridesmaid dresses gorgeous?  I loved the long pale pink gowns and how they were one shouldered.

See why I love the groomsman??

I’m glad that this year the leaves hung on through the summer!

After the bridge we headed over to my favorite spot for a skyline image in Cleveland with the bridal party.  The pale pink and black was such a classy combination!

These girls were so great to work with!  Thank you ladies for being SO wonderful!

Gotta love a casual groomsman shot.  It’s classic for a reason.

See why I loved this bridal party?!

The stars of the day!

Classic “Mom” poses are always some of my favorites.  Fun ones are well and good but I promise at the end of the day, it’s the Mom style poses that you’ll be framing the most of.

I call it the “Mom” pose because Moms get mad if I don’t include a few of these!

There’s still something to be said about going outside the box though!  🙂

These two!  SO sweet!

Can I gush about Cara’s gorgeous veil for a moment?  I’m loving the lace trim!

I love when we’re able to hit a couple different spots and really urge my clients to have one spot just for them that the bridal party doesn’t come out for.  It gives us a bit of “alone” time without the bridal party catcalling when kissing and I’m able to capture a few more intimate moments than I can with an audience.  This is one of my favorites from the day and it was unprompted while we were at the Italian Gardens in Cleveland.

An unplanned moment but one of my favorite images from the day!

I always try and get a preview image up on my Facebook Page the day after a wedding and this was the image I chose because it was one that jumped out at me when I got home.  A casual portrait but you can tell how happy these two are!

Another pose from the same area because the light was amazing!

Cara and Josh really wanted some images in the reception area before they went off to the cocktail hour and we returned to the spot where I hung the dress earlier in the day.  It’s kind of fun to see the transformation of the dress from being hung to on Cara in the same spot!

This is, BY FAR, my favorite sign of the year.   If you can’t read it it says, “You can find your seating assignment here, but your place is on the dance floor.  Love, Cara and Josh.”  Seriously?  THIS IS AWESOME!

I’m really digging the decor for head tables this year!  I really loved these low square vases with the pink roses, petals and candles.  Simple but so elegant.  The rectangle bridal party table also meant that people were able to converse which is so wonderful for photographs!

I also love that they had the bridal party table in the center of the room!  So much easier to photograph!

The pink and gold color scheme really came together in the reception room at the Tudor Arms.  So elegant and it worked well with the amazing decor in the room already.

Cara’s father opened the evening with a lovely toast to his darling girl.  There were a lot of tears!

I confess to tearing up right along with Cara.

SO sweet and my favorite image from the day.  Sniff.

The cake cutting was perfection!

They sat me with some lovely friends of theirs so I was super lucky to get a bite of the cake and, as always, Wild Flour did a spectacular job!

Their first dance was so sweet and lovely.  You can tell everyone is entranced!

Cara and her father shared a sweet dance together and they both barely reigned in the tears.

The same went for Josh and his Mom.

Cara rounded up her friends to catch the bouquet and the trend of tossing the bouquet but NOT the garter continued.  It’s been a trend this year and it’s been interesting to see this evolve!

After I got their rings to take pictures Cara and Josh hit the dance floor as Swagg got underway with the fun for the evening and this is another favorite from the day.

A fun fact: Cara and Josh’s rings are from the same completely random place that my wedding rings are from.  Cara’s set is also very similar to my set as well!  When I found out where she got her rings I had to laugh and tell her how mine were too!  So fun!

A final image in front of the custom backdrop they had made for the photobooth!

Please pull a Mariah Carey and get married every year to each other OK?  😉