After Karen and Robert’s amazing engagement session I knew their wedding would be amazing.  However, I had no idea just how spectacular this wedding would be!  I can’t believe just how much of a visual treat this wedding was.  Beyond that though there were just so much love all day that it made the wedding that much more beautiful.

Karen and Robert chose to do a first look which made the most sense for their wedding day.  I love when we’re able to do first looks but I know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  However, when your wedding ceremony and reception are at the same location it really makes the most sense.  What I really loved about their wedding day was that they did their first look and bridal party photos at the Tudor Arms and then headed over to the Cleveland Cultural Gardens with just the Best Man and Maid of Honor for some more portraits.

The ceremony feelings weren’t diminished by the first look – contrary to what people think happens!  There were lots of tears, lots of love and so many smiles.  The reception contained much of the same and it was just a lovely night where I never stopped smiling when documenting their beautiful love story.

Thank you both so much for trusting me with your day!

Band: Bluewater Kings Band / Bridal Gown: Custom Jovani Gown designed by Joshua Vietmeier from Henri’s Cloud Nine / Cake: White Flower Cake Shoppe / Ceremony & Reception: Tudor Arms Hotel / Dessert: Luna Bakery & Cake / Florist: Blooms by Plantscaping / Hair: Kreate Hair Studio / Makeup: Dena Vega / Officiant: Bob Javorsky / Rentals: Event Source / Wedding Planning: Allison from Kirkbrides

You need to stop what you are doing for a moment and just gaze at this FANTASTIC wedding dress.  It is a dress that was custom designed for Karen and I’m still drooling over it months later.

Her bridesmaid gowns were equally swoon-worthy.  I mean, WOW.

If you’ve been around these parts you know my love for bridesmaid dresses that don’t match but this wedding took it to the next level.  They aren’t matchy matchy but looked FANTASTIC together.

While the ladies and guys had a quick lunch I ran downstairs to see the ceremony setup (just you wait!) and was able to also capture some images of the stationery.  I can’t believe these are from Minted!  SO gorgeous!

Karen’s makeup was flawless, of course.

Finally i was time to get her dressed in this amazing gown!  The beaded sleeves took a few moments to arrange perfectly but totally was worth it in the end.

They both did some final touch ups before their first look on the staircase!

I loved how Robert’s guys were so chill all day.

Not going to lie, I try not to play favorites with my images by this is by far and away one of my most favorite first look images EVER.

While the above image may be a favorite of the day, it comes in close second to the one below because the joy on Robert’s face is just too wonderful for words.

First looks are always tricky, sometimes they are awkward, sometimes people are peeking and it ruins the moment but when they are perfect… they are so perfect.

We did our photos with the bridal party first and started with the ladies.  See what I mean about the dresses?  They could not be any more dissimilar from one another but all together it looks SO amazing!

The guys were coordinated but it was just as great looking.  Maybe someday they’ll have sequined jackets for guys 😉

We did a few group photos before we let the bridal party head back and relax until the ceremony.

Karen rocked this dress like nobody’s business.

Robert looked so dapper in his white coat!  It was a brave move (white can be a disaster at a wedding with guys) but it was worth the risk.

One of my most favorite things of the day was that they hired a van to take them and their Best Man/Maid of Honor to the Cleveland Cultural Gardens for some wedding photos before the ceremony.

When there’s less people it’s easier to get genuine smiles and love since it’s not as awkward to kiss in front of parents.

This has been a popular spot for me this summer and with good reason, this balcony really has fantastic light and is just in a beautiful setting.

It also let me capture the amazing back of this gown!

There’s so many neat spots along the cultural gardens it’s hard really to choose a favorite.

The garden that we initially wanted to hit was having a wedding so we made do with this area nearby and it was honestly better than the original choice.

They are just adorable together.

Her AMAZING bouquet is by none other than the fabulous Blooms by Plantscaping.

One last little walk before heading back to the Tudor Arms hotel to get married!

Karen LOVES her car and this was one of her requests if the weather was good – a picture of her and her car.  She decided to ‘clean’ the tire with her skirt and I loved her even more for it.

This is another favorite from the day.  It’s so Karen and SO perfect.

I still can’t get over the amazing transformation in the room for the wedding ceremony at the Tudor Arms.

Every time I work with Kirkbrides I know it’s going to be a visual treat!

Yes, that’s a gold sequined aisle runner for the wedding ceremony!

The rose and ostrich feather arrangements were so beautiful!

Even the aisle was a feast for the eys!

People always ask me if the moment when the Groom sees the Bride walking down the aisle is diminished by a first look.   As you can see, it isn’t.  I usually find they are actually MORE emotional because you’re not trying to file away what to say later, you’ve said what you need to say about how the person looks so when this moment happens you just take in how it feels.

There may have been a few tears.

Juuust a few… and I may have been one of them.

A really sweet touch was that they had written their vows in a book they could read from that was also a keepsake.  Such a lovely touch!

Karen’s grandparents came up at the end of the ceremony to tie on a bracelet for the sai sin ceremony.

Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs!

While they enjoyed the cocktail hour, I ran around the wedding reception to get photos of all of the details before the guests were ushered in.

I started with this cake from White Flower Cake Shoppe which was outstanding.  I love how she incorporated the style of Karen’s dress into a layer (reminded me of Sarah’s wedding cake which was also designed to look like her gown!).

Sweetheart tables are my favorites – they never fail to be a visual highlight of the wedding reception!

I loved the touches of the art deco theme throughout – even down to the tiniest detail like the place cards.

Not only did they have cake but they also had desserts from Luna Bakery set up outside of the ballroom.

The pink and gold decor at the wedding reception really highlights the beauty that is the Tudor Arms.

Tudor Arms weddings always make me so excited because I know that it’s going to be a beautiful event!

This is the view of the entire room from the area where the cake was.

One fun thing about a Tudor Arms wedding is that we usually get a chance to do a reveal of the room for the Bride and Groom from the balcony above and their reactions always make me smile.

Finally it was time for the entrances and their first dance.

Bluewater Kings Band kicked things off and Karen and Robert enjoyed their first dance.

To be honest, my favorite part of the cake cutting was getting more images of the sides of the dress showing off the amazing beaded sleeves!

The toasts were sweet and perfect!

After dinner Karen got things rolling again by dancing with her Dad.

He was a bit shy at first but by the end he was enjoying it and they shared a lot of smiles.

After Karen and Robert’s wedding which had a lot of fascinators I wanted to write into my contract that every wedding should have at least one fascinator.  I mean, look at how fantastic Robert’s Mom looks in one?  They are so fabulous!

The band got into their groove as did their guests.  Everyone was dancing, smiling and having a great time.

I fell in love with Karen even more when she started twirling in her dress.  I mean, come on, if you are going to have this fantastic of a dress it’s almost criminal to not spin in it with abandon!  However my favorite part of this photo may be Robert’s smile watching Karen.  They were just so delightful!

A Tudor Arms wedding is not complete without the bouquet being tossed from the balcony!

Before I left I got to play with yet another fantastic set of rings!  It was a bit tricky getting things to balance JUST right but luckily I got it to work.