Wedding • Jennifer and Dan • Backyard Wedding

•  I’ve known Jen for about 4 years or more – we met in that early social media place called Live Journal (although I can’t recall how?) and quickly became friends, especially once realizing how close we lived to one another.

•  You may remember her from the photos I took of her beautiful cat Oreo this spring.  For those wondering sadly Oreo passed not long after our session together.  I hope that her and Sage are having a grand time in Cat Heaven.

•  Jen and Dan had an entire different vision for their wedding when they originally booked me but then they found THE house and decided to downscale the wedding and have it in their new house’s backyard.  I love, love, love backyard weddings.  My first wedding ever was shot in the bride’s backyard and it was such a perfect day.  Jen and Dan had the same perfect day that they did.  There’s just something so sweet about getting married where you spend your life.  I love it.

•  Jen and I became fast friends in part due to our shared love of books.  I was delighted to find out that Jen incorporated books into much of the wedding day including by having a book bouquet (by far my favorite bouquet EVER) and books in the centerpieces.  LOVE!

•  Another loose theme of the day that coincided with the book theme was a “The Bloggess” theme.  You read that right, this awesome bride incorporated the amazing Jenny the Bloggess into her wedding.  You know you now consider her to be one of the coolest brides EVER right?  Dan knows of Jen’s love of The Bloggess – she is a faithful reader and he also thinks that they favor one another.  Around the time of the wedding, Jen had read one of her hilarious posts about getting a Sloth for her husband for their anniversary.  Jen was obsessed with the idea and informed Dan that she wanted a sloth for their wedding.  Dan however, was not so keen on the idea as sloths give him the heebie-jeebies to the nth degree.  While Jen was getting ready, we kept talking about it and she said that she was still secretly hoping for a sloth but had a feeling that was a hard line that Dan wouldn’t cross, even for their wedding.  Dan however, proved to be the most awesome groom ever and actually TRIED TO GET HER A SLOTH.  Seriously.  That is beyond awesome pants.  Since he was unable to procure a sloth for the wedding day (sad!) he instead gifted Jen with her very own copy of “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” which immediately was deemed to be decor and promptly taken outside to be part of the wedding day.  This is why I love these guys.

•  My favorite part of the day (it is quite hard to chose!) was when the officiant said this:

Welcome, friends and family! Good evening everyone. Please be seated. Dan and Jennifer invite you to be truly present at this special time. Please, turn off your cell phones and put down your cameras. The photographer will capture how this moment looks — I encourage you all to capture how it feels with your hearts, without the distraction of technology. If Dan can do it, then so can you.

• I know that guests LOVE to help capture your day but often they inadvertently ruin images and make my job that much harder. I’ve blogged about this in the past (and have plenty of new images which I intend use for a refresh post soon) and the fact that unplugged weddings are becoming more and more popular make me do a major happy dance!

Wedding Vendors

Bridal Gown:  Allure Bridal Couture viaUniverse Bridal
Coffee Bar:  Muggswigz
Cupcakes:  Vegan Sweet Tooth
Family Medaillon:  Precious Charms and More
Florist:  Every Blooming Thing
Hair & Makeup:  Sin Pretty Beauty
Menswear:  American Commodore Tuxedo
Officiant:  Rev. Catherine Daniels
Wedding Rings: WingedLion (Engagement Ring), Peaces of Indigo (Bride’s Wedding Ring), Minter and Richter (Grooms Wedding Band)

bride getting makeup applied before wedding in akron ohiobride and groom doing first look on staircase at home in akron ohio

I love that they did a first look and love the location in their home they chose!groom seeing bride for the first time during a first lookring bearer covering up face to hide from photographer

Colin, Jen’s son, took a while to warm up to the camera.grandmother hugging grandson during wedding

Vincent, Jen’s nephew, got a lot of loving from Grandma!

grandmother telling a story to her grandchildren

The kiddos were getting a bit restless and wild in the hour before the ceremony so Jen’s mother rounded them up and started telling them stories.  It was so awesome!
black and white portrait of bride and groom

They didn’t want a lot of posed portraits for the day preferring the candid moments to the posed but I’m glad that I managed to make them smile for a few!portrait of bride and groom in akron ohio

Favorite!!!mason jars holding yellow and grey wands for waving after the wedding

These were wands for the guests to wave after the ceremony and they bonused as their favors as a CAT TOY!  How brilliant!old books and lantern centerpieces for wedding reception

I know I’ve gushed about these centerpieces already but aren’t they amazingly perfect?custom flags for straws for a yellow and grey wedding

These custom straws made me giddy!!  So adorable!the bloggess wedding reception in akron ohio

Look how seamlessly The Bloggess fits into the decor?  Her cover even matched the color scheme!

twinkle lights strung in backyard for wedding in akron ohio

I love twinkle lights!wedding welcome sign at backyard wedding in akron ohio

This sign was beyond awesome.  reception setup in backyard in akron ohio

The backyard looked amazing!

book centerpieces and wildflowers at backyard wedding

Love love love!ringbearers walking down the aisle at wedding

Vincent’s allergies kicked up so he was rubbing his eyes and nose the entire walk to the ceremony and I still don’t know what the heck Colin was doing but the end result makes it look like they are doing some kind of coordinated dance.  Love!

bride with both parents walking down the aisle

Jen’s parents both escorted her down the aisle.  <3

bride and groom during unplugged wedding ceremony

The reading of the request to have an unplugged ceremony.  Be still my heart! 😉

bride smiling during vows at wedding ceremony in akron ohiobrides son holding rings during a ring warming ritual during ceremony

Jennifer and Dan chose to have a hand warming ceremony of the rings (much like my wedding in Cozumel did) and I loved how serious Colin took this element of the day.

bride and groom including son in wedding ceremony

They also included Colin in the ceremony and Dan gave him a Family Medallion to seal their vows to be a family.

Shakespeare book holding wedding rings

Yes, the rings were held in a book of sonnets.

ring exchange during wedding ceremony in backyard

The rings were being a bit pesky due to the heat.

first kiss during wedding ceremonybook page wedding bouquet

THE BOOK BOUQUET!  Yes, this bouquet made up of William Shakespeare’s love sonnets made my heart stop.  It’s brilliant.

flower girl reading the owl and the pussycat

Jen’s niece Summer read the poem “The Owl and the Pussycat” which was a poem that Dan’s grandmother read him often.

bride and son listening to poem being read during receptionring bearer singing soft kitty during reception

Few children are able to resist the lure of a microphone and Colin was not one of them.  He decided to sing “Soft Kitty” to us… a few times.

bride and groom first dance at wedding reception

Their first dance and here you can spy their awesome game table they had!

brides son cutting in during first dance

Colin had a bit of a meltdown right as the dance started because his best friend had to leave and he wanted his Mom to stop them.  He kept yelling for her and she ignored him until he came over and started tapping her back.  It was hilarious and I’m sure he’s going to be teased about this often in the coming years.

first dance in the backyard during receptionmother and son dance during wedding reception in akron ohio

Dan and his Mother danced and sung along to a favorite song of theirs.

father daughter dance during backyard wedding reception

Jen and her father also shared a sweet dance.

flower girl sipping out of a mason jar with custom flag during receptionwedding rings on book bouquet

You knew this was going to happen right???

detail image of book bouquet made up of shakespeare sonnets

Detail of the awesomeness that the book bouquet was.

wedding rings on the game of life game board

Eventually I got out The Game of Life and played with the rings for a bit here.  I loved this shot.

wedding rings on get married piece of the game of life

However I also loved this one as well.  Which one do you prefer??

bride and groom sitting on steps in front of their new home

A relaxed portrait in front of their gorgeous new home at the end of the night!

Thanks SO much to both of you!!!  Congratulations!!!!!

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