Rachel & Mike | Klehm Aboretum Wedding

Let me start with a disclaimer. No brides got poison ivy in the making of these wedding photos. :) Ok, now that we have that out of the way...

Rachel & Mike live in Colorado but came back to Rockford to get married. Planning your wedding from halfway across the country presents it's own challenges, one of which is getting to know your photographer. So I made sure to call Rachel an Mike every morning at 6am with a list of "get to know me" questions. Hahaha, I'm kidding. But communication is important so we talked / emailed / texted all through the months leading up to the wedding and on one occasion even gave the internet a swift kick in the pants when it wouldn't cooperate with us (long story short avoid "&" when uploading documents).

All this led to a wedding day where I had a good feel for Rachel & Mike even though we'd only met in person twice. And from those meetings I took away two things:

1. These two were a perfect fit for each other.

2. This was going to be fun.

I was right. Here's a quick look back at their wedding and reception at Klehm Arboretum & Veterans Memorial Hall:

This is the part where having a sunroof comes in handy, So I could stand on the seat while my second shooter drove, haha.

Thanks to the following vendors that helped make this day great:

Venues: Klehm Arboretum and Veterans Memorial Hall

Coordinator: Backyard Soiree
DJ: Hits DJ Service - Joe Locke

Catering: Deli Italia

Second Shooter:John Parli
Hair: Victoria Boggus

Flowers: Braodway Florist

Cake: Cake Creations

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Penny & Drew | Home on the Ranch Wedding

Penny & Drew rock - in a country kind of way, haha. Waaaaaay back in January when I met up with them on their family ranch for an engagement shoot I ended up spending most of the day hanging out and just chatting with them, long after we'd scheduled the shoot to be finished. I could tell right away that they were great people and going to be a blast to be around, and I wasn't wrong!

Fast forward to August 4th. With an outdoor reception planned and a massive storm looming on the horizon, the decision had to be made early on to tear down the outdoor location and move everything inside. Think about that for a second...a wedding reception that takes months and months to plan has to be relocated in a matter of hours. I was amazed at the scrambling by many people - family, friends, Penny & Drew, and lots of vendors to make sure this wedding didn't miss a beat. It didn't, the storm rolled through, we all got to see a semi-truck sized BBQ from Powerhouse BBQ in action, and the party rocked on into the night with Brandon Rhyder.

Anyway...here's a look back at Penny & Drew's wonderful wedding at the family ranch last weekend. What a blast.

 

 For a look at a slideshow of Penny & Drew's day (complete w/ theme music from Brandon Ryder - buy his album here) click below:

Thanks to the following vendors:

Wedding Planner: Laura Sanders Ahren, Accent on Events

Lighting / DJ: Luxe Productions (Jason)

Live Music: Brandon Rhyder

Linens: Beautiful Day Linens
Flowers: Stems
Second Shooter: John Parli

Caterers: Powerhouse BBQ, AbreoGiovanni's

Cake: Patricia’s Patisserie
Cupcakes: Sugar Jones

Aisle Runner: Buttercup Runways

Hair & Makeup: Arch Apothecary

Bride's Dress: Mahin's Bridal

Bridesmaid's Dresses: Sara Grace Co.

Men's Suits: Sturtevant's

Invitations: Spoken For Press

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