Gettin’ Hitched!

OK, Y’ALL! Our two September brides are THE COOLEST chicas ever! Lindsay gets married next weekend, on the 22nd, and Tiffany get married the following weekend, on the 29th. Their grooms are pretty rockin’, too, so this is going to be a seriously FABULOUS MONTH of wedding photography. Yay!

I posted Lindsay and Cale’s engagement session earlier this summer and now it’s time for Tiffany and Bradley!

It’s no secret that I’m dyingggg to be southern or at the very minimum, move there, live there forever and acquire an accent. Southerners make me happy, so when this adorable Southern Belle and her fiancé booked us for their wedding, MY LIFE IMPROVED like 100%!

When we were first emailing about her big day, she said she loves antiques and vintage stuff, that her wedding as going to be all ‘period’ items and very detail intensive and that (OMG) her invites were actually Hatch Show Prints. I was like, “Wait. WHAT!?!? Nooooo wayyyy!!!” (Hatch is in Nashville). After hearing even more details such as the bouquets and boutonnieres (I will keep those details a secret for now), programs and menus, I immediately decided this was my perfect wedding and I really wish she had planned our entire wedding for us. HA!!

Needless to say, I am THRILLED for her, for him and for us to be part of their big day! Being from Bowling Green, she promises her family will be saying things like, “y’all and Yankees.” I am hoping they will adopt me and my new residence will soon be in Kentucky :) :)

Their wedding is in about 12 days :). I was going out of town when I finished editing their engagement session, so I decided to save my FB’ing and blog post until right before the wedding to get everyone pumped about these AMAZING details. She brought some little sneak peeks of their wedding day decor to the session and some adorable signs. LOVE!!! Here are just a few of my favorites from their e-pics:

Haha…love it. American Gothic meets Lollipops:

Awww…

So much fun!! Love these two!! :)

Check back soon for September wedding pics of Lindsay & Cale and Tiffany & Bradley. I can’t wait!

Have a wonderful week, y’all. xoxo.

Mucho love,
Ann

Kris and Joe’s Golf-Inspired Wedding

Two important things to know about Kris and Joe:

1. They laugh together. A lot. Their happiness inspires everyone around them to laugh and be happy, too. If that isn’t living life the right way, I don’t know what is.

2. They know how to throw one HECK OF A PAR-TAY. Seriously!

When Kris first contacted me last year about shooting their June wedding, I was thrilled! It sounded like so much fun. They live right on Whispering Pines Golf Course so they were going to have a wedding by the pond on the golf course followed by a reception in the fabulous clubhouse. I couldn’t say, “I’m available!” fast enough.

They started the morning off EARLY at their house with a mimosa brunch and then Joe headed to the course with about twenty close friends and family members for a game of best ball.

While Joe was busy golfing, Kris chatted with a few of her girlfriends and made sure everything at the reception site was just perfect. Love all of her decor!

From the custom golf balls inscribed with their names and wedding date (see above), to the J and K candles (love those!), to the golf ball cake, the entire day was FILLED with the most perfect of little details.

After an early afternoon break, the golf teams got fancy for the big wedding and headed over to start the processional in golf carts. The big crowd of guests loved it!

The ceremony that followed was heartfelt and very sweet. It took place overlooking the pond, which was backlit by the summer sun. Ahhh…summer… The officiant did an AMAZING job as did the singers. And I do have to say we got some great kiss shots!

Kris really likes my barn photos I’m always posting (and so do I!), so we headed over to an old barn on the property for the family formals.

And later, we were lucky enough to get these sweeeeeeet dusk shots!!! Yeah!!!

The reception rocked it!! Everyone loved the gorgeous display of food catered by Moon River Supper Club, and the dj played awesome dance music until the very end. What a fantastic party at a beautiful location!

Kris and Joe, thank you SO MUCH for letting us capture your awesome wedding day! We had such a great time! Best wishes to you lovebirds!! xoxo!

Much love,
Ann & Kurt

Dan and Cheril’s Hawaiian Wedding <3

Kurt and I are SOOOO fortunate to have traveled to Hawaii for the AMAZING wedding of Dan and Cheril. Many from the Quad Cities know and love Dan…he’s the greatest. He’s truly like a brother to everyone he meets. We were all THRILLED when Dan met Cheril after moving to Hawaii and when they announced their engagement!

Their wedding day was perfect, romantic, joyful and everything all weddings should be. And, from early morning until the end of the night, everything was absolutely lovely, including the bride!! I adore vintage jewelry and recognized the pearls as antiques right away. I asked Cheril and she explained they were her grandmother’s. <3 Love <3

Cheril and Dan opted to do a first look in a gorgeous Waikiki park. I’ll save those images for them to share…except this one (I can’t resist).

Since we had some time before the ceremony, we were able to do all of the bride and groom photos before we headed to the site. LOVE LOVE LOVE ALL OF THEM SOOO MUCH!!

And how sweet is this? We were even able to make time to go to the very spot Dan proposed to Cheril overlooking the ocean. <3 Aloha, Paradise! I still can't believe people are lucky enough to actually LIVE here. This is only about ten minutes from their house!

Their ourdoor ceremony was heartfelt and tear-FILLED, thanks to them writing their own super-sweet vows. Guests sat in perfect rows of little white chairs and the ceremony took place under a large tree with long strings of hanging flowers.

Now would be a good time to mention how much I loved the officiant. I introduced myself and politely asked the [dreaded] question, “Is there anything you wouldn’t like us to do during the ceremony?” (all the while praying he didn’t tell me to stay away from the altar area). “Yes,” he said sternly, leaning in closely. “Don’t miss anything!” he said with a HUUUGE smile. Soooo cute! I’m still laughing about it! LOVVVVE HIM!

Also, thanks to my own husband for capturing these fab images of Cheril and her parents. I literally shrieked with joy when I saw them after we got back to Iowa! Kurt hangs at the back of the ceremony site while I chill it out in the altar area with the groom to get some reaction shots.

We have sooo many gorgeous ceremony photos but here are just some of my favorites.

The reception was so much fun! During our visit, Cheril was telling us that the Hawaiian culture is all about giving back. So if you take something from the land, give something back. They used earth-friendly themes throughout their adorable wedding and reception details. I thought it was such a cute idea.

And you could just feel the joy throughout the entire day and night; they are both loved so much by everyone.

AND, they even had fire dancers from the Polynesian Cultural Center! Awesome!

I will have more posts on our many Hawaiian adventures soon, but for now I wanted to share the gorgeous photos from their big day. I couldn’t imagine a lovelier couple or a more beautiful wedding day. We’re all sooooo happy for you!

Congrats to Dan and Cheril!! Thanks for having us be a part of it all! xoxo!

Much love,
Ann & Kurt

Kelly and Rick’s Engagement

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I am loving this Iowa summer weather! Our corn is, too – it’s like 9 feet tall. I am sure Kurt will disagree and say it’s either 8.5 feet tall or 9.5 feet tall, not 9. Farmers are so literal!

Anyhow, I was so thrilled when Kelly contacted me about photographing their wedding this September. We went to high school together and she’s an absolute DOLL!!! I’m super excited because not only do I know and love her but also many of her bridemaids! And, I don’t get to see these girls very often (some I haven’t seen since high school), so it will be a blast. Yay!

Rick was such a good sport, too. Didn’t complain once even though we were walking all over downtown in about 90 degrees and 95% humidity. : ) Lovvvve how they turned out!!

Please check out Kelly and Rick’s (low-resolution for mobile devices) slideshow. I keep mentioning that because I hate low resolution. Ha! The real images are about 1,000 times sharper but the videos are tooooooo cuuuuuute not to post.

xoxo! ~Ann

Jayette and John ~ June 3, 2011

When Jayette’s sister, Claudeen, contacted me about photographing her sister’s wedding at Tanglewood Hills, I was overjoyed! I loved Claudeen from the start, so I knew I’d love her family as well.

Jayette and John have been together for several years and wanted to have an intimate and beautiful ceremony. They chose Tanglewood, where Claudeen and her husband, Chad, had been married ten years prior and were even lucky enough to have the same pastor officate the ceremony.

During the speech at the reception, Claudeen mentioned it was the most beautiful little wedding she’d seen. And I absolutely agree. From the dresses, to the headpiece, to the flowers, to the cake, to the guests, everything was perfect.

Congrats to Jayette and John! Cheers for a very long and joyful happily ever after. xo! ~Ann

Here is a slideshow of just some of the photos from their big day…

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