Friday, July 18, 2014

Nick + Alayna | A Springfield, IL, wedding

A few weeks ago we gathered in Springfield for the beautiful wedding of Nick and Alayna.They are one of those rare couples...during a time of contemporary traditions and Pinterest postings in the wedding world, Nick and Alayna relied on the tradition of 'it's family, friends, and our faith' that matter most on this day. And even though, yes, their decorations were beautiful, they were made even more so by the sentiment and graciousness of the bride, the groom, and their families.Nick and Alayna, the two of you are classics....your humble, gracious, and giving personalities will always be in style, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for the both of you!Here are just a few of my favorites from their wedding day.Blessings!Kelly WendlingWed-1102.expWendlingWed-1103.exp

When Alayna couldn't find JUST the right pair of embroidered shoes for her wedding day, her talented sister volunteered to do it for her.  Are these not just lovely?!!!

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Every Saturday that I shoot a wedding, I have the bride take down her dress prior to getting into it, and I take pictures of that moment.  It's a bit planned, but I always say that some of the pictures I'm taking are NOT for you, the bride...they're for your children and your grandchildren...so that they can see in your album your face and smile right before you got into your wedding dress, so that they can see what perfume you wear on the day you married their father or grandfather...and sometimes even the fact that their aunt hand-embroidered the shoes just to make them special on your wedding day.

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One of my favorite images from the entire day.  I just love the smile on her mom's face.

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After shooting weddings for seven years, Alayna may do the absolute BEST 'smiling eyes' portraits!

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And then it was handsome Nick's turn!

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His groomsmen were GREAT!!!  Such a great group of guys...and handsome as well!

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Alayna wore her grandmother's wedding band set on her wedding day to honor her memory.

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OK.  This picture is never going to win an award, but there's a bit of a story.  At Nick and Alayna's engagement session, Nick and I were joking around about getting 'emotional'.  Like most guys, he's like "I'm not very emotional."  Then he made me laugh by saying, "Now her family - there's a whole lot of emotions in her family."  We had just gotten done with Nick's family portrait and his mom and dad wanted to give him a hug.  This is the look Nick gave me.  I started laughing remembering his comments at his engagement session!

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Alayna's niece was born with a rare and severe skin disease called Harlequin Ichthyosism, but that didn't stop her from dancing up a storm at the reception one bit!  Her mother, Courtney, wrote a beautiful book about raising Brenna and learning the meaning of true beauty on God's earth.  You can check it out here:  A Different Beautiful

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Remember Alayna's sister who hand-embroidered her shoes?  This is her!  She sews, has six children under the age of 9 and plays the guitar.  I literally met the American version of "Maria Von Trapp"!!  And just in case you're wondering, this is the look a mother gets when she sees her six littles as she's walking down the aisle.  I love it!!!

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And then all eyes were on the beautiful Alayna.

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Including Nick's.

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This little lady isn't waiting for the new husband and wife to come out the door...there are bubbles to blow and life to enjoy!  #love

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"We really like formal, traditional wedding portraits...they're our favorites," they said.  And why wouldn't you when you do them so well???

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But I couldn't resist doing a few more casual, backlit images with Alayna and her veil....

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...even if Nick was being ornery off tot he side!  :)

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We headed over to the reception where Alayna and Nick had a CHEESECAKE BAR!!!!!!....and the BEST prime rib ever had a wedding.  Hands down!!

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And, I have to give a shout-out to Alayna's mom, who saved her champaign glasses from her own wedding!  In Alayna's words, 'They had these great '80's style ribbons on them...but Mom replaced them for my wedding."

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Nick and Alayna, once again, thank you SO much for allowing me to be there with you on your wedding day!  The both of you are beautiful, inside and out, and I have been so blessed in getting to know you!!!  ~Kelly

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