From the moment I met Yvonne and Mike at Stephanie and PJ’s wedding, I knew they were destined to be together. The two were an absolute perfect match, both hilarious, singing to one another, and danced like crazy the whole night long. They were one of the most fun couples I have ever been lucky enough to meet. That night I said to Mike’s mom, “SERIOUSLY??? How are those two not married???!!! They are perfect for each other!” Roberta agreed and facebook friended me the very next day saying she’d keep me updated if the couple got engaged. Well, not long after that Mike proposed to Yvonne in an apple orchard and I was thrilled when I got the call from them asking me to be their wedding photographer at Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills. I knew it would be an outrageously fun wedding full of dancing with a couple that is sooooo in love, that is excited to do a big reveal, and wanted some creative shots at a stunning location. So yeah…pretty much my dream come true as far as weddings are concerned.
What I didn’t consider when booking their wedding was the tricky part of this wedding…getting any pictures where these two love birds were not completely cracking up. They didn’t even have to say a word. All they’d have to do is just look at each other and they’d get a case of the giggles. During every step of the wedding day the two were smiling like giddy children. During the big reveal, they were laughing. During the ceremony, they were laughing, during their first dance they were…you guessed it, laughing. Even during their parent dances they were laughing! When choosing my shots for this blog post I thought to myself, oh gosh I have too many laughing shots, I should pick some more serious shots. Then it hit me, that is exactly who Mike and Yvonne are. So I choose to give an accurate representation of how their wedding day went, about 1 romantic shot for every 9 funny ones.
Since Yvonne and Mike’s wedding was in October they fully embraced a fall theme. Joe from Bunker Hill Florist created the perfect autumn bouquet for Yvonne made up of ivory roses, and punctuated with orange calla lilies, berries, and seasonal greenery. For their centerpieces, they had barrels of apples, paying homage to Mike’s proposal, that made for beautiful and healthy favors as well. The other theme of the wedding was music. Yvonne is an up and coming singer, pianist, and composer, and her father, Steve Aubert, is a professional musician as well. To reflect Yvonne’s love of music, instead of numbering the tables, the tables were named for famous musicians. Steve’s band was on hand to make it a really rocking reception. Yvonne even serenaded Mike with a song that perfectly fits their sweet and saucy relationship.
The chorus went:
“The smile on your face lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me.
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.”
Since Granite Links provided their guests with a delicious apple crisp for the dessert course, Yvonne and Mike elected to bake and frost their own wedding cake. True to form, they choose the most fun cake they could think of, a Pillsbury Funfetti cake. It was hilarious. After the cake was cut, it was time for the part of the reception I’d been waiting for from the moment I met Yvonne and Mike…DANCING! The two did not disappoint. They hit the dance floor with their signature comical moves. I loved every minute of it, as did their guests. We ended the day with a beautiful sunset shoot. Shawn Black was my second shooter that day and he really impressed me with his gorgeous close up shots that once again prove that often the best poses do NOT involve looking directly at the camera. Shawn and I were both able to shoot during this sunset because the wonderful staff at Granite Links kindly held my light stand while 40+mph winds whipped by us. They really went above and beyond the call of duty that day and I soooo appreciated it! And in case you were wondering, our shoot ended…of course…with Mike and Yvonne laughing it up together. This was surely just the start to a lifetime of continued laughs together.
Photography notes:
We were able to get fantastic bridal portrait shots down at the Quarry Ruins because Yvonne and Mike planned their day in advance with me. We went through their timeline of events that day and figured that we’d like to have about 45 minutes for their big reveal and their bridal portrait session. We even structured the time line that day so that we wouldn’t have to take the shots outside when the sun would be at a less than flattering angle. I went out to the location the day before hand to see what the light would be like at that time of day and cleared out the area of fallen branches and debris. Yvonne followed my advice to a T and brought flat knee high boots to wear under her dress for the big reveal to avoid any chance of tick bites and so that she wouldn’t risk sinking into the ground while we were taking the shots.
Comfort was also a consideration for the family formals. Since it was a tad bit cold and quite windy at the top of Granite Links we didn’t want to do the formals in the open. Granite Links kindly opened a few panels of their outdoor tent that overlooks a beautiful view of the city so that we could have a covered spot that allowed us to still have a lovely backdrop while avoiding the wind whipping about us.
These advanced preparations made it possible for Shawn and I to get some fantastic shots during ideal conditions, which allowed the bride and groom to have more time to enjoy their cocktail hour and reception. So when you are planning out your schedule for your day, be sure to consult your photographer as to what are the best times of day for photographs.
Major kudos go out to Yvonne’s sister and brother-in-law for teaching their adorable baby girl to be an excellent flower girl. I’ve never seen anyone so young do such a great job dropping flower petals down the aisle. They said the trick was they practiced with her every day for 2 weeks before the wedding with the flower basket, starting out by throwing the petals themselves and then praising her when she did it herself. Her father told me the only problem is now every time she sees a basket, she thinks its a good idea to throw the contents of the basket out. WHOOPSIES!!!