Summer Wedding at Avalon Manor

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Here is a sneak peek at Chris and Candy's summer wedding.  Before arriving for the evening ceremony at Avalon Manor, my assistant and I accompanied the happy couple on a day long photo shoot around Northwest Indiana.

We started with a first look in Ravelli Park of the lakefront in Hobart, Indiana.  The groom was waiting with us for the bride to arrive.  The temperature was perfect, as was the bride's dress.

If you have ever driven down Rt. 51 in Hobart, you have undoubtedly noticed the beautiful white chapel of Grace Lutheran Church.  Although Chris and Candy's ceremony would take place later in the evening at Avalon Manor, this visit to the Chapel of Love was on our destination list for wedding pictures.

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As a guitar player myself, I can appreciate the guitar picks engraved with the couple's names and wedding date.  These were assembled into the groom's corsage with the blue and purple bouquet in the background.

Here is an image of our bride Candy posing in front of the large, majestic mirror at the Avalon Manor bridal party room just before she was to walk down the aisle.  

The pastor of the ceremony was obviously a close friend with many memories of the bride and groom.  He added a great combination of passionate seriousness and affectionate humor.

A touching moment occured as the bride and groom gave out roses to all the special women in their lives...

I tucked muself inside the circle dance for this photo of the bride and her guests celebrating a fantastic day.  A special thanks to all dancers for not accidentally kicking me in the head as I lay on the dance floor!!  :)

This is just a sneak peek of the many more images to come from Chris and Candy's Summer Wedding at Avalon Manor.  Please subscribe here for more updates or like the SBV Photography page on Facebook to see more.

June Wedding in Northwest Indiana and Lansing, Illinois

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Michele and Nick's June wedding took place in Northwest Indiana and nearby Lansing, Illinois.  Let's go through their day starting with the girls getting ready at Vanis Hair Salon in Schererville, Indiana.

When I arrived the couple's cute daughter and flower girl, Elizabeth was all smiles while having her hair done. Of course, after she got a look at the big scary photographer - not so much!!  After a while though, she warmed up to me and I became just another familiar person at the wonderful event.  Later in the day we were doing group photos and had no problem getting her mug for the camera.  Great job Elizabeth!!

Vanis Hair Salon had some great lighting in their make up room.  In this photo our model bride Michele awaits her her make up artist.  Vanis is decorated with many wonderful pictures of models and hair styles.  It's a very modern and comfortable place for bridal parties to go for styling on the wedding day - very impressive.

More baby snuggling, more candid fun!!

Our next stop for Michele and Nick's wonderful June wedding was the Holiday Inn, also in Schererville.  It was here that mom awaited and we took this portrait of the two together just before leaving for the ceremony.

We stepped outside the hotel for a bridesmaid and flower girls photo.  They looked resplendant in their purple dresses.

Just before stepping into the limousine, we took this quick shot of bride Michele and her bridesmaids with an antique treatment.  I like the contrasts of the modern bride and her girls done in an old time look.

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St. Ann's Church in Lansing has a great wood architecture which led me to take a lot of wide shots.  I think these will make great two page spreads in the couple's wedding album.

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Here, our flower girl Elizabeth has learned to find the photographer!!  I was kind of parched myself, but no bottle for me!!  :)

Nick and Michele light the unity candles as friends and family look on...

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The above image is one of my favorite shots of this June wedding ceremony as I was able to capture the entire bridal party's faces all at once.

The bride and groom show off their happy smiles as they are pronounced man and wife...

Centennial Park in Munster was the scene for some fun photos such as this Kung-Fu jumping shot of the groom and groomsmen...

Our groom Nick get's to show some leg along with the bridesmaids!!

Check back to view Nick and Michele's reception photos as I am currently preparing an entire post on Chetnik's Memorial Hall in Schererville.

Special thanks to Nick and Michele for having me as the photographer for their June wedding!!

The Wedding To Do Timeline

I have been meeting many 2013 brides lately who are just at the beginning of their wedding planning.  All of them are insanely happy to be engaged and are basking in that glow.  Some of them are feeling a little overwhelmed.  As the wedding photographer, I'm a large part of the day, but I'm not often involved in the big decisions that come before hand.  However, I like to help where I can and this is why I created The Bride's Room that lists guides, music and other vendors.

I was recently catching up with Brides magazine (yes, I subscribe) and they had a great article titled Your Wedding To-Do's and When To Do Them.  Let me share some of their tips with you today.  For the whole article, go to your local library and see if you can find the May 2012 issue.

12 Months Before

  • write up the guests list

  • figure out who is paying for what
  • book a reception and ceremony site, lock in the date
  • hire a wedding planner

 

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10 Months Before 

  • go dress shopping
  • settle on an officiant
  • shop for vendors, set up meetings

Interesting statistic: The top 3 wedding colors are purple, blue and white

8 Months Before

  • order your dress
  • book the caterer, florist, band, DJ and photographer
  • secure your rentals
  • block hotel rooms for out of town guests
  • register

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6 Months Before

  • send save the dates
  • order invitations
  • shop for wedding bands
  • book transportation
  • book honeymoon
  • order bridemaids dresses

 

Interesting statistic: The average bridal party size is 5.5 with the Guiness world record of 79

4 Months Before

  • plan the rehearsal dinner
  • choose groom's and groomsmen's attire
  • order the cake

 

2 Months Before

  • write down the personalized vows
  • mail invitations
  • set up your hair and make up
  • buy gifts for bridal party 

Interesting statistic: 49% of couples write their own vows

2 Weeks Before

These helpful wedding timeline tips came for the May 2012 article in Brides Magazine.

Wedding Videos

After the wedding day is over and all of the images have been edited, I start assembling a collection of photos from throughout the day - Getting Ready, Ceremony, Formals and Reception - into a highlight reel.  I then notify my clients and schedule a Premiere Night.  We roll out the virtual red carpet, put out some snacks and refreshments and view their video.  While we don't do wedding videography here (see the Bride's Room for recommendations), this slideshow of images isn't a boring view by any means.

Let's take a look at Brittany and Shaun's Chicago Wedding in Grant Park as an example:

View Brittany and Shaun's Chicago Wedding in full screen here.

Spending the day with this lovely couple, I got to know them fairly well.  I knew that the fast paced, Indie rock soundtrack would be a good fit.

These wedding videos come with the Digital Deluxe Package in DVD format and is packaged along with the disc of images of the wedding.  Friends and family will get to view this video on the web and share it onto Facebook no matter what wedding packaged is purchased.

This same style of video is available to my engagement clients as well.  Not only does the engagement photography look great displayed at the reception, the couple is more at ease in front of the camera come time for the wedding as well as knowing the process of how all this works - editing, Premiere Night, etc.

Let's take a look at my Northwest Indiana and Chicago engagement photography highlight video:

View the Northwest Indiana and Chicago Engagement video in full screen here.

I'm just beginning to stock up the Region Weddings You Tube Channel so you can have one place to check out many different wedding videos that I have made for clients.  We have a handful uploaded now for viewing.

If you are catching this post via your mobile browser, don't forget to download the free Mobile Apps for iPhone, iPad and select Android devices.

Download the free Region Weddings Mobile App:
http://moblalbum.com/124/gallery/1495  

Download the free Region Weddings Engagement  App for iPhone, iPad & Android:

http://moblalbum.com/124/gallery/2004 

Download the free Chicago Sessions Mobile App for iPhone, iPad and Android: http://moblalbum.com/124/gallery/6228