Ceremony at St. Matthias in Crown Point, Indiana

Anthony and Beth's wedding ceremony was held on January 7th, but inside St. Matthias Church in Crown Point, Indiana it looked much more like December 25th.  Beth's Dad asked if the Christmas lights could be turned on and indeed they were.  It made for a terrific and unique backdrop for the wedding photos.  - click above image to enlarge -

Since the church has great architecture, I shot wide angle for quite a few shots.  My second camera with a zoom lens on my other hip to capture the bride and groom up close.

Below we have the adorable ring bearer and flower girl and another shot of Beth and her Dad as he gave her away....

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Here is a photo of one of the readers surrounded by the beautiful Christmas decor...

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The lights, the wooden architecture, the Hammond organ, the crowd..... time for the wide angle lens.

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Anybody who has seen my work here know that I love black and white so I had to get a few of those in despite the wonderful color that is in the church.

Just as in the Getting Ready part, the bride and groom were as calm as could be.  At least they appeared that way.  Here is one of the many smiles and laughs caught by zoom lens during the catholic ceremony....

Our bride greeting her bridesmaids....

Soon Anthony and Beth would be pronounced man and wife.  Better get into position for the first kiss...

Ah, there it is, the kiss.  Congratulations to a truly great couple!!

Anthony's mom congratulates her son with a hug.  These two have terrific families and I'm very appreciative in the way they treated me during the big day and afterwards at the Premier Night.

Let raise our glass, I mean our bouquet of flowers - in honor of the happy couple.  The next installment will have a selection of formal pictures along with commentary.  Stay tuned.

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To view the entire gallery of Ceremony images, please visit Ceremony at St. Matthias in Crown Point.

Megan and Austin's Fall Wedding Pt.2 (The Ceremony)

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Austin and Megan were married at St. Michael's Church in Schererville, Indiana.  It is a building with wonderful architecture so I tried to capture that along with the emotional moments that occur during a ceremony.  This is why I usually have two cameras strapped to me.  One shooting wide and the other with a zoom lens to get up close, but yet not be obtrusive.  Here is a sampling of both.

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Megan and her parents were beaming as they made their entrance.  I got a number of different shots of their walk out, but this is my favorite.  As soon as they passed me, I immediately turned around for a wide shot as demonstrated by the "kissing Dad" image below.

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From taking their engagement shots earlier in the year, I had gotten to know Austin and Megan and I know there would be plenty of candid moments with whispered laughs such as these...

And from meeting family members during the Getting Ready part of the day, I could see how important they all were to each other.  So I knew we'd have tender moments such as this...

The shadows on the wall were quite striking as our rain filled day began to let in some sun.  I thought it would make for a great black and white image as well...

Father blesses the bride and groom...

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Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Despain!!

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Next up, we will take a look at the Formal shots at St. Michael's Church as well as Ellendale Farms in Crown Point, Indiana.

Rebecca and Jack's Beach Wedding Pt. 2

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All of Rebecca and Jack's Ceremony images look like they were taken in the height of summer with the intense sun shining down.  However, it was indeed an October wedding at Marquette Park Pavilion in Gary, Indiana.  If you are considering it as a venue, I highly recommend it - great scenery as you will see in the formal shots in another posting coming soon.  It's a historic part of Northwest Indiana and the Lakeshore.

As the wedding party began to take their places, I spotted Grandma & Grandpa for the above candid shot.

Rebecca and her Dad are bathed in the autumn sun in this procession image.  She was very aware of the camera, but I think Dad was ready to get down the aisle and out of the blinding light!!

In the shot below, Jack awaits his bride underneath the gazebo that his father built for the occasion.

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What a gorgeous sky we had that day.  No cover for the guest from the sun, but I don't think they were complaining.  We were all grateful for the beautiful day.

I was able to roam freely for the ceremony so we came away with far and wide shots as well as up close at the bride and groom's feet and tight shots of the rings.  I always have two camera bodies with different lenses on me to capture these different perspectives.

Rebecca's sister Rose was the maid of honor and she did a great job of taking care of the dress and passing the rings along during the ceremony.

Soon the ceremony was over and Rebecca and Jack were now man and wife.  Here is one of my favorite "walking away" shots.  Jack was always looking after Rebecca the whole day.  

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For the rest of Rebecca and Jack's ceremony at marquette Park, please visit this link.  Stay tuned for another Journal entry with highlights and commentary from the Formal category.

Heather and Flo's Autumn Wedding Pt. 2

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The above image is Heather and Flo's first kiss as husband and wife.  It was taken at the Ravelli bandshell right off of Lake George with family and friends looking on.

They always say the groom is nervous while he awaits his bride, but the shot below proves that brides get nervous as well.  

While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin, I captured one of my all time favorite candid kid shots of Lexie and Matthew preparing to make their way in the procession.

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As Heather's daughter starts things off, we have kid brother as the intruder.  She happily kept spreading the leaves down the path for mom to soon come down.

Here comes the bride, arm and arm with her mother as the sun bathed them both.

When I met with Heather at the ceremony site a month previously, she mentioned that she was considering walking over a large grassy hill and through the crowd.  A very dramatic entrance for sure, but this safer walk down the stone path was probably the wise choice for her mom, the kids and the wedding party.

Emotions begin to take over as the ceremony commences...

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Heather tells me that Flo was also choking up at this point, but I did not capture that and he's not talking!!  lol

Here is a wide shot of the entire ceremony area....

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When I got together with the happy couple for their Premiere Night, Flo mentioned how much he liked this shot and they ordered a large print of it to display in their home.

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Mr. and Mrs. Acevedo leave the area as man and wife.  Congratulations!!

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In Part 3, we will take a look at some highlights of the formal shots.  Click this link to visit the entire gallery of Heather and Flo's Outdoor Wedding Ceremony shots.