She grew up in Iowa and they now live in Texas. So the heat of Iowa summers was no surprise to them. The rain circled elsewhere and we were left with bright sun and little breeze. In the late fall and winter, I always cater to the ladies because they are cold. For summer weddings, I cater to the guys (getting their photos done faster) because I know they are hot in their suits. In this particular case, we didn’t have to worry about that during the high noon heat of the day because their early afternoon ceremony was held in her childhood church, the same church she was baptized in, attended youth group in, and the one that she walked into every Sunday morning until she moved away.

Before arriving for the ceremony, I joined the ladies who were getting ready at the Marriott a few miles away. Stephanie is a Type A person much like me so while I was very impressed with her organized bag of items for me to photograph (bless you, Steph!), she was impressed with my detailed timeline. We had a good thing going from the start.

Because the ladies were all crowded in one room finishing up makeup and hair, Stephanie suggested I go down to her parent’s suit to photograph her dress and she would just join me down there to get into her gown. The unknown bonus to that was seeing her grandma’s gift in the room and borrowing the card to use for this ring shot. It’s not an epic shot by definition, but I loved being able to combine her grandmother’s handwriting into the wedding day.

There is this thing called “the window effect”. If I can get just 5 minutes with the bride near a large window, I can get bridal shots like this that I hope her grandchildren will treasure just as much as she does.

After the ceremony, we went to the Brown Deer Golf Club for the reception. I gathered their beautiful bridal party together as well and look at how cool and classy they look!

We had some lovely evening light so we grabbed a couple of golf carts and headed out onto the course for a few extra photos. I just adore these so much!

Congratulations, Stephanie & Sam! You guys are a joy to be around and I’m so glad I was able to be part of your wedding day!

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Photography: Emily Crall Photography

Florals: Every Bloomin’ Thing

Cake Artist: Tip Top Cakes

Catering: Marriott Hotel

DJ: Unique Events of Iowa

Makeup & Hair: Eden Salon

Paper Suite: Zephyr Weddings

Bridal Gown: Justin Alexander from A Storybook Ending

Maids’ Gowns: Bill Levkoff from A Storybook Ending

Suits: Men’s Wearhouse

Ceremony Venue: St. Mary’s Catholic Church

Reception Venue: Brown Deer Golf Club