It’s no secret this past year was a difficult year for planning a wedding. Mandate changes, safety requirements, social distancing, and travel restrictions all played a role in the difficulty of wedding planning. Danielle and Kevin faced all of the adversity head on and went through lots of unexpected changes, but even a pandemic couldn’t stop them from uniting as one!

I respect Danielle and Kevin so much for their adaptability when it came to planning their wedding. The thought of rescheduling the entire wedding had to have crossed their mind, but they managed to buckle down and still make their wedding one to remember.

We met to begin the planning process for their wedding as safely as we could. After moving their venue, we decided the safest bet for the meeting would be to meet at their new ceremony location, Coe Lake. We met socially distanced with masks to begin planning out their COVID ceremony. Safety was definitely their first priority when it came to the ceremony, they wanted to celebrate their love but minimize the risk to their families who would be attending the wedding. And as an added bonus for me, they even brought their pup, Emma, to the meeting! Even though their wedding plans went through the wringer, this allowed them the opportunity to have a fairytale wedding that was truly unlike any I’ve had the pleasure of shooting before.

On the day of their ceremony, I first stopped by the gazebo they were getting married at to get the detail photos of their decorations and guest favors. After the quick stop at the venue, I drove over to meet with Kevin and Danielle at a building on Baldwin Wallace University’s campus where Danielle was getting ready to get things ready for their first look. After giving Kevin the rundown on what to expect, I met Danielle at the entry of the building to get things started! Danielle began her descent down the ramp to see her soon to be husband at the entry to the parking lot where their families watched from their cars. Danielle looked like a princess as she walked down to meet Kevin who was standing just feet away from their chariot, a horse drawn carriage. After sharing a special moment and showing off her dress to Kevin, it was time to head to the ceremony location.

Kevin helped Danielle into the horse drawn carriage she would be arriving to the wedding in, and we headed to the venue. I have to give it to Danielle, despite the cold November afternoon, she braved the frigid temperature and arrived at her wedding in style. Kevin watched from the gazebo as his bride gracefully walked down the path to meet him, the happiness and emotions of the moment radiated from their looks at each other. 

The ceremony was entirely socially distanced. The limited number of guests sat in the gazebo by household with their masks and watched as Danielle and Kevin said I do. I couldn’t help but smile under my mask, as I could tell both Danielle and Kevin were beyond happy that they were able to celebrate their love surrounded safely by their families. As the ceremony concluded, Danielle and Kevin went right into their first dance. Their dance was reminiscent of a dancing scene in a Disney princess movie. Danielle finally got to marry her prince charming, and Kevin, his Cinderella. 

After their first dance, it was time for family photos. This was the first time I’d ever had to photograph family photos socially distant, which presented a new set of challenges for me, but we managed to make it work despite the odds being stacked against us. Once family photos concluded, we had to make time for a few photos with their fur babies, Emma and Peekaboo. I always love photographing pets on wedding days because I know I’d love to have my dog, Luna, at my wedding! Pets are such an important part of every family!

After Emma and Peekaboo headed home, it was time to spend some time on couples portraits. The horse drawn carriage was the icing on the cake for this magical fairytale wedding. We spent some time photographing Kevin and Danielle with their carriage before we dove into exploring the rest of the park. The cold ended up working in our favor for this particular wedding because it was definitely not a busy day at the park, we had the ability to shoot pretty much anywhere we wanted to! We took some more portraits at the gazebo, and took a walk over to a beautiful bridge and stopped for a few photos on the way. Daylight was quickly running out as we wrapped up their photos and shot their beautiful exit photo against the moody sky. 

Due to restrictions placed on weddings, Danielle and Kevin opted to move their reception to 2021 in order to celebrate with more of their family and minimize the risk of spreading COVID even more. Hopefully this year Danielle and Kevin will get to celebrate their love for one another as they truly intended!