It probably seems like I lived with these two for the past year due to how much I was with them over the past few months. haha. But I LOVED it, and wouldn’t have had it any other way. All of those hours spent with them, from engagements, to bridals, to their day before the wedding shoot in their favorite record store— led up to this very anticipated day, their wedding day.

On an incredibly windy, chilly, and brisk fall day in Ohio, the place where these two grew up, they exchanged vows right before the torrential down pour started with all of their friends + family there to witness, and it was pretty dang perfect. Kayla herself is a crazy talented designer + photographer + blogger (is there anything she can’t do?!), and so I was incredibly honored to be the one to capture all of these moments that they would cherish for so many years to come, because I knew how important it was to them. The fact that so many people trust me with these memories is pretty incredible actually. Once everything is said and done, these pictures are the only tangible thing that’s left from such an important day— the day you spend your whole life waiting for, your whole life building up to— hours and hours of work, searching for the perfect vendors, the perfect dress, planning the day that perfectly fits who you are together. After the hair is pinned, the dress buttoned up, the tie tied, the prayers said, vows exchanged, tears shed, the delicious cake eaten, and the kisses shared— all that’s physically left to remind you of every detail are these still moments captured that are put into frames and scrapbooks and albums forever to be looked back on and relived. And that being said, my only hope is that when you do dust off the albums with your kids and your grandkids and their grandkids, to share the stories that you lived long ago— that you can feel what it felt like that day. I hope you feel the tingle down your spine as you did when you were being buttoned up in your wedding dress you spent hours picking out, you can feel the smile beaming across your face as you saw your handsome groom waiting for you as you walked down the aisle towards him, you can feel those tears rolling down your cheeks— full of gratitude and overflowing with love, the laughter building inside of you from the old stories shared that brought you to where you are today, and that you can feel yourself spinning and moving gracefully across the dance floor holding tight to your groom as you did that night you danced with him for the first time as a married couple. I hope that you can relive those feelings as if you were feeling them all over again as you turn the pages and share your story.

And being a part of that? That’s what it’s all about, that’s a pretty good feeling and I can’t say enough how thankful I am for it. So that’s what I hope for Kayla and Nick as they look back at all of these pictures, and for all of the other bride and grooms out there that I feel so lucky to have known and will know, who trust me so much to be in charge of those feelings that will come rushing back decades down the road.