We have known Ben since he was a kid, his father is the brother of our good friend Joe. When his sister Merrie got married Dawn and I were asked to videotape her wedding, which we gladly did. When it was Ben’s turn to get married his parents asked Dawn and I to photograph, and video his wedding, which we happily accepted as we love the Weber kids.
Ben moved from Indiana to Iowa after accepting a job there and he met a lovely young lady named Allison and the two fell for each other as they ran through the corn fields of Iowa. Well, if you new Ben you would know that he would never run through the corn fields, but he did fall in love.
When they came back to Indiana, Dawn and I had an opportunity to take their engagement photos. We were pleasantly surprised with the display of affection from our rugged, rugby playing Ben. He showed so much love and affection for Allie, that it just melted our hearts. They make such a good couple.
The wedding week quickly approached and Dawn and I scouted out the location for the formal outside shots, as we like to do in preparation for the wedding. Ben had made some suggestions on where he wanted pictures taken, and it was a scenic one, but we wanted to make a game plan and know where we wanted to shoot and how. We walked through the shoot a full three times so that we made sure that the flow was just right so that the wedding party would not get board and that we would make the most use of the time and location.
On the wedding day, Dawn and I awoke to the sound of thunder and the sound of raindrops hitting the window. Oh, this was not a good start to a wedding day! Dawn turned to me and without even saying a word, I could read her expression, we were going to have to go to plan “B” for our phots. Good thing we had one, as we always have a back up plan, but it just wasn’t what we wanted for Ben and Allie, we wanted the best for them on their wedding day. Yes, Dawn and I take our clients images to heart more then is probably healthy, but that is what they come to us for; to really sincerely care about them and their photographs. As we drove, in the rain, we passed the outside location that we were planning on shooting and we noticed a big, white tent and an even bigger red, inflatable, bouncy castle adjacent to the grounds. What the heck was this? We pulled in and discovered that they were having a charity race this morning. O good grief, it just got worse. We asked when they were going to end and one of the event staff told us, that it was over and that they were just about to tear down. Wow, that was fortunate we said out loud to each other. Our only concern now with that was if it would all be gone when we came back, if we were able to come back with the rain still falling.
When Dawn and I reached the church, we were the first ones there and we got all of our equipment ready for the wedding party to arrive. Normally Dawn will go with the girls and I with the guys in the morning to photograph them getting ready (for some reason she does not let me go with the girls, LOL) but this time Ben’s Aunt and Uncle (the “photographers” of the family) asked if they could do that as their gifts to the couple. Of course we said they could, how could we not?! As long as it was OK with Ben and Allie it was OK with us.
As the bridal party and guests arrived at the church the rain was still falling outside, but it did not affect the ceremony inside the church. It was a beautiful ceremony full of sentimental family traditions. There was the hand made “kneeler” that Ben’s Grandmother had made, and that had been used by all of her four children and many grand children. There was the golden chalice that was given to the church by the Knights of Columbus in the name of Ben’s Grandfather who had died the year before and finally there was Ben’s Grandfather’s top hat that was going to be a surprise to the family at the end of the ceremony. It is the little things in a wedding that can mean so much to a family. It was Dawn’s and my honor to have photographed these precious sentiments.
When the “you may kiss the bride” was proclaimed and the happy newlyweds walked down the isle to the back of the church, and as they opened the door to the outside, I discovered that, miraculously, the rain had stopped! We hurried the wedding party out of the church and into the awaiting rented limousine-bus and took them to the outside location. Do to Dawn’s and my preparation we quickly and efficiently got the wedding couple and party through all the stations of the outdoor location that we had planned on. In fact, we finished a little early and started to to go to a second location when we felt a rain drop. The rain had parted just long enough for us to get Ben and Allie’s photographs taken before it started up again. I guess the good Lord above was looking down on Ben and Allie saying: “your wedding day memories won’t be rained out.” Dawn and I thanked the Lord as we stepped back on the bus as it took us all to the reception hall.
Once in the reception hall, everyone forgot about the weather outside and instead only concerned themselves with the festivities inside. Needless to say it was a very good party!
Congratulation Benjamin and Allison.
Did we mention that the wedding party was fun to be around…
Yes, they actually did this on their own, and no they did not do what you might be thinking they did. LOL
And now, lets PARTY! Time for the Reception!
