With today being the last day of July 2019 we figured we’d share some of our couples’ July wedding anniversaries from those heading into their 9th year of marriage to those moving into their 3rd year of marriage! These particular couples just celebrated their 2nd to 8th July Wedding Anniversaries in literally their 6 home states in Nebraska, Texas, California, New Jersey, Ohio, & Indiana! It blows our minds JUST our July couples are spread all across the United States from the East Coast to West Coast including the South and the Midwest-! The fact that we got to not only partake in, but be the only ones to follow and capture our couples throughout such a huge day in their lives blows our minds.
Again, as we’ve said before we’d like to share reality/ a reminder: Most of our couples have been together for a whopping 5 to 8 years before they get married, so take these anniversary numbers with a grain of salt. We deeply believe that your relationship story and number of years together starts when you begin dating since many of our couples make their huge life decisions throughout their dating time based largely upon their relationship i.e. they come out of college and move in together, get pets together, move to the same city/ state together, etc., so a 5 year anniversary could actually be a 13 year anniversary and obviously many “first wedding anniversaries” are actually a couple’s 9th anniversary together!
The July Wedding Anniversaries we’re highlighting for 2019 are 7 that we think show a good range of weddings. Two of these 7 were actually Muslim weddings from Ohio to Indiana, to an interesting wedding in a literal Hollywood (California) theatre, to 3 traditional weddings at Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame, to a hometown wedding here in South Bend, Indiana.
Our first wedding we’ll look back on is for the 2nd Wedding Anniversary of Nebraskans Caitlin & Joe’s July 29th, 2017 wedding! These two celebrated their University of Notre Dame/ St. Mary’s College wedding at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame’s campus, had their portraits at Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College, then continued their reception celebrations at the infamous Palais Royale! Since Joe and Caitlin were alum of ND and St. Mary’s, these two did a great job integrating both colleges within their wedding day.
Joe & Caitlin started their wedding day getting ready at The Morris Inn on Notre Dame’s campus and after their ceremony on campus at the Basilica, headed over to St. Mary’s for portraits with us and then finished the evening at their Palais Royale reception. During their reception since they were both in the infamous Notre Dame band, Caitlin surprised Joe with band friends and their horns playing the Notre Dame anthem upon these two being announced into their reception! Their evening ended with a gorgeous Sparkler Exit out of the Palais into their ride in downtown South Bend.
These two just had their baby boy John earlier this year and we’re thrilled that they and their bunny have expanded their little family!
Next up is Hoosiers Liz & Aaron’s 2nd Wedding Anniversary as well which was celebrated by these two just last week! Liz & Aaron’s wedding was just the week prior on July 22nd, 2017 at Purdue University! Their full wedding day took place on Purdue’s campus since it is their alma mater and these two met there in college. (We’d even photographed their Engagement Session there the year prior with their gorgeous dog in the colorful fall leaves)!
Their day started in different rooms at the Memorial Union on campus, they celebrated their ceremony across the street at the Catholic St. Thomas Aquinas Church at Purdue, then after taking the infamous Boiler Express around campus for portraits with they and their wedding party, they finished the night at their reception also in The Memorial Union!
Next up from the same year also celebrating their 2nd Wedding Anniversary is Kim & Chris’ July 1st, 2017 Notre Dame wedding. These two also got ready on Notre Dame’s campus at the Morris Inn that morning in preparation for their Basilica of the Sacred Heart ceremony on campus, then after their beautiful wedding ceremony in the Basilica headed to Morris Park Country Club for more portraits and their reception.
Since Kim’s mom passed away so close to their wedding day, everyone sent off Chinese Lanterns in rememberance of her mom at the end of the evening. It was one of the many times in the day that tears were shed since having been working with these two for a year and a half already, we had been along for all of the trauma of her mother and father both battling cancer& then her mother passing just before their wedding (as well as actually having to re-schedule their Engagement Session due to her mother falling from weakness the evening before when they were with her).
We’ll phase out of 2017 and move to 2014 and Kim & Sergio who just celebrated their 5 Year Wedding Anniversary here in South Bend. These two were officially married in Aruba around intimate family on June 18th, but their hometown wedding reception that we captured was on July 5th, 2014! Since these two were already officially married, they got ready alongside each other at Kim’s parents’ gorgeous home on the river of the St. Joe River here in South Bend. After all of the prep and portraits by the river, everyone headed to the wedding reception at The Woodward here downtown South Bend, IN where they had a full beautiful wedding reception!
These two now have 5 kids and Jenny is about to coach her 4th season of Christ the King middle school volleyball with Kim this fall (though their over full time jobs ramping up may have them getting a 3rd co-coach). Kim & Sergio have actually bought/ moved in to their next (3rd or so?) house which is Jenny’s childhood next door neighbor’s house! It’s pretty crazy that of our July couples, Kim & Sergio bought Jenny’s old neighbor’s house that she spend a lot of time in throughout her life from 1992 through 2015 AND actually in the wedding right above ^ Kim’s (of Kim & Chris) cousin actually bought Jenny’s parents’ home! (ALL of the Kims!)
Kim (of Kim & Chris- the Notre Dame wedding above) actually wanted Jenny to come over and help style Kim & Chris for their summer 2016 Engagement Session with us, but since it’s was Jenny’s parents’ home for 23 years and they’d just moved out a year prior (to be renovated by Kim’s cousin to move in) it was a bit too soon to go back and visit where she’d just moved her life’s belongings from.
Moving right into 2013, we’d like to share an 6th Wedding Anniversary of John & Miranda that just happened a few days ago on July 27th, 2013. These two were wed in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California at the Silent Movie Theatre. As the name implies, this theater still operates as a silent movie theater, but is also a great little wedding venue for smaller weddings. The ceremony took place at the front of the theater in front of the movie screen. Guests were able to sit in what seem like the most comfortable seats available for any wedding while these two exchanged their vows on stage. The marquee at the theater was even decorated with a custom message for the couple which we used for a few portraits at the end of the night. The back patio of the venue allowed for just enough space for a great little reception to end the night.
The next wedding on our list is Ohioans Dina & Aladdin whose wedding was also 8 years ago on July 18th, 2011. These two were wed in a relative’s gorgeous home in Bexley, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus) in their Muslim faith with the reception al fresco (outside) afterward under a gorgeous large tent! Their wedding meal was a wonderful middle eastern mix of goat, hummus, and all of the best foods and the dancing went into the night! They had a child shortly after and their daughter celebrated her 6th birthday in Ohio earlier this January!
Just 5 days later we captured the Rehearsal Dinner for Steph & Mark’s July 23rd, 2011 wedding here in South Bend, IN. We weren’t going to share it since we didn’t photograph the actual wedding day, but we were shocked that it’s been a whopping 8 years (with their anniversary happening just last week) and we wanted to wish them a Happy 8 Year Wedding Anniversary as well! These two have 3 little boys now and are in their 2nd home that they’ve owned in South Bend. We love that we got to spend time with their little family around Christmas helping the boys unpack their gifts and that we get to see them all regularly in the summer up in Michigan at our parents’ houses!
Yesmeen and Majdi also celebrated their 8th Wedding Anniversary this month having been married on July 3rd, 2011. Since their wedding was also a Muslim one, their private ceremony between the two of them was not captured, rather they celebrated their huge wedding reception publicly! We captured their big day over 8 years ago at The Blue Heron here in South Bend, Indiana and it was a blast! These two rolled up in a limo, we captured their portraits together, and then they headed into their reception for dancing, dinner, cake, and the works! These two were revolutionary for the time and actually had a computer out sending a LIVE feed (real time video casting) of their wedding to their relatives who couldn’t make it in the middle east! Their relatives abroad cheered them on as the men did special dances together, the women did their own dances next, and so on!
These two now live in New Jersey (4o minutes just across the river from New York City) and now have 2 daughters around the kindergarden age! It’s beautiful to see this little family grow and thrive out East and we’re so happy for them!
Congratulations to all of our July couples’ whopping 8th to 2nd Wedding Anniversaries from California to Nebraska to Ohio, & Indiana to Texas and to New Jersey! We are so thankful that you trusted us with your lifelong wedding memories and we hope that this Anniversary treated you all well!
—————————Unrelated: This week we finished editing one final wedding & Engagement Session for July! We can’t believe that July flew by as quickly as our packed June did! Coming up within the week our August starts with a bang as we capture a Family Portrait Session up Lake Michigan in Sawyer, Michigan around the Warren Dunes State Park (our favorite local Southwest Michigan area), then next weekend are capturing a wedding down in Indianapolis at Canal 337, another event Saturday night, and also a Notre Dame Family Portrait Session! Tune in next week on the Weekly Wednesday blog for the Lake Michigan Family Portrait Session (with the Indianapolis wedding, Notre Dame Family Portrait Session, & event all being shared on subsequent August Weekly Wednesday blogs)!
Coming up starting in mid-August we will be heading to California 3 times for a wedding, baby shower, & bachelor party of our immediate family and best friends. In between we’re capturing many more weddings in Valporaiso, South Bend, Plymouth, and more here in Indiana! We actually wrap up a 10 hour wedding then head to Italy for a wedding… then photograph another 8 hour wedding when we return! It will be a pretty crazy end to our summer and transition into fall, but we’re excited for all of the travels, have everything booked/ planned, and will also be excited when we head into the calmer November to capture our clients’ November weddings! It’s been our most booked year in 10 years of Professional Photography and we feel so lucky to have captured the most weddings we’ve ever captured within one year! We can’t wait to finish booking 2020’s weddings and head on to capture those for our couples!!