Just a few short days ago Tasha and Josh got married at Amish Acres! We've been working with these two for a year having met them last October and we'd been looking forward to their wedding quite a bit. The weekend was sunny and beautiful for their summer September 16th wedding (with weather in the 80s) making it abundantly clear to us in Northern Indiana that summer is not over (though the Midwest likes to close many businesses/ pools and pretend like summer ended on Labor day a couple weeks ago).
On Saturday morning Tasha and Josh started getting ready with their bridal party at The Inn at Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana for their wedding day! Though the two hail from our city of South Bend, Indiana, Amish Acres holds a dear spot in many of our hearts and was a perfect location for their outdoor wedding over the weekend. The location has many barns and is a place where one can go to buy delicious handmade amish foods, attend the Round Barn Theatre, learn about amish life through an awesome tour, or just relax AND it lies just about 45 minutes from our busy city lives. The hotel where the couple got prepared was a perfect spot that (unique and not often found in even the fanciest of hotels in the area- at universities, large cities, or elsewhere) even had a bridal "parlor", complete with a beautiful dressing room, ample seating and mirrors along the walls, a refrigerator, bathroom, and NO bed in the way-! (In our opinion, more hotels should adopt this room style instead of a bridal suite-!) The women had a wonderfully fun, laid back time getting dressed and ready in their cute matching shirts. Meanwhile, the men prepared for their day by donning their suits, filling their monogrammed flasks with whisky, and having a hearty meal of cookies and sandwiches to get their energy up.
An ever increasingly unique thing, Tasha and Josh decided that they wanted a First Look-! Not a ton of our wedding clients over the past eight years have wanted to see each other prior to the wedding (to keep with the traditional "I'll see you at the altar" idea), but we're always so excited when the bride and groom do want to see each other prior to the ceremony in a more intimate meeting together. Jason grabbed his walkie talkie and headed with Josh to a spot near the pond/ weeping willow near their wedding site as Tasha got her wedding dress on at the hotel. Once ready, Tasha and Jenny headed over to the spot (making sure that Josh was facing away). These two have been together for over six years and have lived together for a large portion of that, so while they're both extremely comfortable with each other, they were a little anxious to see each other and just excited to get to the reception/ celebration portion of the evening. Tasha snuck up behind Josh as he waited by the tree, and as he turned to greet her they were both a bit awe struck, but also comfortable in their element together. Neither cried, but they both enjoyed the intimate moment in shade together.
Prior to the ceremony we also took time to photograph they and their bridal party together around the property. Though often clients choose to have more prep time and do this after the ceremony, it's amazing to get to do this before the ceremony so that there can be more time for celebration after the ceremony! We love photographing each bridal party member with them and getting the whole group together for some photos, then getting to work with Josh and Tasha (Tashua) together more intimately afterward. Since it was very hot and humid out, we cut their couple photos a bit short so that they could be comfortable in the A/C prior to their outdoor ceremony. (If you're hot and sticky, you're not going to feel fun and gorgeous, so we build time in at other points in the day that you'll be more comfortable). We all decided that we could photograph more intimate photos of the two of them around sunset in between reception events-!
After everyone had had a chance to cool off for a few minutes as we photographed some details of decorations in the reception hall, it was time for their outdoor wedding-! The bridal party moved out to the pond to get ready to head down the aisle (Josh lining up as well) and everyone waited patiently for Tasha. Tasha came out of no where riding a golf cart for her grand entrance and was walked down the grassy aisle by her maid of honor (since she's lost her father as well as brother). Once to the end of the aisle, Josh happily greeted Tasha as the priest began to give his blessing over the ceremony. The ceremony was short an to the point, consisting primarily of an exchange of vows and rings. Near the end of the ceremony, the two partook in something like a sand ceremony, but with wine instead! They poured their wines together to create one intertwined wine that cannot be separated into parts (symbolic of their marriage together) and proceeded to drink the mixture of the two bottles.
After the ceremony Tasha and Josh as well as their bridal party and parents greeted everyone in attendance and chatted with them as attendees walked to the reception hall next door. After meeting with everyone, we captured formal portraits of the married couple with their families and then whisked them off for a few photos before they and their bridal party were announced into the reception hall. While we were off with them, the reception attendees played some games on the dance floor with the DJ leading the fun and we arrived back at the reception just a couple minutes early before they were all announced in!
Sticking to schedule, we returned to the reception hall just in time for the bridal party to be announced and for Josh and Tasha to be presented as the new married couple. Upon being announced, Tasha and Josh kept things moving by immediately having their first dance together and following that with a mother/son dance between Josh and his mom. After this, all the guests enjoyed a traditional Amish style dinner of turkey and beef, bread and potatoes, green beans, and of course apple butter. After everyone had had a chance to have a little food, Tasha and Josh cut the cake so that it could be served to everyone as dessert.
We wanted to get a few more photos of just Tasha and Josh before the sun fully set, so we took them out for once last round of photos. We visited a few locations around the property that we hadn't had a chance to photograph at earlier in the day. We all enjoyed the cooler temperature and drop in humidity for these final outdoor portraits of the night.
Once the sun had fully set and we had gotten our fill of photos in the beautiful twilight, we returned to the reception hall. It was now time for a few speeches. Josh's best man and another groomsman both gave heartfelt speeches to let the groom know just how happy they were for him. Not to be outdone however, one of Tasha's maids of honor delivered a heartfelt and funny speech, and then her other maid of honor gave her speech in the form of a rap done to the beat of "I Like Big Butts" by M.C. Hammer. It was a truly memorable occasion.
After all of the speeches were had, Tasha and Josh headed over to toss the garter and throw the bouquet simultaneously. While we've never seen this done before, things went off without a hitch and the lucky recipients rejoyced. Now that all the flowers and garter were tossed, all that was left to do was dance, enjoy a few drinks, and have a great time. The DJ even gave everyone (including grandmas) a lesson in "the wobble" teaching everyone the dance moves before he let Tasha have a turn at his turntables amidst the remainder of the night's partying.
The entire day was incredibly beautiful and we're so happy for both of you, Tasha & Josh! Though you've been together for many years, you have many more to come throughout your lives together! Happy Day Three of marriage and we hope you two are enjoying your Jamaican vacation i.e. honeymoon!
In just a few days from today Sara and Nick will also be celebrating their outdoor wedding by a lake in Indiana-! We'll be heading down to Monticello, IN in a couple days to capture their big day and couldn't be more excited for these two. There will be some awesome surprises as well as live music outside this lake castle near the Indiana Beach theme park, so we're so excited to photograph and share their beautiful day with you next week-! Stay tuned and check back in next week for what is technically the first wedding of fall for us this year (even though it feels more summer-y than summer)! Have a great weekend, all!