What a big day! The time had finally come for our friends Heidi and Ben to tie the knot and we could hardly contain our excitement. Neither could bride Heidi, seen here sharing a laugh with her sister before getting into her dress.
Heidi’s bridesmaids lent her a hand as she climbed into the dress.
Beautiful!
I was especially fond of Heidi’s sparkly shoes- a perfect accessory for a February wedding.
Heidi shared a moment with her mother and sister before moving into the church sanctuary for family pictures.
Her mother surprised her with a last minute addition to the dress.
A kiss from mom…
…followed by a few happy tears…
…and we moved into the sanctuary for pictures.
This church is very special to Heidi. Her father is the pastor for the congregation and he was extremely involved in designing and building the church. He couldn’t have been happier to be presiding over his daughter’s wedding in their home church.
Also extremely happy was Ben’s mom, who was seeing Heidi for the first time in this picture.
This bride is ready to walk the aisle! Take a look at her bouquet. This, along with a lot of other details, was created by the bride. You’ll notice that snowflakes, an important symbol for Heidi, are present on a lot of the details.
We were wrapping up group pictures with Heidi when Ben arrived at the church with his best man, Mikey.
Ben’s stepmom was already in the sanctuary and giving me a run for my money.
One last break for Ben…
…and he took his place at the altar as the wedding procession began.
Heidi was escorted down the aisle by her mother.
Heidi’s father was at the front of the church, watching his daughter with a big smile on his face.
Ben and Heidi took each other’s hands and the ceremony began.
Heidi’s father did an excellent job with the service- he even managed to make the guests laugh several times!
It was a beautiful service in a beautiful church.
After the message was delivered, Heidi and Ben lit a unity candle.
And then there was a sharing of the peace between the guests.
One of Heidi’s first stops was to give a kiss to her grandfather.
The couple joined hands again as they delivered their wedding vows to each other.
The vows were completed, the rings exchanged and then they were married!
The service concluded and the newlyweds took a few moments to themselves.
There were a few more family portraits to take, and when we were done, everyone headed out to the reception.
The wedding party and I jumped into the limo, gearing up to take pictures while en route to the party.
Ben and Heidi shared a celebratory toast with the wedding party when they took their seats in the limo.
We were lucky enough to be able to stop at the same park where we photographed the couple’s engagement session last fall.
There was plenty of love to go around!
I set up this shot to reflect one of my favorites from their engagement session. The engagement photo was of Ben and Heidi’s silhouette in the broken out window, so adding the wedding party seemed like a natural choice.
I thought the park was just as pretty as it was when we were last there, and enjoyed seeing the contrast between seasons.
And Heidi’s red velvet cape was gorgeous. She knew how to do a winter wedding right!
I know I said this in the blog for their engagement session, but I love this park. I need one just like it in my backyard.
I think we did the photos up right! It wasn’t getting any warmer out, though…
…so we got one more quick picture of the couple in front of the evening’s colorful sunset…
…and jumped back into the warmth of the limousine.
The wedding party shared another round of drinks as we traveled to the reception.
We arrived just as cocktail hour was wrapping up. Ben and Heidi greeted their guests and after the dinner was served, cut the cake.
Heidi’s father led off the speeches with a blessing for the couple and thanking the guests for sharing the day with the family.
Mikey did a great job delivering his toast…
…and Heidi’s sister had to choke back happy tears as she gave her speech.
Next up was Ben and Heidi’s first dance as husband and wife.
Heidi and her father warmed up the dance floor with their father-daughter dance, which was followed up by a dance Ben shared with his mother.
And then all the guests got ready to get down!
Who can help but break out this dance move when a DJ plays “Call Me Maybe”?
Heidi and her girls jumped into frame together.
And that hot mess Jarrod was there, too, getting into trouble.
What a party! The guests enjoyed dancing and each other’s company well into the night.
Even Heidi’s grandfather couldn’t contain his excitement!
Congratulations on your marriage, Ben and Heidi! We love celebrating with friends and were so happy that we could share your special day with you! Much love to you both!