Talk about the sweetest couple I’ve ever met!

This December Youngstown wedding was a wonderful surprise for me and a great way to wrap up 2018. Sarah + Jon’s day was an intimate and precious event. The little white church in Boardman Park is the perfect setting in my opinion for a Christmas wedding. I just love it in there. The room was full and the mood was warm despite the temperatures outside.

Sarah + Jon met in Switzerland where they worked as scientists and spent a few years doing long distance from the US and Switzerland. I remember Sarah saying that when Jon left to move back to the US she felt like they committed to each other on that day. Almost like an unofficial engagement. They knew it would take work to make their relationship work overseas and they were willing to make that commitment. After meeting them and hearing their vows, I can definitely say they are meant for each other.

For Smaller Weddings

The Lariccia Family Community Center in Boardman Park has unique details for its location like big, bold beams for example. If you’re looking for a reception hall for a smaller wedding then this place is for you! They had a fireplace going, antique chandeliers and the food was tucked away in another room so it didn’t feel too crowded where the guests were seated. We really enjoyed the dinner and the cookie table was AMAZING. Like I literally could not stop eating the homemade turtle candies.

Add-on something special

Another unique element of Sarah + Jon’s wedding: Sarah’s dad arranged for a horse drawn carriage to pick them up at the church and take them down to the reception. It was so sweet and a fun memory. A blanket kept them warm and their driver even had a top hat on!

If you’re looking for unique ideas for a smaller wedding, I hope this post helps you! A lot of great pics to get inspiration. The winter months don’t offer much daylight so Sarah + Jon decided to do a first look in the church. I’m so glad they did because we were able to get a few pictures outside before it got dark. For those of you getting married in the off season make sure you consider a first look if you want natural light portraits!

Vendors:

Dress: Sarah’s grandmother’s dress
Florist: Willows by Jenny Wehr
Ceremony: St James Meeting House Boardman Park
Venue: Lariccia Family Community Center
Hair/Makeup: Casal’s de Spa and Salon, Makeup by Sarah’s niece Emma
Entertainment: The Elegant String Quartet
Catering: A La Cart Catering
Cake: Das Dutch Haus

Another December Youngstown wedding at Boardman Park – Nicole + Nico

As noted above, Boardman Park is a great venue for smaller weddings. The church seats 125 people and photographs beautifully. There are also other places in the park that wedding are held like the gazebo and outdoor theater. These would be great options if you desire an outdoor wedding. If you decide to have your reception at the Lariccia Community Family Center, then your guests do not have to worry about driving far. They could walk if they wanted! The community center has two rooms you can rent out or rent them both for the whole day. The Stambaugh Room is the nicer and fancier looking room and the rotary room is a plain common looking rental space. Sarah + Jon rented the entire space and kept the food in the rotary room. I thought this was a nice way to keep the wedding vibes festive and the food and refreshments separate but handy.

Blog posts like this are ones that I look forward to from my other Youngstown wedding photographer friends. Sharing behind the scenes gives the viewer perspective. The makers of magical photos can show their creative genius at work. My pictures below? Ah, they’re just the back of my head and you can see how my hair gets longer and longer as the season goes haha! All kidding aside, 2018 was a great year. I have much to be thankful for. I couldn’t have done it without my awesome team members Trish and Christine. They make wedding days even more fun! There’s a few of them in this post!

2018 was a year that I learned to give up leaning on my own understand. I acknowledged that God is the one who put this business before me and it is him that I put my faith in. I leaned heavily on God this year (even at 30 I’m still learning this) and learned that I’m used to just relying on my own intuition, perceptions, and expectations. I’m not a great planner. I can plan ahead but an overall planner I’m not good at. It’s hard for me to see outside of my immediate circle. But God in his kindness guided me through each trial. Each and every wedding and family session I did this year was a blessing in a specific way. By the end of the year, I chose to focus on my weaknesses and how I could improve and pushed myself creatively.

Writing down goals and ideas for 2019 has been super helpful and I’m excited for what next year will bring. I feel like I say that every year but it is true. Each year these last few years have been so different because of major life changes – one kid, new house, two kids and many little details in between. Each new year brings its new challenges but I’m ready and eager for new goals to be met.

Some fun things that I remember from the 2018 wedding season:

• Sweltering hot June weddings where it felt like I jumped into a pool of my own sweat bleh!
• Buying a step stool was probably the best item purchase of 2018.
• Trying new bridal party pose/prompt ideas to make it more fun and genuine!
• Shooting at Mooreland Mansion – so beautiful!
• The sweetest first look between Abby and Matt – GOAT!!
• Witnessing Dana gracefully recover from her cathedral veil getting stuck on the cement. Girl, you the real MVP!
• Wearing Marion’s fur shawl and veil during their bridal portraits because I need more than two hands!!
• Almost peeing my pants with Trish trying to get the sparkler pictures set up for Kelly + Dave. We were on the struggle bus for sure! But hey, it was like 30 degrees out!!
• My leather boot sole basically disintegrated in a matter of hours and I had to use duct tape to keep it together. It was beyond embarrassing.
• Dancing with Trish at her sister’s wedding! XOXO
• Getting hundreds of burrs stuck in my leggings and then having Cait stand in them…you’re troopers Cait and Michael!
• Driving to Pittsburgh for Marion + Sam’s gorgeous wedding with Christine. White knuckles on the steering wheel the whole time!! Why is Pittsburgh traffic a nightmare?!
• Madelyn always getting those A-lister boomerangs!! Who doesn’t love behind the scenes content?!
• Stepping in mud – happened on more than one occasion…and I still need to clean my shoes!

Interested in learning more about this Youngstown wedding photographer?

Click to contact Lindsey!

A well loved couple with gobs of joy flooding the entire day, Marion + Sam hosted a fantastic event. Their wedding day was so much fun and am so glad I met them both. My first time here, this Church of the Ascension wedding is hands down another favorite for me. There are lots of reasons to love this venue, including the iconic red doors. The church had so many great spots for pictures and my favorite was where we took pictures of the girls before the ceremony. It was like a garden surrounded by glass.

Can we just talk about how amazing Marion’s dress is? And her hair and her fur shawl?! Seriously this girl is gorgeous. She is even more beautiful on the inside. So sweet and thoughtful. Sam is a lucky guy! I loved the buttons down her dress and the elegant simplicity of the entire thing.

After the memorable ceremony in the vast sanctuary, we took portraits at the Cathedral of Learning. Let me tell you, Sam and Marion killed it. They are so fun and effortlessly made my job easy.

Food Trucks yes!

Once the party started we had 3 food trucks to choose from for dinner! Talk about dream wedding food! I seriously loved this and had a hard time deciding where to eat. The gal that served our yummy food had to ask if we were wedding guests because I guess we looked like wedding crashers haha! Probably should have carried my cameras with me 🙂

Dance Party!

The dance floor was crowded all evening which made for an exciting night. The bride and groom were surrounded by loved ones  and crazy dancers – of all ages! I’m so glad we got to be there! I definitely made sure to get a to-go box of cookies because that table was INSANE. Thank you Marion for the amazing yummyness!

Congrats!

I really enjoyed getting to know Sam and Marion’s families and they were all so welcoming and accommodating.  A big thank you to each one of you for making the bride and groom’s day run seamlessly. Congrats Mr & Mrs Passalinqua!

Vendors

Dress: The Exquisite Bride
Florist: Pete Donati & Sons
Ceremony: Church of the Ascension
Venue: Church of the Ascension
Hair: Styles by Cardamone

Makeup: Lipstick & Lashes Morgan Wilks

Entertainment: MobileMIX Entertainment
Catering: Food Trucks – Southside BBQ, Las Chicas, Wok of Life
Cake: Marion’s sister Sarah
Bridesmaid Dresses: Amazon
Groomsmen attire: Jos A Bank

Another fall wedding I love: Jenn + Rob

Ok Guys. This wedding was awesome. It was a perfect day and everything you’d imagine for an October Fall wedding day. Kelly + Dave are such a sweet couple and I cannot say enough good things about them. I feel like I’ve known them all my life. We got along so well and I had such much fun.

Perfect setting for Fall

Fowler’s Mill Golf Course has some great spots for pictures and it was the perfect setting for a gorgeous outdoor ceremony. The trees have already started to change which got me excited about portraits with the bridal party and bride and groom. It’s such a short time during the year – gotta make sure to get pics before a big storm forces all the leaves to fall ha!

Kelly + Dave’s dogs made an appearance and I have to say, it was probably my favorite part of the day. Hank and Higgins – such sweet pups! Kelly found sunglasses for them and I’m definitely glad she picked those over bow ties – hilarious! You can only imagine how those few minutes went with two dogs and sunglasses and trying to sit for a picture and/or treat. Hehe!

These can’t get any cuter!

Ahh! These pictures of Kelly with Hank resting his head on her shoulder. There are times when the bride wants to do a certain picture and my motto is always – “let’s do it now.” Because these photos are the ones that they sometimes have their heart set on, or they just thought of it and aren’t sure if it’s a good idea or not.

“Let’s do it now!”

Let me tell you – it is a good idea. Don’t be afraid to voice your desires because that’s my job! I want to make sure I’m making your vision come to life when you think about your wedding photos. But I also know how fast the wedding day goes and if we don’t do it now – it’s not gonna happen. Should just do a separate blog post on this because it’s so important??

Kelly was thinking about the picture she has of Hank and her already and I know she wanted to replicate that memory in her wedding dress. As I saw her contemplating about it, I was already ready to pause our plans and make that shot happen. And I’m SO GLAD we did. It’s like Hank wanted to make sure Kelly’s day was even more than perfect. Gosh, dogs are the best!

Sparklers bonus!

Sparkler pictures were a fun bonus for this wedding. We had fun putting this together and making it happen for the bride and groom. There’s nothing better than running around and playing with light while trying to stay warm on a chilly October night.

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Williamson! Your day was so amazing and I’m mad I forgot to grab some pie on the way out! 😉

Vendors

Dress: Eddy K from All Brides Beautiful
Bridal Bouquets: The Paisley Moon
Florist: Bleil’s Secret Garden
Ceremony: Fowler’s Mill Golf Course
Venue: Fowler’s Mill Golf Course
Hair/Makeup: Courtney Rudd/Miranda Guylash
Entertainment: Sound Proof Entertainment
Catering: Fowler’s Mill Golf Course
Cake: Gartman’s Bakery
Pies: Mama Joe’s Pies
Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie
Groomsmen attire: Groomsmen Suit

Another October fall wedding fav: Dana + Kevin