About a month ago, I got a suspicious looking email.  Turns out, it was from Chad.  He set up a new email account to try and keep a secret from Cassie…sooooo bad ;)  Don’t hate him yet, because the secret has earned him “Best Husband of the Year Award.”  His plan was to surprise Cassie with a photo session for their first anniversary…and could I fit them in quickly????

Well, as luck would have it, I was in Indianapolis two weekends in a row for my daughter’s dance competitions.  We picked the first weekend and the temperatures were a glorious 65 and sunny…complete opposite from their cold wedding day!  I was beyond excited to catch up with them and re-visit some of the places we photographed on their wedding day.

I met them at their house and I was thrilled to see them dressed in their signature color!  Chad even had his wedding socks on.  Cassie mentioned her green wedding shoes were upstairs packed away and at the last minute I said GO GET THEM!  We started our shoot at Monument Circle and there were people EVERYWHERE.  Even a wedding party that had set up camp.  On the one side that the blazing sun actually worked.  And on the ONLY side that the monument wasn’t complete closed off with scaffolding.   Challenging…yes.  Impossible…never!  It was so fun to give them fresh, new images but also give a nod to some of their wedding day favorites.

And THIS is when we all jumped up and down that Cassie had her green shoes with her!!!!!!!!!  My favorite!

We stopped back at The Rathskeller for a little refresher, change of clothing and some more pictures at their reception venue.  Then it was a short walk over to the cobblestone street…

And you may remember a certain shot from their wedding post yesterday….we tried to recreate it.  It took a few times.  One shot even looked like Chad was kicking Cassie in the head!  So, here you go…a little groomsman photo bomb recreation!

Ok, I warned you yesterday I was going to gush about these two.  I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that by being a part of their wedding, I not only gave them a beautiful and tangible reminder from all the festivities, but that in some small way my presence on that day was another great memory in their eyes.  Cass and Chad have been some of my biggest cheerleaders and it has often brought me to tears.  I mean…they SENT ME FLOWERS the Monday after their wedding.  They stay in touch and send me random texts on their nights out that I just adore.  When they learned my new website was launching, Cass sent me a message that said , “Happy website day!”

I tell you all this because I don’t know if I could really put into words how special they are to me.  How they’ve taken me as their wedding photographer and made me feel a part of their family.  I’ve been blessed with many couples who have made me feel that way and I really don’t deserve it.  But I’ll take it and hope that I can make that kind of impact with each and every couple.

Cassie and Chad came my way via my cousin Brad and his wife, Heidi.  You see, the four of them are kind of a package deal.  In a good way.   They’re the best of friends and through Brad and Heidi, I’d had the opportunity to hang out with Cassie a couple times…and I knew Chad was her guy.

So, when they called me for their wedding last year, I didn’t know them too well.  I just knew they were a LOT of fun to be around.  We spent  time chatting details, perfecting the timeline for their day, all leading up to their wedding in Indianapolis last March.  By the time I arrived at the church that day, we felt like great friends (you can always tell when the groom sees you and immediately comes in for a hug!). Little did I know that while it was the start of the marriage they’d planned for, it was also the start of a friendship I never expected.

We had hoped for a warmish Spring day…but this is Indiana.  It was almost April but felt more like January.  It was cold.  And rainy.  And windy.  And C.O.L.D.  Like always, I planned locations for such an event but Cassie wanted no part of staying inside.  And her adoring bridesmaids were along for the ride!  We ventured around Cassie’s home church in Shelbyville for portraits pre-ceremony then we headed downtown for the reception.

The theme for the day:  all things bright green and mustaches. SO Cass and Chad.

Color coordinated umbrellas even…yeah, we don’t mess around ;)

Oh my goodness…Cass’s expression walking down the aisle…Chad’s expression looking at Cassie’s dad.  I can’t decide which I love more!

Remember the mustache theme….there were cuff links, drinking cups…and the BUStache to complete the look!!!  Off to Monument Circle!  One thing about the truly crappy weather…the circle was virtually empty!  Love that there weren’t a lot of people in the background.

Above picture….TOTALLY not planned.  The one up in the air…that’s my cousin Brad.  This picture will be important in a later post ;)

The reception was held at The Rathskeller, one of Cassie and Chad’s favorite places in the city.

Instead of a traditional cake, they had two kinds of donuts and that “Gilford Distillery” bottle is the Groom’s cake!!!  Oh, and those donuts were mighty tasty the next morning for breakfast.  And again on the drive home…I may have taken home more than one!

I don’t often get pulled into photo booths…but they made me.  All the bridesmaids (my cousin’s wife, Heidi, on my left) plus the man of honor, Doug.

Another favorite of the couple…the band My Yellow Rickshaw!  They were fantastic!  And upon talking to them I found out they are from Jay County (closer to my hometown than Indy).  I still laugh about how we figured that…I only remember saying Adams County for some reason and through the mic, the guy was like SERIOUSLY?!  No WAY!!!

I still look at these pictures a year later and remember what a BLAST their entire day was!  Such great memories for me…I hope I’ve given them a thousand times more!  Stay tuned tomorrow for a follow up…their one year anniversary session we shot just last month!  Then I’ll appropriately gush about how much I love them :)

This little girl is about as good as it gets.  I think this is the third session I’ve had with her and every year goes kind of like this,  “Hey Casey (Ava’s mom), I know it’s only been half an hour, but I swear, we have so many good ones I have NO idea how you’ll pick one for your wall this time.”

And it’s always true.  Casey sees the images and tells me , “How will I choose?!”  And it’s because AVA is simply out of this world fun and easy to photograph!  She has such confidence and spunk, but is also so kind and sweet.  For a six year old…it’s more than impressive.  And did I mention how funny she is?  She’ll be standing there and all of a sudden whip out these model poses that leave Casey and I cracking up then the next minute she’s off running around and being curious about her surroundings.  Makes me want to be a six year old again!

I mean really, that hand on the face?! ALL AVA!

BAHAHAAAA!!!!!  Ava had been sitting there in a daze smiling but looking right past me.  So I put my camera to the side and made this exact face at her until she responded.  I just didn’t expect this response ;)

Thanks for another great session, Miss Ava!  And thank you, Casey, for once again making the trip up from Indy!!