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Rebecca & Jake > An Elegant Winter Wedding

Rebecca and Jake’s wedding was the perfect end of my 2022 weddings. It was a December winter wedding that truly felt like stepping into a winter wonderland when you walked through the doors of the venue. This might be the prettiest I’ve seen SMK Agricultural Venue look- from the berry red color to the glistening lights of Christmas trees and greenery.

This wedding was also special because a couple years ago I had captured Rebecca’s brother’s wedding. I had connected with Josh and Whitney through Campus Outreach, so them again was the sweetest! Rebecca and I connected over this and teaching from our very first meeting at Purdy’s. Then I had a blast getting to know Jake at their engagement session.

The bridal suite at SMK has pretty gray/blue-ish textured walls that mimic wallpaper and the prettiest vintage couches, which I found the bridesmaids perched on when I walked into the room. Once again it was nice to see some familiar faces from my days in Campus Outreach at EKU. This included the hairdresser, planner and the videographer, all of whom are the best to work with! It felt like a mini CO reunion! Rebecca and her bridesmaids all wore the cutest flannel pajamas, flowing perfectly with the winter theme! I had fun with all the winter greenery and sparkling elements of her details. Rebecca’s sweet mom helped her get in her dress, against the backdrop of glowing patches of light on the paint-swirled walls. After this, Rebecca had the sweetest first look with her bridesmaids in front of the beautiful stone fireplace, adding that touch of warmth winter holds. The bridesmaids red dresses popped perfectly against the colors of winter.

When it was time for the ceremony to unfold, I was excited for the change of scenery, as I’d never captured an indoor wedding at this venue. But the Christmas trees and light flooding in made it feel magical. This ceremony was extra special, as since Jake and Rebecca chose not to do a first look, that moment held even more emotion than normal. Jake’s face the moment Rebecca emerged said it all, in fact I don’t think words can accurately describe it. It was the look every little girl dreams of receiving on her wedding day, the moment the groom sees his bride. This was a heartfelt ceremony and a favorite moment was when the bridal party surrounded the couple to pray over them and their marriage. These are the moments I love to capture!

As the ceremony, then family and bridal party photos came to a close it was finally time for portraits. Since they hadn’t done a first look it just happened to time out that portraits fell during golden hour. One great thing about this venue is it hosts a large variety of trees and locations on the property so we were still able to find some pines and evergreens to still get a little green, even in the dead of winter. Plus the light was perfect, filtering in through the trees in just the perfect amount of glow! The amazing venue owners, who also owned the horses, joined our trek and mission to get some photos with horses at golden hour. Rebecca so generously kept offering the horses a nibble of her bouquet, in attempts to get them to pose for our photo-op. Talk about the best, easy-going bride!!! It was so worth it and the horses definitely shined in the photos.

At the reception the celebration continued with beautiful dances and one of those evenings where everyone just truly had the best time dancing with their friends and family. I had to take advantage of the light-up Love sign with a few twirling photos in front of it. They had a special send-off with glow sticks. I was expecting the foam light up sticks but these ended up being even cooler in some ways. It’s always fun getting creative and trying something new with lights.

Rebecca and Jake, thank you for having me capture your day! It was so beautiful and honored God. Please enjoy some favorites from this lovely winter wedding!