Intimate Backyard Wedding | Tremont

Sep 7

Intimate Backyard Wedding | Richard + Jordan

Oh boy, where do I even begin? Jordan and Richard originally booked me for an engagement session in their beautiful 101 year old home in Lakewood, OH. During their session, I randomly asked when the big day was and they continued to share about their plans to have the wedding at the home... "WUT. YES!!" is pretty much exactly what came out of my mouth. Long story short, they booked with me and on June 14th we celebrated the two of them with their close friends and family! What an honor it was to be a part of their special day. After they said I do, the neighbors came out to congratulate them from across the street and it was pretty much the cutest thing EVER. The entire evening was filled with so much joy and you could just see how much these two are loved! Did I mention, the. kids. (nieces and nephews) OMG. They were such a special part of the day and brought so much energy and joy to the entire day.

I started writing about how this incredible couple ended up in Lakewood but knew that Jordan would be able to tell it so much better than I ever could. ENJOY!!!

"Rich and I met at work right out of college. We lived and loved in the cutest old duplex in Lakewood, Ohio. Rich grew up in Dayton and me outside Akron so we really made Lakewood our own place to call home.... then a series of terrible no good very bad winters hit. Long bitter cold commutes to the office and a few potholes and black ice slides later we had it! We needed sunshine! So Rich took on a new territory in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida and I followed and kept my position working from our shiny new high rise apartment right downtown. We really soaked up the sun and downtown living our first year in FL. Beach every day we could and you could see the bay right from our apartment terrace. Boy, we bragged about it! But then we saw our old friends Instagrams and facebooks showing fun fall photos, snowy holiday celebrations, spring has sprung adventurers, and how much they really enjoyed each and every season... we tried to ignore their happiness. We bought a nice little house 2 miles from downtown with Rich’s inground salt water pool he always wanted. We filled the yard with pups. And while it distracted us a bit, every year I decorated my beach themed Christmas tree and served a feast outside on the patio I missed Lakewood more and more... well after 7 years, 2 states, and 3 residences later rich purposed to me on the very beautiful fort DeSoto dog beach (it really is gorgeous I’m not being sarcastic, these dogs get quite a view). We started planning our wedding right away! At the time we had been traveling A LOT! Like once a month we’d take a week-long trip to somewhere 17 or fewer hours away (so within driving distance) with our 2 giant Bernese mountain dogs. We loved the North Carolina blue ridge mountains and home the most. I was all prepped and ready to book my wedding venue in Asheville when I nearly fell ill to the price tag I was quoted for the venue only NOTHING INCLUDED! I decided to press pause on the booking until we went on our next adventure back to beautiful Cleveland, Ohio. Rich had been checking out Zillow in our old beloved town of Lakewood and I never wanted to look at his findings as I knew he wasn’t serious and it would just make me depressed to imagine a wonderful life I couldn’t have... but this time I looked. It was everything! 101 year old house on a bigger than usual for Lakewood plot, the gardening was impeccable, the House was a little dated and needed AC but we could change those things... it had been on the market a while and it was no longer the busy sellers market it had been all summer. I asked my realtor friend to let us see it and promised rich and the realtor I wasn’t serious. Well, I was serious and I fell deeper in love with the house. By the next morning, I was writing the seller a love letter with our offer telling her my plans to use all the money I had almost wasted on my Asheville venue WITH NOTHING INCLUDED on my big home purchase and how I dreamed to begin making our family memories by having our very own wedding in the backyard. It worked! She bought it! Well, we bought it, the house that is. We worked tirelessly (you can see from the engagement session to the wedding day photos) painting, mulching, Wallpaper removing... we became Chip and Joanna Gaines. And We did it all on a pretty strict wedding diet lol) I honestly wouldn’t change a single step in our journey or our wedding day. Julia captured our home (before and after), our wedding day, and who we are perfectly. Our photos show us really laughing and enjoying the day. Don’t get me wrong it was hard work leading up to it all but the pay off is so rewarding. When she says she becomes your BFF when she takes you on as a client she does, for someone to really capture you exactly as you feel and want other to feel too... only a true friend can pull that off. Thank you, Julia! You are amazing!!"