“Congratulations to Scott and Andi who were recently married in the bride’s home town of Decatur located in central Illinois. As boaters ourselves, you can imagine how much we LOVED their wedding and waterfront wedding reception location of The Beach House. Scott + Andi’s early evening dinner and reception events were planned around the 136th annual Kentucky Derby Race. Finding inspiration in the Derby, the couple incorporated a few subtle derby and horses elements along with southern charm. It was a “southern wedding with a hint of Kentucky Derby.” Touches of derby traditions included fashion with elaborate derby hats, southern red velvet wedding cake, potent mint juleps, television screens to view the races, guests making their pick of a winning horse, and fireworks to close the evening. The wedding had all the elements of a memorable and unforgettable day.

 

Andi lived with her family at their private lake home located on the water at Lake Decatur. Since Scott and Andi met, many long weekends have been spent at the lake. And while growing up, Andi enjoyed the active lifestyle of living on a lake spending numerous Summer days in and around the lake, on the pier, lake docks, at the Beach House and in the water swimming and boating. When the wedding day’s clouds rolled, a storm passed by and the sun was shining… it was a perfect day to boat… and an even more beautiful day for a May wedding.

 

Although Ryan and I live within the Chicago area, we are often asked to travel with our couple’s as their destination wedding photographers outside of Chicago and Illinois. Scott and Andi are currently living and working in Tennessee a few hundred of miles away from Decatur. So the couple had the local help of a number of Andi’s Decatur area family members including parents, aunts and friends who according to the couple say were a tremendous help in planning and coordinating a number of the day’s events and details. In pulling all the details of the day together, Andi mentioned these few words of advice, keeping a cool mentality in not getting too overwhelmed with the planning. Andi writes:

 

“I have always been one to shake my head when I found out that some couples spent a small fortune on their big day. I swore that I would never spend the money I saved for a luxury car ( Andi drives a lovely Porsche ) on a single day! I think our occupations have influenced our love of a challenge–especially when it comes to managing cost. We wanted to prove to ourselves and our families that our day could be accomplished stress-free, on a shoe string budget and in a unique, fun, and memorable fashion. The true theme of the ceremony was honing and leveraging the talents of friends and family. All the decorations and bows were made by friends of the family who used to own their own business prior to retiring. The rehearsal dinner was catered by friends of the family who were retired caterers. The music at the ceremony was provided by long-time friends of the family (with my Mother–who sings many, many weddings performing Schubert’s Ave Maria), the DJ was my sister’s boyfriend who DJed in College, the cake was made by my aunt (who, in our opinion makes the best red velvet cake in the state of Illinois), our day of planner is a friend of the family, and of course, the photographers have become our friends as well!!!! ”

 

What an exciting wedding day Scott + Andi. Thank you in hiring and inviting us to your wedding. We felt like a couple of your guests… we are happy we have become friends too! Hope you enjoy these couple of preview pictures and will keep in touch the next time you are in the Northern Illinois region. Best wishes to you both and congrats!”

 

 

 

 

Scott + Andi’s Lake Decatur wedding included many DIY and these details:
Catholic Wedding Ceremony: St. Patrick Church, Decatur, Illinois
Day of Planner: Mary Ann Groves
Church Music: Organist Tom Cantwell, Soloists Lara Vespa and Billie Shay. Ave Maria solo by Andi’s Mother
Reception Venue: The Beach House, Lake Decatur, IL
Bridal Dress Designer: Robin Jillian
Veil + Dress Shop: Formals of Litchfield, Litchfield
Hair: The Little Salon Decatur
Bridal Shoes: Silk heels covered with Swarovski Austrian Crystals by Johnathan Kayne
Shoe Shop: A pagent-specialiaty store called My Best Friend Jenna, Jackson, TN
Bride’s Engagement Ring and Jewlery: Tacori
Groom’s Wedding Band: Handcrafted by a Native American Artisan named Billy Long purchased in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Groom + Best Man’s Suits: Black Label by Ralph Lauren
Bridesmaid Dress: Jessica Simpson Formal Wear off the rack from VonMaur
Menu, Southern Style Dishes and Catering by: The Beach House, Lake Decatur
Red Velvet Cake by: Andi’s Aunt–Teresa Litz
Flowers: Zip’s Flowers by the Gate
DJ: Andi’s Sister’s Boyfriend, DJ Captain Ron Jon Gofron
Day of Theme: Southern Spring Wedding with a Hint of Kentucky Derby
Signature Drink: Mint Juleps
Honeymoon: Hopefully a Trophy Hunt for Andi in South Africa or New Zealand

 

 

Be sure to view our featured blog photos from our engagement session in Chicago with
Scott + Andi photographing them in our high-fashion Chicago engagement photography style.

 

“For last week’s two Chicago engagement photography sessions, we had some unexpected 70 degree, seriously awesome April weather! However, it was not only warm, but also two extremely gusty “windy city” Chicago days.

 

Brittany + Bobby are a fun loving, easy going couple who are very much in love. Ryan and I had a great time venturing around the City and seeing them interact with each other in the photos. We enjoyed visiting a few new photo locations just outside of the Chicago Loop for their shoot. During every engagement session, we seem to have a memorable moment … we will never forget stumbling across another couple near the Lake Michigan shoreline during their shoot. ; ) LOL

 

When discussing their shoot, I proposed the idea of incorporating some balloons into a few pictures. Brittany fell in love with the idea, so she gladly ordered and brought some balloons along – we had sooooo many balloons that we were a little nervous they all wouldn’t fit into our XTerra. The wind was definitely a little tricky to work with, but determined, we captured some romantic shots with the balloons in a quiet, secluded section of Chicago’s Museum Park. In addition, we mixed in some other soft photo styles then incorporated historic architecture, Lake Michigan and finally closed the day with everyone’s favorites, some after dark glowing Chicago evening skyline photos. Brittany looked stunning in her black dress and hot, yellow heels.

 

After the session, we grabbed a bite to eat and got to know each other a little more discovering Brittany and Bobby have been dating for over ten years – almost longer than Ryan and my relationship. With their upcoming destination wedding at Lake Lawn Resort on Lake Delavan in Wisconsin approaching, they were excited to talk about their wedding plans. We LOVE shooting destination weddings, whether they are only a state away or a destination wedding around the world. Brittany and Bobby… Ryan and I are thrilled to be heading up with you for your lakeside wedding. We can’t wait to meet your family and friends, 22 member bridal party, and enjoy your wedding weekend this Summer. Enjoy the photos and hope we created some lasting memories for the two of you… ”