The Gorgeous Wedding of Dolly and Matt

This wedding blew me away. From the salon, to the church, to the reception... everything was amazing. When I first meet with a client, I try to help them understand that great photography can happen if you do two basic things. Number one: Let there be light! Number two: Give yourself time. Dolly and Matt did a wonderful job of both. All the locations had great light, and we had plenty of time to be creative and really get some wonderful shots.

We started the day at PJ's Salon in Fairview Park. This place was so much fun. Lots to shoot, huge windows, and just a great atmosphere to keep things chill while the girls were getting ready. From there, we moved to Dolly and Matt's home. I always encourage clients to get ready in front of a window, which can seem a bit weird to some... "You want me to get ready literally in front of the window?" It's an odd request, but it yields such beautiful photos. After getting Dolly and the girls into their dresses, we headed to the church.

The church was Our Lady of Angels in Cleveland. All I can say is wow. The ceilings in this place are so ornate and the space is so large you would think that the royals were getting married here. Fantastic choice and a really nice ceremony. After shooting some formals in the church, we hopped in the cars and followed the limo over to a local park. Now, this was one of those days where the temperature was already hitting the high 90's, but the humidity made it feel like 110. It was blistering hot. The best thing you can do in this situation is have all the guys leave their jackets in the limo, and move fast. We used the shade as much as we could to our advantage and actually stayed outside for quite awhile. After the park, we were on to the reception.

We pulled up to Ridge Manor over in Brooklyn, Ohio and when we walked into the main hall, I was amazed at what I saw. The D.J. company, Rock the House did a transformation of the space that really made things look first class. I remember pulling up to the reception hall and thinking... oh great, there are no windows, but Dolly and Matt picked a company that went all out. The uplighting around the room, the spotlights on the cake, and the monogram on the dance floor brought the space together and made things look spectacular. The evening was so much fun to photograph. The music kept everyone on the dance floor until the end of the reception, not an easy task for any D.J.

A beautiful day all around and I couldn't be happier for Dolly and Matt. Congratulations you two!

-Steve