Describe Your Engagement: 

Andrew and I love the Indiana Dunes. We would go after work and on the weekends and even hike through them on wintery days. I’m a photographer and love to go to the dunes to get away from the suburb life and capture the beautiful area. In 2017 we had a really hot February Sunday. Andrew took me to one of our favorite breweries in Valpo and then we headed up the shoreline. We stopped at Kemil Beach in Beverly Shores where we took a long walk. It was a gorgeous day and there was a light fog over Lake Michigan. As I was getting ready to take a picture of him looking out at the water, he turned around, got down on one knee and ask me to be his wife. In his backpack he had champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne. I was overjoyed and of course said yes! 

Describe Your Wedding Vision: 

Our wedding was on one of the hottest days this summer. I’m a wedding photographer and have been to over 100 weddings in my life so planning ours wasn’t very hard. I knew I wanted to get married somewhere near the dunes because of both our love for the dunes. I had run across Marquette Park Pavilion doing a photo shoot and fell in love with the location. We themed the whole wedding kind of around it. I wanted the colors to match the feel of the dunes and the vintage look of the venue. Marquette Park has a lot of history and I wanted this to be part of our big day. The guys wore a modern but timeless black and white tuxedos to embody the timeless look of the venue. The girls wore a blue to match the water and sky, and my dress was a champagne and blush to match the sandy feel of the beach. I wanted to have lots of green in in the flowers to pick up some of the dune grass. We kept it pretty simple with most of our details but wanted to have the same timeless feel. 

Describe Your Wedding Day: 

Our wedding day was perfect. I got ready with my girls at my parents condo on Cedar Lake. My parents and I were all very emotional the whole morning. We gave each other little gifts and had letters written to each other which made the morning so sweet. The guys got ready at our house in Munster, they played video games and relaxed the whole morning. We had our “first look” in the front yard of my parent’s house in Cedar Lake. His expression when he saw me was the most memorable moment of the whole day. The whole bridal party took a party bus up to the venue. When it came time to walk down the aisle I had members of the Indiana Youth Symphony play Trumpets Voltaire. It was absolutely perfect. We had a quick ceremony as it was VERY hot out. Followed by a cocktail hour on the lower terrace. Our reception started with cutting of the cake and many wonderful speeches. Dinner was much anticipated as a lot of us had forgotten to eat. We took sunset pictures on the beach which was also one of my most favorite parts of the day. There was nothing better than feeling the sand on my feet in a wedding dress. The night was great. We danced away…and the day following many of our family and friends joined us on the beach for a post wedding beach party.  

Your Advice To Engaged Couples: 

I talk to engaged couples all the time being in the wedding business. My biggest words of advice is to not sweat the small stuff. So many things will go wrong during a wedding but the most important part is that you get to marry the love of your life. Nothing else is better than that. Also to plan accordingly, don’t wait until the last minute to book your vendors and plan your details. Everything will fall into place if you have some structure.