I’ve seen lots of brides wearing beautiful high heels on their wedding day. However, I would say 95% of them don’t last the entire day in them. Off the top of my head I’d say that half make it through the first dance while the other half  make it through the end of the ceremony. Janaya is one of those who never took them off or switched into something more comfortable. Janaya, you’re a stronger gal than I, that’s for sure!
Billy with his two brothers and friend. 🙂
I love dresses with texture like this… I love all of the shadows and dimension it creates.
Favorite! ❗ A technical note to photographers: Janaya got ready in one of her church’s offices… we’ve all shot in them numerous times… fluorescent lights with lots of stuff around. 🙂 Soooo, I turned off the lights which made most of the room very dark. I asked that she get ready by the window. Doing so created a dramatic ratio with light falloff (areas of the subject close to the light are far more illuminated than those slightly farther away from the light). PS. When I mention little tips like this I fear that I may come across as a know-it-all or condescending… but people ask so I thought I’d just throw it out there here. 🙂

The maid of honor helping with the veil. 🙂Janaya, this portrait of you… you’re a stunner! I couldn’t love it more! 😀 Side note: these two images, and the one above were all taken in the same lighting conditions as I mentioned above.  This was the funnest moment that I’ve ever witnessed right before a bride was walked down the aisle. A few minutes before their big debut Janaya’s dad (Jerry) busts out his iPhone to snap a quick pic with his daughter. I suggested turning into the light (they were going to be a silhouette if I hadn’t interjected 😉 ), then Janaya grabbed the phone to show him how it was done (I tell ya, our generation sure knows how to take a selfie!).  Jerry promptly posts it to Facebook. Then, literally seconds before the doors opened for their grand entrance, he pulls out his phone to see how many “likes” he had.  Janaya turns to me with a big smile and says, “he’s new to Facebook…”   I laughed wayyyy out loud!

OH! I just found the resulting pic on Facebook. Looks like it ended up getting 97 likes. 😉 Not bad Jerry… not bad at all! Janaya’s paternal great grandmother got married in this exact same church 90 years ago (1923).Such a sweeeeet ceremony!
It was pouring rain almost the entire day! There were moments of less rain… but yeah… non-stop rain. Howeverrrrr…. they didn’t let a little raaaaain stop ’em!  The “canned ham” pic on the left, it makes me laugh. 😀 Ohhh that Waaaaacky Bobbi strikes again…!THE RAAAAAIN!!! Hey future Bobbi brides… do you see how rain on your wedding day isn’t a bad thing?! I think these images are beautiful! Imagine your kids seeing these someday… they’ll think, “WHOA! Mom and dad were such badasses… going outside for pics on their wedding day!” I say you shouldn’t pretend your day looked like something it didn’t… embrace it and make the best of it!  I mean… I’m just sayin’. 😉I learn something new every day! This is a drinking game called “Fingers”… if you, like me, have never heard of it, it has a Wikipedia page. You’re welcome in advance. 😉 HA!
Reception time!  This was during the maid’s of honor toast. See her wedding band? That belonged to Janaya’s aforementioned great grandmother who was married in the same church. Jerry (dad) wore it on his pinky finger every day…well… every day until this day. 🙂 I love family heirlooms!
OHHH BILLY…! Your dance moves are hard to keep up with! For as long as we’ve been in Indianapolis shooting weddings, we’ve never seen the famous duo that is Dave & Rae… it took shooting a wedding in Fort Wayne (2 hours north) to fiiiinally see them do their thing! They certainly didn’t disappoint. 😀

HA!All receptions should end exaaactly like this. I feel very strongly about this. 🙂

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Fort Wayne, Ind.

hair  •  Samantha Taulbee – Cindy’s HA!R Salon
makeup  •  Janice Bradley –  Perfect 10 Salon and Spa
florist  •  Bakers’ Flowers and Gifts
videographer  •  Ben Poenisch – Rewind Documentaries
ceremony  •   St. Mary’s of the Assumption Catholic Church
reception venue  •  Hotel Fort Wayne
band  •  Dave & Rae
cake  •   Creative Cakes by Laura

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their songs

introductions  •  “The Way You Make Me Feel” –Michael Jackson
first dance  •  “I Choose You” –Sara Bareilles
father/daughter  •   “Hokey Pokey” (a bet by Janaya’s Dad and uncle) & “Father and Daughter” –Paul Simon (my favorite father/daughter dance song)
mother/son  •  “My Wish” –Rascal Flatts
last dance  •  “Piano Man” –Billy Joel

 

bride+groom

 [br]What was the most memorable moment of your day?

Janaya:  During the ceremony, I was very excited and nervous.  I tried to put Billy’s ring on the wrong hand. At the reception, we danced from the first to the last song. It was awesome. 

Billy: When the priest was late.  I was very angry.  I would like to see the video of me entering the church. 

[br] Any advice for future bride/grooms?

Janaya:  Don’t interrupt your reception to do a group picture.  Do it all at the church. (Ditto 😉 )

 [br]Funniest memory from your wedding day?

Janaya:  Literally seconds before my dad and I started walking down the aisle,  my dad pulled out his phone check to see how many likes he received on a “selfie” of us taken minutes earlier.  I felt the need to explain what he was doing to Bobbi 🙂 He recently starting using Facebook. Funniest daughter/dad moment I’ve ever witnessed. Fo’real! 

 [br]If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

Janaya:  Nope. Not a thing.  Hire Bobbi and Mike. Hire Ben.  They are easy to work with and awesome!

 [br]Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Antigua. It is recommended. 

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You see, Ben the videographer is one of our best friends… so when we work with him, he’s naturally included in our “action shots” that we take throughout the day. Full disclosure: 95% of all action shots are taken by Mike… to include this one.
The REAL reason why I started wearing my hear naturally curly? So I could freely shoot in the rain. 🙂Ben and his second-shooter Katie had my back when shooting the rings. 🙂Mike testing his light. OH HEY LOOK! I TOOK ONE OF MIKE!!!! 😀 Here he is with Ashton Kutcher the groomsman.

[br] [br] [br]Much love friends!

~bobbi+mike ❗ + ❓

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