Jamie + Michelle Photography

Amanda and Nick were married at the Gary Aquatorium!  Well, the ceremony was set up in the park a smidge west of the Aquatorium, but the reception was in the building.  I know you have seen many engagement sessions we have done there.  It’s such a great location!  It feels so tropical – you would never know you were hanging out in Gary, Indiana.  : )

Hmm…..  I think Amanda and Nick are Blackhawks fans….  and now so is this statue…

Pins the bridal party wore

Amanda and Nick decided to see each other ahead of time.  It was so cute – they were both running around, trying to get things together and organized, and she walked out and they just both stopped for a minute to see how lovely the other looked.

So we had time for portraits ahead of time, including one with their dog!

SO Amanda had warned us ahead of time, but Nick had no idea what was about to happen here.  He just thought he was being blindfolded to go in for Amanda’s garter…

Little did he know that Amanda had been replaced!!  By the Chicago Blackhawks mascot!!!  This was so awesome!

Tommy stayed and danced for a while, which was just too funny

All of the beautiful plants and flowers that decorated the entire Aquatorium were from DeVries Countryside Green House, which is owned by Amanda’s family

All the flowers were done by Amanda’s Aunt Sally Rabideau

Dresses were from David’s Bridal, J. Crew, or The Wedding Center

Amanda’s dress – The Wedding Center

The boys’ vests and pants – Macys

Catering – Miller Bakery Cafe

Cake was made by Amanda’s brother Evan DeVries

DJ – Peter Dennis

Hope’s dress was gorgeous with some lovely beaded details..

Helllllooooooo blingin’ earrings!

Hope went for the cute and comfortable route of wearing flip flops the whole day!  Excellent idea!

I loved Hope’s mom’s dress!   (And loved how the lines matched Hope’s!)

It’s always fun (and a team effort) trying to get into a wedding dress : )

LOVE this moment of Dad seeing her – it was the probably the biggest smile he had all day : )

Then of course he had to make sure she didn’t arrive to the church in a dirty car

So this cracks me up – Hope is all dressed and ready to go, but still ventured through the yard to play some tether ball!

Oh hey there, Lovely!

The girls were having fun yelling out the window at guests arriving to the ceremony

Woo Hoo!!!!

DJ – Mack Enterprises

Florist – Lansing Floral

Cake – Calumet Bakery

Bridal Gown – Eva’s Bridal

Tuxes – Men’s Wearhouse

Bridesmaid Dresses – Making Memories by Richelle VanderZee

Chi and Dannie were married!  The first event of the day was a traditional Asian ceremony at Chi’s parents’ house.   It was very cool to be a part of it!

I asked Chi to describe the ceremony for us and this is what she said:

“The Asian ceremony was an abbreviated version (thank goodness!) of the real ceremony. The groom and his entire family (his parents, grandparents, all his groomsmen, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends) come to the bride’s house to ask permission for the marriage to take place.  The procession was led by his parents, then the groom, then his best man and brothers, then the groomsmen and the rest of family.  The groomsmen carry gifts on teak wood trays (which were draped in the ornate red cloths) for the bride’s family. Its usually wine, coffee, tea, cookies, a roast pig or jewelery.  The number of gifts vary, but can never be 7 or 9 because I’m told its bad luck. My number was 6. The brides’ family lights firework by way of welcoming the groom’s family. The groom’s procession lines up to present the gifts to the members of the bride’s family (my bridesmaids) and the women carry them into the house and lead the groom’s family inside. Once the exchange is done, permission has been granted by a representative of the bride’s family (my uncles), and everyone is inside the bride’s house, the parents of the bride will present her to the groom.  The bride and groom will stand together as the couple who have been married the longest light traditional ceremonial candles (while silently wishing the bride and groom good luck and happiness) on the ancestral alter and ask the ancestors to bless the marriage. The bride and groom then bow in front of the alter and ask for the blessings of the ancestors as well.  Then there was a small tea luncheon.”

And there hangs the big string of firecrackers that was mentioned above.  Awesome!

The bridal party!!  They looked great, but we felt bad for them – it was quite the hot day!  They were all troopers!

We had some chill time in between portraits and getting ready for the American wedding ceremony, so someone brought Chi Schoop’s!

YEAH for hot pink shoes!!

Elvis!!!  Dan and Chi’s dog was of course a part of the ceremony!

LOVE Dannie’s boutonniere and how these feathers were incorporated into everything.

“Is there anyone that feels for any reason these two should not be married?”  Heh!  Dan and Chi gave everyone ‘the look’.

I have to say – throughout the day, Chi was just smiling and laughing so much – it was so wonderful to see how happy she was!  So much fun!!  I think Dan’s ring got a little stuck here…. : )

My view…

Jamie’s view….

They had a photo booth set up!!!

The Groom’s cake!!

Ummmm…….. whoa!!!  This guy is in the Matrix!!  : )   I LOVE that guy’s expression in the blue shirt on the left!!  AWESOME!

He was teaching the kids a dance!  : )

Make-Up Artist:  Kristi Cox

Wedding Ceremony/Reception:  Wicker Memorial Park

DJ:  Mobile DJs Entertainment

Flowers:  Monarch in Schererville, IN

Cake:  Cakes by Karen in Highland, IN

Groom’s Cake:  Cowgirl Cupcakes

Bride/Bridesmaid Dresses:  David’s Bridal

Tuxes:  Men’s Wearhouse

Photo Booth:  MagBooth

Invitations/Table seating cards:  Tasha Shallon

Oh, then of course Jamie and I had to get in on the photo booth action!!

To Allan and Andrea’s surprise, they renewed their vows for their 30th wedding anniversary!  Their daughter-in-law, Jackie, planned the entire day – vow renewal and a surprise party – without telling them anything!  She had been planning this day for so long – I think she asked me to be the photographer about a year ago.  : )  It started off in church, seeming like a normal church service, until Pastor talked about special things to celebrate, and then he called Allan and Andrea up to the front.  As soon as he did that, Andrea started tearing up, which was soooo sweet.   And they had no idea who I was, so you could tell Allan was really confused when this stranger with a big camera snuck some pictures of them.  

Then, Pastor made them renew their vows!  They seriously had no idea whatsoever!!

Isn’t the family nicely color coordinated?  Yep – all Jackie.  Oh, I should also mention, she planned everything and is 30 weeks pregnant!  So Jackie came up with this elaborate story to get everyone to dress similar – she told Allan and Andrea that she was being honored at an awards ceremony at Navy Pier for her work and that there would be a professional photographer there and she would like them all to wear purple.  (Andrea was so convinced with that story, she kept asking Jackie if they were for sure not going to Navy Pier, even during the party)

Then Jackie, her husband Matt (right) and Matt’s brother, Don (left), all took off to go set up a party in the church basement (still a surprise to the parents).  My job was to keep them busy for a little while so the kids could set up.   So we had a fun mini photo session!  Unfortunately, it was storming, so we couldn’t go to the park as originally planned, but it worked out really well to have a surprise party just downstairs and to take pictures inside.

During a break in the rain we stepped outside for a few.

This was actually Allan’s idea to go up to the church balcony and use these stained glass windows for some silhouette shots!

For some reason, I didn’t even notice this giant sign behind them with very appropriate wording.  : )

Andrea’s ring!  Allan can’t really wear his any more so he didn’t have it.  : )

Then….. SURPRISE!!

A lot of friends and family came to celebrate with Allan and Andrea!

Jackie’s mom and dad were also at the surprise party!  Jackie’s mom helped a lot with everything.  : )  It’s so awesome when in-laws get along!  Oh, Jackie’s parents’ 30th anniversary is in 2 years : )

Then and now : D

OH as one more final thing, Jackie arranged for the two of them to be off work for a couple days so they could have a getaway just the two of them!!  Allan and Andrea haven’t done that probably since their honeymoon 30 years ago!  I believe it was Matt’s aunt that took care of the reservations at the WaterBird Lakeside Inn in Chesterton.