Rodney and Ashley live Madison, Wisconsin with their beloved dog Riese. Instead of getting married in the midwest, where most of their family is from, they decided to invite everyone to come together in Arizona for a destination wedding. This made me happy because I had the honor of shooting their special day. Before I show you all of the photos, I want to give you a glimpse of what I discovered about these two as I got to know them.
Their story is a simple one. They met in college through mutual friends. For Ashley, there was always something that drew her to Rodney. At first it was how cute he was. Then, it was how funny he was - that he could always make her laugh, even if she wasn't in the mood. As their relationship grew, she loved how he would set a goal and stop at nothing to achieve it. Even now Ashley continues to be drawn to Rodney who never fails to show her affection.
For Rodney, he knew from the start that Ashley was a woman who stuck to her guns, and she would give that same loyalty and conviction to him and their relationship. Rodney's commitment to Ashley's happiness was evident from the moment I met them and I asked Rodney what was the most important thing to him on their wedding day and he responded, "That Ashley is as stress free as possible." Now that's love.
In the time I was able to spend with them I learned of their perfect balance between appreciating the extravagant as much as the ordinary. They love travel, they love being at home. They can spend hours soaking up the sun on the beaches of Cancun Mexico, and they can spend hours walking hand in hand, Riese in tow, up and down the trails that surround their Wisconsin home. They love trips to Disney World, they love trips to Trader Joe's. And as you look at the photos below you will see, just as I did, that while their story may be a simple one, sometimes a simple love, is the most beautiful of all.
Rodney and Ashley tied the knot on Sunday at The Phoenician surrounded by 33 of their closest family and friends. In addition to working at a great venue with a beautiful couple, I got to work with Emily Edwards of Your Heart's Desire Wedding Consulting -- one of my favorite planners. And these are some of the other great vendors that made up Rodney and Ashley's team:
Florist: Petal Pusher
DJ: Michael B. Productions
Make-up: Julie Koeth
Hair: Helen Williams
Officiant: Mark Faul
Stationary: Celebrations in Paper
2nd photographer: Lizzie Kimball
The day started with preparation in the girls' suite:
Their story is a simple one. They met in college through mutual friends. For Ashley, there was always something that drew her to Rodney. At first it was how cute he was. Then, it was how funny he was - that he could always make her laugh, even if she wasn't in the mood. As their relationship grew, she loved how he would set a goal and stop at nothing to achieve it. Even now Ashley continues to be drawn to Rodney who never fails to show her affection.
For Rodney, he knew from the start that Ashley was a woman who stuck to her guns, and she would give that same loyalty and conviction to him and their relationship. Rodney's commitment to Ashley's happiness was evident from the moment I met them and I asked Rodney what was the most important thing to him on their wedding day and he responded, "That Ashley is as stress free as possible." Now that's love.
In the time I was able to spend with them I learned of their perfect balance between appreciating the extravagant as much as the ordinary. They love travel, they love being at home. They can spend hours soaking up the sun on the beaches of Cancun Mexico, and they can spend hours walking hand in hand, Riese in tow, up and down the trails that surround their Wisconsin home. They love trips to Disney World, they love trips to Trader Joe's. And as you look at the photos below you will see, just as I did, that while their story may be a simple one, sometimes a simple love, is the most beautiful of all.
Rodney and Ashley tied the knot on Sunday at The Phoenician surrounded by 33 of their closest family and friends. In addition to working at a great venue with a beautiful couple, I got to work with Emily Edwards of Your Heart's Desire Wedding Consulting -- one of my favorite planners. And these are some of the other great vendors that made up Rodney and Ashley's team:
Florist: Petal Pusher
DJ: Michael B. Productions
Make-up: Julie Koeth
Hair: Helen Williams
Officiant: Mark Faul
Stationary: Celebrations in Paper
2nd photographer: Lizzie Kimball
The day started with preparation in the girls' suite:
It was so cool to find out that Ashley's clutch was made out of her grandmother's wedding gown!
Ashley's mom helped her into her gorgeous dress:
Rodney and Ashley saw each other before the ceremony which gave us plenty of time to get some great portraits of them together.
Oh how I love peonies!
Ashley looked flawless:
Being from the midwest, Ashley and Rodney let me know that they love the desert landscape. So we took advantage of utilizing settings unique to Arizona.
Ashley's dad walked her down the aisle:
I love this shot I caught of Ashley's maid of honor:
Rodney's parents:
Husband and wife!!
We headed back out for more portraits in the good light. Love the colors in this one:
I'm a huge fan of guys wearing beige suits. I feel like they really compliment white dresses beautifully.
The reception details were gorgeous. The reception was held in a small room that was the perfect size for the one long banquet table that seated all their guests:
Ashley told Tamara at Petal Pusher that she doesn't like different types of flowers mixed together so the arrangements were all of one type each. I loved the effect:
I love these moments caught during the toasts:
Such a great day! If you'd like to see even more photos from Rodney and Ashley's wedding, click here to see the slideshow!