Brooke and Lewis | Wedding @ Teutopolis, IL and the Keller Convention Center

This blog is so hard to write! I honestly don’t think I can even do Brooke and Lewis’s wedding justice but I’m going to try my best. You won’t find two more beautiful, in love souls than Brooke and Lewis, hands down. I spent the entire day trying not to bawl my eyes out (cause I’m kind of wedding sap anyway). Some of you may know Brooke from my previous postings about her store “Ten Brooke Leanne” in Effingham which is a beautiful upscale boutique that doesn’t just sell clothes and jewelry but boosts the confidence of girls all around. I never really bothered much with my appearance before I met Brooke and never really felt “beautiful” being at my weight and size but once I started spending time with Brooke both inside and outside the store she started to make me value myself and my appearance. She’s just a genuine, beautiful person inside and out. Enter Lewis, this super thoughtful kind man who balances her out completely. He’s always taken the time to talk to me and you always feel like you’re the most important thing in the room when you’re having a conversation with Lewis. He not only talks photography shop with me he encourages our business every step of the way. We were so completely honored when they asked us to document and attend their wedding. No one can throw a wedding like Brooke and her mother Janet. They did an amazing job from décor down to their AMAZING band- more on that later.

We started the morning at Stylez hair salon where my girl Brittany (Hair Ninja Extraordinaire) gave Brooke the PERFECT hairstyle for her wedding day. I started sniffing back tears when her exquisite hair piece and cathedral length veil were put in place. She could have walked down the aisle in a potato sack and still looked absolutely amazing. Kaci then created an elegant and stunning bridal makeup look for Brooke and before we knew it we were on our way to Teutopolis for the wedding ceremony. Brooke had showed me a photo of her dress months ago and I apparently had forgotten all about its beauty because the minute she put this dress on with its perfect fit and long train I pretty did the giddy photographer happy dance. Lewis said it best when they did their first look: “wow……….wow…… wow.” Burklands provided some gorgeous bouquets for the big day and the bridal party uniquely had their own choice of dress as well as different bouquets for each girl. I’ve never seen that before and it was a wonderful idea!

After we watched the two lovebirds greet each other we smashed out indoor and outdoor family and bridal party formals and started preparing for the wedding. It was so sweet when Brooke walked down the aisle to Lewis when he greeted her at the alter with a big hug and they looked so comfortable and in love (not nervous at all) during the entire ceremony. Brooke surprised Lewis with a getaway car which happened to be Lewis’s old car from his youth. His reaction was perfect and the couple drove away in style! We love that this couple wanted to then focus only their “after ceremony” pictures on just the bride and groom. I can’t tell you what this kind of schedule and focus can do for portraits. Instead of juggling the priorities of shooting a large group of people we got to really concentrate on the bride and groom and ensuring they had beautiful memories forever. We captured some great photos with the car as well as some beautiful photos of Brooke’s epic veil before heading to the Keller Convention Center for cocktail hour. We love when couples opt to spend time socializing with their many guests at cocktail hour, it really shows something about this couple and their love for their family and friends. It was all about family at this event and it really showed.

Keller Convention Center- you guys went all out and did a marvelous job! The couple had a beer garden (complete with craft beer chosen by the couple) and pub style snacks for guests including beer cheese with pretzels (yum) and more. Guests were having a blast by the time we arrived and we were able to sneak a peek at the AMAZING reception room before the doors were opened to guests. I can’t even describe the beauty of the reception hall, Janet and Brook outdid themselves planning and choosing the theme, colors, and décor for this event. The couple was introduced and both fathers gave touching and beautiful speeches about the couple and their big day which had me wanting to bawl (again). After an awesome slideshow, the couples attendants gave their speeches which were full of memories and love which were the ultimate testimate to the relationship that Brooke and Lewis have.  All of the first dances were a joy to photograph filled with tears and smiles and then on came the band! I’ve absolutely hands down never been to a wedding that had a band as amazing as this one. The name of the band was The 8 South Band out of Nashville, TN. Not only was this group full of energy they had established choreography, costume changes, and an amazing set to keep the party hopping. I’ve never danced that much in my life. We eventually put most of our cameras down and enjoyed the night and once I stepped on that dance floor with friends and the couple it was super hard to leave. I could barely walk the next day and I think most of the guests felt the same. Can’t say enough about this amazing band, this will be a wedding people talk about for a VERY LONG time.

Brooke and Lewis I love you both so much, what an amazing day to be a part of. Doug and I are so grateful you’ve chosen us as friends and trusted us to document your wedding day as my favorite kind of guests, the photographer/videographer kind 😉 We can’t wait to share the video memories with you, we hope your wedding day and wedding photos are everything you had ever wanted.

Congrats! Much love-

The Keys