Emily and Curtis | Wedding @ Thelma Keller Convention Center, Effingham IL

YAY for October Weddings! FINALLY! Bring on some fall weather! We are LOVING October already because we kicked off our fall wedding season of October with Emily and Curtis, the two sweetest people you’ll ever meet and I’m telling you now, the tears were a flowing. I wish Emily’s family or even Curtis’s for that matter would just adopt me for Christmas and let me just come hang out with them! So much love you wouldn’t even believe it! We started the morning in Charleston at Too Dye For Salon where one of our favorite hair ninja’s Kearstin Shamhart (and future Key Photography bride) completed a beautiful up do for Emily on her big day. She had a classic hair piece and beautiful veil to compliment the look and then it was off to the home of the bride’s parents for makeup and prep. We were joined for the day by two really cool guys from Ransom Films who did the videography for the couple (I’m TOTALLY blanking on names right now so I’m sorry guys, if you knew me really well you’d know I never remember names ever!) ad we really enjoyed working with these new vendors. On occasions when we are booked we have often recommended their services but this was our first chance to meet the faces behind the videos! The bride got dressed with her mother and sisters in her parents BEAUTIFUL home and did an emotional first look with her dad (tears, ya’ll) and her bridesmaids. After that it was off to the beautiful church in Mattoon. I was a little bummed I couldn’t have spent the early morning hours in this church soaking up the beautiful light coming into it, I could have spent a long time in the church doing artistic shots but that just means I’ll have something to look forward too if I ever get to go back there! We kicked off the ceremony and Curtis finally got to see Emily for the first time even though the two had exchanged letters with each other prior to the ceremony in the stairwell without seeing each other. The ceremony went beautifully and Emily and Curtis exited the church into a sea of windy bubbles created by the very windy conditions of the beautiful day and headed off in style in their get away car. We wrapped up family photos and hopped on the bus to start the photo madness! Keeping an eye on the rain, as I always do, I started to be concerned we might be fighting mother nature for our photo ops. We stopped by Lakeland College, where Emily and Curtis first met and took a few photos before climbing back in and heading for Effingham. We started the first set of photos at Evergreen park where I knew that if it started pouring we would have some pavilions to use for cover. Sure enough the wind and rain came about and we had to abandon photos only for a brief time. We headed over to Community Park where the clouds seemed to be just a little clearer and wrapped up photos with some fun ideas involving the bridal party and a lot of photos of our beautiful couple. We headed to the Keller Convention Center so that Emily and Curtis could sneak a peak of their reception before the doors opened. Amanda and her team at the Keller Convention Center did an AMAZING job on the hall, it looked absolutely amazing and was complete with all of the vintage props and decor that Emily had set up for her big day. Some of their decor was so cool including a suitcase full of coffee favors for their guests and an old typewriter. We knew we were in good hands with Complete Music at the DJ helm and after a few more photos at the convention center we geared up for the grand entrances! Emily and Curtis had a memorable first dance and we also enjoyed the dance competition put on by some of the wedding guests. The dance floor was packed as Emily and Curtis danced the night away with their family and loved ones. We were so glad we got to spend the day braving wind and rain with these two cool cats. We know that they will have a blessed and happy marriage together. Congrats Emily and Curtis!

-The Keys