this couple. so many thoughts. in case you missed it, i blogged the day before the wedding a few months ago >> beer, pizza, and a weenie roast rehearsal dinner << and i talked about how i met and booked emily and dan. these two are incredible. i’ve been dying to come back to this state park wedding so i could blog it.

the day began a little bumpy (for me). as i arrived to the house where emily was getting ready, someone didn’t see me coming down the narrow tree-lined drive and backed into the front bumper of my rental car. any other day and i may have been shaken by this but not this day. i knew we would figure it out and i didn’t want to worry about it because i had a whole bunch of beautiful to document. in between photographing the details and emily getting ready i was on the phone with my rental car company. i only mention this because it pertains to the day after the wedding.

dan and emily exchanged vows on an overlook surrounded by trees. immediately following their ceremony, guests grabbed their streamers and caramel apples and hopped on a hayride that drove us around the Brown County State Park. then we all met near the entrance of the park in a wood and rock pavilion. during the cocktail hour, fried biscuits with apple butter were served. yeah you heard that southerners, in indiana they fry their biscuits. it’s as good as it sounds. later there was a hog roast from Holy Smoke Hog Roast and the evening was capped off with donuts driven down from a favorite of emily and dan’s in chicago called Do-Rite Donuts.

everyone came together to make this wedding not just possible but absolutely perfect. it was intimate. it was intentional. it was moving. i felt like one of the guests a lot of the time because of how wonderful everyone was toward me. there is a LONG list of awesome people who helped dan and emily realize their dream wedding below this post and i encourage you to check it out! this includes but is definitely not limited to the best man and maid of honor who did double duty by standing along side their best friends but also majorly contributing to their day. and to top it off, they both had two of the best speeches i have ever heard at a wedding. like seriously incredible. i laughed and cried and laughed some more.

there were also frogs and bats. for real. and when we were all on the dance floor and the bats swooped in, instead of fearing them and screaming out of terror, everyone cheered. i had to do a double take and ask a few questions before finding out that emily loves bats. i’ve never been present when a bat crashed a wedding and somehow at the wedding of a girl who loves bats, two or three bats stopped in to say hello. it was kind of surreal. but also amazing.

the next day, as i waited for my tow truck to come exchange my rental car, i sat with dan and emily and their friends in the cabin where emily got ready. we drank coffee, ate mcdonalds breakfast and leftover donuts. as the crowd dispersed throughout the morning, things got quiet. i retrieved my laptop from my car and did something i’ve never done with a couple… i showed them my lightroom catalog and sifted through some of the best parts of their day. i felt completely naked because for the most part these were unculled and unedited. as we scrolled through their first look they got emotional again and i just wanted to squeeze both of them. it was the perfect way to cap off my experience in nashville, indiana with these lovely humans.

dan and emily, you know i love you. i relive your day every time i see a picture from that weekend. it revives a part of me that gets discouraged sometimes and doubts myself. i can only hope that 2017 brings only intentional, soulful, and incredibly in love couples like you. thank you from the bottom of my heart for inviting me into your lives to document your wedding day. you’ll always been in my heart. cheers! kasey