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Amy & Mike had a fabulous backyard wedding at Amy’s parent’s home in Roanoke, IN. I think what I love most about home weddings is that everything is personal, anything goes, and everyone feels free to kick back and relax. This was definitely the case for Amy & Mike, as well as their family and friends!

I’m going to warn you up front about the gratuitous number of kid shots from this wedding. I couldn’t help it!! There were many times when the adults were just standing around talking, and if I tried to get a candid shot, they’d turn and smile at me until I took the picture and went away. But the kids… the kids didn’t care about who I was or what I was doing because they were so focused on what they were interested in at that moment. Hence, many of my favorite candid moments just happen to include children.

What I love about the image above… many wedding photographers would zoom in on Amy looking out the window - such a classic candid moment to capture with the beautiful light and details of her hair and dress, but with an image like that - we would think she was in a quiet moment alone. So, I decided to tell more of the story here because the fact is, Amy was rarely ever alone that day and there was always a kid or two running around! As a side note… a few photojournalists told me to never shoot a wide vertical image, but I can’t help it… there are times when I feel like a good composition demands it!

Amy is one of the funnest people to be around! She has fun no matter who she’s with or where she is, and when her and Mike are together, they both radiate happiness.

I think it’s always a good sign when a couple is relaxed enough to laugh during their ceremony!

Zoe, Amy’s daughter, was a bit of an emotional roller coaster that day. Zoe’s at that age where she wants mom all to herself and thought that having a step-dad would get in the way of that. Even though Mike had been in their life for a while, she felt this would make it all different. I think I was a similar age when my parents divorced and I remember how emotional I was about things changing. After Amy talked with her, Zoe started to feel better and spent the rest of the night celebrating with everyone else.

They had such a beautiful color palette of light purples and soft blues, with coordinating hydrangea and paper lanterns! They even had purple porta-potties! PURPLE porta-potties!!!

Kids + animals = fun. If you look really closely in the above image you can see the baby bird that the kids found and then followed all over the yard.

Amy’s friends from school were quite fascinated with how she had “grown” over the years!

Sure, I took the posed & smiling shot- but I thought this one was more interesting.

I think he’s trying to say “I love you” - but Amy can’t see behind her back… luckily I can.

Mixology 101: Grenadine + Sprite = Shirley Temple

I love how something as simple as a piece of tulle can send a kid into a whirlwind of imagination and play. I wonder who she was in her mind at that very moment.

As night went on, Amy decided to slip into something a little more comfortable, and a little more party-friendly…. and I think Zoe finally realized that she wasn’t losing her mom, just gaining a dad.

Thank you so much Amy & Michael! I feel so lucky that you found me and chose me to capture this day in your lives!! I hope that you have many more years of happiness and good times ahead of you- no matter where life takes you.