Rain = Good Luck on Wedding Day

I know Crystal and Michael have been waiting for these...

I photographed their beautiful wedding two weeks ago in Peoria, IL. We had plans to take photos in a park after the ceremony before heading to their reception at the zoo, but the weather had a different idea. Waiting for the wedding party to arrive at Bradley Park, I watched the raindrops smacking against my windshield. I got a call from Michael:

"Leah, my iPhone says it's cloudy out right now...right here," he says (with more of an optimistic rather than skeptical tone in his voice). "I guess we'll just have to wait for everyone to get here so we can caravan to the zoo."

So we waited until everyone got to the park, at which point the rain completely ceased long enough for us to take 45 minutes worth of pictures.

Stacey Vaeth, who is not just a wonderful friend but photographer extraordinaire (http://www.staceyvaeth.com), posted a few weeks ago that taking photos after the rain gets the gunk out of the atmosphere and allows for crisp, colorful photos. I'll be honest- I love to play around with color effects. I believe different color variations can bring a new dimension and feel to the photograph. That said, this photo- unedited, straight from my camera, was too perfect to touch with any photo software:



To me, it looks like the Heavens are shining a spotlight on this incredibly in love couple.

Enjoy these few photos, Michael and Crystal, until I get the rest of them posted. Thanks for including me in your fun, gorgeous, wedding! -Leah