Kara and Steve are both professors at Ohio State so for their engagement shoot, we toured around the OSU campus. Highlights of their engagement can be seen on my Instagram @JMillerPhotos. At their early August wedding, the stage was set at the beautiful Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for an intimate ceremony. The worship space of this church is stunning. Tall windows allow natural light to pour in, creating a stunning back-lit focal-point. It almost looked like the front of the church was giving the bridal party a big hug.
The dream team of Shannon from Goode Hair and Joy from State of Face led the glam squad. Large curls effortlessly flowed into a soft and romantic up-do. Her makeup bordered somewhere between natural blush and sophisticated glamour, an impressive duality to achieve! Kara was jaw-dropping in her wedding gown and cathedral length veil. I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what kind of flowers they were carrying, but they were so exotic and elegant at the same time. The bright orange florals looked so dynamic against the bridesmaids navy knee-length dresses.
My favorite part of their ceremony was when Kara went up to the podium and did a reading herself. In all the hundreds of weddings I’ve done, I’ve never seen either the bride or groom do a reading before. It was such a cool moment- to hear her have a voice at the ceremony, and to have Steve stand next to her while she read. It felt like an oratory gift to the guests and made the whole ceremony more intimate and more memorable.
Their reception had a travel and photography theme. Vintage cameras and flowers made from Maps accented the tables and cake. Steve used to play the sousaphone in the OSU marching band. It’s apparently a long-standing tradition that when an OSU sousaphone player gets married, they serenade their new wife at the reception. This naturally led to the singing of Carmen Ohio, where everyone at the wedding linked arms on around the dance floor and raised their voices in tribute to THE Ohio State University. I can’t express how thankful I am to have been a small part in Kara and Steve’s wedding. I hope you love these photos as much as I do! XO Jess
