Deanna and Andy. Married.
When bride’s meet with me about capturing the BEST possible wedding photos, I always tell them for the “getting ready” portion of the day, you’ll want a space that is free of clutter and has beautiful natural light with windows and nice clean lines. Most of the time, this means a hotel room. And sometimes they’ve booked more than one room for the day. If that’s an option on the wedding day, we’ll move our bride’s from the space where all of the chaos of bags and clothes and drinks and clutter to a fresh hotel room where everything is picture ready. This wasn’t necessary on Deanna’s day. She took my advice seriously. She rented out the newly renovated Tyler Valley historical center in her hometown. It was just divine for photos and had the best locations for the bride and groom’s first look.
Here’s the First Look between Deanna and Andy. Top left photo is one of my all time faves of a groom. I just love his anticipation. Waiting for his bride. He surprised her with the lei’s. A family member that lives in Hawaii and is a florist sent these beautiful handmade leis. It was such a gorgeous sentiment.
Then we headed off to chapel where these two became one.
And celebration commences!
The reception was at The Lake Club, a beautiful country club in Poland, Ohio. BEAUTIFUL!
And the bridal party was fun, easy-going and up for all of our shenanigans.
A little cousin came around to help us make some magical photos.
My wedding fave!
The decor and attention to every detail (including the pink water in the vases) was exquisite. 
The desserts were even suspended from the ceiling! HUNDREDS of cookies and treats.
Andy gets a sweet treat from his new wife.
And we snuck out of the reception for some quick golden light photos right before the sun set.
Andy is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met! He stole one of our cameras and made Deanna blush with his paparazzi ways.
One of his shots. I LOVE IT!
Light Girl (Ana) found this ball as we were walking. She put it in her pocket and later photographed the couples rings. COOL! (You’ll see a behind the scenes photo of Light Girl doing a downward dog to get this shot.)
Cheers!
The father/daughter dance was the most emotional I’ve ever seen. He cried, Deanna cried, I cried, EVERYONE cried. Not a dry eye in the house.
It’s not a party without Hang on Sloopy!
… and row, row, row your boat. (Dea, you’ll have to tell me the story behind these rowing shenanigans because it was HILARIOUS!) 
Foto Booth FUN!
Thank you, Deanna and Andy, for a wonderful day. We had such a great time surrounded by your wonderful family and friends. A special shout out to “my girlfriend” (Dea’s cousin).. you were TONS of help and a great reflector holder. 🙂 We wish you all of the love and happiness this wonderful world has to offer! Xoxo, Crystal Jo
Light Girl, thanks for rockin’ it out once again. Now my belly is BIG and you have to carry EVERYTHING. Your job is no easy task and you always execute with a smile. Love you!
Here’s some behind the scenes with Crystal Jo Foto. Where all the fun happens!
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their creative team…
Ceremony- Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Reception- The Lake Club
Video- Carroll Video
Caterer- The Lake Club
Flowers- Rose Floral Shop (Groom’s cousin)
DJ/Band- The Music Man
Ceremony Music- Friends and Family
Hair and Make up- Sarah Hale (Hair) and Lauren Eddy (Make-up)
Wedding Planner- Bride and Bride’s Mother
Invitations- Birchcraft
Jewelry- Mom’s pearl earrings (she wore on her wedding day) and Aunt’s pearl bracelet
Rehearsal dinner- The Holiday Inn, Boardman, Ohio
Wedding gown designer- Alfred Angelo
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their songs….
processional- Trumpet voluntary
recessional- Wedding March
grand entrance- Crazy in Love by Beyoncé
first dance- Love of my Life by Jim Brickman
father/daughter- I loved her First by Heartland
mother/son- Over the Rainbow by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo`
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their memories…
What was the most memorable moment of your day?
Deanna: Doing the first look and having a few moments with Andy before the craziness of the day.
Andy: Turning around to the congregation and hearing those words “It is my pleasure to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Kies”
What was your favorite detail?
Deanna: My favorite details were the flowers and music at the church. They added so much to the entire day.
Andy: The flowers at the dinner. “Amazing!!”
Any advice for future bride/grooms?
Deanna: My advice would be to try to soak in as much of the day as you can, as the day flies by.
Andy: Get some rest the night before so that you can spend as much time when the day starts to take in every minute of the day.
If you could do it all over, would you change anything?
Deanna: Nothing, everything came out as I hoped.
Andy: Nothing
Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Deanna: St. Lucia (Sandals)
Andy: Caribbean, St.Lucia
How was your experience with Crystal Jo Foto? If you have a favorite memory with her, please share it.
Deanna: Working with Crystal Jo Foto was the best decision we made! I would do it all over again! My favorite memory was Crystal laying on the ground to get a photo and when she came up off the ground she had Goose poop on her. She does anything to get a great photo! (Eww, I forgot about that until you mentioned it Dea! Now I need to go see if it came out of my dress!)
Andy: Grabbing the camera from her assistant and taking pictures of Crystal Jo in action and then my beautiful bride with Crystal Jo and her assistant taking photos of me. Crystal Jo is so fun and energetic and makes photography so exciting and easy. No worries no problems. (Thank you, Andy! You guys make it SO MUCH FUN!)
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Crystal Jo
Crystal Jo is an Ohio-based wedding and lifestyle photographer, dreamer, believer and lover of life.