We had a most wonderful opportunity to photograph Rachel and Eric’s vow renewal on their fifth anniversary recently. We met Rachel and Eric when they were part of the Eric’s brother’s wedding party a few years ago. Then just a few months ago we got a call from Rachel to see if we would be able to photograph their own vow renewal. We were thrilled to have the weekend open and couldn’t wait to see them again!
In the weeks leading up to their vow renewal Rachel and I chatted a few times about the specific details. One thing she kept telling us over and over again was that they would be up for anything as far as their portraits were concerned. She kept telling me that this was a once in a lifetime event for them and they just didn’t know when they would be all dressed up and have a couple of professional photographers to follow them around. So they told us that they really wanted to go all out and asked us to do whatever our hearts desired with them. Can I just tell you how excited Rene and I were?!? This was already a nice change of pace for us and the fact that we had so much time and freedom with Rachel and Eric just made us giddy. Another detail that we loved was that they had their ceremony and reception at a very unique venue - the Jones River Trading Company. It’s honestly a building with more props and hidden corners than we knew what do with!
So without further ado - here are our favs! They started with a beautiful ceremony that left all of their guests in tears. Just seconds before Rachel and Eric walked down the aisle, Rachel turned and gave me a little wink. You’ve got to love this sass!
The ceremony itself was so beautiful and emotional. Eric’s sister, Amy had some some very touching things to share with everyone and as you can see from Rene’s image below, even Rachel and Eric had a hard time holding it back:
Then after the ceremony, we had a LOT of fun with this gorgeous duo. We truly did not want to stop! Here are some of our favorites. First the incredibly handsome Eric in front of this great old mirror we found:
And now for the stunning Rachel:
And here are a few of them together. It was so hard to pick a “few”!
Those eyes!!!! I love them so much!
Aren’t they just an amazing couple?? I could just go on and on. It was also so much fun to get together with two of our past couples that were also there! Jess and Patrick were married on 9/4/04 and are also Rachel and Eric’s brother and sister in law. And Sharon and Robbie were also there and we photographed their wedding on 7/31/05. It was SO wonderful to be with them all evening, too.
Rachel and Eric also had another great idea and we set up a little portrait station of sorts for them, so that every couple in attendance could have a portrait taken. We did some traditional ones, a lot of fun (and funny!) ones, and a lot of romantic ones, too — it was all up to the couple! What a great way to end an evening that was centered around another couple renewing their own vows and we wish nothing but more love and happiness for Rachel and Eric!