Robin and Ryan’s wedding was special to me.  Robin’s mother (Beth) is a very good friend of mine, and Robin herself, had become a friend to me as well. I’ve been lucky enough to photograph for Beth and Robin’s family business over the years, which has given me the opportunity to get to know her and love her. Seeing and photographing my friend’s daughter, marry the love of her life, was a special treat and honor for both John and I.

Robin and Ryan’s Brookside Farms wedding was the perfect location for this couple and their fun personalities! Our first time at this well known barn venue, we were in love the minute we crossed through the covered bridge.  Then we met the owners/workers there, and it was like icing on the cake!  What a great bunch of people that seem to genuinely care about each couple they host!  The day was filled with country charm and lots of laughter.  I was so impressed with the way this couple made the wedding their own.  Ryan is a video game designer, knowing this, I knew there would be some personal touches at the wedding. From the swords at the reception to the Pokaball toss to the wooden bridal bouquet…this wedding was sooo them!

Robin and Ryan have had a long relationship with lots of travel and long distances between them. I’d like to share her version of their story…. “With snow freshly fallen on the ground in northern Ohio, two college kids crossed paths. 2009 was coming to an end, and 2010 was just spinning up, but both  were living in the moment, no care given to the year or the future. Neither of them were in the best place, hearts freshly broken from young love. The guy had a long commute and day-long classes, so he was always hanging with the gamers up at college, and the girl had just started hanging there to be near a friend. At first it was just casual awareness of the other, eyes across the room; different friends meant different conversations. One day, the guy happened to be passing the girl outside, and stopped to say hi. A simple moment in the cold wind of Ohio shared together, nothing that seemed fateful, but it was the first note played of a larger melody. Over time, the two circled each other, drawing closer with each new mutual friend. The eyes across the room became the occasional greeting, became a card game played together, became routine, casual conversation. Somewhere along the line, the guy heard the girl was free, and got her number, playing it off as “just a way to chat more since I live so far away.” With every conversation, they grew closer. The guy was slowly deciding if this could be something more, and the girl, never one to quite pick up the clues a guy passes, thought nothing of it until one day a mutual friend, startled she was unaware, told her how the guy felt. As winter melted into a warm spring, the guy knew that he wasn’t the only who had been drawn to the blue-eyed beauty that was now among them, and readied himself to finally ask her out. As would become a pattern throughout the years, the guy would over-plan and the girl would have none of that. On March 16th, 2010, after sharing a ride together, sitting alone in the car with goodbyes on their lips, the girl knew there was something on the guy’s mind and asked what it was. The guy, attempting to stall for his chance for the “right” time to ask her out, gave some lame excuse about telling her later. With a charming coyness in her eyes, she asked again to know. The guy knew he wasn’t going to be able to deny her this time, and turned to her, and asked “Well, I was wondering…will you go out with me and be my girlfriend?” The girl said yes, looking like she’d already had the answer hours beforehand and had been waiting all day for the guy to just make the move already!

With that, Robin and Ryan had become a couple. For the next two years, they spent so much time together that their friends constantly complained about trying to pry them away from each other, to no avail. This closeness was already being hindered by the long commute time after all! No way they were going to waste a moment apart when near each other. However, as two years passed, 2012 was ending and 2013 approached. Ryan knew that he would soon have to leave for Florida. By this point, neither of them were willing to let the story end here as things had become serious for one another, and agreed to make it work despite the distance and the heavy hours of college.

Fast forward…. “The day that Robin and Ryan prepared to drive back to Ohio for the holidays, Ryan gave her a gift on the counter to open. A small wooden box, scarred and mangled with a small note inside telling her “This was how I was when we met, now turn around to see what you have made of me.” Turning away from the counter, she found Ryan on one knee, a polished cherry box with a lid engraved with a cursive heart wrapping their initials lay in his hands. He opened the box for her, displaying a bent-wood ring laying upon a blooming rose. Taking the ring and holding her hand, he quietly whispered to her promises and asked her to marry him. With eyes watering, she said yes, and flustered asked about the ring. He explained the ring was bent for her so that they could find a more permanent one together.”

Thank you Robin and Ryan for having us as part of your day!  It was such a pleasure capturing you two “crazy kids”!  Congratulations!

Venue-Brookside Farms

Officiant-Ohio Wedding Lady

Invitations-Minted

Makeup/Hair-Marie from Jeffrey’s Salon 

Florist-Carolina Rosa Designs, Uncle John’s Plant Farm

Dress Shoppe-David’s Bridal

Cake-Fragapane Bakeries

DJ & Video-The DJ Crew

Caterer-Santagelo’s Catering