Joey and Rachel are that kind of couple…. the ones that know what they have is special and they savor it! They met in the Fall of 2019 in Dayton, Ohio! Rachel had just moved to the Dayton area for PA school, and Joey had lived here following his college career at Wright State. Rachel had moved in with her Aunt Liz who so graciously took her in during her time throughout PA school. Aunt Liz happened to live next to Joey’s brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Kirsten. Some cupid match making happened and Joey and Rachel officially met on Halloween night 2019- which happens to be Rachel’s favorite holiday!

Their first date was a few weeks later at a Luke Combs concert…how fun is that! Not too long after, fun dates were happening every weekend! Rachel wrote “we both felt so grateful even through the craziness of 2020 our love and friendship continued to grow. We truly became not only lovers but best friends.”  It was the perfect setting on July 17, 2021, when Joey proposed to Rachel at Fleming’s Steakhouse following her PA school graduation.

On a personal side, I just have to say I loved Rachel’s style.  For their very cold engagement session last year, she didn’t let the weather detour her when it came to looking stylish.  One outfit was a sequined gown with a faux white fur wrap! Also, Joey was styled to match, in cool black suit and tie!  So, walking into the girl’s getting ready suite on their wedding day was fun for me!  Getting to see all the pretty and fun details she had selected was a great start to the day!  So full discloser, on a funny side note…are you familiar with Golden Goose?  Here I was trying to photograph Rachel’s comfy reception shoes to not show all the wear and tear on them.  Obviously, I didn’t know that they were supposed to look that way!  Actually, all the custom details that were on them was something I should be showing! So, check out her awesome Golden Goose tennis shoes that have custom details for the wedding below! Enough about her shoes, haha, the wedding dress was the real star. Rachel looked so elegant and perfect in it! Did I mention the stunning bow on the back?

The day began at the Hilton on Lakeside.  Their gorgeous suites are perfect for wedding prep mornings.  The ceremony was at one of our favorite Catholic churches, St John Cantius Church  in Tremont.  After the ceremony and a few pictures that helped capture the beauty of the church, Rachel and Joey had opted for lake side pictures at Voinovich Park.  I really like the new pedestrian bridge there, or something different!  The reception was at the always grand Old Courthouse in Cleveland.  Since the wedding was just before Christmas, the grand entrance was decked out in sparkly Christmas trees. The marble staircase had evergreen boughs draped above the staircase candles. The large space was just so beautiful. There is just something special when sparkly Christmas lights are added to an already stunning space! As you can probably tell, I loved working with this couple, their families and all the pretty things that went along with this wedding!  Congratulations Rachel and Joey!

Wedding Planner-Kirkbrides, Extraordinary Vicki Hlousek

Wedding Dress-Anne Barge

Invitations-Rose Gold Studio

Cincinnati Bridal Shoppe-Hyde Park Bridal 

Hair-Hey Day Collective     Barb & Megan

Makeup- makeup by Merideth

Church-St John Cantius 

Reception-Old Courthouse in Cleveland.

Florist-Molly Taylor-Bailey

Rentals-Event Source

Cake-Wild Flour

DJ-DJ London Bridges, Brandon Edmond

That cute, personalized jacket is from her bachelorette trip to Nashville. Rachel’s rehearsal dress and platform shoes are in the background of this first image.  And then there’s her Golden Goose shoes!