Corey and Laura had their first date on November 14, 2015. It was shortly after that Corey realized he met a special girl. On New Year’s Eve 2015 Corey and Laura officially became a couple. On the weekends, when Laura was home from Vermilion, they spent most of their time together in Downtown Cleveland. They both love everything about Cleveland; the restaurants, the nightlife and especially Cleveland sports.

On Fathers Day 2016 Corey and Laura would celebrate the second best moment in their life. The Cavaliers did the impossible and won the first sports championship for Cleveland in 52 years! As they celebrated in the streets of Cleveland with their friends and family Laura told Corey “I will always remember this moment with you.”  It was then, that Corey knew Laura was the one. On April 1, 2o17 (this just happens to be John Uptmor’s birthday!) Corey woke up at 6 am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. What Laura didn’t know was that on this day he was going to ask her to marry him.  He had it all planned out, but was worried because the timing had to be perfect.

There are two things you should know: Corey doesn’t plan anything and Laura is never on time.  With the help of Laura’s family he was able to get a plan in place.  For his plan to work, Corey had to get Laura out of the house on time. Surprisingly, Laura was on time that morning.  They proceeded to go to Heck’s Cafe for brunch, one of their favorite activities.  Laura might have figured something was up when Corey barely ate his meal.  After brunch Corey took Laura to the Cleveland sign in Tremont.  Laura has asked to stop there on multiple sunny days only to have Corey say “we can stop another time”.   Although, on this chilly, overcast day Corey decided to stop.  To Corey’s surprise there were about 15 tourists there taking pictures.  However, one of the tourists was not a tourist at all, but someone Corey had asked to blend in and photograph the proposal.   Corey stalled as long as he could until most of the tourist left.  Once they did, Corey decided it was time to create the most important moment in both their lives.

In front of the Cleveland sign, Corey got down on one knee and asked Laura to marry him.  If you were to ask both of them what happened, they would tell you that they blacked out and all they could remember was that Laura said yes! After popping the question, Corey took Laura to Ohio City where her family and friends were waiting to surprise her and celebrate the couple.  Later that night Corey had arranged to meet up with more friends and continue the celebration!

I love their story because these are so such sweet people!  We loved getting to know them and share in their beautiful wedding  day, which began at Laura’s parent’s home.  The wedding ceremony was at their family church St. Basil The Great in Brecksville.  But before the ceremony Laura and Corey wanted to share a moment together without seeing each other, so they exchanged letters.  It was an incredibly romantic and naturally sweet moment. Corey said it helped to actually calm the nerves before the ceremony.  This is such a great idea.

With a couple hours (love this) for formal shots. We began with The Cleveland Museum of Art.  A beautiful location for wedding photography! But we were more excited to have access to a nearby roof top for some really unique Cleveland Skyline shots! Laura and Corey were up for anything and trusted us when we put them  up on chairs!  From there we left for the reception being held at the recently redecorated Cleveland Marriott at Key Center hotel. As you can see from the pictures below the room was so elegant with candles, flowers, draping, and beautiful lighting!  There was even a popcorn bar and later a sweets table!  What a beautiful and sweet wedding with two very special people!

Ceremony Church-St Basil The Great

Wedding Reception-Cleveland Marriott at Key Center

Hairdresser-Jillian Conner

Makeup-Cleveland Bridal Makeup

Dress Shoppe-Bridal Suite at Nordstrom, Shay Strickland

Dress Designer-Hayley Paige

Florist-Bouquet Studio/Amy Chupp

Cake-Wild Flour Bakery

Band-TCB/Cleveland Music Group

Video-Infocus Studios/Tim Frankish