Bobbi and Pat's Intimate Fall Cabin Elopement at Hocking Hills in Logan, Ohio
Take me into the woods on some trails I've never been on before surrounded by Earth's very own architecture and I'm a happy camper. Throw a wedding in the mix - excitement overload. And when it's one of my best friends? I'm completely over the moon. That was how Lou and I spent our Friday a little over a week ago. We packed up my car veeeery early in the morning and made the 3.5 hour trip south to arrive on a dirt road at a gorgeous cabin. But let me rewind for a second, because I really need you to know how special this moment was for me.
We're going all the way back to when I was in Kindergarten, around 25 years ago. The memories I have of my childhood are mostly a blur, but this moment I know like the back of my hand. It was the first day of school and I was walking in, where I was excited at first. Then, full on melt down before I even made it to the door. All of a sudden, I didn't want to go. Cut to a little bit later, when I pulled myself together, wiping my tears, and was fully immersed in my first day of school. This is where I met Bobbi. She was my very first school friend. Throughout the years, she continued to be one of my BFFs. We shared plenty of memories in high school and even spent our first year of college together. As all friendships do and life happens, we wouldn't see each other for a while and then would hang out as if no time passed at all. The same thing happened six years ago, when we weren't living too far from each other and our schedules allowed us to see each other all the time. She met Pat and a month later, I met Lou. I don't think it was ironic that we met our husbands at the same time.
We've gone through life together for 25 years. We've been through the great, the crazy and the really crappy. She stood by my side as a maid of honor when I got married. I rushed to the hospital as soon as she was able to have visitors when her son, Logan, was born. And this day, I got to stand with her on the day she married her soul mate and document it for her and Pat. I get excited about all of the weddings I shoot, but THIS wedding - it was just so special.
Bobbi and Pat aren't the kind of people who want to be over the top - they keep things simple and personal. Knowing they wanted to elope at a cabin in Hocking Hills, they wanted to keep everything easy with minimal stress. We went to local craft stores to get flowers for her bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages, she ordered a simple tea length dress online and Pat stained and wood burned the ring box. When we arrived at the cabin, their sister-in-law was curling her hair and I got started on the detail shots. The afternoon even turned into Bob and I playing with my makeup (it was like childhood dress up all over again), followed by her mom arriving with jello shots in hand, in classic Langham fashion :P Vickie put the finishing touches on Bob's outfit with a pearl necklace that belonged to Bob's great great grandma. It was time for her dad and son, Logan, to walk her down the aisle.
The ceremony was short and sweet as Pat's brother officiated the wedding on the deck, overlooking the wilderness. Once all of the stressful stuff was out of the way, we got to explore part of the park and take photos! We took in the views at Old Man's Cave and the Rock House. I've never hiked that much with a good amount of photo gear on me, and I think my body legit hated me for a few days, but it was worth every second. The views were spectacular!
In a few weeks, we'll be gearing up to continue the celebration at their wedding reception back home with friends and family. Until then, we have all of these gorgeous photos to swoon over!
This wouldn't be my best friend wedding blog if I didn't add some behind the scenes shots of our day :P Lou got to experience my world for a little bit while I was working early on in the day. I was going gaga over details. Needless to say, I don't think he was thrilled hah!
He did try helping me pose though. I told him it was very inappropriate to touch my clients :P
Nothing like a good butt grab under the "kissing rock".
Our other BFF, Kee, came along for the wedding, too! She was also in my wedding, and I'm telling you, the friendship I have with these girls is beyond compare. I consider them my sisters, and I know all of our parents took us in as if we were their own kids. This is the kinda friendship that lasts, even when we're old and ornery :P
This last picture cracks me up every time, because sometimes Kee had to hide to avoid being in the shots. So for the last shot in this location, I told her we were done and snapped a picture of her head as it popped up, just so I could get a good laugh and put it on this blog :P
