Ethan and Mary's Wedding

I am so glad that I was available for Ethan and Mary’s wedding because it gave me a wonderful opportunity to photograph and experience this beautifully unique wedding!!! I received an email just a couple weeks before their wedding stating that they were still looking for a photographer, and I was basically their last shot in the dark. They had gotten my name from a mutual friend. We met for the first time two days before the wedding. I instantly thought that they were both really neat, relaxed people, and I was so excited to get to know them better and to be a part of this very special day!! 

When I arrived at the house on Saturday, I don’t think that I was prepared for the awesomeness that I was about to witness! The amount of detail and thought that they had put into their decorations and cake were unbelievable and truly unique! I have been to lots of weddings, but I had never seen any couple break away from “traditions” in such a distinctive and beautiful way! Each centerpiece was a different tribute to a piece of literature. These pictures show just a little of the awesome decorations!

The wedding party was a very fun group of people made up of friends and siblings. Although it was sometimes tricky to get all of them within the frame of the camera, I really enjoyed working with them! 

Moments before the ceremony was to start, I caught Grandpa talking with the Groom, Ethan. I didn’t listen to what was being said, but I can only assume it was words of wisdom. 

The flower girl seemed to have a way of stealing everyone’s attention. She was absolutely adorable, and she definitely loved the attention! It was always interesting trying to get pictures of her because she generally would make silly faces if she saw the camera pointed at her.

Ethan and Mary wanted to keep the tradition of doing something that symbolized their new unity, but they didn’t like that the common ways of doing this were done with methods that aren’t actually creating unity. For example, they pointed out that pouring sand together could actually be separated again. So they decided that they wanted to use materials that would create a chemical reaction that couldn’t be undone and therefore be a true symbol of their new union. 

I love seeing the emotions between the bride and groom throughout the ceremony. It seems like there is always at least one point during the ceremony in which the gravity of what they are doing sinks in. For some couples, it’s the moment they first see each other, for others, it’s saying I do, and sometimes, it’s the moment the pastor announces them. I can say that for me, it was when I was saying my vows to my husband. And for Mary, I believe it was when she was placing that ring on Ethan’s finger.

I think my absolutely favorite part of a wedding is when the couple kisses! I love seeing the love and passion!! Ethan and Mary had so much pure joy on their faces! It was just one of those times when everyone was smiling and happy! 

These are some of my favorite pictures that really capture the beauty and emotions of such a glorious day!! :)

Congratulations Ethan and Mary! I pray that God blesses you with many years together!! Thank you for letting me be a part of this milestone in your lives!! I wish you all the best!! :)

My Anniversary

Dear Joe Wilhelm,

It’s now been two years since our wedding. I can’t even understand how it’s possible for me to be falling even more in love with you, and yet I am. I also can’t imagine my life without you because you have already been a part of my life for so long now. With each year that passes, I try to spend a little time evaluating the good and the bad. I know that our marriage will mean nothing to each other or to anyone else if we don’t continue to trust and serve God first and then each other every chance we get. And so I promise to search for new ways to offer my life in service to God and to you. I promise that I will always respect you and your decisions as the man and the head of this household. I promise to always support you and comfort you when times get tough. I promise to always rejoice and celebrate even the little things with you. I promise to always love you with a fierce, undying, and unconditional love. I know that you have already heard me say all of this before, but I like reminding both of us what we can expect. :) I am always praying for you. And I pray that God will bless us with many more years together. Thank you for being you! Happy Anniversary! I love you Joseph!! :)

I also want to thank all of you who were part of our special day!! Your love, care, help, and support throughout the years means so much to us!! :)

A Glimpse into my Weekend

I wanted to take some time to write about the Three Rivers Festival Crafters Market that I participated in this past weekend. I have to say, overall, it was a mix of emotions. There were times when I got frustrated with the heat, the sun, the rain, the wind, and more. But there were more times when I was encouraged, proud, humbled, excited, nervous, and immensely blessed. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to talk to each and every person that stopped and took a look around at the work in my tent. I was encouraged whenever someone would complement my work. As an introvert who finds her worth and value in pleasing other people and who views her art as a part of her, I was extremely nervous at times. I felt somewhat vulnerable because I felt like it really was me that was on display, and I do not like being the center of attention. But when people told me that they like my photography, I felt like I must have done something right, and I am pretty proud of myself for that! After talking with various people about the different types of ideas they had for photo shoots, I am incredibly excited! And to be completely honest, I am hoping and praying that those people will call me back to book their photo shoot with me because I loved their ideas and would love to work with them to make it happen! And then when I take the time to look back at how this all happened, I am so humbled.

To give a little background, it was when I did my first ever craft fair at Chick-fil-A that I met Renee. She is the one who completely runs the annual Three Rivers Festival Crafters Market. She doesn’t work alone, her staff is made up of a wonderful group of volunteers. Renee saw my booth back in May and personally took the time to talk with me and invite me to be a part of her craft fair. It was then when I first realized that she believes in me. Within a week, I called her and registered for this craft fair. Throughout the whole process of preparing and then actually being at this craft fair, Renee continued to talk with me and encourage me. I am utterly humbled by this amazing woman who just sort of took me under her wing. She told me that she remembers what it was like for her when she was in my shoes at my age. She said that someone took it upon themselves to believe in her and give her a chance. And then she vowed to pay it forward not just once, but whenever she can. And through nothing that I did or could have done, she decided to pick me. Renee believes in helping and empowering others through encouragement and opportunities. She has a heart for young women who are trying to make it in this big world. She is a wonderful and amazing person who I can’t even begin to express how much I love and appreciate her and everything she has done for me!! So Renee, if you see this, THANK YOU!!! :)

If I had to summarize this experience, I would say that I am feeling immensely blessed! I have this awesome opportunity to be doing a job that I love and am so passionate about! And let me tell you, that actually puts the pressure on me to try my hardest and do my best! I keep trying to figure out what I did to deserve this, but one thing that I am slowly learning is that this isn’t about me. I can never be good enough or do enough good things to earn the love of anyone. Authentic love isn’t bought with anything. It is just given unconditionally. This is the love that I experience from God, my husband, my family, my closest friends, and even “strangers” like Renee.

So again, I want to thank everyone that I talked to about my photographs as well as those that showed interest in senior portraits, family portraits, portraits with pets, baby portraits, weddings, and more. I have lots of available times if anyone wants to book a session with me. If anyone has any questions, please email me and I will send you my information about pricing, printing, packages and more. If you are wondering why I don’t have my prices posted, it is because I am more concerned with making sure each of you get what you want, then I am with limiting everyone to rigid prices and packages. In other words, I do offer different packages with corresponding prices, but I am always willing to change those if necessary to help you get what you want. All you have to do is talk to me. :) You can contact me through the form on my website. Or you can email me at rachelwilhelmphotography@gmail.com. I am also on Facebook and G+. And you can call or text me at (260) 267-0303. Thank you!

Three Rivers Festival Crafters' Market

I am SO excited to be a part of the Annual Three Rivers Festival Crafters' Market!! I will be selling my photographs in various different sizes and mediums. I will have postcards, matted prints, framed prints, and wood prints. I will also be available to book photography sessions of births, babies, children, seniors, engagements, weddings, families, pets, and more. Additionally, I can take orders for any prints that you like but would like to buy in a different size or medium than what is available at my booth. I will be at my booth on Friday July 11 from 4 to 9 pm, Saturday July 12 from 11 am to 9 pm, and Sunday July 13 from 11 am to 9 pm. Please stop by my booth to check out my work as well as give me a chance to meet you!! I hope you don’t miss out on this!! :)

Curtis Family

Alright, it is now time for the final set of pictures from this photo shoot…. the family pictures!! All in all, I had SO much fun photographing this beautiful family!! And when I say beautiful family, I mean just that – they are a BEAUTIFUL family! I was so appreciative of how they all treated each other the whole time we were taking pictures. Grace and Jacob are so respectful of their parents and of each other, and Nick and Amy didn’t have to yell at the kids to get them to behave. (I have witnessed other families getting photos taken by other photographers and there was so much yelling at the kid so much to sit still and smile that the kid started crying.) As you can see from my photos, I like pictures even when they don’t look perfect (in the sense of everyone looking at the camera and smiling). Some of my favorite pictures happen when kids aren’t looking at the camera because they are so much more genuine. Kids get distracted, they look away while laughing, and they even space out and start staring sometimes. But to me, that is okay, and even good. I enjoy kids being kids (within reason haha). I didn’t mind when Jacob and Grace would start talking to each other because to me, that showed something more significant than the ability to get fake smiles – that showed me their love and care for each other. It also showed that they value each other as brother and sister more than they value me as a complete stranger, which again, is a good thing in my book. So thank you Curtis family for being YOU and being AWESOME!! :)

I also want to quickly say that I was especially thankful for the perfect weather we had! I always get nervous about rain but we didn’t have any. And I was actually concerned that it would be too cold that morning, but it warmed up so quickly without getting too hot. :) It was a great day for me! :)

Grace and Jacob

It’s day three, so now you get to see Grace and Jacob together! These two together were just adorable!! Jacob seriously loves his sister so much, and Grace obviously loves her brother so much! It was sometimes difficult for me to get pictures of them separately because Jacob always wanted to do what she was doing. They were both so patient with me as I had them walk around to various different places in the park and sit still while I took their pictures. I knew that all they were thinking about was how excited they were to be going to the zoo after I was done the photo shoot. (I did use their excitement to my advantage to get some of these adorable expressions.)

I especially love the pictures I have of them holding hands. I asked them to stand next to each other, and this is what they did! And then there is the way Grace is looking at Jacob in the last one!! SO CUTE!!! Tomorrow I will post the family pictures!! :)

Grace

Alright, it’s day two, and as promised, here are more pictures of the Curtis family! Today I am focusing on Grace. Isn't she so beautiful? As I was going through her pictures, I kept thinking that she reminds me of porcelain dolls. She has that perfect blond, wavy hair with curls at the ends, big blue eyes, and plump rosy cheeks. And she embodies her name in the way she acts and talks, even at such a young age. She was so sweet and gracious to her little brother who wanted to be in all her pictures with her. And I don’t think I have ever witnessed anything as cute as Grace was when she discovered she had gotten dirt on her white leggings. She kept pointing at the spot and saying, “Uh oh!” It was seriously so precious! :)

Check out my blog tomorrow to see pictures of Grace and Jacob together!! You won't want to miss it!! :)

Jacob

I had the chance to photograph this wonderful family a couple weeks ago!! I will post the family pictures on here, but first I wanted to focus on some of the other pictures I got during the photo shoot. I was able to spend some time photographing each of the kids, Grace and Jacob, individually and then also together. And let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed these two kids! They are not only some amazingly cute and good looking kids, but they were both so sweet and courteous!! Thank you so much to the Curtis family for giving me a chance to meet you all, and more importantly, capture this precious time in your lives as a young family!!

So I am going to start by posting pictures of Jacob. I had so much fun photographing this little guy! He has such a sweet and innocent personality! You might not be able to tell from these pictures, but he was actually pretty hesitant for me to take pictures of him, especially by himself. He was a little camera shy. But he didn’t seem to mind as much when he had his sister next to him. He wanted to be with her and be doing whatever she was doing. But I managed to catch a few pictures of this handsome little guy looking and smiling at me. :)

Isn’t he so cute?!?! :) I am so glad that he was willing to put up with me having a camera pointed at him. :) I think he finally warmed up to me by the end. :)

I will be posting one set from this photo shoot a day, so stay tuned for more!! :)