Alicia & Noel | Fort Wayne Winter Wedding

Alicia & Noel’s winter wedding in Fort Wayne, Indiana was on the same day as one of the biggest and first snows of this winter! Alicia and her bridesmaids started the day getting their hair and makeup done at In Touch Salon with drinks from Mocha Lounge next door to keep them warm. (Why every salon and coffee shop don’t move in next door to each other is beyond me because it’s brilliant if you ask me!)

 From there, we all headed to the Foehlinger-Frieman Botanical Conservatory Gardens to get the majority of the portraits for the day. Thank you Lord for climate control.  The Botanical Gardens are really popular place to get photos in Fort Wayne during the winter since all of our trees are pretty much bare from mid November to late March, but fortunately there were hardly any other people there getting photos on Noel & Alicia’s wedding day and we practically had it all to ourselves!

Even though I’m so grateful I didn’t have to sacrifice my fingers and toes in order to get the majority of our portraits outside, if you stick around till the end, you’ll see the adorable “just married” photos we got to take outside in the Joseph Decuis emporium courtyard and then on a picturesque street in downtown Roanoke as big fluffy snowflakes floated down.  Noel put his jacket on Alicia and it was just like one of those adorable end scenes in a Hallmark movie.  It was the perfect way to end the day as they ran back inside to stay cozy and enjoy their intimate dinner reception with their closest family and friends.

Alicia & Noel, thank you for asking me to be your photographer, and for being so fun and easygoing to work with! I can tell that you two are a great fit for one another, and I pray for the best blessings on your marriage and your life together!

much love, Anna

Shaunda + Nate | Fort Wayne Botanical Garden Engagement Session

Shaunda and Nate’s downtown Botanical Garden session was unlike any engagement session I’ve done before and it was such a blast!  Since they knew they wanted to get their engagement photos done fairly quickly so that they could use the photos for their invitations, but it was still fairly cold and bleak in Indiana, they asked if I would be up for doing the session at the Botanical Gardens, to which I happily agreed!

If you’ve never been to the Botanical Gardens, (then first of all, you’re missing out, but) the landscape inside is divided into three sections.  The first is a classic garden with more of the typical plants you might see growing in Indiana during the summertime, the second is a tropical oasis (complete with waterfalls, which you’ll see in these pictures) and the third is a very hot and dry desert (complete with cactus plants and succulents, which you’ll also see!).  I’m very grateful for a venue like the Botanical Gardens in Fort Wayne where it’s possible to capture some colorful and lively photos, even in the dead of winter!  I’m also grateful for couples like Shaunda and Nate that are so flexible and willing to work with the surroundings in order to get some really fun and candid photos!  I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from this session!

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Shaunda & Nate,

It was so much fun capturing your engagement photos at the Botanical Gardens!  I’m so excited for your wedding and to be able to photograph it as well!

much love,

Gabrielle + Duncan | Downtown Fort Wayne Engagement

Since Gabrielle and Duncan are planning a July wedding, they wanted to do their engagement photos in the winter, so we planned to do this session while they were both in Fort Wayne, Indiana from Indiana University over Christmas Break!  We talked about trying to schedule this session to be in the snow, but it didn’t seem to be in the forecast for the always-unpredictable Fort Wayne weather.  Lo and behold (and to my pleasant surprise) the day of our session, there was a little bit of snow falling from the sky and just enough on the ground to make the world look a little more…whimsical.  BUT, it was veeerrry cold that day as well, so I called ahead and we decided to hold most of our session inside the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Downtown Fort Waynehich has a lot of windows and natural daylight (win!  Natural light is my favorite kind for photographs).  I’ve done a few photo shoots at the Grand Wayne center, but never because it’s been too cold to comfortably do a full session outside.  I became even more grateful for such great architecture in the Downtown Fort Wayne area!   As you’ll see near the end of the gallery, Gabrielle and Duncan were great sports and we did end up going outside for a few photos where I got to take advantage of the snow, buildings and streets as our backdrop!

I hope you’ll enjoy Gabrielle and Duncan’s Engagement photos as much as I enjoyed capturing them!

 

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Duncan & Gabrielle,

Thank you for spending the afternoon with me and bringing such a relaxed and warm atmosphere to this session!  Your love and playfulness with each other is sweet, and I’m so excited to capture your wedding day later this year!

[‘o]

anna