Destination Wedding in Mismaloya at Villa Magnifico | Alex and Amanda's Wedding Ceremony

Alex and Amanda could not have chosen a more beautiful location to make their union official. Their destination wedding took place in Mismaloya, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at Villa Magnifico. It’s an incredible luxury mansion villa surrounded by the Mexican mountains on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other side. It was the perfect ceremony and reception back drop for the wedding ceremony, reception, and wedding day portraits for Alex and Amanda’s laid back, whimsical, yet classy wedding day.

Since the bride and groom shared a “first look” and couples session on the beach the night before their wedding, they opted not to see each other until the ceremony on their wedding day. It’s a good thing they had a 10:30am ceremony, because this couple couldn’t have waited any longer to be together. Their ceremony was extremely intimate with less than 30 guests, who shared in the most incredible views as the couple exchanged vows. Then after group photos with the happy couple, all of the guests shared in a brunch meal together at one long table on the terrace.

I love the way Amanda and her mom, Lora (who are both wedding planners with Magaical Moments Event Planning), chose to arrange the ceremony and reception. It was so unique compared to other wedding photos I’ve seen at Villa Magnifico.

After brunch, the group headed out to have a day of fun on a “booze cruise.” Then in the evening, everyone came back together for an evening reception out on the terrace with a different look and feel than the brunch reception. The break in the middle of the day gave me enough time to edit all of these sneak peaks for the couple and have them ready in order to create a “same day slideshow” for the bride and groom and their wedding guests.

The morning wedding festivities of Alex and Amanda’s wedding day were incredible. Stay tuned for a blog post from their evening reception! In the mean time, enjoy these sneak peaks!

Vendors:

Destination Wedding Photographer: Rakoteet Photography

Planner: Magical Moments Event Planning

Florist: Mac Events

Venue and Catering: Villa Magnifico

Hair and Makeup: Radiate 60

Gown: Luxeredux Bridal

Men’s Attire: ASOS

Stationary: Naomi Leah Designs

Officiant: Jon Wilson

Puerto Vallarta Destination Wedding | Alex and Amanda's First Look on the Beach

Surrounded by the majestic mountains and serene ocean, Alex and Amanda shared an intimate first look and couples session on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Being a wedding planner herself and also placing a huge priority on photos of her destination wedding, Amanda knew that sharing her first look with her soon to be husband the night before their wedding day would help to make their wedding day timeline run more smoothly, provide plenty of time for bride and groom photos, as well as provide a special time that her and her new husband could share together on the beach surrounded by landscape that leaves you breathless.

When I arrived to Mexico a few days before the wedding, the first thing I did as a wedding photographer was scout for photo locations. The beach closest to us was Mismaloya beach, which is beautiful but a little bit crowded, and it doesn’t have as nice of a view of Puerto Vallarta’s mountains as I wanted for the backdrop of these wedding photos. I remembered that on the way to our airbnb from the airport, we had passed many, tiny, deserted beaches. So we drove back along the highway, keeping a lookout for the perfect spot. After driving for only about 5 minutes, I knew we had found our location. We parked by a turnout where local vendors sell crafts, walked for a few minutes along the side of the road, and then hiked down some large rocks. It was all worth it for what we found: a small private beach with the perfect view of the mountains. We hit the jackpot.

We brought Alex and Amanda to our little beach a few days later for these stunning wedding photos. I love that Alex and Amanda are so fun, laid back, and up for anything. We started out keeping them dry, but let them get completely soaked by the waves towards the end of the session. Enjoy a few of my favorite photos of this beautiful couple. I can’t wait to show your their amazing wedding day in the mountains next!

Are you looking for a destination wedding photographer? I would LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

Mommy and Me | In-Home Family Session in Broad Ripple | Andrea and Maverick

Lately I’ve been shooting a lot more than just the weddings and couples that I normally get to photograph. I get so many requests for family photography, maternity photos, or other types of sessions, but unfortunately during wedding season, I just don’t have time in addition to weddings on the weekends and engagement sessions on week days. One of the nice things about the wedding off-season is that I have some extra time to photograph sessions that I don’t normally have time to take on.

This morning, I met up with a group of four other photographers to swap photo sessions. It’s always nice to have more photos of myself for social media and my website. I like to share photos of myself on my business pages to help build trust with my clients. So every once in a while, I get together with other photographers to take photos of them and have them take photos of me in exchange.

Andrea rented out the cutest little airbnb in Broad Ripple. She’s an awesome photographer herself with Lillian Rose photography. She brought her adorable son, Maverick to get some photos taken with him in addition to some head shots of herself. Andrea and Maverick are so adorable. I love the outfit she dressed him in. And her outfit with her cute hat were a perfect match for the overall vibe of the house.

Photographing a beautiful mother and son this morning really made me consider starting to offer family sessions again! If you’re looking for a non-wedding related session during the wedding off-season, feel free to reach out to me!

Enjoy a few of my favorite photos that I took of Maverick and Andrea.

Are you looking for a photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Feel free to send me a message over on my contact page!

How to Have the Wedding of Your Dreams on a Small Budget

Let’s talk about something that can sometimes be a little bit awkward: your wedding budget.

I think a lot of brides look through popular wedding magazines, blogs, and Pinterest envisioning their wedding details. Then when they actually start looking at pricing for the things they want, they realize that most things are a lot more expensive than they thought. It’s okay if your budget isn’t the same as those magazine weddings and looks more like the average wedding budget. You can still have a magazine worthy wedding no matter what your budget is. Here’s how: reduce your guest count and bridal party size to the smallest number you and your fiancé feel comfortable with.

More guests means more money spent on a bigger venue, more food, more tables, linens, chairs, centerpieces, etc. And a larger bridal party means more money spent on bouquets and anything else you decide to pay for for the bridal party. With all that money you save from having fewer guests, you can afford those florals you really want, you can opt for the vineyard cross back chairs instead of the standard white chairs (or having to use chair covers over chairs you don’t like), and/or you could hire a wedding planner that may not have been in the budget otherwise.

And in the end, if you decide you’d rather have 300 people at your wedding than have the perfect flowers, that’s okay too! It’s your wedding, and you should have what you want. With every wedding planning decision, there are trade offs, and it’s up to each couple to decide what’s most important to them. I just want the average couple to realize that they CAN have the weddings of their dreams AND be on the cover of a magazine by simply only throwing the wedding for their closest friends and family.

My Trip to Iceland

Last year, I went a little bit crazy with travel. I just showed you my entire 5 city series on my trip with my husband through Europe. And then, two weeks after I got home from Europe, I took another trip with two girl friends to Iceland. I had been obsessed with Iceland for so long, and had just been dying to go. I had been seeing stunning destination wedding photos from the black sands beach, and I knew I wanted to shoot a destination wedding or elopement in Iceland. Well, whenever there is a place I want to shoot a destination wedding, I like to go an explore it myself first to get to know the location and find all of the spots that would be perfect for photos.

We were in Iceland for the week in between Christmas and New Years. We started by going to the Blue Lagoon on our way from the airport to Reykjavik. It was just as amazing and beautiful as it looks on those travel Instagram feeds! It’s a natural hot spring with beautiful mountain backdrops all around. At the time of year that we were there, Iceland only has 4 hours of daylight. It was actually really cool, because the sun never gets very high in the sky, so you get a two hour sunrise and then a two hour sunset. The sky always has beautiful, soft, pastel colors in the daylight.

We stayed in Reykjavik for one night, then traveled around the southern rim of the Golden Circle for a few days. I took a one day solo hiking trip in one of the national parks. I’m not the type of person who loves to do things by myself, but I was the only one on the trail, and it was so relaxing to just be alone with nature. On the trail, I got to see the world’s largest glacier outside of the arctics. We also explored the famous Black Sands Beach in Vik, Iceland. Let me tell you, it’s just as beautiful as I expected it to be. It would be the most stunning spot for bride and groom photos for a destination wedding!

We returned to Reykjavik to celebrate New Years. There are huge bonfires all over the city, then there is a firework show in the middle of the city. After the fireworks, we went to the bars, had a few beers, and listened to live music. It was such a fun way to celebrate.

Iceland is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s almost as if you’re on a different planet. I would love to go back in the summer when there’s almost 24 hours of daylight and lots of greenery. It would be such a different experience. Check out some of my favorite photos from my trip to Iceland!

Are you looking for a destination wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

Laurel Hall Maternity Photos | Doreen's Maternity Session

Ninety Nine percent of the time, I only photograph weddings and couples sessions. But every once in a while during the wedding off-season, I have a little extra time, and I’m able to take on a different type of photography request. And when Doreen told me that she had booked Laurel Hall for her maternity photos, I just knew that I couldn’t say no. I’m so glad that Doreen chose me as her maternity photographer, because her session was absolutely amazing.

We ended up with a beautiful snowy morning this morning. Although it was cold, I knew the snow would be amazing for photos. Snow sessions and weddings are my favorite part about winter time in Indiana. I was so glad that Doreen was still willing to have her maternity session today even with the cold weather, because the few snow photos that we managed to take were well worth it.

The solarium at Laurel Hall was the perfect setting for a majority of Doreen’s photoshoot this afternoon. The stunning architecture and amazing natural light make this room every photographer’s dream. The lighting today was even better than usual because of the snowy skies. We also explored the rest of the venue including the elegant terrace, the stairs outside that showcase the venue, the grand staircase inside, and the wedding chapel upstairs. I love using every room that I can whenever I photograph weddings or sessions at Laurel Hall. I think the diversity of the venue really adds to the photos.

Enjoy a few of my favorite photos from Doreen’s maternity session at Laurel Hall this afternoon! I can’t wait to finish editing her full gallery!

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available.

My Top Three Posing Tips For Flattering Photos On Your Wedding Day

No matter how “technically” perfect a photo is or how beautiful the editing is, you’re not going to like it if you don’t like the way you look in the photo. Almost every couple I work with tells me before their engagement session that they don’t like being in front of the camera, because they don’t usually like the way they look in photos. And while some of this can be chalked up to body image issues, honestly, I think it mainly comes down to posing. Posing is about making sure you look as amazing in your photos as you do in real life. And one of the things I’m always doing during your wedding day and your engagement session is making sure you look your best. I have a whole posing system that we flow through to make sure you have tons of variety and that every photo is super flattering.

My couples always tell me after their engagement session and their wedding that they felt so comfortable, they had so much fun with their significant other during portraits, and they LOVE the way they look in their photos. For me, there’s nothing that makes me happier in this job than hearing how much my couples love their photos.

Today I’m sharing my top three posing secrets for flattering that make my couples look amazing on their wedding day.

Tip One: Lean Towards the Camera

You know that horrifying moment when you’re laying in bed browsing through Instagram, and you accidentally open the camera, and it’s pointed towards you? It’s pretty much the most unflattering version of yourself that you’ve ever seen. Or at least I feel that way when it happens to me! A lesser version of this is what’s going on when you lean slightly away from the camera during a photo. It causes the photographer to shoot at an upward angle towards you, which is not a good angle for anyone. In almost every single photo and pose, I tell my couples to bend at the waist and lean slightly towards me while keeping their weight on their back leg. This instantly makes them look thinner, and it’s a much more flattering angle.

Tip Two: Belly Button to Hip Bone

Belly button to hip bone is my “go to” pose for flattering both the guy and the girl. The most flattering look for men is facing the camera straight on, while the most flattering look for women is turning their body to the side. So for this pose, I have the guy face me straight on, and the girl puts her belly button into his hip bone. Ladies, this pose, literally cuts your body in half and makes you look amazing. Although, I do want to emphasize that this is not about looking “super skinny.” It’s about making sure you look as amazing on camera as you do in real life.

Tip Three: Flattering Your Arms

The biggest thing a lot of my brides tell me that they’re self-conscious about is their arms. AND strapless dresses happen to be the most popular style of wedding dress. So making your arms look amazing on your wedding day is so important to make sure you like the way you look in your wedding photos. My first tip for making your arms look amazing, is to hold them out away from your body slightly. When your arm is pinned to your side, it gets squished and flattens out, making it look much larger than it actually is. You can avoid this by holding your arm slightly away from your body. The other thing you can do is use your veil strategically. When setting up a pose, I always bring my bride’s veil forward so that it covers half of her arm. This cuts the arm in half visually and makes it look much smaller.

I hope you found these posing tips helpful, and that you’ll feel much more confident when posing for your wedding photos!

Our Trip to Rome, Italy

We’ve now come to the very last blog post in our series focused on my two week trip with my husband through Europe last fall. For our very last stop of our trip, we stayed in Rome, Italy for three days. When we arrived in Rome, it was early December, but the weather was very warm and nice compared to the rest of the cities we had been to on this trip. Because of this, it was also the most crowded city we visited with lots of tourists everywhere we went.

While we were in Rome, we spent a lot of time exploring the historic sites of the city. We walked around the city visiting all of the ruins. The Colosseum was incredibly impressive in person! It was so beautiful when we visited right at sunset. We also went and saw the Vatican. Fun fact: the Vatican is actually its own separate country. So technically, we visited 4 different countries on this Europe trip. Of course, we saw all of the famous fountains while we were in Rome as well. AND Rome had the best pizza Andry and I have ever had and it was right across the street from our hotel!

I hope with these past five blog posts, I’ve convinced at least one couple to have a destination wedding in Europe. Destination weddings on the beach are so amazing and beautiful, but there are so many options when it comes to your wedding! The world is big, and you can get married anywhere that resonates with you and your fiance!

Check out some of my favorite photos from Rome, Italy! And comment below what my next personal blog series should be about.

Are you looking for a destination wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

How to Store and Back Up Your Wedding Photos

Today’s blog topic isn’t very “sexy,” but it’s an important one! When I deliver your gallery once the wedding is over, and I’m finished editing, I do so via an online gallery system called Pixieset. Here is an example of a full gallery that a client receives: https://rakoteetphotography.pixieset.com/g/camandchelseigh/. When you enter the gallery, it will walk you through how to favorite, share, print, and download the images. You can download your photos with a special password that I send to you, and of course, you are free to share you gallery and password with friends and family. When you download your images, you can download in high resolution, which is best for printing, as well as web size, which is best for sharing on social media. Your gallery will remain online for 6 months after delivery to allow plenty of time for downloading and ordering prints if you wish to purchase any prints through my professional lab (you also have a print release and can print wherever you would like). After those six months, it’s up to you to store and back up the photos in order to save them for the rest of your lives and for future generations.

When downloading the high resolution files, they may be too large to fit on your computer. I recomend storing them on an external hard drive. Here are the ones I use: https://amzn.to/2SCsZdl. If you don’t need 4 TB of space, this one might work better for you: https://amzn.to/2C0SygZ. I recomend purchasing two of these, and backing up your photos in multiple locations, because you can never be too careful with your wedding photos, and sometimes technology fails (I am crazy about backups). You’ll also want to store your photos on the cloud in case anything were to physically happen to the hard drives, such as a house fire or a break in. Google drive is probably the easiest way to use cloud storage. You won’t be able to fit all of your wedding photos in the amount of space that google offers you for free, but it’s relatively cheap to purchase additional storage.

I recomend downloading both the high resolution and web size versions of the photos, and saving them to two external hard drives AND cloud storage. You’ll want these photos to last for generations, and this is the best way you can make sure that happens.

Although today’s blog topic wasn’t as fun as normal, I hope it was helpful! If you have any questions about storing and backing up your wedding photos, feel free to leave them in the comments below or email directly here.

2019 Two Bright Lights Editor's Choice Award Winner!

Today, I found out some exciting news! Rakoteet Photography won the 2019 Two Bright Light's Editor’s Choice Awards! This award is based on the amount of magazines and blogs who have published my work this past year, and winning the award places me in the top 1% of wedding professionals worldwide.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the wedding magazines and blogs that published my work this year. I have been to honored to be featured in so many amazing publications, including one magazine cover page! I also want to say thank you to all of the other incredible wedding vendors that I had the opportunity to work with this year. Without the exceptional wedding planning, magazine worthy flowers, and stunning furniture rentals, the wedding photos would not be as beautiful. A wedding can’t be published without the hard work and dedication of the entire wedding vendor team. And of course, I couldn’t have done it without my amazing couples who trusted me to photograph the most important day of their lives, their wedding day.

I don’t need to win awards. As long as my brides and grooms are thrilled with their wedding photos, that’s all I need. Customer service is way more important to me than recognition within the wedding industry. I’m a very lucky photographer that my couples plan amazing wedding details that magazines and blogs want to share as inspirations for other brides and grooms planning their own weddings. Having my wedding photos published in magazines and winning awards within the wedding industry is definitely the “icing of the cake” when it comes to my job. And while I don’t feel the need to be recognized, it’s definitely nice.

So here’s to working with more amazing brides and grooms, more incredible wedding vendors, and more influential wedding magazines this next year!

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page!

Our Trip to Florence, Italy

By now, through my blog series focusing on my trip to Europe last fall, you’ve seen almost all of mine and Andry’s journey. For the second to last city of our vacation, we stayed in Florence, Italy for two days. Don’t be fooled by the fact that I didn’t take nearly as many photos in Florence as the other cities we visited. Andry and I actually had our favorite experience of the entire trip in Florence. Our stay in this city was focused on one thing: wine.

Those who know me personally, know that I’m really interested in wine. Of course, I love it for the taste, but I also love learning about wine, how its grown, where different wines come from, and how its made. A dream of mine is to someday own a vineyard and winery. So while we were in Italy, Andry and I took a full day private wine tour of Tuscany. We had a guided tour, just the two of us and our guide, around the Italian countryside. We visited three different wineries, toured the vineyards, met the winery owners, and got to see how the wine was made. We learned all about the wine industry in Italy, and did so many tastings. By the end of the tour, we were quizzed with a blind tasting of different wines, and we were both able to get 100% of the wines correct based on the taste and smell. Andry and I did a smilier tour when we were in California, but the wine in Italy is very different. I would love to do another wine tour in France. I can’t wait for the day we can return to Europe.

The Tuscany countryside would be the most beautiful and romantic place for a destination wedding or elopement! Check out a few of my favorite photos from Florence, Italy!

Are you looking for a destination wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

What to Have Ready When Your Wedding Photographer Arrives on Your Wedding Day

As a wedding photographer, the first thing I do when I arrive on the wedding day is photograph the bride and groom’s personal details. This part of the morning goes so much smoother if the couple already has everything ready and organized for me when I arrive. Otherwise, I’ll have to search through the crowded getting ready room to find everything, and I’ll probably have to go to the groom’s suite to track all of his details down as well. I recomend that both the bride and the groom’s details be all together in a box or bag (at least the smaller items that will fit) in the bridal suite when I arrive, since I usually head to the bridal suite first on a wedding day.

Here are the items that I recommend my brides and grooms have ready for me to photograph when I arrive on the wedding day:

Wedding Details:

• Invitation suite, stamps, wax seal, and any other invitation details

• Other important stationary such as the programs

• Loose flowers from the florist for styling photos

• Any other special customized wedding details

Bride’s Details:

• All three rings (or however many you have)

• Your personal ring box if you have one (I recomend the Mrs. Box)

• The bridal jewelry

• The veil

• The bridal bouquet

• The bride’s dress (on the hanger you want it photographed on - bonus points if it’s already hanging somewhere beautiful)

• The bride’s shoes

• A special perfume if you’re wearing one

• Any other special details that you want photographed

Groom’s Details:

• The groom’s shoes

• The groom’s tie

• The groom’s watch (if he’s wearing one)

• A special cologne (if he’s wearing one)

• Tie clip

• Cufflinks

• The groom’s boutonniere

• Any other special details that the groom may have

Photographing the wedding details is one of my favorite parts of the wedding day, and my couples always love these photos as well. You spend so much time, money, and emotions picking out these special details for you wedding day. I want to create beautiful, sentimental photos for you with these details. Having them all ready for me when I arrive on your wedding day is super helpful!

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

Our Trip to Venice, Italy

Continuing on with our blog series on my trip through Europe last year, the next city that Andry and I visited after we left Switzerland, was Venice, Italy. Venice has to be one of my absolute favorite places I’ve eve been! I think it’s tied with Paris. Andry and I loved exploring the whole city by foot.

We could definitely feel the romance that Italy has to offer. We spent 4 days in Venice. We mainly spent our days exploring all that the city has to offer, such as the colorful ally ways and the unique shops, and we spent a lot of time taking in the amazing views of the canal. We were the perfect walking distance from everything in the city, with our hotel being right on the canal. Venice was so fun, because there are no cars, only boats. You could hop on a taxi boat to take you anywhere you wanted to go in the city. We spent our evenings eating amazing Italian Cuisine, having gelato for dessert, and taking the the stunning sunset view of the canal from the famous Rialto bridge. On our last night in Venice, we took a sunset gondola ride, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.

It’s true what they say, Italy really is one of the most romantic places in the world, and Venice would be the perfect place for a romantic destination wedding. Andry and I definitely loved our time there! My next blog post will be about our next leg of the trip in Florence, Italy, which I loved almost as much as Venice. Until then, enjoy some of my favorite photos from Venice, Italy.

Are you looking for a destination wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

The Perfect Family Formal Shot List

What are family formals? These are the formal shots that the bride and groom take with their families on the wedding day. This is planned into the timeline, usually right before the ceremony if the couple has a first look or they can also be taken right after the ceremony during cocktail hour.

Around six weeks before the wedding day, I send my couples a questionnaire with all of the information I need from them in order to photograph their wedding day. One of the most important things I need from my couples is their family formal shot list. The reason I ask for this before the wedding day is so that, on the wedding day, when it’s time for family formals, I can just read straight down the list, snap the shot, and then move to the next shot. It’s easy, painless, and stress-free for the families. And families almost always tell me they love how efficient I am! In reality, the efficiency happens because the bride and groom planned ahead.

Family formals can easily become one of the most stressful parts of the wedding day if not planned for well enough. My biggest tip is to make sure that everyone knows where to be and when! In case anyone is missing, appoint a family member or close family friend to find missing people. Unfortunately, I don’t know what your family members look like, so I won’t be able to do this. You also need to double check with your fiance to make sure you’re both on the same page regarding the family formal list. This part of the day goes SO much smoother when I can just read down the list, instead of someone trying to figure out additional groupings they want on the fly.

When thinking about who to include in your family formals, think about which pictures you’re going to want to hang in your home and pass down to your children. It’s usually photos with your immediate family and your grandparents. Remember that you can always take photos with your aunts, uncles, cousins, and other extended family members during the reception after the formalities. Limiting the number of people included in family formals really helps to cut down on stress for the bride and groom and the time needed for photos.

After photographing over 75 weddings and seeing what works well, and which photos actually get printed, here is my recommended family formal list:

Bride’s Side

• Bride with mom

• Bride with dad

• Bride with both parents

• Bride and groom with bride’s parents

• Bride and groom with bride’s immediate family (bride’s parents, siblings, and siblings’ spouses and children)

• Bride and groom with bride’s maternal grandparents

• Bride and groom with bride’s paternal grandparents

Groom’s Side

• Groom with mom

• Groom with dad

• Groom with both parents

• Groom and bride with groom’s parents

• Groom and bride with groom’s immediate family (groom’s parents, siblings, and siblings’ spouses and children)

• Groom and bride with groom’s maternal grandparents

• Groom and bride with groom’s paternal grandparents

Both Sides

• Bride and groom with both sets of parents

This list takes approximately 30 minutes to complete if everyone is on time. Do you have any unique family situations such as an aunt who practically raised you? Or maybe step-parents need to be added in? Feel free to adjust this list as needed. This is your wedding day after all, and every family is different. I would just recomend trying to keep your family formal groupings to no more than 15. In my experience, this number tends to work the best. If you decide to add more than 15 groupings to your list, just make sure you set aside plenty of time (45 minutes-1 hour) for family photos at your wedding.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page!

Intimate Summer Wedding at Laurel Hall

These wedding photos were taken at Laurel Hall all the way back last June! I’m glad that I’m finally getting a change to blog them, because I loved this romantic couple and the intimate ceremony and reception set up’s in the solarium at Laurel Hall. Laurel Hall is the perfect venue for beautiful natural light. The solarium is filled with huge windows on three sides of the room. It’s very elegant, and it’s my personal favorite place in the whole estate at Laurel Hall. The Solarium at Laurel Hall was the perfect room for this intimate summer wedding.

I was actually lucky enough to photograph two weddings at Laurel Hall last June. Lucky me, because Laurel Hall is one of my favorite venues in Indianapolis. The pink, purple, blue, and crystal theme for this wedding was so unique, and perfect for the venue. I loved the simple greenery arch by the amazing florist, B. Eloquence.

I love that both the ceremony and reception had very unique set ups compared to any other weddings I’ve photographed at Laurel Hall. Laurel Hall has so many options for how you can structure your ceremony and reception. You could set up your reception facing multiple ways in the solarium, you can have your ceremony out on the lawn, you could set up your ceremony on the terrace, or you could also use the little white chapel on the third floor. For your reception, the most common set up is using the formal dining room, but you can also use the solarium, you can use the terrace, or you could set up a tent out on the lawn.

Enjoy a few of my favorite photos from this intimate June wedding at Laurel Hall!

The Vendor Team:

Indianapolis Wedding Photographer: Rakoteet Photography

Venue: Laurel Hall, Indianapolis

Coordinator: Magical Moments Event Planning

Florist: B. Eloquence

Calligraphy: Eb Paper Co

Hair & Make Up: Something Blue Stylists

Rentals: Violet Vintage Rentals

Linens: Linen Hero

Dress: Blue House Bridal

Mensware: DC Tux

Elegant September Wedding at Daniel's Vineyard and Winery

Things have finally slowed down a little bit for me. Usually the winter in general is a little bit slower, but this year, I had some stunning winter weddings in December and January. Now that all of those weddings have been edited and delivered, I have a little bit of extra time in my business to work on some fun projects that have been on the back burner for awhile. And one of those fun projects is blogging some of my favorite weddings and sessions that I photographed last year before I started this blog.

If you guys follow me on social media, then you know that I love wine. Like, I love the history of it. I love learning about how it’s made, and I love visiting and touring vineyards in different parts of the world (I’ll be sharing about my winery tour in Tuscany on the blog later this month). SO it should come as no surprise, that vineyard weddings are some of my absolute favorites weddings. Now, you might think that as an Indianapolis wedding photographer, that I wouldn’t have as much of an opportunity to photograph vineyard weddings as a California wedding photographer or an Italian wedding photographer, but we actually have a lot of amazing local wineries right here in Indianapolis, and all over Indiana. I’m on a mission to visit them all!

Some of my favorite wineries that are also wedding venues are The Sycamore at Mallow Run, and of course, Daniel’s Vineyard. Early September is the most beautiful time of year for vineyards here in Indiana, because the grapes get harvested in late September or early October. Check out some of my favorite photos from this black and burgundy wedding at Daniel’s Vineyard last September.

Indianapolis Wedding Photographer: Rakoteet Photography

Venue: Daniel's Vineyard​

Tablescapes & Rentals: Uncommonly Styled​

Floral and Styling: Knox Flowers​

Invitations, Paperie, & Signage: Interprintations​

Linen: Linen Hero

Dress: LUXEredux Bridal​

Hair: Allison Linnae Hair​

Makeup: Gina Valentine​

Tux: Jim’s Formal Wear

Cakes: Nétta Sweet​

Ring Boxes: The Mrs. Box​

Silk and Ribbon: The Lesser Bear​

Our Trip to Switzerland

This is the second post in my blog series about my trip through Europe with my husband last year. After Paris, we continued on our trip by heading to Switzerland. It had been a long time dream of mine to visit the Swiss Alps and to venture to the top, and we did just that while we were in Switzerland. This country is so beautiful with its majestic mountains and quaint villages.

While we were visiting Switzerland, we stayed in Lucern, an adorable village at the bottom of the alps. We were only in Switzerland for two days, and we ventured up into the mountains both days. On our first day, we went to the top of Mount Pilates, which you can get to via an hour-long cable car ride from Lucern. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a view from the top, because we visited on a cloudy day, but on the way up, we saw some of the most beautiful views! Our cable car ride started our with views of the city and the lush green country side, but as we made our way up, the views became completely white and snow-filled.

On our second day in Switzerland, we took a train to the top of the Alps. The summit we went to was called JungFrau. Again, we visited on a very cloudy day, so we didn’t have any view from the top of the mountain, but we still had some neat experiences. The train ride to the top had beautiful scenic views, and once we reached the top, we had to walk through an ice tunnel to reach the top of JungFrau. Overall, it was a really cool experience.

Now that I’ve seen the beauty of Switzerland for myself, I’m dying to photograph a wedding here. Any takers?

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your date available!

The One Thing Brides Always Forget in the Wedding Day Timeline

I always offer to create a customized wedding photography timeline for my brides and grooms, and I send them a recommended photography timeline as part of my “Bridal Guide” as soon as they book with me. Most of my couples are super organized, and already have their timeline planned. When I look at their timeline to see if I need to make and changes or give any recommendations, there is almost always one thing missing from the timeline: a designated time for reception detail photos.

Let me explain why this is important. My brides and grooms spend a lot of money on their wedding reception details. They’ve spend countless hours with their florists and/or wedding designers planning their centerpieces. They’ve spent extra money on fancier chairs and beautiful linens. they have the room arranged perfectly. And they’ve picked their wedding venue because they love the way it will look when it's all set up for their reception. I think all brides and grooms see the value in making sure they have photos of the reception details, but many couples think that their wedding photographer can take these photos during the reception. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Once your guests enter your reception, there will be bags and coats on the chairs, drinks and cell phones on the tables, and I won’t be able to get a clean shot of the room or the tablescapes. This is why I tell my couples that we need to plan for these photos in the timeline BEFORE guests are allowed into the reception.

There can be a few logistical challenges with making this happen. First, we need to make sure that the entire reception will be set up before I’m scheduled to take photos of it. Check with your venue, your caterer, and your florist to make sure set up will be finished in time. If your ceremony and reception are in the same venue (which always makes for WAY easier logistics the entire day), then I can photograph your reception details in the 30 minutes before the ceremony while the bride is in hiding. If your reception venue is driving distance from your ceremony and we don’t have any photos to take after the ceremony (because of doing a first look), then I can send my second shooter to the reception venue towards the end of the ceremony to take photos before guests arrive. If you’re having a separate location for a cocktail hour, this gives us a little more wiggle room. If you’re doing a room flip or using the same chairs for the ceremony and reception, unfortunately, I won’t have much, if any, time to photograph the reception fully set up, but I always do my best to take as many photos as possible in the small amount of time I have.

I promise, it’s always worth it to plan reception detail shots into your wedding day timeline. If you don’t believe me, check out some of my favorite wedding reception detail photos below.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your date available!

Laurilyn Farms Florist Branding Photos

I first had the opportunity to work with Lauren and Jerilyn, the sisters that run Laurilyn Farms when they were the florist for Dakota and Richmond’s wedding last June at The Loft at Walnut Hill Farms. I was so impressed with their work. They took the simple concept of white and greenery and turned it into something so creative and unique. Ever since then, I’ve been following Laurilyn Farm’s work and loving everything they do.

One of my favorite things about Laurilyn Farms is that they’re not just a wedding florist. They also have their own flower farm where they grow a lot of the flowers that they use. Lauren runs the florist side of the business, while Jerilyn runs the farm side of the business. How fun is it that these sisters get to work together! I always love getting to take photos for florists, so I was thrilled when Lauren and Jerilyn asked me to do their branding photography for their new website by Lauren Taylar of Taylar Digital (the same designer who designed my own website).

Lauren and Jerilyn really wanted photos that showed off their personalities. Their photos included wine, champaign, coffee mugs, and a few flower and farm accessories. We had planned on including flowers in the session as well, but unfortunately we are currently experiencing a polar vortex here in Indianapolis, and it would have been way too cold for the flowers to survive. The location for our session was my favorite wedding venue in Indy, Laurel Hall.

Laurilyn Farms received their full gallery of 148 photos less than 24 hours after their session. Check out a few of my favorites below. These two were so fun to photograph!

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!

Our Trip to Paris

Sometimes, editing personal photos is the very last thing on my to-do list. That’s why it’s taken me over a year to FINALLY edit some of my photos from our trip to Europe. I’ve been dying to get some of these printed, so I finally forced myself to take a break from working 24/7 on my business, and do something for me.

Last November, Andry and I took a big two week trip through Europe. We started in Paris, continued on to Switzerland, and then visited Venice, Florence, and Rome in Italy. Traveling is my favorite hobby. I LOVE to see different parts of the world, and I especially love to get to see the world with my husband. That’s part of the reason I love destination weddings so much. I really resonate with couples who love traveling together and want to celebrate their love in another part of the country or world.

I’m sharing our Europe trip in a series, starting with our first leg of the journey in Paris. We only spent 3.5 days in Paris, but we really made the most of our time there. I had a photoshoot that’s been published multiple times (I’ll share that shoot on the blog soon for those who haven’t seen it). We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. We took a boat tour of the city. We went to Sacre Coeur, and saw an amazing view of the city. We visited the Palace of Versailles. We toured Notre Dame. And of course, we ate so much amazing food in the Parisian cafes.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our time in Paris!

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? I would absolutely LOVE to work with you! Send me a message over on my contact page to see if I have your wedding date available!