orchid | kentandstephanie

Gage & Colleen are two insanely special people. They won a free wedding you guys. A FREE WEDDING. And we honestly don’t think there are two people who could have possibly deserved this more. Seriously, a BIG thank you to the folks at Sanctuary Restaurant for putting this whole thing together and allowing us to be a part of it. Such a great idea for two wonderful people!

Let us give you a little back story on these two. Gage and Colleen met right before Gage got stationed in California. Within a week of knowing each other, they KNEW they were meant to be. Yes, you read that right! A week! And we thought our wedding came quickly! As the old adage goes, when you know, you know! Since he was going to California, there was no way she could go with him and live on base with him unless they were married. So they got married.

How Disney-esque is that??? They were literally living a real life fairy tail! And their families were totally on board. In what world do these things happen and actually work out in a happily ever after? In their world, that’s where. Unfortunately, their happily ever after was a little harder to come by, because nothing could prepare them for the bombshell that life was about to drop on them.

Gage isn’t just a Marine veteran. He’s a combat veteran…and he earned his purple heart. He took a heavy load of shrapnel, and a lot of it struck his head. With a baby on the way, and a long road to recovery for Gabe, Colleen decided to not only be an amazing mother, she also decided to become Gage’s primary caretaker. In fact, this incredible decision is in nursing school and a lot of that has been inspired by her husband!

When you meet these two, you would NEVER guess they’ve been through so many hardships. You’d never guess the struggles they’ve endured because of the amount of joy they exude wherever they go! And as for Gage? Other than an unfortunate loss of his sense of taste, he is doing amazingly. ❤

See what we mean? These two DESERVED this. We don’t believe in accidents, we believe in fate. And the fact that these two were chosen to win this contest is a perfect example of that. It was just meant to be. Because Gage and Colleen? You two have impacted us in a profound way. More than you will ever know! And we ADORED the thank you card you gave us this past weekend, and we 100% agree. We look forward to a growing friendship with you guys too. ❤

Until we’re able to sit down with you again, enjoy this small preview of your wedding day! We adore you two and can’t wait!!! toledo photography ohio wedding photographers cleveland_0001

Once again, the heavens have smiled upon us and given us a FABULOUS day of weather! The day before Josh & Kelcy’s wedding day, the forecast was still calling for a 60% and in some cases even an 80% chance of rain! And on the radar it was slated to start right at 4pm and keep going all day. Their ceremony was to start at 6pm. Needless to say, we were all biting our nails a little bit!

But the day of came, and when we checked the radar, they had pushed the rain back to 8pm. What!??! Great news! Even better news? It didn’t start raining until 10:30pm that night. And that was AFTER the fireworks. 😉

Josh & Kelcy are most likely the two most laid back people on the planet. Despite the fact that Slipknot was playing when we entered the bridal suite 😉 the atmosphere was so chill. Everyone was so calm…until Darcy (the maid of honor who we just assumed was Kelcy’s sister because of how close they are) started tearing up when her best friend put her dress on. The ceremony was adorable…especially when Kelcy had to remind Josh to take her hands! And the reception was so fun! Everyone was out on the dance floor having fun including us. 😉

We were so excited to be a part of Josh & Kelcy’s wedding. You two are pretty amazing, and we can’t wait to show you the rest of the pictures!