Let me start to tell you about one of the most gracious and sweet couples I’ve ever met: Igor and Inna. Our time with them began when they had their planned photographer unable to photograph their wedding day, and they found out with only a couple months to go. Igor emailed me and explained his situation and my heart immediately went out to the both of them, I couldn’t imaging having something like that happen, regardless of the circumstance. However, the world has an interesting way of working, and Jim and I both could not possibly be happier that our paths crossed, these two are awesome. Their day was full of family, love, and a little glamour and the attention to detail was not missed by any of the guests. Did I mention they not only had live butterflies in their centerpieces (!!) that they released at the end of the reception, but they had a Chinese lantern and sparkler party to end the night. Sound amazing? Yeah, I thought so, let’s keep going.
Inna’s dress. Oh. My. Gosh. I just loved it. And the peonies actually came from Igor’s parents house – his mom cut them that morning and someone brought them over.
And Inna herself? Stunning.
This little guy was the cutest, all he wanted to do was jump up and hug Inna. Every chance he got, he was giving her a hug and playing with her poofy dress!
Then came the first look. Inna and Igor were both doing things very culturally for themselves and their families and one part of their day was for family photos, but it takes place before the ceremony. That means one thing: they planned a first look so they could see each other and have a few moments to reflect on the fact that it was their wedding day! It was nothing short of awesome. As you can see below, Igor was pretty excited to see her!
Then came their ceremony, and afterwards they chose to head to University Circle for images because it was on our way to their reception on the east side of Cleveland. We made some magic, that’s for sure. I mean, when you have a bridal party that is this good looking, it’s pretty easy.
We made our way around University Circle and took advantage of all the gorgeous areas they have at every turn. I love being a Cleveland wedding photographer because the city and surrounding areas has so much to offer when it comes to creating perfect images. Again, it helps when you have a great bunch like this, but Cleveland itself is pretty freaking awesome.
Something I love that they all did was coordinate polka dots in the details for not only Inna’s shoes but for the socks the guys were wearing as well. I love details like this!
From there, we took some more images before heading out to the reception.
I mean, I can’t get over it, Inna was so beautiful on her wedding day.
Their reception was also filled with gorgeous details, like their cake and cake topper! How fab is this?
As their reception was winding down, it was time for the butterfly release, yes, seriously! Their centerpieces had live butterflies flying around and hanging out on them, so it was super important to Inna that at the end of the night they all get released, and who better to do it than the bride and groom themselves?
From the reception in Eastlake, a large group of the younger crowd made their way to downtown Cleveland for a Chinese lantern send off and sparkler party! This was the first time I’ve ever seen this done at the end of the wedding and it was WAY cool and WAY worth it.
Then came the sparklers and the most perfect end to the wedding day. Inna and Igor’s day was simply amazing, filled with love and perfect details and I feel so honored to have been able to be a part of their day.
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