*Posted by Matt*

It's no secret that weddings can be tricky...a lot of times things become more about the families than they do about the couple. Luckily in Erika and Holly's case, those things are pretty much one and the same. Their families are about as close-knit as they come. The two brides invited us along for their Valley Green Inn wedding a few months ago and it became clear pretty quickly that their families would be a big part of the day. For example, Erika's parents wanted to make a wooden sign for the wedding. Sounds simple enough. Well, her parents live a few hours away...and they wanted to include the couple in the making of it. So they drove it back and forth a handful of times to get the ladies' opinion on the progress and just show them how it was coming.

Stories like that kept popping up over the course of the few months we worked together. It was really sweet to hear them talk about their families throughout the whole process.

Ironically I had known Holly for a few years prior but Erika was the one to reach out to us initially. Erika had found us through Valley Green Inn (their venue!). It was a bit of a surprise to find out we already had a pretty good connection! The fact that we were familiar with their venue didn't hurt either ;).

They made things even more fun by pushing us to be more creative with our portraits. They were open to walking a little extra, leaving their reception for a few minutes when the sun went down and we had some ideas...they even brought some sparklers to make some fun wedding portraits with!

Enjoy!