Valerie Hawkins Photography: Lizzie & Phil | Kettering Church

To the casual observer, Lizzie and Phil might seem like an unlikely pair. She's bold and outgoing. He's reserved and quiet. I'll bet if he had a nickel for every time someone said he was shy, he could have paid for the honeymoon with rolls of nickels. As the saying goes, "opposite attract" and their connection was intriguing to me. After listening to them, it's obvious that they have a deep respect for each other. I also noticed that they have this almost secret language of looks and whispers. Phil will whisper something to Lizzie and she just bubbles over with laughter. During a speech at the reception, Lizzie's father said, "When Phil speaks, you listen." When I heard his speech, it so strongly echoed what I had observed between Lizzie and Phil. I didn't have the words to describe their connection, but I knew that I wanted to photograph it.

Ask 20 different photographs how to photograph something and you'll probably get 20 different responses. I asked Lizzie if she would get dressed in the church lobby right in front of these doors. Then I turned off all of the overhead fluorescent lights and used the natural light and shadows to create an intimate photograph of this moment.

"Make sure you can dance in it."

My girls thought I was editing photos of Queen Elsa.

Kettering Church is beautiful; it has a soaring wood plank and beam ceiling with a gorgeous stained glass window.

And it's a challenge to photograph.

It's very dark inside. Like, ISO 12,800 dark. The altar is awash with purple stage lighting, and the stained glass window is significantly brighter than the ambient setting, none of which you probably notice as a guest. In fact, Lizzie debated even exposing the stained glass window because she was warned that other photographers complained about it. When she asked me about it, I gave her some photo examples and said that ultimately they should choose based on the experience. I'm glad that they uncovered that stained glass. Yes, I spent a lot of hours removing color casts and dodging/burning, but I'm rather fond of the dramatic lighting and hard shadows that helped to create beautiful images of their ceremony.

Every ceremony should have a place for the couple to sit, face the guests and listen! I so love this idea.

And here's that connection again.

The rain didn't stop us from getting some gorgeous photos at Blackhawk Park.

The bench was wet. I dried it as best as I could with the only available cloth that I had - my pants - before asking them to sit. Then I felt a little self conscious and asked, "Does it look like I wet my pants?"

They laughed and laughed and hopefully were impressed with my willingness to get the shot.

The Presidential Banquet Center is always stunning, especially with lighting by Party Pleasers. The color choices and sparkle made the reception gave the reception a "glam but fun" vibe.