MaKinley and Ethan’s wedding took place at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany. A lot of their family lives in Albany so it was a very special and convenient location for their wedding day (it could also hold a LOT of people)! The venue also held a lot of precious memories as MaKinley’s older sister had previously gotten married in the same venue.
Working with MaKinley and Ethan and getting to capture their wedding day was so special as MaKinley and my husband, Avery, are cousins! So…I also got to capture a family wedding which made it even more special as I already know them on a different level and was easily able to connect with them. I was already very comfortable and confident with everyone there. It was a very easy, definite YES to capturing their wedding!
Something else that was very unique and fun about their wedding was the date. They got married on May 7th which was the exact same day that Ethan had proposed in Hawaii the year before! Throughout the whole day it was so special to be surrounded by so much love and family, so many of their family members had flown in from other states, it was really one big family reunion!
Oh and it was also the biggest wedding I’ve ever photographed 🙂
One very special touch for their wedding day was the food. It was all very personal and the food was “them”! All the food was food that they loved, for example their favorite food is pizza so it only made sense to serve pizza on their wedding day! There was pizza, multiple flavors of popcorn and amazing cupcakes! The restaurant even had to close for the day in order to be able to serve all the guests!
We stayed on schedule for the whole day and we even had a little extra time to relax and refresh before the ceremony. There were so many special touches that they had throughout the day. For example they gave gifts to each other and each parent throughout the day.
With the extra time we of course had to get in a Tik Tok transformation video of the ladies beautiful dresses!
And MaKinley and Ethan even ended their wedding day with a vintage getaway car through a tunnel of bubbles as they ran through the guests!
On their wedding day they wanted me to capture photos that would be lifelong memories in which they were surrounded by all their friends and family. It was so important to them as there were so many special people that are close to their heart on their wedding day. There were sweet, sentimental touches such as generational wedding rings, great – grandmother’s bible, remembrance table and there were also photos of the past generations, the parents and grandparents wedding photos!
You could tell how important it was for all these family memories and traditions to be passed down and it was important that I captured that in the photos.
Also they wrote the sweetest review! 🤍
“Oh my word Hannah!!!!! You are the best!!!!!! I am in love with them! Thank you so so much!!!”
I absolutely loved shooting this wedding not only because they are family but because it was such an honor that they chose me to capture their special day and spend the day with them! I’m so grateful that I got to experience each of the special moments: being with them as they got ready in the hotel, the emotional first look with dad, and the romantic first look between the MaKinley and Ethan, the energetic, fun bridal party, the stunning indoor ceremony and the fun dance party!
Getting to attend as the photographer meant that I was able to experience all of the special, extra behind the scenes moments with them. 🤍
Hannah xx
Vendors – Venue: Linn County Fair and Expo Center / Dress: Merrime Bridal
