Stylish Couple’s Wedding in the Chardon Countryside

Claire and Alan are creative, fun, caring and love great photography! Sounds like my kind of people!

Please enjoy, Scott Shaw Photo | Cleveland Wedding Photographer

The couple met at Tufts University near Boston and had plenty
of their wonderful classmates at the wedding. I heard some great stories during
the toast about how they met and their times at college.

Claire’s parents, Carol and Bruce have an amazing home built in 1849 by
George Justice on the outskirts of Chardon. I love old houses (mine is 90 years old) and quality
antiques so it was wonderful to spend time there while they
were getting ready for their wedding.

Bruce was formerly a commercial photographer and
has a great old camera collection too!

Alan gave the guys some decanters as one of their presents for their support.

I loved the bridesmaids dresses. Claire wanted each girl’s unique style to come through and it worked!

This gorgeous necklace has an interesting history. Claire said:
“The necklace belonged to a great, great aunt of mine – Clara Lipper
(but I wasn’t intentionally named after her). I believe that the story
goes that there is a photo of president Calvin Coolidge (elected 1923) and
Clara wearing this necklace when the family was hosting Coolidge at a family
home in Maryland during his campaign.”

Her mother, Carol, helped her with the necklace.

I don’t remember why the guys were synchronizing their watches but I do know they were all on time.

The shadows from a transom window in the home created this shadow.

This gorgeous blanket chest was the backdrop for Claire’s shoes.

Her father, Bruce, is obviously enamored with his daughter, as is Carol.

This canoe floated in the pond and Claire said: “Our family
has used this beautiful canoe for years. I’ve done multiple camping/canoeing trips
with my family or with just my dad in that canoe. Many happy memories!”

The couple had a First Look and met in the woods near the house.
What a great moment. The thing I love about these is it’s an extra story
in the day and totally different from the moment when the couple first
sees each other walking down the aisle.

While waiting for the wedding to start the groomsmen typed
up a message. In the background is a photo from the engagement session
where we made some great photos. Local professional photo lab NEO Pro Imaging
in Cleveland made the print. Check them out for quality prints!

There will be a link to those amazing engagement photos at the
end of this blog post. Don’t forget to check them out!

The typewriter belong to Claire’s grandfather “Poppa” who was Bruce’s father.
He recently passed and Claire said “He was with us in spirit!”

Alan and Claire’s father, Bruce, built the chuppah together from trees felled in the backyard.

The couple’s very dear friend Kenroy led the groomsmen and performed the ceremony.

Claire’s parents along with Alan’s, Barbara and Steven exit the ceremony.

I have seen many hugs in my time and want to say that Alan really
conveys visually how much he cares about people. You will see more heartfelt hugs in this blog
post than any two or three weddings! He does them so well.

First up is his father, Steven.

Their friend, Kenroy, has known and mentored Alan for many years. Claire
met him the night after she met Alan. Claire said: “The following morning, he told Alan,
“That’s your girl!” – somehow he just knew!”

Wow!

The entire day was filled with great details by Rain Wedding Planning
with Meredith Masaveg and her team. They were a huge help in making the day a success!

While the guests enjoyed cocktail hour and games we were off for some portraits!
This is often my favorite part of the day. Getting to be creative with the bridal party
and environment is a fun challenge that I love.

Scrabble was a fun game many played.

I loved the detail with Chardon maple sugar meets Boston Bake Beans.

This dragonfly landed near the cake for awhile until it was time for it to be cut.

Claire said of the cake: “Made by Miss Molly’s Cakes (Miss Molly bakes everything herself).
It was layered chocolate and yellow cake with fresh raspberry filling and
chocolate mocha buttercream icing. It was decorated with fresh
flowers from Grande Designs.”

More hugs!

After the best man Chris gave his speech the couple showed him
how much they appreciate him in their lives.

As a wedding photographer and professional photojournalist for so many years
I love these moments. BTW, my marketing department said to mention that
I won the Pulitzer Prize for photography and how rare that is,
especially compared to many awards and accolades people tout all the time.
(okay-done)

Maid of honor Emma gave a speech full of humor that kept the couple laughing.

The first dance!

When the dance floor opened it stayed packed all night with the help
of the band, TCB, who are with Jerry Bruno Productions. I was lucky enough to
see them again a few weeks later at another wedding.