I was privileged to spend this summer’s fourth of July with Marianne and Derek on their wedding day! They had a gorgeous wedding, a beautiful day and tons of family and friends to celebrate with them. New York is beautiful in the summer, and if you haven’t been to the finger lakes region you should definitely go some time. Derek and Marianne’s story actually begin way back in kindergarten (they really have know each other for a long time) but it didn’t really begin until they had parted ways and met back up. I love when that happens.

So, even though they’ve moved down to South Carolina, they came back up to New York for their wedding and celebrated at the beautiful Heron Hill Winery overlooking Keuka Lake.

Marianne’s something old: a handkerchief that has been passed down the family, originally making it’s debut at in 1883. I would say that qualifies as something old!

After final preparations, it was time to go to the church, where guests were arriving and soon the ceremony began.

The stained glass set the scene for a beautiful ceremony in the church. After a receiving line and an exit complete with bubbles outside, I headed over to Heron Hill with Marianne and Derek – taking the long way to stop for some photos.

This truck was completely restored by Marianne’s dad and he had it back in high school, I can’t believe how amazing it looked. They remembered him with the truck and Marianne also carried a small photo of him in her bouquet. In fact, all of the bouquets had different charms for each bridesmaid which was a great personal touch.

I love the photo above – the sky is ridiculous and there was so much color! I almost want a big canvas print of this to hang in my house and I really think they should get something large from this series to hang up! We made our way to the winery and met up with the bridal party for group photos before joining the reception.

The reception took place in a tent adjacent to the winery, and was beautiful decorated with of course a wonderful view of the lake down below.

I love the “time capsule” where they collected predictions on what they would be doing in years to come. Hilarious I’m sure! Red was the main color of the wedding and made it’s way onto the cake in these lush roses.

After dinner and speeches, Derek and Marianne made their way to the dance floor for a beautifully choreographed  first dance… and then they invited the bridal party up to break it down!

After that the dance floor opened up and was packed the rest of the night! Marianne’s grandparents took home the prize for the “generation dance” being married for the longest time, and showed their stuff on the dance floor.

I love these pictures and have to show you the ring bearer – a before and after. At the start of the wedding, he wasn’t too sure if this was going to be fun. He made it too the reception though and definitely had a good time – how can I tell? I’m going to go with the punch stain around his lips – love it!

It was time for cake cutting and Derek and Marianne brought it. I love the silhouettes and the emphasis on the action.

the party continued, and there was quite the guys went all out to get the garter. It’s not the best action shot, but I think you can get the sense that there was leaping and a mid air catch that finally took it home (the guy on the left has it in his hand). Sometimes people dread the bouquet + garter at weddings, but that was not the case at all and it made it so much more fun!

The night ended with sparklers and fireworks in the distance – a perfect 4th of July… and that is how they began their life as husband and wife. Congratulations again!

Today is usually filled with picnics, bbq’s, parades and family fun, and for a beautiful Saturday like today it is also filled with weddings! You may remember this photo from Marianne + Derek’s engagement session last summer, which was shot for a save the date for today’s wedding. I’m all for holiday weddings, since it usually makes it easier for people to attend; Matt and I tied the knot the day before Easter.

Our family tradition for Independence Day involves going to a big picnic with family friends up near Birch Run, MI. If you’ve heard of Birch Run it’s probably because of the outlet mall, which has the most amazing sales on the 4th of July weekend :] We haven’t been up to that picnic in a while, but I can’t wait to hear about how the volleyball games went – they are the highlight of the day.

Now you know what I’m up to today- I need to leave soon to head over to the wedding which is in the Finger Lake region of NY, on Keuka Lake specifically – but let me know what you did today to celebrate. Stories please, I can’t wait to hear them!