[Mitchell & Emily // Lena, Illinois]

Oh man it is SO hard for me to know where to begin with these two!

The bride, Emily, is actually my cousin and although she is family she has also been such a cherished friend of mine as long as I can remember.

Some of my absolute favorite memories of my entire childhood include this gal pal… so to say her wedding day was incredibly special to me is a huge understatement!

Then enter Mitch… is it cliche to say I knew he’d be the one to marry Emily the moment I met him? I mean honestly I think I knew even before based on the way Emily spoke about him alone.

I specifically remember being on our family cruise hearing the words she spoke about Mitch KNOWING this was something so incredibly special… they were engaged the very next year on the same Disney cruise dressed as Peter Pan & Wendy! *cue the tears*

Emily is one of the most loyal, determined, kind-hearted people that I know and it was going to take someone REALLY special to enter her life that our family would all love + respect and it truly is unanimous— we ALL love Mitch and think he’s an incredible fit for Emily.

And seriously there is NOTHING better than seeing the people you love fall in love with incredible people. ugh.
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ANYWAYS I obviously could go on forever and ever about these two, but I wanted to talk about some of my favorite memories from their day and then obviously share a million photos!

First, you may remember when we took their magical—narnia— engagement photos but if not, click here!

I remember that day talking and dreaming up what their June wedding day would be like— they had decided to get married at Emily’s family farm which has a lot of sentimental value to not just Emily, but to her parents + the rest of the family too!

This whole day was made possible by so many family and friends pouring time and energy into making it all come together.

And man was it beautiful.

Emily and Mitch put so much thought and care into the details, and I really think you’ll see that in the images below!

Some things I want to highlight:

— Emily’s (and my!!) grandmother did a LOT of sewing! The girls robes and the guys ties are some of the things she made that you’ll see below.

— The father of the groom hand made the benches used for the ceremony as well as the bride and groom sweet heart table at the reception.

— Aunt and uncle of bride made all the beautiful wooden signs you’ll see!

— Emily beautifully wore her mother’s veil.

— Emily’s brother + BFF Nathan was in officer candidate school, so you’ll see him making his appearance VIA Facetime + a video speech during the reception.

— Emily and Mitch’s fur baby, Bodie made an appearance for a little family photo.

— Emily’s horses also made an appearance for some bride and groom photos which MAY BE my favorite photo series of all time so when you get to that set of photos, make sure to pay close attention!

— My aunt and uncle poured a lot into making their property look so so so beautiful and I really wanted to make sure to highlight that!

— SO MANY more family and friends helped with the big day from planting and caring for the plant center pieces, to making SO much food and salsa for the give-away presents. It was seriously such sacrifice from people who love and adore Emily and Mitch (which is so incredibly easy to do!)

— I could say so much more— but Emily and Mitch: it was such an honor to spend this day with you both in my favorite way. It’s such a privilege to be a part of so many special moments. I love you two SO much.

Here are a TON OF MY FAVORITES :)