Friday morning, Brian and I woke up anticipating an amazingly love-filled weekend to celebrate the marriage of our friends, Alex and Joy.

They had the ceremony on Lake James in the Northern part of Indiana, not too far from my parent’s house in Fort Wayne.  So, after a quick breakfast Brian and I packed up the car at my parent’s house and headed to Alex’s parent’s lake house to get the wedding festivities started.

After visiting with the family and going over a brief time line of the day, Joy and Alex took Brian and I to the ceremony location.

The ceremony location was actually in the woods at the top of a wooden structure called Hell’s Point. Joy explained that whenever she visited the lake, she made sure to run the trails stopping at Hell’s Point to enjoy the natural beauty.

Beautiful is an understatement for this location! The point was completely surrounded by trees and it was absolutely amazing.

Once we got to the point, we did a quick run-through of the ceremony to work out any potential kinks.

When we got back to the lake house, Alex’s family was busy preparing food in the kitchen and putting together finishing touches for the ceremony.

While it was a tad bit chilly, the sun was shining and we couldn’t resist taking a boat ride! We all changed into casual boating attire and loaded up.

After our quick boat ride (in which at one point we thought we may be stranded out on the water…!) it was suddenly time to get ready for the ceremony!

It’s amazing how when the wedding day starts it feels as though there is SO much time to get everything done, then suddenly wedding time is here and it seems as though there is NO time to get anything done 🙂

This was Joy and Alex’s last picture together as an engaged couple!

Before we started to work on Joy’s hair and makeup she presented each of the girls with a beautiful little box.

Each box had an adorable turquoise necklace for each of us.  I love it so much and made sure to wear it for the ceremony.

Then, it was time for hair and makeup.  I made sure to be ready before working on Joy so I could take my time making her look more gorgeous than she already is 🙂

Alex’s mom, Kris, gave Joy a handkerchief from her grandmother.  So precious.

I don’t have pictures of the actual  ceremony because there were only about 10 people there and we all had an important role.  I have no doubt that Becca and Daniel (the photographers) captured every moment beautifully.  The ceremony was beautiful, heart-felt, intimate, and absolutely perfect for Joy and Alex.  Brian and I felt honored to be there.

While I don’t have photos from the ceremony, I do have this ONE picture from right after the ceremony…stunning 🙂

Thank you for the photo Becca and Daniel!

Once we were done with the ceremony and the fun pictures, we came back to the lake house to find this beautiful table set for dinner.

It’s gorgeous!

We spent the rest of the evening celebrating the newlyweds, eating delicious food, and having an amazing night.

And Joy and Alex posed for the photographers with the beautiful sunset as a backdrop.  I can’t wait to see the rest of the photos!

We had yummy fish tacos with fish caught by Alex’s grandpa.  So good!

Saturday-The Reception

Because the wedding was basically family-only and very intimate, Joy and Alex had a reception with more friends and family the day after the wedding at a local Fort Wayne restaurant, Club Soda.

Brian and I had an amazing time the day before and couldn’t wait to see what was in store for this portion of the wedding.

Every detail of the wedding was amazing and screamed Joy and Alex.  There was so much love and happiness everywhere…in the guests, in the newlywed couple, in the family, in the decor…everywhere.

Joy and Alex are both in dental school…this little detail was absolutely perfect 🙂

And of course there were sunglasses that said “Blinded by Love” on the side.  So cute!

There were plenty of fun drinks to enjoy…a cosmo for me.

And a martini for the bride!

Such an amazing night and celebration.

How did the night end?

With LOTS of dancing 🙂

We love you Alex and Joy!! Congratulations!  We couldn’t be happier for you, and we can’t wait to see how your journey unfolds!