liz + zack // Becker Farms Wedding

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on May 30, 2019 at

If you’ve been following along with our blogging and social media for a little while, you’ll probably have noticed by now that the core of our mission is to document the beautiful emotional connection that our couples share with their families and friends. While a wedding day is often thought of to be a celebration of the bride and groom, it’s really more a celebration of family. Celebrating the family members who made us who we are today, remembering and honoring those who are no longer with us, celebrating the joining of two separate families into one, and of course, celebrating the birth of a brand new family unit. Liz and Zack certainly had no shortage of any of these things on their wedding day. Liz wore her family’s 1959 heirloom wedding gown with great pride, needing only a few minor adjustments, and accompanied by very special heirloom jewelry. Zack and his father took the time to restore his great grandfather’s 1941 tractor specifically to have on the premises, not just a great addition to the setting at Becker Farms, but a beautiful reminder of the bond that still stands strong between the generations in his family.

Read along to find out more about Liz and Zack, including how they met (mini breakdown: Liz sees. Liz likes. Liz conquers), as well as reading about all of the sweet little ways they incorporated their family into so much of their big day. We love these two! And hope you guys do, too!

Liz: “My ceremony gown was a family heirloom, first worn by my dad’s mom in 1959 and then again by my mother in 1987. I’d always figured I would wear it on my wedding day, to keep the tradition going, and to know that I was marrying the man of my dreams in the same dress my mom married my dad in. The dress hasn’t altered much over the years. It originally had long lace sleeves when my grandma wore it, then my mom replaced those with the short, poofy ones classic to 80s weddings. I chose to take off the sleeves entirely. Additionally, underneath the skirt of the dress is a medallion of fabric cut from my other grandmother’s wedding dress, so both my grandmas were present even though only one is still with us today.“

Liz: “I wore my grandmother (Mimi)’s pearls, which my mom and all her sisters wore on their wedding days. I also wore a gold and ruby bracelet that my grandfather bought my Mom. It was one of the last gifts he gave her before he passed away.“

Liz: “Our First Look had me in tears immediately. I couldn’t believe how handsome Zack looked, like, that’s my husband!!! I get to MARRY that man! Every time I see him I still hear trumpets. We highly suggest doing a First Look. The amount of time it saves after the ceremony and the less stress it involves is totally worth it. Having that private moment with your soon-to-be spouse is really special. And I still cried when I saw him at the end of the aisle, so none of that magic is lost. Plus, you get to enjoy cocktail hour!“

Zack: “I love the book Liz made me. It means a lot that she put all the time and effort into making something that special for me.“

Liz: “Zack and I met on the first day of orientation for our freshman year at Alfred University (August 25, 2011 to be exact!). I had gone to the dining hall with my roommate and a friend for dinner. Zack and his roommate sat down at our table — they were 20′ long tables — and they sat a little ways away from us. I invited them to sit closer to us so we could all chat and they moved down but both sat on the same side of the table. I told ‘the one with light hair’ (that was Zack) to move to the other side of the table so I could talk to him. I moved down, sat across from him, and asked him rapid-fire questions about where he was from, major, minor, dorm, hobbies, etc. I then told him he should come over and watch a movie, took his phone and put my number in it, and then told him we should go to the orientation activities together. He obliged to all of it with good humor for having been basically harassed by some random girl during dinner.“

Liz: “Zack’s family has always wanted to go look for moose in my home state of New Hampshire, so we went with his parents on Halloween weekend to NH. We stayed at my parents’ house. Saturday night I was upstairs getting ready to go out for Halloween with my best friend when Zack’s mom called me and my friend downstairs. Both our families, and Zack, were sitting in the dining room, Zack had put on a nice shirt, and he had this smug smile on his face. He then got up and walked towards me with his hands behind his back, so at this point I knew what was happening. He proposed, I said yes, we got in costume and went out and celebrated our engagement with Halloween festivities!“

Liz: “I can’t not mention how cool Jenn was when my ‘maids and I brought out Bouncy the Traveling Clown, a small clown figurine the 3 of us have brought all over the world (literally!) and taken pictures with. He’s an icon.“

Liz: “Zachary and his dad restored his great-grandfather’s 1941 John Deere Model B tractor for the wedding — years ago I told Zack I wanted it to be at the wedding, and he made it happen!“

Zack: “Even though the tractor didn’t run I’m still really glad we got pictures with it and everyone enjoyed it. The tractor means a lot to me.“

Liz: “Right before we walked down the aisle, my dad told me he had something important to tell me. And then as we were walking down the aisle he started to quote a line from one of our favorite movies, Moonstruck, and it was hilarious.“

Liz: “The poem read during the ceremony, E.E. Cumming’s ‘I Carry Your Heart (I Carry It In My Heart)’ is one of my favorite poems by my favorite poet. I know it by heart and have for years.“

Zack: “During the vows, after I said ‘I, Zachary, take you, Elizabeth’, Liz said ‘I, Zachary, take you, Zachary’ – it was funny!“

Liz: “We both come from very close, large families, so we place a very high value our families. We place high value on honesty and openness. We’ve never allowed for stagnancy in our relationship because we believe in fluidity and growing together. We also really value quality time. Kindness, communication, gratitude, all these things are so important to us.“

Liz: “I loved being surrounded by the most important people in our lives and just feeling absolutely loved and supported. The joy that weddings bring is contagious and being able to share that with everyone who was made me so happy.“

Liz: “Being able to incorporate so many personal touches into the day was important to us. We’re both very family-oriented and creative/handy, so wherever we could make things more personal, we tried our best. We DIYed the programs, centerpieces, and favors! The centerpieces I owe to my mom, who snagged all of the books we used from a library sale for a total of about $20! Some of my favorite books of all time were used, which gave it a personal touch too. I had our cake stand custom made by my incredibly talented ceramicist friend and former roommate, Zoey. She even painted our cats onto the stand!“

Liz: “My reception dress belonged to a family friend and originally it had a long full skirt. I knew I wanted something short for the reception so we had the seamstress cut the skirt short and take off the lace peplum waist and that was that. Considering how hot the day was, I’m really glad I had a short dress!“

Zack: “All of the speeches were wonderful and really pinpointed how we are really good together and everyone knew we would get married.“

Liz: “We used my parent’s wedding cake knife to cut our cake, which was a beautiful moment.“

Liz: “Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors provided the music and lyrics for ‘I Like to Be with Me when I’m with You.’ Our dear friend Katy sent me the song back in 2012 and it just stuck as the ‘Zack and Lizzie song.’ I had made a playlist of potential first dance songs and we listened to them all but this one was always the one. I asked my brother, Matt, to learn it on guitar to play it for us and my friend Chloe to sing. I loved hearing Matt play guitar growing up, and Chloe is a fabulously talented singer in addition to being an amazing friend. The combination of the two of them playing it was incomparable. The first dance was such a beautiful experience. I’m so glad we had Matt & Chloe performing it because it made an already special song even more so. Special shout out to my friend and former roommate, Steph, for letting us borrow her guitar!“

Liz: “I’m not sure how Big Star’s ‘Thirteen’ became my dad’s and my song, but music has been a really important piece of our relationship. Whether it was Springsteen or the Beatles or George Strait, our bond is forged in great music and always has been. In my high school yearbook in the baby picture section, my dad used a lyric from the song as my quote. The song has always been ours.“

Zack: “My mom and I danced to Kenny Loggin’s ‘The House on Pooh Corner.’ It was really nice dancing to something my mom used to sing to me as a baby to help me fall asleep.“

Some great advice from Liz: “Weddings are stressful AF. It’s so easy to get caught up in family politics and trying to please everyone, but the day is about 2 people: the bride and groom. For the most part, everyone else is irrelevant. That being said, don’t be afraid to delegate! Get your bridal party involved and even if they’re small things like scheduling nail appointments or an eyebrow waxing, if it’s less stress on you as the bride and can be handled by someone else, let them help. I am so grateful for everyone in the wedding party and my family who all chipped in with preparations and setup and the DIY pieces.“

And in conclusion, some very sweet words from Liz and Zack about working with us: “Working with Jenn and Ben is an amazing experience. They are so grounded and dedicated and for us having a wedding party of 16, you need a firm hand on the reins. The vision they have for their photography, to tell a story through pictures, is the exact mindset you want in a wedding photographer. Pictures that may be posed never feel canned or corny, and they capture all of the joy of the day in gorgeous pictures you will be glad to have forever. They’re also a beautiful example of a happy and strong marriage, which is such a great vibe to have for your wedding day! We can’t sing their praises highly enough.“

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Looking for more from Becker Farms?? Click here!

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Wedding Vendors Include:

Venue: Becker Farms
Hairstylist: Sarah Chatham
Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal
Groom’s Look: Men’s Wearhouse
Invitations: Minted
Florist: Lipinoga Florist
Cake: Becker Farms
Music: Saxman Slim

 

jenna + adam // Becker Farms Wedding

Filed in weddings shot by Ayres Photography on March 26, 2019 at

Becker Farms has been one of our favorite venues to photograph for over 8 years. At this point, it feels like an old friend that we love to see and catch up with when we can. We know the grounds, we know where all of the “good photo spots” are, and we love the staff. We always have the best time at BF, but somehow, couples like Jenna and Adam make it even better. :)

Their day started at the cute little cabins on the property. Ben and I split up and photographed the guys and girls separately before heading to the ceremony site. J and A didn’t want to do a first look, but they did hold hands around a corner and pray together before the ceremony, which was a super sweet moment that I loved capturing. Their ceremony was so beautiful and heartfelt, and the weather was perfect for portraits. We used all of the best locations that Becker Farms has to offer, and finished off the evening by sneaking out for a few sunset portraits in the orchard. I honestly couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect day!

Jenna and Adam were kind enough to share a very detailed version of their love story for this post, so be sure to read as you scroll! Their words really bring the post to life!

Jenna: “We met at the end of our sophomore year in college. We are both students at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. (Adam grew up in Wilmore). Asbury University has a tradition that every sophomore class puts together a sophomore musical. That year, the director (my roommate, best friend, and maid of honor) decided on High School Musical. Adam was cast as Ryan Evans and I was cast as Kelsie Nielson. We were not friends during the musical, but after the musical ended, we slowly started to talk more and more. The summer after our sophomore year, I stayed in Wilmore and Adam and I started to talk a lot more and hang out almost every day, but we were very adamant that we were not dating. The closer it got to the end of summer, the more we both knew that we would end up dating. We went on our first official date on August 20, 2016, just one week after school started!“

Adam: “On August 21st, 2017, there was a solar eclipse that came through the area that we live in. It was a complete eclipse in some areas, and was supposed to be pretty significant where we were living. So, everyone went crazy, buying eclipse glasses and getting super excited for whatever this was!

Jenna knew that I was planning a proposal, she’d even worked out of me that I’d bought a ring, but she had no idea that by this point and was just trying to figure out when the right time to propose was going to be. One day, I watched a video that said that a solar eclipse is supposed to look like a diamond ring, where there’s just a band of light around the moon and one spot that’s flaring like a diamond. Later, when I was thinking about when and how to propose, that video came back to my mind and I knew what I wanted to do! 

So, on eclipse day, we went out to the barn where Jenna‘s horse Jessie lives. We went to a back field by ourselves and got situated on a fence to watch the eclipse happen. Jenna didn’t know it, but I was doing my best not to face my back to her, because there was a box in my back pocket…We watched the eclipse together, and it was thoroughly underwhelming! It turns out, being a couple hours north of the full eclipse meant that, while most of the sun got covered, it didn’t even get close to dark. Jenna was pretty disappointed, and my diamond ring analogy was seeming like quite the stretch now, but I still knew this was the moment I wanted.

We hopped off of the fence, and I said, ‘We watched a video that said that a solar eclipse looks like a diamond ring, but since we didn’t see a diamond ring in the eclipse, would you like to see a real one?’ I got down on my knee, and pulled the ring out of my pocket. I told Jenna that I love her more than anyone I’ve ever known and that I love sharing life together. I told her that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and said, ‘Jenna Grace Filipiak, will you marry me?’ Jenna has always (rightly) called me a cheeseball, and this may have been my cheesiest moment. But she still said yes!“

Adam: “We balance each other so well. Jenna is a bit impulsive while I am a bit too hesitant to act, but we work together very well. I make way too many assumptions, but Jenna helps me to see the world without as much bias. Jenna experiences very quick emotional changes, but I am able to generally be stable and a safe place for her. We both bring out the best in each other and we both like ourselves when we’re with the other person. There’s so much that makes us want to spend our lives together, but the biggest thing is that we both love each other too much to want to be anywhere else.“

Adam: “Jenna is not the person that I thought I was looking for, and I don’t think I’m the man she was looking for, but I think we’d both agree that we’re exactly the person that we both needed. We are able to express anything and everything to each other, whether it’s a difficult opinion or a raw emotion, and we know that we will never be judged for those things. We make each other laugh, even though Jenna claims she’s not funny and makes sure that I don’t ever think I’m too funny…We’re both passionate about family and are extremely excited to be a spouse to each other and being a mother and father in the future.“

Jenna: “Adam and have mostly shared values. We both value a relationship with God. We both want to follow the direction that He has for our lives and honor Him in everything that we do. Thankfully, God has given us similar directions and we feel affirmed that He will use our relationship for something good! We also highly value family. We come from very different families, but we see value in those differences. We plan to start a family of our own someday, and we want it to be very obvious that family comes first. Adam wants to be a pastor, and this job can be very demanding, but we have talked a lot about the importance of family and our kids knowing how loved they are and how much their parents love each other.”

Adam: “We love to talk about what’s going on in our lives and about our future together. Cooking together is a lot of fun, too! If we get a chance to go out and have the money to do anything, we like to go out to eat, play with puppies at the pet store, to the movies, or (when it’s warm) to be outside! We’ve kayaked together, ridden horses together, and had picnics. What I’ve found is that it doesn’t always really matter what we’re doing; the big thing is that we really enjoy spending time together and finding our next adventure!“

Jenna: “We value each other. Our relationship isn’t an easy one. We try to talk about everything and have really open communication. One isn’t higher than or better than the other, we are equal. I can see that Adam values my emotional safety. He always tells me that he wants to be a safe place for me. Whenever I am hurting, he always wraps me tight in his arms and I know that he is a safe place for me to work out my emotions. He says that I value him by taking care of him when he needs me to. I see his pain when he doesn’t see it yet and I make sure that he takes care of himself. He loves to give, but the moments where he needs to be weak and I take care of him are extremely important for him.“

Jenna: “We really enjoy eating out together – more than our college budgets can often afford. Having a place where we can dress up just a little, share a nice meal together, and talk about life is so much fun! Then, to get to do something fun like bowling, going to a movie, or playing games at an arcade makes the night even more fun! To cap it off, it’d definitely be a warm enough night that we could go outside and walk around town, maybe find a fun coffee shop or park, and enjoy whatever we come across together. And then, even though it’s not out on the town, that night would probably end by getting to come home, curl up together, and relax until bedtime.“

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Looking for more beautiful spring time weddings?? Click here!

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Wedding Vendors Include:

Venue: Becker Farms
Wedding Dress Shop: David’s Bridal
Wedding Dress Designer: Melissa Sweet
Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal
Groom’s Look: Men’s Wearhouse
Florist: Summertime Blooms
Cake: Becker Farms