JESSICA + JASON

They met online. The first time Jason saw Jessica in person he thought she was absolutely beautiful. “It was like watching an angel walk down from those steps. She took my breath away. She looked gorgeous and was so sweet and kind. She had a heart of gold and I immediately fell head over heels for her.” Jess’s first noticed his smile. “He had the biggest smile on his face when I met him and he seemed like a big goofball (and he is), but also, he was really sweet.”
They both have the same sense of humor and enjoy joking with each other, but the biggest virtue was that they have the same values.  Their first date Jason asked Jessica where she would like to go on their first date and she quickly pronounced “Raising Canes Chicken Fingers.” He asked, ” Are you sure you don’t want me to take you somewhere nicer?”  Raising Canes only had restaurants in Missouri at that time, so Jason had to drive from Missouri to Illinois to pick her up, go back to Missouri to get dinner and then back to Illinois to drop her apartment.  On the drive back, Jessica was telling Jason about her dog Renly and how he would bark at Jason, but he wouldn’t bite him. He is very protective of Jessica. As soon as they came inside Renly was barking at Jason’s every move. Jason finally shows him a chicken strip and he stopped barking. Renly ate said chicken strip and they have been best friends ever since.
Jason proposed on Nov. 7, 2021, at 3:30 pm at Jessica’s family’s farm in Enos, IL, next to her grandpa’s memorial tree. “Jason and I had gone up to my mom and dad’s that morning to hang out for the day. Jason told me he wanted to get nice pictures with me, so I needed to dress nice. Later that afternoon his whole family showed up and had no idea why they were there. He then said he wanted our families to meet and go show his family my grandpa’s memorial tree. Jason helped with the spot. At this point, I knew something was up. He then said he wanted to get a picture with me, next to the tree, and the pond. Then he started talking and couldn’t get much out without tearing up and got down on one knee and proposed! My Grandpa passed Nov. 3, 2020. He was a very special person in my life, Jason never got to meet him, BUT still made it a point to include him in any way possible in our proposal.”

The theme for their October 22nd wedding day was “outdoors, rustic, and simple”. Jason just wanted everyone to have a good time and Jess wanted to have a beautiful ceremony & see all her thoughts and dreams for the day come together. And of course to marry her best friend.
What the two likely didn’t bargain for was extremely high winds on the day of their wedding.  After nearly 20 years of photographing weddings, this was one of the windiest days we’d ever experienced.  But for Jessica and Jason – it didn’t matter one bit.  They were completely focused on their day and their commitment to each other so nothing else mattered. And that is what makes a wedding day perfect.

Enjoy a peek at Jessica and Jason’s wedding Day!We love when couples incorporate sentimental, and unique items into their wedding day. “I wore cowgirl boots, I saw this pair online and knew I wanted them to wear for the wedding! I wore pearl earrings and my pearl ring. My grandpa had gotten pearls from when he was in Korea, and he had sent them back to his 2 sisters. Later they made them into rings and gave one to me and one to my sister. When I was in high school, I lost it. I was devastated and told my grandpa about it, and he assured me that it was all okay. In Nov. of 2020 he passed away. I graduated in May of 2021 from college. My mom and Grandma told me that Grandpa had asked them to buy me a pearl ring once I graduated. I found a ring I liked, and it came as a set with earrings and a necklace. I wore it in memory of him.”“I have known Danita Suhling who runs the Campground House in Carlinville for a long time. She and my dad work together. When my dad suggested having it at The Campground House, I was excited to go out and see what it was all about. Jason and I had talked about having an outdoor wedding, and I had always wanted one. We loved the place, and it was actually the only place we looked at! It was an easy decision to have it out there. I knew Danita would make it a special day for us.”“My first look with Jason was special. He hadn’t seen my dress, but I asked him one day to describe what he thought my it would look like and he almost perfectly described it!! T hroughout the day, everyone was telling me how nervous Jason was. I was happy to spend some time with him before the ceremony.”What Jason loves about Jess – “She is so loving, and she has a very caring nature.”Jessica’s favorite thing about Jason – “He is always there for me when I need him, no matter what.”I can’t tell you how many times I hear a couple say “I don’t want to do a first look because I want the moment I walk down the aisle to be special.” I think sometimes people assume that if your groom has already seen you that it won’t be that special moment where you take his breath away. Look at Jason’s reaction and tell me that moment is any less special.  In fact, it was his favorite moment of the day! “When I saw her walking down the aisle to me during the ceremony, she looked like the most beautiful bride in the world.”
“I walked down the aisle to Lady May (Instrumental) by Philip Bowen. I love the original song by Tyler Childers. When I heard the Instrumental version on TikTok (lol) I knew that I wanted to walk down the aisle to it. “Their recessional song was The Good Ones- by Gabby Barrett. “Whenever I hear this song, I have always thought of Jason.” “With some help from my grandma, we made flower bouquets and boutonnieres for the bridal party and some of the table decorations. I made the bar signs and the pumpkins on the tables. “ -JessHonestly, it was such a challenge earlier on in the day to capture the full wedding party with all the wind.  At every second someone’s hair was in their face. But this photo here describes this bunch to a T lolOur first dance song was Long Haul by Ian Munsick. We went to a Cody Johnson concert last year and Ian Munsick was an opener for him. He played Long Haul during his set and we both just loved the song. He came out with a (stripped) version, and we choose that for our first dance. The lyrics of the song are everything that we hope to have throughout our marriage. After a long day of battling the wind, I was SO SO happy that Mother Nature finally gave us something spectacular to redeem herself.  Thank goodness for this short couple minutes of a beautiful sunset to photograph the couple with! It was the icing on the wedding cake 😉At the end of the day, the two felt TIRED but very happy with how the day went. “We had a beautiful day, and everything went very smoothly. I couldn’t have pictured it any differently.” Except for maybe one thing… “The WIND, lol. The weather was beautiful, but the wind could have been a little less… windy.”

Advice for future bride + grooms:
Don’t stress about the small things. the day goes by so fast, soak it all in and make time to do so.

Wedding Professionals who made the day great:
The Campground House- thecampgroundhouse.com wonderful people to work with and they made everything so easy and stress free the day of! They have created a wonderful venue!
TenSixteen- https://tensixteenphoto.com amazing couple to work with!
Epic Entertainment- https://www.epicentertainment-llc.com JR was so great to work with! He was great at offering us advice to make our wedding/reception great!
Fema’s Catering- https://femacatering.com Wonderful food!!!
Tish Chism- She is great at making good-tasting cakes, but also beautiful cakes! She was great to work with!