July 10, 2018

Travel, Weddings

Destination Wedding: European Wedding, Timisoara, Romania | Ioan + Iesareela!

Timisoara, Romania Wedding

I have been trying to write this blog post for a couple weeks now and I still am unsure how to begin. I think I have to start waaaay back when, during a sunrise engagement session the moment Ioan and Iesareela hopped out of their car in Akron, Ohio.

FIRST – I’s are pronounced as J’s in Romanian, in case you didn’t know, because I didn’t (I’m still embarrassed that I spelled their names incorrectly thinking that the I was a lowercase L on the engagement gallery! Hand to literal face oops!)!
So not really phonetically: *John* and *Jesharelah* hopped out of the car.

I’ll only say this once: these two are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous together! It was obvious that they adored each other as if they were two children falling in love for the first time. Iesareela smiled and laughed effortlessly and Ioan looked at her as if she was the only light in the world. When we first met, she handed me the cutest bouquet of pink and white flowers and a box of chocolates. I gushed. 🙂 I mean, she gifted them to ME. I then melted as if the cool girl in school gave me a seat at her super exclusive lunch table.

The session then flew!! There is something to be said about a small language barrier and my style of shooting. In case you forgot, I capture everything candidly. This means that I let my couples just interact with each other while I capture their love. Since Iesareela’s first language is Romanian, it allowed me to just capture them interacting without the need to continuously chat. I squealed and jumped of course, but I learned more about their relationship like I was a fly on the wall – WHICH is EXACTLY how I enjoy capturing love!

Fast forward to their wedding: in TIMISOARA ROMANIA.
Yes you reach that correctly, Romania. These two trusted me enough to fly across that pond to capture their glorious day, and I was immensely honored.
I won’t sugarcoat it though, my travel was filled with delays, stress crying, and a ton of napping in the Munich airport. But the moment I arrived I was welcomed with open arms.

Their family was a large reason I knew this wedding would be beautiful. With the amount of children invited, and Iesareela’s amazing group of siblings, it was a celebration like no other!
Everyone had a smile on their face, and a full heart of joy!
The men wore clean cut European suits (that I have always loved) and the women were dressed in stunning colors!
The city itself had so much magic to top off the entire weekend! We even stopped for a quick coffee during their bridal portraits to relax and enjoy the scenery!
The ceremony was phenomenal, and included EVERYBODY. They had sermons from so many different people in the faith, and then performances and scripture readings from family members and friends. I loved how they didn’t have a bridal party either (just all the little kids!) – and everyone stood up for both the Bride and the Groom!
The reception was at a Villa in the middle of the country side and was not like your typical American reception. If I could explain it in one word it would be: Eating. Lots and lots of delicious eating with some fun games mixed in between! Families and friends were able to relax and enjoy the entire evening, celebrating these two love birds!

I am extremely blessed to have crossed the path of every single one of my couples.
This one though gave me a reminder of why I love doing what I do;
An insight as to why my approach to photography is the way that it is;
And a full heart of knowing that no matter the language, the religious belief, the reception timeline, how far I need to travel: love is love, and that is all I need!

So enjoy some of my favorites below!
Especially the ones where we roamed around Timisoara, or the snapshots of those little nuggets running around! SO cute!!
I know I added too many, but as always, I just couldn’t help myself! //

Enjoy xo riss