Winter Diamond Lake Event Barn

Hello! Happy Friday! I’m still coming off the wedding, energy high from this last wedding – for lots of reasons. AND…in true Hannah form, I’m going to blog all about it! Payge and Grove’s winter wedding last weekend sure was something. And, as a result, this will probably be the longest 2023 wedding blog of the year. So, I hope you’re ready and buckle up because not only do I have a lot of things to say about this wedding, there was also a lot to tell about this wedding and a lot happenings too. So, sit back and relax and enjoy this winter Diamond Lake Event Barn wedding. But first and as always, give this couple all your Hannah Barlow Photography love and ENJOY!!

We had prepared long and hard for this wedding – in a great way! BECAUSE…if you remember their engagement session (HERE), Payge and Grove photograph phenomenally! They’re also generally just fun people too! This was also going to be Becca’s last wedding training before she’s off all her on her own next year as second shooter for the HBP team (but we ended up adding her on for the Dec. 16th wedding for some extra hands on deck…stay tuned). Nonetheless, we were amped up for this and I’ll tell you now that these photos are a great combination of mine, Lacey’s and Becca’s! We couldn’t STOP! For good reason…BUT ANYWAY…back to the story. So, all three of us packed up my car and headed up to Diamond Lake Event Barn in Scio, Ohio. We were also prepared for it to be a crazy day not only because I photographed a lot of these individuals and know they like to have fun but it was also a very large bridal party. Probably the largest bridal party I photographed in 2023 too! So, we braced ourselves for a fun impact and got up there to photograph all the wedding details and getting ready things.

As a December bride myself, I was in wedding love!

While Becca and I were doing details, Lacey was tag teaming the getting ready suite with the ladies.

Once we felt like we had gotten all our ducks in the row for the day, we headed down to the guys’ cabin and were greeted with open arms, literally. I saw so many familiar faces and I was so pumped up for the hype that we received. Grove got right down to showing me all of the groom details which pumped me up so much when I saw this jacket. I can’t believe it. I CAN NOTTTTTTT believe it. I don’t know what I expected…but a dapper, stark white suit jacket was NOT it…and I was PUMPED!

OK…OK…OK maybe I’ll be honest and show you why I wasn’t expecting that dapper suit. These guys sure do you like to have fun! AND the amount of people who “warned” me about these guys and how wild they were going to be can’t be counted. The difference in these guys and some other rowdy men I have photographed in the past is that they like to have fun BUT they know when to be serious too. They’re also super respectful and kind – the type you could call with a flat tire and they would all show up! They also knew photos were important and they were ready to show up and make these photos something you’ve never seen before. You just WAIT!

The day was going very smoothly and this was the point that I knew that we would likely get hung up (and I had prepared myself for this) simply because of the sheer amount of people that needed to be ready for a photo time. So, hair and make up was winding down and we were getting a plan in motion.

It was all hands on deck and we quickly got Payge ready for some glorious photos!

If you know me, I am not one to blast a blog with photos of every moment and every person even though I usually want to. But this bridal party was so much fun and so cooperative and so great and… let’s be honest…SO beautiful, I had to share way too many anyway. So, here are the ladies…in VELVET! My favorite!

… And would you believe me if I told you this was just a small batch of the photos?

I am convinced in a world where Payge is a bride, you can never ever have too many photos.

I mean, come on!

No, seriously… even when I thought I was done, I needed more photos! I mean, just look! Payge was a total trooper too. The men had arrived and were peeking around the corner and she was totally all in for photos. And more photos. MY GOODNESSSSSS!

… What a stark contrast! The men rolled and looking like this!

I haven’t introduced Ben yet. He hasn’t been photographed or seen in this blog yet but he was a new friend we met and a friend of the bride and groom and also the wedding videographer for the day! He said the only thing Grove asked him for was a game day film with everyone dressed up. The ideas above where his and ideas below are mine which come from the viral game day videos that you see on popular social media platforms. We got the best of both worlds!

We were running slightly…OK a lot…behind at this point though. So, I got my bossy pants on and had these men get ready as fast as they could. And that’s right, I heard you call me bossy! I DID! HA! But we got the job done.

Look at these men looking their very best and enjoy it now because it falls apart here in a little bit in a hilarious way.

Yep! Here we go! The fun is going to begin! The dads were off to the side watching the shenanigans go down and the guys, like I said before, were absolutely all in for anything I asked (bossy or not) and gave me some photographic gems. GEMS, I tell ya!

SO, let’s go back in time a little bit, may I? If you read the engagement blog or you remember blogs in the past, I’ve photographed Grove at two other weddings, at least. He had a mullet at one. He wore the bride’s fur coat with a Bud Light at another. So I’d like to know how this……

… Goes to THIS!! And in the best…I mean the absolute best way possible. Like a magazine worthy! The amount of squeals that came out of me and everyone else around me and probably three states over is insane. Look at Grove, GO! OOooO my goodness!! I can’t!

Don’t be fooled by those previous photos, the friend hype was peaking the hype scale!

…which led to this, which was many people’s talking point of the day and something that was brought up over and over as a favorite part of the day. I can’t wait for Payge to see these! When I say these men go all in…they go ALL IN! I’m here for it. I would do a wedding like this over and over again shenanigans and all! Grove threw out ALL the poses!

And just like that we were right back at it! It’s like a light switch!

Don’t worry! You’re not about to get bored! Because this hype crowd was about to get their individual time to shine.

No words. No captions needed.

Feel free to zoom on each individual one and a laugh your heart out.

It was the wheelbarrow for me.

We may have had a ceremony to get to, but that didn’t stop the guys for getting what they called a “senior pic Bud Light with the truck” photo op!

It’s one thing to have fun, and we were having a lot of it. But we had to get back into wedding mode and start checking things off the list. One thing Payge asked for was a first touch on the corner of the barn. It blows my mind how this group can get the best of all worlds!

We are ready for the ceremony! And there were people packed in every direction. Two thumbs up from the groom.

Shout out to Becca for catching this angle from the loft as Grove’s best man (who is also the brother of one of my 2019 grooms…I am tellin’ ya, I knew so many people!) giving him a hand in support as Payge, his bride, came down the aisle.

Deep breaths!

… It was a short, sweet and beautiful ceremony!

Alright! We were racing sunset at this point so I had to get 26 people organized for a full bridal party photo… or three… or a whole bunch. Believe it or not, this went smoother than most weddings! Big thanks to all involved!

I had to get the bride with the guys in the groom with the girls!

Then, things got really weird… and funny! Grove said, “I want to just run. Can I just start running? Like, run away?” And he did. Shout out to Lacey for getting this amazing angle of Payge in the foreground. How funny! They were already married remember. Which makes it even funnier. Like…WHY?! HA!

Then, after that, I got an idea. He also came back, by the way. I had seen some viral videos and photos over this last year of groomsmen doing a beer race. This is where a beer is placed and they have to race to get it. I was never brave enough to do it nor had I ever had the right group to do it. We had already gotten all of the formal photos done with the groomsmen so I wasn’t worried about attire or ripped pants (ironically…that comes into play later). I hadn’t even finished my question asking them to do this when they all hyped themselves up and agreed. When I tell you that they were ready…they were ready. At one point, I even started to ask them if they cleared me of liability, and I couldn’t even get the sentence finished before they said, “nope.. we’re fine, let’s just go!” And I told Grove he couldn’t participate because of that white jacket, and I’m hoping one day will get to redo this so he can be a part of it, as well. People were talking about it later in the day and the ones who lost are definitely ready for a redo in the future. Let’s do this!

On your mark!

Get set….I barely got out, “GO!”

Make sure you zoom into every single photo below because it gets funnier and funnier as it goes! AND this is just a couple!

Something told me this was the perfect group to go for this and I was correct!

… One of the best men didn’t make it very far and it wasn’t because he ripped his pants. That happened later. No, for real! If you know…you know! I’m dying laughing just typing this!

All right. All right! Back to the important points. We took this couple out by themselves for what I knew were going to be some stunning bride and groom portraits.

And, as expected, these were exactly what I envisioned in my head plus more! I absolutely struggled to decide what to put in the blog and shout out to Lacey and Becca for being the absolute best second shooters and keeping up with the speed that we had to move because the sun was setting. Also shout out to Ben for being a great partner going side-by-side for a video and photo.

If there had to be any hiccup in the day, I guess I would have to call it this. Someone had told the family they needed to come down to the lake for family photos. That wasn’t our original plan but since they were there we decided to pause for a second and get those photos done so they could go back to cocktail hour! And if that’s the only thing that goes “wrong” on her wedding day it’s a great “problem “.

Alright! Back to the stunning bride and groom portraits. You all know I love my dead stuff, so when you have a giant field full of it, that’s where we’re going!

I have no words for these. I mean, I have lots of words… But I’m gonna let them speak for themselves. This couple is so beautiful inside and out that these photos bring happy tears to my eyes.

We needed to relax. And we needed some movement! So, let’s walk!

We did it! We beat sunset and at this point, we were just soaking it all in together in our little group and heading back to the reception! Ironically, these ended up being some of my very favorites because they’re so genuine.

Shout out to Lacey or Becca who took this! I know it wasn’t me but I do love a good “couple walking back to their wedding “photo. That’s a wrap. Photo time is done. Let’s go have some fun!

Mr. & Mrs. Calvert, everyone!

First dance magic in black and white.

Speeches!

Speaking of all the people I knew at this wedding, Jeremy, groom of mine last year, photo bombed my cake photo! With his big, ole head. HA!

Even the cake moments were fun!

Let’s get this party started!

It sure was a party too! Which is what we expected. What I didn’t expect was for Payge to crowd surf at the reception. Which is totally ironic considering she was telling me earlier in the day about the groom and guys the night before doing trust falls… before the day of the wedding. So, I had a good laugh! Also, peep that white jumpsuit!

Remember earlier, when I said that one of the best men didn’t participate in the beer run… and not because he ripped his pants? Well, he ripped his pants later and we all caught it. The expression on people’s faces is what cracks me up the most. We have other angles too, but for sake of the Internet… you’ll have to get those from the couple. HA!

This selfie was requested. We took it. And then they told me I better put it in the blog. So, here you go!

Don’t worry, they didn’t leave Ben out either!

I could go on and on but where do I stop? So, since we started the day with Busch light, I figured it was perfect that we end the day with Busch light and dancing!

Andddddd that’s a wrap on this amazing wedding! If you’ve been around the Hannah Barlow Photography blogs for a while, you know that I usually tie up wedding season in November. My kids both play winter sports so I miss out on a lot whenever I’m at these weddings. This wedding was no different as my son’s wrestling team had a tournament. But that’s OK. TOTALLY ok! Because I absolutely would not have missed this wedding for the world and that’s why I agreed to book it when Payge and Grove asked me to be their wedding photographer. I photographed them other times and I knew not only were they genuine humans but their friend group was like no other and I was not about to miss the fun and shenanigans and beauty that was going to be this wedding!

Thank you both for asking me to be your wedding photographer. Thank you for trusting me to take these beautiful photos. Even though this wedding day was crazy, it was crazy in an amazing way and I would do weddings like this over and over again if I could.

SO, one more time…Congrats to the Calverts! What an amazing day! It was an amazing blog! And I’m sad that it’s all over but I will be off posting these photos on my Instagram and my other social media platforms and my website because Payge and Grove’s wedding sure deserves to be everywhere.

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have an amazing weekend! Thanks for reading!

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Vendors

Bride’s Gown – Universe Bridal and Prom

Bridesmaids’ Dresses – J. Jones

Men’s Attire – Men’s Wearhouse

Hair – Gypsy Soul Salon

Makeup – Summer Emory

Florist – Thompson Country Florist

Video – Ben Amend (@bensawthis)

Cake/Desserts – Sedona Sweets

DJ – Sound Tech

Catering – Here to Serve BBQ