Mitchel & Chelsea // Wedding at The Gathering Place at Darlington Lake

Every wedding I photograph & am a part of is special, but there have been a handful that have been extra special – and Chelsea & Mitchel’s wedding this past Friday definitely falls into that extra special category!

Chelsea has been my sister Amy’s best friend since they were babies, so that means Chelsea is like a distant younger sister. So, to be there & celebrate as she & Mitchel finally got married was absolutely amazing!

I say “finally” get married, because Chelsea & Mitchel’s friendship has been going on almost as long as Amy & Chelsea’s friendship has (apparently that’s just how it goes with Chelsea, if she adopts you as a friend, you’re stuck with her for life). In other words, it was no huge surprise when Chelsea & Mitchel officially got engaged. In fact, Chelsea had been unofficially wedding planning for months before she officially had a ring on her finger.

And their day finally arrived this past Friday. It was epic. Just, not in the “perfect”, “nothing could have been better” kind of way. In fact, the weather decided to throw a pretty big snag into the day. Chelsea had always dreamed of an outdoor, sunset wedding. Thus she & Mitchel planned to get married during “golden hour” at The Gathering Place at Darlington Lake.

The Gathering Place is an extraordinary venue. Sitting right on a lake, “picturesque” doesn’t quite describe it. It’s so incredibly beautiful!

The only problem was that a major storm was blowing through the area on Friday evening – set to arrive & stick around pretty much from 5pm to 6pm. And with the wedding ceremony set to begin at 5:30pm, Chelsea & Mitchel were forced to make the decision that no bride & groom ever wants to face after they’ve planned an outdoor wedding: do we move the ceremony indoors?

I’ve witnessed quite a few couples have to work through that decision on their wedding day. It’s never fun. But I have never seen a couple face the challenge of rain with as much grace as Chelsea & Mitchel. As 4:45pm arrived & a decision had to be made, they both agreed that moving things indoors was the right call. They didn’t fuss, throw a temper tantrum, or whine, they simply shrugged & said, “What else can we do?” (you have to take my word for it & keep reading thru this post though because those storm clouds had the most incredible reward!)

Chelsea & Mitchel – thank you so so much for inviting Derrick & I in to document your amazing wedding day! We absolutely loved celebrating with you & still can not stop talking about how wonderful your day was. The bottom line is: if you both can handle the pouring rain on your wedding day with as much grace & understanding as you did – you guys are pretty much set up for success as a married couple. Because the honest truth is, storms will come, pouring rain will interrupt your wonderfully planned out & peaceful marriage, but as long as you handle those storms just like you did on your wedding day – you guys will always come out on the other side stronger for it!

I had to laugh: if you know Chelsea, you know her love affair with apples. It only made sense then that she was having an apple while she was getting ready for her wedding day!

As we were outside finishing up a few pre-ceremony bridesmaid photos, it began to sprinkle. We took cover & the girls instantly gathered around Chelsea & prayed. They prayed for Chelsea & Mitchel & their new marriage together, as well as the weather for the rest of the day. It was so beautiful.

You can’t exactly have a wedding on Star Wars Day without at least a few Star Wars references, now can you?

Oh! Look at these two cute wedding guests I found!

This is where the ceremony was supposed to take place. And this image was taken about 5 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to take place. Obviously, Chelsea & Mitchel made the right call to move things under cover!

Thankfully, as the ceremony ended, so did the rain! And we were able to take all of their portraits outside as planned!

After dinner was served, the bridal party gave 4 separate toasts, and you can see in my photos how the sky changes as each person gives their speech. Basically, by the time the last bridesmaid was speaking, the sky had exploded & we instantly grabbed Chelsea & Mitchel to run & capture the perfectly pink sky!

And as quickly as the sky exploded with color, it faded away. I’m still in shock at how perfect it was though – I have seriously never seen a more perfect sky on a wedding day! What an amazing reward for having a rained out ceremony!

Mitchel & his Mom performed a choreographed Mother/Son Dance & let’s just say: they brought the house down!

Huge shout-out and thank you to the amazing team of vendors, as well as friends & family, who helped make Chelsea & Mitchel’s wedding day absolutely perfect!

Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Gathering Place at Darlington Lake in Darlington, PA
Catering: Medure’s Catering in New Castle, PA
Bridal Gown Retailer: David’s Bridal
Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Florist: Flowerama in Pittsburgh, PA
Cupcakes: Oakmont Bakery in Oakmont, PA
Bride & Groom’s Ring Designer: Diamond Design Jewelers of Wexford in Wexford, PA
DJ: DJ Bruce Matteo in Darlington, PA
Photographer: Kara Abbey Photography in Irwin, PA