cindy cieluch photography . blog

At last…my best friend’s wedding. Mia + Matt got married on June 28 in Stowe, Vermont and I’ve slowly been going through their wedding pictures picking out the right images to tell their story. Finally, in the midst of my busy wedding season…I’ve got them ready to share with you.

This couple means the world to me + my husband Matt. Mia and I worked together as reporters and anchors at KRTV, where we developed a very close friendship. She also lived with me + Matt before she moved away to Vermont. Some say we were separated at birth. We share so many interests and passions it’s almost hard to believe. We even share the same shoe size ;). And now we have husbands who share the same name.

When Mia asked me to be a bridesmaid, she also had a strict order! Mia wanted me to enjoy the wedding as a bridesmaid and friend, not a photographer. But knowing that my camera is attached to me, she added, “I won’t mind if you bring it though and snap a few.” Hint, hint. I loved being a “second shooter” to Mia’s hired photographer (who was awesome!). It allowed me to capture everything just as it happened.

Mia + Matt’s wedding day was an incredible way to get a glimpse of their relationship and love for family + friends. They decided to forego many of the wedding traditions to free up more time for mingling and dancing (which there was A LOT of!!!). I loved being able to put my camera down to celebrate. I’m glad I was able to capture what I did though, as I love this couple with all my heart!

Thank you Mia + Matt for asking me be a part of your wedding. I look forward to watching the rest of your story unfold.

It started out as a picture perfect day. So beautiful that this painter was capturing the early morning scenery outside of the hair salon.

Mia’s hair stylist’s name was Montana!!!

Once our hair and makeup were done, we hung out in Mia’s room drinking mimosas and waiting to see what would happen with the weather. It started to rain, but Mia didn’t sweat it. All she cared about was getting married to her man and that everyone had a wonderful time. She was such a calm, classy bride and her mood rubbed off on all of us.

You know I had to get the details…

Mia’s cousin Sara sewed this embroidery into the inside of Mia’s dress. Her cousins Sara, Jacki and Joey added several personal touches to the entire day.

Mia wanted her late grandpa to be with her during the ceremony, so she placed a touching photo of him inside this locket.

Mia’s niece Grace was the flowergirl and had a little *accident* right before the ceremony. Here she is drying off while having some sort of conversation with Mia. Who knows what they were saying…we were all laughing too hard to hear anything!

She is such a natural beauty that it didn’t take much for her to look stunning. I’ll never forget the moment when Matt first saw her as she walked down the aisle with her dad. He held his breath for a quick second…then whispered quietly, “Oh my gosh.”

The ceremony was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and emotional. The rain was still pouring down, so everything was moved to a beautiful patio covered by a white tent. I truly think it was a blessing in disguise. The air was crisp and cool with a slight breeze. The rain created a really intimate, cozy feeling around us and the tent made it so you could every word during the vows. I wish I had some photos to show from the ceremony, but I was busy with my bridesmaid duties. Here’s a shot I grabbed of Mia’s sister Madison right after the ceremony. Love this girl.

I grabbed some shots of the couple while the photographer was busy shooting their portraits.

The whole scene at Edson Hill Manor was just unreal. It looked like a postcard every time I turned around.

A classic ‘Matt moment’ with Mia’s cousins.

I let one of the guests play photographer for a bit and she grabbed this shot of us!

Mia sharing a sweet moment with her dad.

I will always hold this wedding day close to my heart.

When Katy + Matt said “I do,” they had ALREADY been through thick and thin. Yep, the top photo is from the archives of their childhood and the beginning of their friendship. Did you notice Katy playing footsie with Matt?!?!

When they first told me that they had been friends for a long time, I had no idea it meant back to the days of watching The Neverending Story and playing Super Mario Brothers (Nintendo was their wedding theme!!!). That’s when I knew this was going to be an awesome day for these two childhood pals who would now be lifelong pals.  Oh, there’s so many more from this day but I can’t make this couple wait any longer to see these.  I also still have more from their “day after” session to post.

I love this image of Katy getting ready…

The cake topper made for the perfect ring shot.

We not only managed to capture this family’s sweet connection to each other and their fun-loving personalities…we captured a bit of history. History that goes back decades.

The entire session was done on Billi’s (the mom) grandparents’ property - The Mehmke Steam Museum. The museum is about 10 miles east of Great Falls on the south side of US Highway 89. If you haven’t been there - go! Billi’s grandparents let us roam around the property, which is hard to describe in words. The photos don’t even do it justice. There’s antique tractors, colorful trucks, beautiful train cars and an old jail cell from the early 1900’s complete with real mug shots. There’s an old bar, retro bicycles…I could go on & on. It’s a slice of good ol’ American history and a slice of heaven for any photographer.

I’ve known the Bergman family for a long time, so it was a blast watching the girls light up in front of the camera! Emma (the youngest daughter) was cracking us up the whole time…and Becca made me smile even after the shoot was over. Here’s something she told her mom after the shoot. I ended up having her email it to me, so I could put it on my website in the testimonials section. Thank you sweetie!!!

Cindy,

I had so much fun getting my pictures taken. I don’t like my picture taken all the time, but that was a blast!!! It was not picture taking, it was playing. You were so much fun!!! You can take my picture anytime.

Becca

While we were playing around inside the museum, I found an old yellow light bulb. I carried it around, thinking and thinking about what to do with it. Then I forgot about it. But lil’ Emma didn’t forget and asked, “Why have you been carrying that around?” I whispered my goofy idea into her ear…and this is what happened!

Can you see why this was a photographer’s dream location? A tire big enough for the whole family - LOVE IT!

This family warmed my heart and gave me a session that I’ll never forget! I’ll be going back to The Mehmke Museum this fall for a photo session with Billi’s parents!!!

When the Geiger Family session wrapped up (scroll way down to see their photos), I felt compelled to ask Ashleigh if she had a cool prom dress she could wear. She laughed, looked at her mom and said, “Yes…and it’s bright pink and huge!” It was PERFECT. It’s also sentimental to Ashleigh because her grandpa bought it for her. I loved watching how quickly Ashleigh would transform from cute & casual sitting in a dirty, funky recliner to gorgeous & glamorous dancing in a pink prom dress. We found so many new spots that afternoon and she rocked each one of them!

Every once in a while, I feel like a “jumping” shot. And this family was up for it. They put their own twist on it, which turned out way better than I had envisioned! The spontaneity and dynamic of each and every family is why I love family sessions so sooo much. You never know what’s going to happen or how images are going to turn out. When I saw this top photo, I cracked up out loud! Awesome mom & dad, twin boys and a beautiful girl…what more could anyone ask for? Oh…I know…a senior session the very next day with their lovely daughter. Ashleigh’s shoot is coming up next!

Echo joined us at the tail end of the shoot. As you can see, she completely stole the show…

Since the first time this couple contacted me, I’ve known this would be a fun day!  They are just absolutely crazy about each other and have been counting down until their wedding day for months.  I also got to know them pretty well because we did an engagement shoot. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.  I’m off to bed to get some rest before the next wedding!  Congratulations Candice + Matt!!!  You’ve been such a joy to work with and I’ll be talking to you soon!  XOXO

The “this car is way too loud” face.

This may be my new fave.

At first I thought I got dust on my lens…but they’re birds!

Time to get the party started!

Jordan was up for anything. When I asked her what type of locations she wanted to go to, she said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. Anywhere is fine with me.”

And it really didn’t matter. Wherever I took her, she lit up. I already knew Jordan’s parents, but have never had the chance to hang out with her. Once we got talking and once I started clicking, she lit up even more. She’s got this sweet, generous spirit that completely grabbed me and my camera.

Thank you Jordan for being such a blast to work with…and thank you Traci for the food and conversation afterwards!

With the launch of the new blog site, I knew there would be a few bugs.  If your web browser is Internet Explorer, the text and images may be showing up really weird…words on top of each other, etc.  It looks correct in Firefox and Safari, but there’s something funny going on with Internet Explorer.  I’ll try to fix the problem ASAP.  Just wanted to let you know that you don’t need new glasses!