Portiuncula Wedding at Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio | Lily + Wiatt

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many couples to make tough decisions about their wedding plans.  Some had to postpone but some decided to move up their timeline and get married earlier than planned.  Lily and Wiatt had originally planned their wedding for this summer but as the rules for gathering of groups became more and more strict, they decided to get married in March on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

With a few days to prep for the expedited timeline, Lily’s family lovingly put together a beautiful wedding plan.  Lily and Wiatt decided to get married in the Portiuncula Chapel at Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio. It was a very small, intimate ceremony with their immediate families. This university holds a special place in Lily’s family’s story.  Lily’s parents were married in the Christ the King Chapel and her father is a professor there.  Lily asked that I capture some images of her and her father praying in Christ the King Chapel before the wedding because of its special significance for her parents.

The wedding Mass was so beautiful.  The small size of the Port provided for a very intimate feel. Lily and Wiatt’s families were there, singing and praying with them as they became husband and wife.  It was a wedding Mass filled with joy and love, which was so refreshing during the uncertainty of the pandemic.

After the Mass and family formals, I took bride and groom portraits of the couple in the area around the Port.  They were such troopers as it was about 34 degrees and we all were freezing. But they came out beautifully! You’d never know from their images just how cold it really was! I was so honored to capture the simplicity and beauty of their wedding day and give them images that will last for years to come.  When they tell the story of their wedding to their children and grandchildren, how they were married during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, they will have images to show that even though many things were canceled, their love and devotion to each other couldn’t be canceled.  As scripture tells us: Love never fails.