Intimate Chapel Wedding | Rebecca & Randy

Rebecca & Randy’s Intimate Chapel Wedding

Rebecca and Randy’s intimate chapel wedding at Duncan Memorial Chapel in Crestwood, Kentucky was a little different from most weddings I photograph. They were already married, having made it official at City Hall in October 2025, so this day was really about having a ceremony and celebrating with their friends and family. 

Rebecca was also very certain that she didn’t want the day to revolve around a timeline. We had a loose schedule leading up to the ceremony, but once we got to the reception, there really wasn’t a schedule at all. Weddings are usually very timeline-oriented, and helping create that schedule is a big part of what I do, so this was a little different for me. I ended up really enjoying the change of pace and seeing how the day flowed when there wasn’t always a “next thing” everyone needed to get to.

Getting Ready and a First Look at Duncan Memorial Chapel

Rebecca and Randy both got ready at Duncan Memorial, with photography starting as they finished getting dressed. Rebecca wore a lace wedding dress, while Randy chose a light-colored suit.

They decided to do a first look and all of their formal photos before the ceremony, which worked especially well with the kind of day they wanted. We did their first look behind the chapel in the trees and then moved right into their portraits.  

We started in the small garden behind Duncan Memorial Chapel, which ended up being one of my favorite places for their photos. From there, you can include the chapel’s steeple in the background, and there’s enough greenery around the garden to give us several different options within a pretty small area.

From there, we moved to the side of the chapel to use the arches and columns before taking a few portraits directly in front of the building. We also photographed their small wedding party there. We only did a couple of portraits of Rebecca and Randy inside the chapel, with most of our time indoors reserved for their family photos.

A Small Ceremony in Crestwood

Rebecca and Randy’s ceremony was short, about 15 to 20 minutes, and they described exactly what they wanted in their questionnaire: “casual and easy.” Since they were already legally married, this wasn’t about recreating their City Hall wedding. It gave them a chance to have a ceremony surrounded by the friends and family who had come to celebrate with them. 

Duncan Memorial worked really well for the intimate chapel wedding they had planned. They kept their wedding party small, with one person standing on each side along with four flower girls from Randy’s family. Once the ceremony and family photos were finished, everyone headed to Rebecca and Randy’s home in Louisville for the reception.

A Backyard Reception Without a Timeline

Their reception was probably my favorite part of the day because it felt much more like a really good backyard party than a traditional wedding reception.

And when I say backyard, I’m underselling it a little. Rebecca and Randy have a backyard oasis, with a pool and plenty of places for people to hang out underneath their deck. They also had a tent with a few tables, but guests weren’t confined to one reception space. People could grab tacos from the food truck, find somewhere comfortable to sit, or move around and visit with different groups throughout the evening. 

There wasn’t a formal reception timeline telling everyone when it was time to move on to the next event, and that was very deliberate. Rebecca had told me beforehand that candids were her favorite and that what she really wanted were photographs of them spending time with their friends and family. 

Other than a couple of group photos they requested, the reception was almost entirely candid. Without a rigid schedule, I could follow what was happening instead of constantly watching the clock for the next reception event. People could hang out by the pool, visit under the deck, grab some food, and spend time together without having to stop every twenty minutes for something else.

It was very different from the way most wedding receptions are structured, but I really liked it. Rebecca and Randy wanted a low-stress, casual day where they could spend their time with the people who came to celebrate with them, and not having a reception timeline allowed the evening to unfold that way.

Planning a Small Wedding?

If you’re planning an intimate wedding and like the way I photographed Rebecca and Randy’s day at Duncan Memorial Chapel, I’d love to hear from you. You can learn more about my wedding photography and what’s included on my services page, or get in touch through my contact page to check availability for your date.