Wedding Advice & Photography

Two things we are confident in: Wedding Planning & photography. Van Elk & Co is made up of a team of photographers who love to create portraits of love & happiness and share advice for wedding couples.

This isn't your typical photography blog. We share useful info for couples who are getting married and those who are heading that direction. Let us show you pretty things while you fill your head with all things wedding planning.

January 26, 2021

FILED IN: Weddings

bride and groom hold hands and walk away from the Indiana Statehouse during their Indiana Roof Ballroom wedding

The sunlight streamed in a slant across the grass of the Indiana Statehouse. Some of the higher rays bounced off the glass face of a nearby building and reflected back down across the grass from the opposite direction. Grace and Nathan walked across the grass, holding hands, showered in the warm sunlight streaming from two […]

January 15, 2021

FILED IN: Weddings

bride and groom sit on wooden steps during their traders point creamery wedding

Next to small pond, a the Beach Porch bustled with activity. On the steps of the porch, Abby and James sat next to each other. They were taking a moment to themselves, cuddling up to each other, as their guests took their seats on the porch behind them. As they sat there, heads resting against […]

January 14, 2021

FILED IN: Weddings

man and woman in wedding attire hold hands and walk along edge of building during their regions tower wedding celebration

The warm glow of the setting sun illuminated the sky at dusk in downtown Indy. Katelyn and Nick, holding hands, walked along the edge of Regions Tower with the setting sun behind them. This was just one of the beautiful moments from this gorgeous wedding day that Hannah and Monette captured, and we loved the […]

December 29, 2020

FILED IN: Video, Weddings

bride and groom hug and kiss in open field at sunset during their Carmel Backyard Wedding

The sun was slowly dipping below the tree line. In the last few minutes before it winked out of site, its dim rays seemed to be traveling across the earth instead shining down on it. In a field of grass, Katie and Aaron danced in the light and their shadows seemed to grow and move […]

September 10, 2020

FILED IN: Engagements

young couple dances in front of blue wall during their downtown indianapolis engagement photos

In downtown Indianapolis there’s a beautiful building across from the Indiana War Memorial that has brilliant blue, pink, and yellow walls. In front of the blue wall, I asked Kara and Nick to dance. Usually couples get together and slow dance when I give this prompt. But Kara and Nick took it up another notch. […]

August 28, 2020

FILED IN: Weddings

bride and groom dance in front of wooden circle and guests at a Bash wedding

Earlier this summer Jenn and I had the privilege of capturing our first wedding after the pandemic started. It was such a relief to get back to some sort of normalcy. Nicole and Jon were married at Bash in Carmel. This wedding meant a lot to us, because Jon is a close friend of mine […]

August 25, 2020

FILED IN: Weddings

man in red turban and woman in jewels at their Coxhall Gardens wedding

The tan bricks of the Caxhall Mansion provided some shade as evening drew near. Behnam stood in the shade, his back to the mansion. Hira hugged Behnam from behind, looking lovingly at him. Behnam turned his head slightly toward her and they both smiled. Last week I had the pure joy of capturing this amazing […]

July 27, 2020

FILED IN: Weddings

sunset in front of the Indiana Statehouse during an Indiana Roof Ballroom wedding

What a roller coaster the week leading up to Grace and Nathan’s wedding was with the new restrictions set by Indianapolis’ mayor. But luckily, things worked out in their favor and they didn’t have to move location or make massive cuts to their guest list a day before their wedding. Also, thankfully the thing that […]

July 26, 2020

Having a Winter Wedding or Just Expecting a Rainy Day? Then you probably just came here for a list of locations. So here’s the TLDR of what we think are the best locations for indoor photos in Indianapolis (we’ll post more information about each place later): Indiana Statehouse Indianapolis Central Library Indianapolis Zoo 1899 The […]

July 24, 2020

FILED IN: Weddings

Garment Factory Wedding Photography bride and groom dance in front of window

Hannah & Quinton had a beautiful and emotional wedding that is something we never want to forget. Between her sister getting emotional seeing her come down the aisle and the exciting dance floor, it was apparent people were there to celebrate this amazing couple! It was also apparent they would not have missed this wedding […]