Erika & Phil had and amazing little wedding in Gore, OK this past week. I was honored to be there documenting the day and can’t even begin to explain how neat it was to see a wedding unfold without many of the “extra stuff” that we just assume come with weddings these days. It was neat to see a couple share a day with only their family. When I was asking Phil about their decision to have such a small wedding the thing that stood out to me was this little quote: “I don’t’ want to be meeting new people on my wedding day.” It was such a small thing, but going to weddings week after week I sometimes get sad to see just how much time a bride and groom spend being shuffled from table to table saying hello to complete strangers while their close friends and family are left in the background of the day.

Anyway, all that to say.  There is no “wrong” way to have your wedding.  What works for some people may not work for you, and don’t be scared to try something different.  It’s your day and that last thing you want to do is look back on it and wish you had done the thing you always dreamed of doing.

It looked to me like an eyelash torture device, but I’m guessing this is something most girls do?

The super talented tandem of Vanessa & Brent McKellar were also there filming and making their movie magic. (I can’t wait for the wedding trailer)

Erika didn’t have any toothpaste so I ran to my van and shared mine. It was the last little bit of paste, but I’m sure Phil was thankful for it.

There’s always that point of the day where it “hits” brides that they are getting married. This was Erika’s moment.

Phil had a great reaction to seeing his bride come down the aisle.

One of the cool things they did during their ceremony was plant a tree. (Try doing that inside a church.)

Here is a quick little overload on details.

I blogged this last image for the sneak peak, but love it too much to not include it in their full post.

Erika & Phil, thank you for making me feel like family and for trusting me with your day.

I just got home from Gore, OK and am exhausted, but before I crash I HAD to post a few shots from Erika & Phil’s wedding. You’ll see more in the next few days, but these just jumped out at me as I imported them.

In case you didn’t read the previous post. Erika & Phil chose to just have a small ceremony with only immediate family. It was one of my favorite weddings I have ever attended!

(Can you spot the secret code?) :)



Thanks guys for trusting me to capture and pass on your day to all your friends and family. I’ll be blogging more soon.

Hey, I just found out that one of my weddings is being featured on this great new website called Hot Pink Brides.  They only feature cool photographers so the fact that I’m on there may be an exception.  :)  It probably has more to do with how great Amanda & Royce’s wedding at the Belgium House was and less about my photography. :)  Anyway, click here and view their post and take a look around and I’ll bet you can find some ideas for your own wedding.

Does Gore, OK count as a destination wedding?

Just a quick heads up, I may be a bit harder to get a hold of the next few days. The family and I are taking a little road trip. I have a wedding this Wednesday (09-09-09) in Oklahoma and we decided to load up the kids and swing by and see Aunt Nichole and her family who work at New Life Ranch also located in Oklahoma.

I think they have phones and internets there, but who knows when or if I’ll get around to it. I’m pretty sure my Twitter statuses will be riveting these next few days.

Either way, try not to miss me too much.

I mentioned in my last post that I did a bit of second shooting in August. Leisha and Chris were married at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX and for this wedding I shot for the fun and talented Lauren Dennard out of Dallas. I had never second shot for anyone till these past two weddings so it was neat to document a wedding and not be the main photographer. It’s almost like it was happening in slow motion and I picked up lots of little tricks for my next “real weddings”.

I was in charge of the guys and had a blast coming up with crazy stuff for them to do. The basketball court was too good to pass up.

All four of the groomsmen played during the ceremony, so I decided to give Chris a shot at being a rock star.  I actually shot Brant’s wedding (the one on the right) way back in 2006 at Roseland Plantation.

A few from their First Look



Once again I was allowed to do the rings shots. Serious fun.

Leisha had coloring books for any kids to use during the ceremony! (Don’t tell anyone, but I snuck one home for Sara.)

A few more portraits of them right after the ceremony.

Congrats Leisha & Chris!