jaime & nolan are like my favorite couple ever.  (after lauren & brent, or ashley & blake, or megan & mitch, or gini & charlie, or audrey & cody) ;)  anyway, i love them.  we met for the first time about 10 minutes before their session and were bffs by the time it ended.  i could not have been more giddy when she told me her preferred location for the session.  ladies & gentlemen, i give you party central in bossier city.

nothing says “i love you” more than crushing your lady friend in a little go kart race.

look, just because you are engaged does not mean you need to find an open field at sunset.  having said that, if there is one next door, you should absolutely frolic.

ok, back to the real session.

i love couples that can make anything look & feel like the best day of their lives.  jaime & nolan totally have this going for them.

nolan should watch out because jaime might have hit the punching bag harder than he did.

what does one do with over 180 tickets?  one buys rings and takes cheesy photos.

you guys were great.  i’m kinda wishing you were getting married at six flags now. :)

i’ve known gabby since she was this little.

i met her because i thought her oldest sister was hot.  (i later married her oldest sister.)

more than any other bride i have followed gabby’s journey towards marriage and been there for the ups and downs.  it was so special to be there on her wedding day at bella sera ranch.

gabby and kendal met in hong kong where she teaches english.

gabby gave me her shoes like this.
i said can i take them out of the bag?
she said do whatever, i trust you.
this is what i did.

nothing like having twin daughters help you get ready.

sara, my 7 year old, loved having aunt gabby fix her hair.

petal’s florist did the amazing job they always do.

gabby was so so nervous leading up to her first look.  i loved seeing kendal melt those nerves away as he held her.

i typically don’t post many “formals” but this bridesmaid was too attractive to pass up.  (the little boys aren’t bad either.)

jo loved getting dressed up.  he kept channeling his inner tony stark.  (his words)  he loved it until the bridesmaids started telling him how handsome he was.

fine! fine! since you asked, i’ll show you all 4 of my kids.

gabby & kendal had a herd of nieces and nephews walking down the aisle.

it was about a billion degrees below zero outside and some of the inside cowards were taunting the faithful of us who endured the cold.

i love this photo of them after the ceremony.  gabby has the best laugh.
kendal’s brother in law dropping the perfect out of focus photo bomb.

the toasts were perfect, they included stories of them making out and bible verses that morphed into 3 sisters rapping.

before returning the get-a-way car my kids and i decided to give it a little test drive the next day.

gabby, i’m so so proud of you.  i love you dearly and know you and kendal will make me many many glorious nieces and nephews to spoil.

Ashley crushed her bridal session at Howell Farms in Arlington.  Check out these images and tell me you don’t love her.And, just to prove she’s a real person and not a cgi goddess..  We took this.

let me start by saying i can’t believe that this is my job.  i get to hang out with wonderful people, totally in love and take photos of them.  that’s amazing.

amanda, clayton, and alexis were just perfect.  (alexis may be my favorite 6 year old on the planet.)  they love to cook, so this was the perfect setting for their engagement session.

i’m not sure clayton understands the “proper” way to taste things.

thank you guys for a great session and for sending me home with a bag full of cookies.

Sometimes the more you want something the harder it is to get it.  The harder you try, the less it seems to work.  I’ve been super fortunate to have amazing brides.  Most of them understand that their wedding day is just one day.  They realize that it may not go as planned.  They understand that when viewed through the lens of their whole marriage it matters very little.

I know that many of you out there are planning weddings and some of you are really really planning hard.  Planning every single detail.  Planning what you will say, planning what people will say, maybe even trying to plan how others will react.  This is a little reminder that much of your day will be out of your control.  Let me say that again.

Much of your day will be out of your control.  (And it’s ok.)

You’ve already planned the most important part.  You’ve planned who you will spend your life with.  That’s really the only thing worth planning.  10 years ago I looked at my bride and said “I’m planning on being with you.”  We’ve stuck to that plan.  Things happened on our wedding day that we didn’t plan for.  Things happened in our marriage that we didn’t plan for, but the main thing we did plan for is what has kept us together.

Your wedding day is one day.  Plan it all you want.  Plan it to death.  But plan on little things surprising you along the way.  And sometimes… those surprises may end up being the best part of your day.