When you walk into a bridal suite and there are homemade bagels to match the shoes… you know you are in for a great day.

Style + Pop Culture (Best type of bride.)

Lauren chose to wear her late Grandmother’s watch.

Lauren pretending to be a model, while she put on perfume, was everything.

So.. technically this a photo of a bride walking to the bathroom. But I prefer to think of it more as a snapshot into Lauren’s personality.

Most brides end up “needing” 48 bridesmaids to help them move around on their wedding day.  Lauren is the type of lady who just figures things out on the fly and rolls with the punches.

First Look magic.

My favorite things about Sean is his ability to be fully present.  (Like how he stopped and noticed all the details of her dress.)

Or how he noticed the flower girl on the floor and sat down to play with her.

We all put our pants on one leg at a time…. except this guy.

Everyone always behaves and smiles and looks perfect on a wedding day.

No one EVER just decides to leave mid photo because the whole process is super long and boring.

Sean once again being super present.

Another example of Lauren’s totally chill attitude.  When the flower girl wanted to stand on her super nice shoes.  She just laughed it off.

Lilium Florals and Fringe Hair and Makeup Studio doing their thing.

I mean come on….

Little preview of what’s to come at the reception.

Everything about Ashton Depot in Ft. Worth is fabulous.

Also the reason everything looks AMAZING, and the day ran so smoothly, is because Kristyn Hall of Event Elements CRUSHED all the planning that went into this day.

I loved this little moment they had when no one was paying attention to them.

OK, ceremony time.  Guess who was super excited to walk down the aisle.

But wait…. what could change his mind?

Candy? Toy? Screentime?

Grandpa for the win!

My most favorite thing I have heard in a couple’s vows in a long time:  Lauren & Sean talked about how they were both going into this marriage not looking for the workload to be 50/50, but rather 60/40.  Each being willing to give just a bit more than half.  In an effort to “out serve” each other, they would make the commitment to always try to give more than they took.

Sean looks pretty excited.

Lauren’s parents look pretty excited.

Sean’s father looks thrilled beyond belief that someone would marry his son. I love it.

“Maybe Sean should have spent 60% more money.” – Mother of the Groom.

Custom t-shirt printing from Trust Printshop for all the guests!!!

Stir Crazy Baked Goods makes cakes that look amazing and taste even better!

So. Much. Dancing.

You will never convince me that a last dance alone is a bad idea.

Thank you two for trusting me with your day.  I love your story and how generous you are with your time, attention, and love.

OF COURSE THE MUG MACHINE WAS THERE!!!!

Kitalou Gin in Lubbock was the PERFECT setting for Kylee & Colton’s day.  It was my first time out there, and I can’t say enough good things about this place.  So much pretty everywhere and their staff was insanely helpful the entire day.  West Texas brides should jump all over this venue.

I’ll be honest. Every now and then, on a wedding day, I forget a couple’s name.
Yep.  It’s true.  You are all kinda the same bride.

And to make matters worse, all your cool new fangled names sound alike anyway.
Kylee, Kaylee, Kinsey, Kelsey, Kasey, Kinzie, Kenzie, Kayleigh, Kaylee, Kaylan, Kayla, Katy, Katie, Katelyn, Kallie, Kaitlyn, Kaitlan.  True story.  Those are all real names of real brides I have photographed on their wedding day.

Thankfully.  Kylee did me a HUGE favor by sticking her and and Colton’s name EVERYWHERE.  Any hesitancy on my part was quickly resolved by a quick glance in any direction.

The bridal cottage is totally adorable and full of gorgeous light.

The girls spent their morning practicing for the dance off, looking beautiful, and laughing.

The guys spent their morning standing around in their underwear eating Chick-fil-A.

Here is a delightful photo of Colton’s mother pinning on his boutonnière, while his sister pretends to not cry.

First Looks never disappoint.

Kylee and Colton had 3,678,926 people in their bridal party.  Here they are.

House of Flowers made all the pretty happen.

Almost exactly 2 years ago, I photographed Colton’s sister’s wedding.  Cassi and Justin had an amazing day.  The thing about Cassi and Colton is that they LOVE to compete.  They have always competed and will always compete.  While editing Colton’s wedding, I realized that they might even turn in their wedding picture count into a contest.  I support this idea.  I can’t wait to give him his full gallery so that they can compare the stats and see who comes out ahead.

Colton’s parents apologized that they no longer had children for me to photograph.
Now that all your kids are out of the house, you have no excuse.
Get to work right away on that problem, and in July of 2040, we could be doing this again. (I’ll even knock 10% of my standard rate.)

Absolutely.

#uglycry

I’m not crying; you’re crying.

Remember that time 2 years ago when Cassi got married?

Kylee, already ashamed of the decision she’s made.

Colton imitating Justin.

Dance off.

Guys pulled off a backflip.

Girls showed us their pits.

Seriously this dance off was amazing.  Watch the video.

Anyone who doubts Kylee’s ability to choose a groom, should need no further evidence than this photo of Colton on the dance floor. Case closed.

Thank you two for sharing your day with me.  I love you both, and it was an honor to be there.

P.S. The guys totally won the dance off.

My 10 favorite moments from Adam & Mallory’s chill El Cerrito Lodge wedding day.

1. Breast. Makeup Artist. Ever.

When your sister-in-law can nurse and do your makeup all at once you know you are marrying into a good family.

2. The cakes.

What could I possibly say about these that you don’t’ already know.  My email signature is “High Five” and yeah… an Nintendo Entertainment System.

3. Wait

I love catching these moments every week.  We father’s spend a lifetime waiting on our daughter’s to be ready.  A wedding day is the pinnacle of years of training.

4. Mallory’s Expressions.

She spent the whole day making silly faces.  I knew her walk down the aisle would not disappoint.

5. Finally

They joy that I see from couples after the ceremony ends is always so great.

6. Secure

My favorite thing about these two is how secure they are with each other and comfortable they were just hanging out on their wedding day.

7. Mullet

Shut it down.

8. 442

They see me rollin’.

9. Beard

Anytime you and your daughter have matching facial hair, you’re doing it right.

10. Last Dance

There are only two appropriate ways to end a wedding.  Either with EVERYONE on the dance floor or with NO ONE on the dance floor.

Thank you guys for trusting me with your day.  You are the best.

So if you have spent anytime on my blog you kinda know the formula…

Talk about how much I love the wedding location. (The Hilton Rockwall Lakefront was perfect.)

Maybe mention how smooth the guys were.

Perhaps a nod to how much I love tiny humans. (Especially if the flower girl is the groom’s daughter.)

And humor.  Jokes are always great, as in… True story, Linda anchored herself by holding on to her two pregnant bridesmaids… because you know… nothing says immovable object like two women great with child.

Yeah… that formula does not work here.  Because Linda & Joseph have a story that breaks the formula.

This is their second time getting married to each other.

Here they are back in the day when they were married for the first time.

BOOM!  I just broke your brain right?!

These two met as teenagers and were married a few years later.  He had enrolled in the Marines, and they started their life together on the base.  Soon after September 11th, he was deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and more countries than most of us can name. When he returned, Joseph said he came back “a different person”. And rather than confiding in her, he felt like he couldn’t talk to her about any of it.

A short while later, they decided to get a divorce due to infidelity on his part.

Engaged at 18, married at 20, divorced at 25.

Now right then and there, these two have lived through enough heartache and struggles that would break most of us. But this is not where their story ends.

After the divorce, they went their separate ways and started dating other people.
Joseph met someone and they soon became pregnant with that adorable flower girl you saw earlier.

When Joseph talks about this time in his life, he is crystal clear on what the problem was–Him.
“I was not looking at relationships in a biblical sense. I was not saved, and I was just looking out for myself.”

Linda and Joseph had stayed in touch, and a mutual friend mentioned to him that maybe God was bringing them back together.  As improbable as this seemed, this is actually what started to happen.  Little by little, with a lot of work and intentionality on both their parts, “and through God’s grace,” Joseph added, they had restored their relationship and made the commitment to circle back around to marriage.  This time with God being at the center of it.

Back to 2018…

When you are in a room full of men praying for a marriage that is happening again despite war, isolation, adultery, and divorce…

You pause.
You breathe deeply.
You thank God for his grace.

When they went to take communion, they realized someone did not fill the cup. (I gave Joseph a hard time about this later.)
“Jesus knows we took communion in our heart,” he said. (Fair point.)

Of course they took time out to wash each other’s feet.  This is something I’ve had many couples do throughout the years.  The beautiful thing about these two doing this, is they KNOW how hard marriage can be.  They have seen the toll it can take.  They have experienced first hand the destruction selfishness can cause.  So for them, this was not an act of symbolism, but a tangible commitment to serve one another.

We had a little downtime before we headed to the reception, which always leads to great candids: chill bridesmaids, pack-mule groomsmen, Joseph offering another foot washing, and selfie fun.

“Having her through all the struggles and trials, it led me to know that’s God’s grace is perfect. Regardless of whatever sins you have in your life, God’s grace is sufficient.”

“We’ve come so far, and transformed into something so much better, because of Him.”

They hit the reception and were ready to go for the rest of the night.

My favorite part was when Linda’s father sang to his family, and then busted out an entire song to his own bride. #winning

I’m going to leave you with what is my favorite moment from their day.  The clearest picture of marriage I can give you. Service.

Lindsay & Chris crushed their wedding day.  Not because everything was perfect, but because they never let the little bumps mess with their mojo.

These two were married at Wylde Acres.  A “new-ish” venue in the Longview area.  There are 2 reasons’s I can’t say enough great things about this place.
1. I genuianly LOVE it.
2. Lindsay’s parents own the joint so I’m pretty sure they will be reading this post.
(Side note to other photographers out there: I’ve had the privilege of shooting a few venue owners daughter’s weddings over the years.  It’s always an extra special honor because I know they see so many great photographers and that they would trust me with “their day” is a huge vote of confidence.  If you get asked to do one of these weddings, don’t sweat it.  Do you thing. That’s why they are asking you to take the photos.  It’ll be fine.  These brides are no more special than normal brides.  OK, that’s a lie, they are more special.  They are magical.  The normal brides are just regular every day brides.

Calavera Cakery.  Boom.  Yummy and Pretty.

Ampersand Family was there filming and I loved creeping in on this moment where Lindsay was reading her vows.

Say hello to Cruz.  He was there to watch his parents get married.  (He’s the best.)

Lindsay went back and forth on doing a First Look.  About 4 days before the wedding her and Chris decided to do one and I’m so thrilled they did.  These moments are always some of my favorites from the day.

Hello beautiful people.

True story.  I took the following photos in 43 seconds.  Kids ain’t got time for slow photographers.

Speaking of kid’s ain’t got time…. Cruz was ready for his nap.

Chris is like a professional expression maker.  I loved all the random faces I caught him making on their day.

There were a few members of the wedding party who were… what’s the word…. oh yeah…complaining that we went all they way out to the wood pile for these shots.  I’m so so sorry I asked that of you.  If you want I can delete these photos and we can pretend this moment never happened.

Fantasy and Fairytale Floral Designs did an amazing job.

Just as we were finishing photos it started to drizzle.  Chris was super prepared and was ready with the umbrella.

Turns out Linday’s nephew was more prepared and loaded her up onto the Kubota and drove her to safety.

Cruz. Happy again.

I kept waiting for a kid to in for a Caparisun and come out with a Keystone.

I noticed something on Robin’s dress earlier and sure enough, it’s just what I thought it was. #cruz #grandmother

Cruz was more interested in his shoe than his parents joining together in holy matrimony.

Lindsay’s late brother Maverick bought and drove this van to Alaska a few years ago.  It’s super special to their family so of course we worked it into the day.

(Faithful readers will also recognize it from Britany & Aaron’s wedding.  Aaron went on that cross country trip as well.)

Things that guests sign that you display are my favorite thing to make guests sign.

I dig it when the couple’s grandparents win the anniversary dance.

I’ve seen a lot of guys go in for the garter.  I’ve never had one come out with this look on his face.

The only thing these two do better than dance is karaoke.

Why yes, that is a cup of alchohol flying through the air.

Lindsay was the best bride.  #1.

You two were a joy.  Thank you for trusting me with your special day. (Not that your day was any more special than a normal bride’s day.)

(j/k it totally was more special.)