It’s that time again. It’s time to look back at some of the best photos from 2016. Everyday we’ll be taking a look at a new category. Voting is open till 8am MONDAY morning. ALL the contest winners will be announced Monday at 10:00am. The winning entries will each receive a 16×20 print.

Today’s category: Wedding

All the other stuff is great, but really, when you get to the bottom of it, weddings are all about two people getting married. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of photographing couples on their day. Here are a few of my favorites form the past year.

1. Beach (Key Largo Lighthouse)
All Ali & Greg wanted was a wedding on the beach. They nailed it.

2. Dance (The SPRINGS Event Venue)
First dances are one of those moments in your wedding day where it really does feel like a movie.

3. Ring (East Texas Arboretum)
I always love snagging that moment when a couple realizes this is legit and really happening.

4. Walk (Wildcatter Ranch)
I mean… I’ve seen a lot of wedding walks. It’s tough to top this location.

5. Lanterns (The Landing at Joshua Farms)
Thank you Rebekah & Matt for allowing me to feel like I was in the movie Tangled.

6. Verse
Cassi & Justin come from a long line of strong marriages. This arch made such a great anchor for the whole day and ceremony.

7. Dino (Houston Museum of Natural Science)
Come on. Seriously. Dinosaurs. Rebecca & Tony took the “something old” to a whole other level.

8. Alone (Bella Sera Ranch)
There are few things I enjoy more than a bride and groom alone on their wedding day. (#FirstLook)

9. Snow (Harmony Chapel)
Of course it snowed for Katherine & Josh’s December wedding. That’s snow. Real snow.

10. Fireworks (Bella Sera Ranch)
I love how the fog caused the whole sky to light up for Morgan & Trevor’s New Year’s Eve wedding.

When a couple entrusts me to document their wedding day, it really is an honor. When a couple is generous enough to fly me out to Florida to do that job… it’s an honor, and a mini-vacation. :)

I had such a great time getting to know Ali & Greg’s family for the few days I was with them. They are such a neat group of people and I can’t wait to share a little part of their story with you.

Their rehearsal evening at the Key Largo Lighthouse was so laid back; full of laughter, and stories.  I could tell right away these two were surrounded by some serious amounts of family and friends.

Of course Ali had her mother’s wedding dress altered and turned into her rehearsal evening dress.  Why wouldn’t she?

Greg apparently has 3 super heroes for Aunts.  They ended the evening by singing a song about Greg & Ali’s story while dressed in appropriate beach attire.

The only problem with getting married in Florida is that sometimes it rains.  From 10AM on, we were unsure if we would be able to have this ceremony outdoors.

Ali wore a necklace that her dad gave her mom on THEIR wedding day, her grandmother’s earrings, and a ring her mother gave her when she turned 16.

Basically, every single tiny detail of this day was layered with depth and meaning.

Of course Greg gave her some custom made shoes.  Why wouldn’t he?

3 things I love:
1. Grandparents who take photos all day long.
2. Killer make up artists who make my job easier.
3. Bridesmaids who steam dresses while wearing them and try not to scorch each other.

Seriously, everytime I turned around, this girl was hugging someone.  Her day was filled with love.

1 hour before the ceremony.  Still raining outside.  Ali is looking out to check the weather AND SMILING!!!!

You can see the droplets on the door.

SHE KNOWS IT’S RAINING!

SHE’S STILL SMILING!!!

Even though it was drizzling, they still wanted to have a First Look.  (Because they are awesome like that.)

I found a covered-ish area and stuck them there.  Ground was still a bit wet, but they didn’t seem to mind.

And then, almost like magic, it stopped.  The rain was gone.  So in the span of about 30 minutes, we took every possible photo we could. :)

I already mentioned they had a super strong family support group…  but my favorite photo of the trip was this next one.

When you say “I know we are from Texas, but we are getting married in Florida on a Tuesday in January” and 67 people show up….
That’s a pretty good way to start your marriage.

I’m super proud of the group shot with the whole wedding party and the flower girl in the middle.  She wanted no part of the photo shoot, but I was able to bribe her participation by offering her some Frozen stickers. :)

Small children on the beach in fancy clothes are the best.

Remember the super hero aunts?  Yeah, they made all the sweets for the wedding.  (Of course they did.)

By the time the ceremony rolled around, the little one was done.  She made it down the aisle, tearing up along the way.  All the while wearing one of my Frozen stickers. :)

Give it up for Curbside Gourmet.  Yes, please.

Greg’s mother spent so much time playing with and enjoying her grandson.  Fully present and in the moment.

I love watching parents during a couple’s first dance.  I love it even more when the Father of the Bride has a slightly disinterested look on his face that says… “I suppose she was bound to grow up eventually.”

My favorite thing that happened during the toasts was how their friends didn’t just tell stories of growing up together, but also shared stories of wanting to grow old together.  Committing to being there for them moving forward.

“I wanna be the one dressed up in a bathing suit t-shirt singing at YOUR daughter’s wedding,” she said.

I don’t even know.  But I felt like I should share it.

The night kept getting better.

Thank you guys so much for trusting me with your wedding.  Thanks for letting me join in on the fun and be a part of the family for a few days.  You are the best.

These are some of my favorite moments from last year. I love being able to tell the story of who a couple is in just one frame. It’s actually a bit harder to do that on their wedding than on an engagement session because so much of a wedding day is foreign. (Hundreds of people, strange environment, timeline of events to follow.) All of these things lead to making it tougher to find the real them. I feel like these images nailed each of these couples.

Just like yesterday voting runs for about 24 hours so hop on it. (Winners will be announced February 13th)

Disclaimer: INSANELY LONG POST AHEAD.  PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

So Jennifer first contacted me about getting married on October 8th, 2011.  I was already booked but since she was having a small family wedding, she was gracious enough to bump her day to October 9th, 2011 so that I could be there.  (Super Awesome)

The minute I arrived, I felt like family.  Jennifer has 2 kids and Brian has 3 of his own.  Coming from a houseful of kids myself, I loved the noise and sound of a room full of chaos.  When Jennifer shared her story of how she met Brian and the years leading up to it, I fell in love with all of them even more.  (In fact… her story is so good I asked her to share it with you all in a few days; so stay tuned!!!)

Here they are giving instructions on how to walk down the aisle.  (The kids executed flawlessly.)  Here is the best compliment I can give Jennifer and Brian: their kids are ALMOST as well behaved as mine. :)

Jennifer & her sister prep for the wedding while rocking out to Ace of Base.

First Look magic.

So…. minutes after they had their First Look, the rain that had been looming, started pouring down.

We had a few choices.

1: Wait 30 minutes and see if it passes. (It didn’t.)

2. Get married INSIDE a small beach house.

3. Get married in the morning even though a few of the 20 or so guests would not be able to attend.

Jennifer & Brian went off and started talking through their options.  I let them know that they could do whatever they wanted, but if they were going to get married in the morning, there was absolutely ZERO chance that I would miss it. :)

This next shot is one of my favorites from their wedding.  It’s the moment they came together and decided to fight for what they wanted regardless of the cost.

Mini-Rant:  You see somehow, no matter how big or small, weddings have a way of growing or gaining a life of their own.  There are dozens of people who will tell you how and when or why to get married.  And even though they mean well, they really have little or no business giving input.  Because…. IT’S YOUR WEDDING!!!!  Jennifer & Brian’s family were super cool and let them decide what to do; but yours may not be so super cool.  You may have to fight for your wedding at some point.  It may be in the first month of planning.  It may happen 6 months BEFORE you get engaged.  Heck, it may even ambush you after a bridal shower one day, but be ready.  Know what you guys want and stick to it.  Jennifer and Brian knew they wanted to get married ON THE BEACH.  So they did.  The next day. :)

But before we went to bed, we all piled into the condo and had a pre-wedding reception full of goodies, cakes, and matchbooks with the wrong wedding date.

Rise and shine Jennifer.  You wanted to get married on the 8th, moved it to the 9th, and here it is October 10th and you are finally getting married!

She was giddy when she saw her wedding really happening.

The kids and the cousins.

Pretty perfect.

I love smaller weddings because everyone who is important gets a front row seat and they almost are more happy than the couple.
How great are these next few shots.  I was a wet mess.  (I think it was the salt water or wind messing with my eyes.  Yeah, that’s it.)

Obviously, since I just set a blog record for most images posted, I had a great time.  Everyone was super super super nice and I kinda hated to leave them all.  Thanks again for welcoming me with open arms.  You were all wonderful.  I can’t wait for Jennifer to share her whole story with all of you.