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!!!!

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.

OK. It’s time again for that killer blog series: My Favorite Part of A Wedding.

Today’s topic: Bouquet Toss

Ah, yes. That moment in every wedding, where single ladies either get way too excited about it or vomit at the shear thought of it.

Quick history lesson:
Tossing the bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride’s dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd, the bride would toss her bouquet and run away.

First of all, this sounds AMAZING! More like this please.

Somehow, the toss has evolved into this thing that now guarantees that the lucky lady who catches it will be the next one married. Because you know… magic.

So even though it’s a bit corny, I do love this little moment when your girlfriends get a chance to go all Hunger Games during your reception.

I love when there are literally dozens of competitors.

I love when they stretch their arms like NFL wide receivers.

I love when the girl that does NOT catch it is more excited than the girl that does.

I love when the girl you think is going to catch it does not.

I love the taunting that is often performed by the victor.

I love when the girls trip over themselves trying to catch it.

I love it most of all, when a girl falls to the floor, and a bride is willing to meet her down there for their photo together.

I also love when a lady has so much swag and confidence, that she knows she can jump, hold her red solo cup in one hand, and snag the bouquet with the other.

But seriously. Here is the key that I have found after shooting hundreds of weddings: some people love it, some people don’t. But you know your girls better than most. If you think they will enjoy it, then by all means, go for it. If you know they hate the idea… punt it. Sure it’s your wedding, but these are your closest friends. The goal isn’t to embarrass or shame them because they haven’t found someone to file taxes with jointly.

And, sure it’s a glorious moment for the winning lady, but it’s not like catching your flowers actually empowers the girl with the ability to become the next one married.

Or does it?

Because you enjoyed this, I know you’ll want to see more in this series. Click here for more words and pretty pictures.

Are you ready for a billion photos of Katherine & Josh’s Harmony Chapel wedding in Denton?  Of course you are.  You may remember them from their super fun engagement session.  They are so chill and laid back, and I can’t tell you how much I loved seeing them interact with each other.  Katherine looks at Josh with so much love and admiration, and he treats her with so much respec,t it makes me want to go home and love my wife better.

The ladies started by getting all dolled up at Headlines Hair Design.  Sydney crushed the hair and make up.  You Dallas peeps should for sure check her out.

Ready for battle.

You can start getting excited about Harmony Chapel now.

You know how there is always that ONE girl who kinda giggles through the prayer.

One of the bridesmaids has a fancy pants job at New Balance, which we love. (These are the ones my wife wears.) Anyway, she spent most of the day trying to talk the flower girl out of her shoe choice.

First Look magic.

Sarah from Gathered Floral did the best flowers ever.  The best.

Flower girl again, flaunting her footwear choice.

Hey look. I managed to get the little lady to look my way.  A Christmas miracle.

Josh loves cars.  He was super hyped about his getaway car. I think it’s like a Ford Mustang or something.

The sweetest thing was how all day long Josh would not take his eyes off Katherine.  This was especially true when she came down the aisle.

One of the bridesmaids recited the best poem about love and owning a dog.  Here is a snippet:

“On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.”

You should go read the whole thing.

More car photos. (I think he just got married as an excuse to be near the car.)

I finally had enough and made him pose next to it like a Backstreet Boy.

Dancing, dancing, and more dancing.

And then, just when the day could not get any better, it started snowing during their get away.

(The snow came from that brown bag.)

Of course they had The Mug Machine.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Thank you two for trusting me with your day.  Your tender hearts and sweet spirits were a joy to document. So excited for you to share your first of many, many Christmas days together.

I first photographed Erin back in December of 2008.  She was a guest at Lauren & Brent’s wedding and has been creeping my work ever since.

I was so, so thrilled for her when she got engaged last year, and I LOVE the man she married.  (You can see their super fun Dallas engagement session here.)

Once you are done with those, continue on down and enjoy the glorious goodness that was their wedding day.

It’s always great to work at the SPRINGS Event Venues.  Their location in Poetry Springs was perfect.

Erica Ransom ( #hairbyericaransom ) from the deNovo Salon worked her magic on Erin’s hair.

Erin truly was a beautiful bride. Stunning.

One of my most favorite things from the day was how much Eric’s father made sure to include his other daughter, Lauren.  He was constantly affirming her, giving her hugs, and just generally being an amazing dad.

Why yes, we would like a magical First Look.  Thank you.

Aaron just kept repeating the words “I don’t even know what to say.” Erin didn’t worry about saying anything. She just kept tearing up.

They both included the phrase “teamwork makes the dreamwork” in their notes to each other.  I had not heard it before, but man is that ever true.

How about a nice slow clap for The Southern Table and the amazing florals they put together.

You know how at every wedding there are those people that hang around the family photo time, even though they are not related to you; only because they hope to be asked into a photo?  Lauren & Brent are those people.  Gross.

I LOVED when her mom pulled her grandmother over so she could get a great view of Erin coming down the aisle.

I also love when Aaron went straight Gladiator “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!” right after they kissed.

Just because.

Erin and all her little Aggie friends sang their friendship song together.

Erin and all her little Aggie architecture friends built a building together.

Hey look.  More people who would not be married were it not for me.

Give it up for Jennifer & Ryan and once again, let’s here it for Lauren & Brent.

Erin had so, so many friend at her wedding.  You know why?  Because she is a friend.  She’s such a friend that when you bite it trying to catch her flowers, she’ll get down on the ground with you.

Excitement?  Fear? Trepidation?  Not sure what that expression is…
Maybe I can Photoshop a smile onto his face.

Of COURSE they did that thing I love where they are the only two people left dancing.

Thank you guys for trusting me with your day.  It was an honor to be there.

And, to the unknown single lady who  was at this wedding and will be creeping on my work for the coming years…
I look forward to photographing your 2024 wedding.