Bowen & Kailey's West Tennessee Church Wedding and Opera House Reception

A couple of weeks ago, I shot the Thigpen wedding in Bells. It was such a laid back and enjoyable day! I worked with Kailey's mom throughout the planning process, and I enjoyed getting to know her a little. Both Kailey and Bowen have such loving and close-knit families, and it was great seeing them come together on the wedding day. Kailey's dad was the officiant, and she was married in the church he pastors, which I know was very special to them. I'm so happy that I was able to be a part of this lovely day! 

Mrs. Pamela put together a little luncheon for the girls after their hair and makeup was done. This is Kailey enjoying the time with her bridesmaids.

You can tell that Kailey and her bridesmaids are very close! They are all college friends from Mississippi State.

Brother Chris seeing his daughter all dressed up! 

We had a good chunk of time for lots of bridals. 

Bowen's mother arrived and gave Kailey her something blue. I loved the relationship that Kailey and Bowen had with each other's family. Everyone was kind and wonderful to each other!

Bowen reading a letter Kailey wrote to him.  

Kailey wore a necklace that had her mom's engagement diamond on it. Very special part of the day!

I loved this shot of Bowen's brother giving his grandma a tic tac. I can relate.  

My wonderful second shooter, Tracye, got these shots of Kailey and her dad waiting to go down the aisle. Love these moments!

More great shots from Tracye. 

While I shot a few portraits of Kailey and Bowen around the church, Tracye raced to the Opera House in Humboldt to get some photos of the reception. She got some shots around the venue and of guests arriving. She ended up also getting photos of Kailey and Bowen coming in since they beat me there.

Cakes by Dumplins 

The band was awesome!  

Hilarious. This group of bridesmaids was a blast! 

 

Tracye snagged the shots of the girls and guys jumping for the bouquet/garter. I love having a second person to concentrate on them!

Doing some sports chants at each other. The girls were all from Mississippi State and the guys Ole Miss.

The night ended with a friendly rivalry between the Mississippi State girls and the Ole Miss guys. It was a great evening of celebration! Thanks so much to everyone who made it so special.

Reception Venue: The Opera House
Floral: Kent Freeman
Catering: Gena Mandle
Cakes: Dumplins

Sara & Timmy - Chester County Elopement and Chickasaw Portraits

Earlier this year, I booked Sara & Timmy's wedding and was so excited to work with them! We did their engagement photos at Lake Graham, and were set for their wedding in September. Well, a little while later, Sara messaged me and said they were thinking about just nixing the whole wedding thing and eloping. I can't blame them at all! Weddings are stressful and expensive, and they did what was right for them.

I think more brides should consider this, to be honest. I know it seems weird coming from someone who makes a living from weddings, but sometimes the planning and headache isn't worth it. If you're doing it for anyone but yourself and your fiancé, don't do it! You don't want to look back on your wedding day and remember how uncomfortable you were with the whole event. I don't think the majority of brides feel this way, but some personalities just don't do well with having attention on themselves all day.

I thought Sara and Timmy's ceremony on the courthouse steps was perfectly lovely, and I was so happy to have been witness to it. When they return from their honeymoon, they're having a reception for friends and family to attend and celebrate with them. Speaking of honeymoon, they've been at Disney World and I've been stalking Sara's facebook to see pictures. I am going in two weeks and am SO PUMPED! Ok, I'm done rambling. Here are my favorite shots from Sara & Timmy's courthouse wedding and photo shoot afterwards:

Waiting in the hall of the courthouse 

The family stood on the porch, while Sara & Timmy stood at the edge of the steps. The best place for me would have been at the end of the walkway by the street and zoomed way in. Alas, the sprinklers were going all over the place, so I couldn't back that far up without getting soaked. I'm still happy with the ones I got!

And just like that, they're married! It was short and so very, very sweet.  

They headed back inside to make it official and file it. I was glad to get a few shots of them inside the courthouse offices. 

We went over to their home and they dressed in the clothes they had bought for the wedding. Figuring out how to fasten the dress was a bit of a fun challenge!

A quick photo with their street sign. 

After some family shots at their home, we headed out to Chickasaw for some portraits. 

Thank you two so much for letting me a part of this special day! I hope you're still having a blast at the most magical place on earth.

Jonathan & Breanne - Rural Tennessee Summer Engagement Session

Last weekend, I met Jonathan and Breanne out at the property of a family friend. It was this gorgeous location in Denmark with so much scenery! On top of that, halfway through the session, we went to Jonathan's home just down the road where there were rolling fields and a pretty sunset to work with. We had such a great time shooting out here, and I'm so excited to document their big day early next year! Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening:

Isn't that the perfect end to the session?! I love a good Tennessee sunset, and this one was incredibly mild compared to a lot that we get. I was crossing my fingers for some great color, but I'm just happy we got a little bit.

After we finished up, I headed down to First Presbyterian for my absolute favorite event of the year, the Starlight Symphony! I missed some of the beginning, but once I got there, I squeezed in with some friends and I got to hear the orchestra play John Williams pieces from Jurassic Park, The Empire Strikes Back, and Harry Potter. It was amazing! I think Rhett was wishing he'd come with me when I told him what the special pieces were. Of course at the end, they did the traditional Ride of the Valkyries, 1812 Overture (with cannons!), and God Bless America. There may be one other one that I'm forgetting, but you get the picture. It was SUCH a perfect evening.  I already have a wedding booked for the date of next year's Starlight (or the date I assume it'll be), so I tried to relish in this year's event to get me through :) ha!