Mr. + Mrs. Smith//Palmetto Terrace Wedding

Robin + Brittany Smith, also known as Ben + Brooke West, tied the knot on a beautiful but windy Georgia/South Carolina day.  I joke around about their names because I TOTALLY messed up and called Brittany the wrong name for about half of their engagement session and wouldn't have known unless Robin told me.  They were very gracious with my crazy name calling:)  So we joked around and called them Ben + Brooke for a little while.  Then their pastor misspoke during the ceremony and gave them their new last name, West, instead of Smith (which I would have done too if I was a minister!).  So maybe this beautiful couple has a future in being foreign spies or something.  Their alias is already made, so Mr. + Mrs. West are set for their undercover life!

I love seeing the special gifts that brides and grooms give to each other on their wedding day, and Brittany + Robin had an especially sweet one.  I don't think these gifts are special because of the dollar amount but by how much heart they put into the gift.  This book Robin is holding is one that they wrote notes to each other expressing their love and devotion.  Good idea, Robin.

Every wedding something specific stands out to me as especially beautiful... and this wedding had me in tears watching the Father/Daughter dance.  It was the most beautiful dance to watch because their special relationship was so evident.  Brittany's dad closed his eyes most of the dance, taking it all in and had the look of a proud and deeply blessed daddy.  Brittany held her dad's hand with so much love and trust and gratitude and both of them had teary eyes throughout the dance.  It was like no one else was in the room and it was their special moment as father and daughter.  I think this means so much to me because of my relationship with my dad and knowing how much love a parent has for their child in having my own children.  God willing I look forward to having a special dance like this with my boys... but for now we just need to make it to kindergarten:)

You guys are such a kind and loving couple- I can't wait to see how God blesses you guys in the future! Thanks for creating a beautiful wedding day for me to photograph!

Mr. + Mrs. Lee//Cupcakes, bow ties and lots of smiles

 

There are way too many lovely things to say about this wedding and this couple.  Ethan and Kimberly are salt of the earth kind of people, which was easy to see by how many close friends they have, how many people came to their wedding, how well the ministers spoke of the both of them, and how they genuinely cared for everyone around them.  Their wedding was at a new venue near Augusta, GA called the Barn at Perry's Landing.  Ethan and Kimberly and their friends and family put so much into making the wedding just perfect.  Some of the best elements of the day were the old doors used as an entryway for Kimberly to walk down the aisle, the wedding advice cards created like the Adlibs game, and the bowtie wedding favors... these were SO cute.  Ethan's creative mom sewed hundreds of bowties for each guests to have, and guests partied on the dance floor with them around their necks.  I was even able to have 2 to give to my little boys:) The setting was beautiful with chickens and horses and pecan trees... It couldn't have been dreamier.

Kimberly had her makeup done by Meredith Tompkins of Bella Faccia in downtown Augusta and she did an amazing job... Meredith does makeup by airbrushing and after watching her and seeing how beautiful Kimberly's face looked I decided I need some serious makeup help!! Covergirl might not cut it anymore for this photogramom:)

another favorite part about photographing this wedding: Kimberly's smile.  She has the best smile to photograph because it's just genuine and usually accompanied by laughter and it happens a lot.  Those are my favorite kind of pictures and people:)

How talented is Ethan as a groom?! He cut and carved this sign himself.  I wonder where this sign is now. How awesome would that be to have it somewhere in your house?! or maybe by your mailbox:)

I should note the AMAZING cupcakes Ethan and Kimberly had at the reception.  There were so many flavors, including key lime, s'mores, birthday cake, french toast.  I couldn't believe the beauty of a cupcake.  Especially since I'm not really a cupcake kind of girl.  But I was so excited to eat one of these; even looking at these pictures makes me wish I could get married again and have them at my wedding! So here are just a few to give you a taste of cupcake heaven...

Kimberly and her dad started out with a slow dance, and then broke into some killer dance moves, including the WOP.  I have been known to be obsessed with this song at receptions, but nothing beats hearing the Wop and seeing a dad and his daughter dance to it together, dance moves included.  I'm pretty sure I also got a picture of them practicing their moves right before Kimberly walked down the aisle.

There was a real photo booth at the wedding (photo strips and all!) and we were able to get some pictures of the guests getting ready for their booth shots- with some amazing Pharoah hats and glasses.  I just LOVE photo booths- I wish I owned one in my home.

Special thanks to my second shooter and friend Alyssa Alig for shooting with me.  She was so patient to be up for my post-wedding reindeer games by writing "love" in cursive and backwards with the sparkler:) That is some serious talent, Alyssa.  And here's a picture of us with our bowties on from the wedding.  Apparently I thought it would be better to wear it on my head.  Gotta love a picture of yourself after 11 hours of shooting- photograsweaty but loving our job:)

Mr. + Mrs. Jenks//Augusta Wedding

I've known Elisa for more than 5 years- we met while she (and possibly me, too?) were students at UGA and lived in Athens.  The first memory that comes to mind about Elisa is her awesome fashion sense... I remember before EVERYONE was wearing scarves Elisa would wear these funky ones and look amazing.  It's no surprise that her great taste spilled over into wedding planning, from the bouquets she and her bridesmaids MADE themselves to the different bright colored shoes everyone wore.  And Nathan's suspenders, classic glasses, and plaid tie? killer.  Elisa put this whole day together making most things herself or by friends.  Even the benches at the ceremony were made out of pallets by a friend for his wedding and used again at theirs.  I loved the benches and wished I could buy some! The ceremony was outside of a historic library in Augusta and it could not have been more beautiful.  Elisa told me it was the first time a wedding was done on the lawn of the library (she and Nathan had gone to concerts on the lawn there before and thought it would make a great wedding venue).  It really was such a beautiful ceremony and I couldn't be happier for Elisa finding the right man.  And crazy enough as I was taking Nathan's family portraits I found out they are all from Binghampton, NY where my parents bought their first house and not too far from where I was born.  Small world for sure.  I loved this wedding and am so thankful that Elisa asked me to document it.  You guys are great and I hope these pictures reflect even half of how beautiful that day was.

just a quick story about the next picture- this is a tattoo on the arm of one of Elisa's bridesmaids (Julie).  I saw it and had to ask her the story of why she chose that word.  She talked about a hard time in her life and how God really impressed on her that she is his, found by him, redeemed by him.  Julie I hope I'm telling this right... But ironically as I was looking at this picture on my computer the song that was playing on Pandora was "You Found Me" by The Fray.  The song doesn't exactly fit Julie's story except it does say something profound and relevant to how I have felt in the past:

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me

That just struck me since I was editing this picture and thinking about God's faithfulness in Julie's life.  I'm grateful God continues to search me out when I'm hiding and always finds me, and reminds me of grace and mercy.