Mr. + Mrs. Kinsler//Big Day at Kimball Hall

I tend to think couples start to look alike after being together for a long time.  I remember meeting Chris and Chelsea for the first time when they were dating and thought they were brother and sister, which means that after being married for awhile they will be identical!  Clearly they are not brother and sister but an awesome couple who are now husband and wife.  Their wedding took place at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and Kimball Hall in Roswell, Georgia on a super gorgeous spring day.  All of those purple flowers you see on trees (Wisteria- they are actually a vine) were in bloom and covering the trees at Kimball Hall making for a perfect setting for the reception.  Chelsea chose tiffany blue as one of her main wedding colors and had a lot of thoughtful reception details, like a timeline of major events in their relationship and pictures of each bridesmaid and why they are significant to Chelsea.  Each table had significant numbers to Chris and Chelsea's relationship and an explanation of those numbers.  They did an awesome job personalizing their wedding day!

One part of the day that really sticks out to me is Chelsea and Chris' flower girl, Audrey.  She just cracked me up all day but the best was when she read the reading during the wedding ceremony.  It was so special to hear her little voice read about God's love, how he loved us first.  And to hear her say big theological words from the bible like "propitiation."  It was my favorite ceremony reading yet.

Chris and his groomsmen are clearly close (figuratively and literally as you can see:).  They are a really fun group of guys who made sure to give Chris a hard time and make him laugh all day.  And when it came time to dance at the reception they made sure to bust a move.  

One of my favorite moments of the day was seeing Chelsea's grandmother give her two thumbs up before she walked down the aisle.  So precious! I hope to one day be able to see grandchildren get married!

Kimball Hall is a beautiful reception venue with a real family feeling to it.  I loved how wonderful and personal the staff was to work with at every step of the evening and what a beautiful job the owner, Julie, did in making everything go smoothly and being great to work with.  I can't recommend this venue enough! And check out the reception ballroom... incredible.

Chris and Chelsea- thanks so much for having me and the talented Steven Wallace photograph your wedding... you guys are clearly in love and so loved by those around you; I hope this day always reminds you of that!

Andrew + Kaitlin//Perfectly in love

I just LOVE this couple.  I love that they shared their story with me on when they first met, their first date, their first serious dating conversation, and their engagement.  Kaitlin asked Andrew to describe their relationship and what he hoped their engagement pictures might show, and she shared with me what he said. Warning: this might be one of the sweetest things.  After realizing that was kind of a loaded question, he said, "Here's what I would hope to capture in the pictures: how well we complement each other and how much in love we are with one another.  We have times where we are goofy, awkward, etc. but overall I think we are just perfectly in love."  Perfectly in love.  Good answer Andrew, good answer.

Kaitlin and Andrew met through mutual friends and would pass by each other after class on East Campus.  After a few times smiling and saying hi, Kaitlin realized this was going to be a strategic time to make sure she looked her best and didn't miss that critical time of day.  They would pass by each other but Andrew was often with friends so it was a quick hello until one day Andrew broke free from his men to stop and have a longer conversation with Kaitlin.  Andrew eventually asked her out on a date, and they went to Transmetropolitan downtown for dinner.  So we made sure to get some pictures of them in front of Transmet to signify one of the important places in their love story.  And if you want to see a priceless picture of Andrew proposing to Kaitlin, check out the front cover of UGA's e-magazine for recent graduates here.  That's them in front of the fountain on Herty field!

They went on multiple dates and started becoming a lot closer.  They would meet each other in this little courtyard near Warnell (school for forest resources at UGA) and listen to the bluegrass band that played during lunchtime .  Kaitlin and Andrew both love to be outside- it was so funny to hear Kaitlin say that when it rains they go to the aquarium and Academy sports but then they don't know what to do after that.  While I was talking to Kaitlin about something Andrew went off and picked a flower and put it behind Kaitlin's ear, and they hugged a real genuine hug.  I quickly realized that they were one of the cutest couples I've ever photographed.

And as if they weren't great enough I was joking around about an exit sign showing through the doors in this next picture and then they both gave me this great pose! Out of no where but my camera was ready for it.  Reason #300 I love this couple.

Our last stop on tour de Athens engagement pictures was the street where they crossed paths serendipitously each week.  Obviously if you didn't know that you'd look at this picture and wonder why I took it.  But something occurred to me in taking these pictures- pictures are meant to tell a story and capture a stage in their relationship to look back on for years to come.  On our anniversary husband and I sit down with our wedding album and other albums from our past and look through all the pictures.  We forget little things, fun memories, places that were significant to us.  We forget so easily and yet pictures do something in helping us remember a really good story we have found ourselves in, even if some chapters have been more difficult than the first.  So my goal in taking these pictures of Kaitlin and Andrew is to give them something to look back on and remember how they met, what is was like to see each other on the street and the excitement of the possibility of love.  How ordinary places become somewhat sacred to us because of their significance.  I think in marriage we have to remind ourselves of our own story over and over so that we don't forget how good it is.  Thank you guys for being in love and showing it- I hope you work hard to stay perfectly in love and have pictures taken of you 50 years from now that still show it.  Maybe I could take them for you:)

Mike + Eliza//Why I love my job

 

I should preface this post by saying it is so fun to meet people and realize how many similarities you have with them.  There's that awesome moment where you say, "me too!" and boom, you've bonded.  This happened on so many levels when I met Eliza and Mike.  Mike is from upstate New York, which is where I am from.  He went to college in Binghamton, NY, where my brother was born and parents lived for a few years.  And then he traveled south like any good bird to come to law school at Georgia (just like me, except the law school part:).  Eliza and Mike met at a friend's house in Athens while Eliza was finishing up her undergraduate work at UGA.  Eliza is one of those awesome quick friend people- the kind you meet and 10 minutes later you feel like she might be one of your new best friends.  She is super fun and lively, and it turns out she and I have lots of similarities, too.  We both like photography (she is starting to do wedding photography- wahoo!), we both dressed up like Hillary Clinton in female pant suits and did Model UN in high school, and I think it's safe to say we both make our significant others probably a little uncomfortable with our craziness sometimes:) I think that might be the best part! Eliza does this really awesome move where she shoots her hands out like guns and shakes her hips- I think it's need to be named something official.  I am so so so excited to photograph her wedding just to see her do that in a wedding dress.

Thank you Eliza for this awesome muscle picture.

Yes- here it is... the gun shot.  Eliza doing some awesome moves and Mike thinking here she goes agaaaaainnn...

We took a stroll through campus and ended up in the Law School building, where Mike has spent most of his time these past three years.  And then we had the idea of using the books with numbers on them to take a photo with their wedding date (10.26.13) and Eliza's engagement ring.  So there we were looking for the right book to use and the right colors and mixing it all up.  It was fun times.  Hence the last picture in this post- nothing says engagement pictures like international and comparative law:)

I really can't wait for this October wedding- is is going to be fantastic. Thank you guys for hanging out and letting me be a part of telling your story- you're awesome!