Adventures in Wedding Photography

 

It’s been a little over a week since we served as photographers at Ryan’s cousin’s wedding, and I wanted to tell you a little more about that adventure!

            Gabrielle messaged me several weeks ago to tell me she was getting married and asked if I would be willing to be her wedding photographer. I was absolutely honored to be considered, but I quickly told her I’m not a real photographer, and I was pretty sure she would probably want to entrust her day to the pros. She assured me that she wanted me there and it was okay that I wasn’t a full-time photographer.

            I immediately made myself an inspiration board on Pinterest and spent weeks researching poses and ideas, as well as lists of things I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget.

            (Note: I have completed my editing of all the pictures and sent them to the happy couple, but since I don’t know how much they plan to share online, I’ll mostly show some of the behind-the-scenes pieces from our day, rather than actual wedding pictures.)

            We had to travel a couple of hours to the wedding – so of course, an obligatory car selfie!

            Ryan helped me take pictures, so we had to do some practicing when we arrived.

            The photography duo! Excited and nervous!

            I just took this one with my phone, but doesn’t it look yummy?? They got their cakes from The Cake Bake Shop, which might only mean something to you if you’re from Indiana. But their cakes are so, so good.

            A peek at the sanctuary:

            I did get pictures of Ryan with a few of his family members. This is his Aunt Ruthie and Aunt Sandy. Aunt Ruthie and Ryan’s mom were sisters, and Aunt Sandy is actually a great-aunt. She used to babysit Ryan when he was little!

            Ryan with his Uncle Dave – father of the bride! (But he didn’t put on a navy blue tuxedo and wander around a grocery store complaining about superfluous buns.)

            If you’ve been reading here a very very long time, you might remember that when we went on vacation to Gatlinburg years ago, we found this old church in Cades Cove. Ryan had a little Michael W. Smith wannabe moment that has always cracked us up. He told me he wanted to recreate it, so who was I to deny him?

            This is what happens after the reception when the kids (big and small) are waiting for cleanup to be over…

            Ryan got a couple of pictures of me taking pictures. I was really excited about how one of them turned out…

            This is one of my favorite funnies from the day: Ryan was pretending to eat cake straight from the full cake, and the groom’s sister photobombed. She apologized for it later, but I think it’s the best picture ever! Ryan is always the one photobombing everyone else – so this is PERFECT!

            So that’s a glimpse behind the scenes. And I will share this picture I particularly loved!