Megan & Joe {Wedding}

The first time I met Megan and Joe we bonded over mutual family members, stories from years past, live music, and of course their wedding. Despite being related by marriage, this was the first time I had met them and we agreed it was a shame we had not met before then. As the night came to an end, one thing was clear. Their wedding would be a reflection of who they were before, now, and who they would become in the future.

Who they are is genuine and defined which makes it easy to love them right away. Megan, fresh and light carries a bright smile and excited look pretty much all of the time. Joe, traditional and strong, seems to make friends easily and holds a few surprises (the band story still blows me away!). The story of how they met was so amazing, marked with many trips since Joe still lived in Boston and Megan was living in Tallahassee. It didn’t take long before Joe made his way down to Tallahassee to ask Megan to be his wife.

On the rooftop of the Florida State Football stadium a few short months later, I witnessed their ceremony from behind the lens. The weather was breezy with clear blue skies, perfect for the stoic hawk that flew overhead as they exchanged vows. Everyone tried to hold back laughter as the ring bearer took a short cut walking down the aisle and there was hardly a dry eye as Megan’s daughter read a poem to Megan and Joe.

After the wedding the guests enjoyed cocktail hour before joining together in the ballroom for what could best be described as a trip to Ireland. Every table was themed with place cards and short stories of places in Ireland. The head table was marked with the Murphy family crest and all the tables were topped with beautiful arrangements of flowers nestled in fresh lemons and limes. Just as Megan and Joe envisioned, the reception was an epic party. Their careful selection of live music kept everyone dancing for hours. Between Syrah’s back up vocals to Wild Thing and the Rolling Stone’s impersonators I’m sure the reception will go down in history for all that attended.

Megan and Joe, thank you so much for allowing me to document your fantastic wedding! I look forward to getting to know you guys more over the years!

 

  

Jessica & Eddie {Wedding}

I met Jessica and Eddie photographing a 30th birthday event for my cousin and her best friend in 2013. It wasn't until a few months later that I really met them during their engagement session at Bradley’s Retreat which you can take a look at HERE. From the beginning, I loved how Jessica and Eddie spoke without words and laughed without reason. Most would assume their courtship was short and this was the lingering effects of just meeting one another. However, the real story is much longer and filled with friendship, twists, and pizza…

The week leading up to their wedding, Jessica’s phone was flooded with countless emails, texts, and phone calls from family and friends (and me!) who were concerned about the heavy thunderstorm prediction for her wedding that Sunday. What would she do? What was her plan? Faithful and full of positive energy, Jessica’s faith never budged…her wedding day would be perfect. Her calm and sunny disposition never swayed once on her wedding day, even when I asked her permission for “5 minutes of real talk” to talk about our rain plan again as I pulled out a phone to show her radar for that afternoon. Even when the thunderstorms caused her wedding to end early so that people could drive home safely, she was radiating happiness. At the end of the day, all I can say is that faith and positive outlook like that is driven by the meaning behind the wedding and not the actual wedding events. Eddie and Jessica took special care in wedding was planned in a way that would honor their family and friends in little ways throughout the entire day. I’m sure throughout the day, everyone shed a tear or two at something special Eddie and Jessica said or had planned. It was an amazing event and one that I know will go down as one of the most memorable moments in their lives. 

Thank you both for having me document your amazing wedding day. I cannot wait to share the rest of the wedding images with you and hope you guys are having a blast on your honeymoon in Puerto Rico! 

**Side note: due to the heavy thunderstorms, Jessica and Eddie opted for a post wedding session at Bradley's to recreate the wedding portraits they envisioned outside.

   

Maxwell Family

My middle son, Dylan Cash, and Cadden became best friends last year at school over a series of Pokémon conversations.  For all the money that company spent on marketing, it was a simple act of kindness from a 6 year old (now 7) that convinced me to start buying Pokémon cards for Dylan. For a couple of weeks I noticed DC’s collection of cards getting bigger…but I wasn’t buying them. At first, I assumed he turned on the charm and convinced his Gamma to buy him some but upon inspecting said collection once again I noticed some were a little worn. I asked him about it and he said his best friend, Cadden, was giving him the ones he didn’t need anymore. We went to Walmart that night and Dylan picked out some to give Cadden…and some new ones for himself too. Over a year later the collection is ridiculous, Cadden and Dylan are still swapping cards with one another, and I am broke.

Now, I don’t really know Kelly and Chris (Chris, Max, pretty sure I’ve used both) very well but I can tell the kind of people they are through the few times we’ve seen each other. As a family, I’ve witnessed their kindness, genuine laughter, obvious love, and calm patience. Quiet at first, they make me feel louder than I already am but before I know it they are chattering away like we do here in the south. Kelly and Chris impress me simply because if they think they want to do something…they do it.  One day they mentioned to me they wanted to move. Within a couple of months they did…and renovated the amazing new home. Kelly wanted to start monogramming not too long ago and now owns SOSGifts (check that out below). Max, as a gift, bought Kelly furniture to refinish and even gifted her this photo session…thoughtful and practical. I dig it. What about sweet Liliana? I have a soft spot for this little girl because she is quite literally the spitting image of my son Shane. The funny faces, the laughter, the run, the white blond hair…it is all so familiar so I knew exactly what I had to do to get the picture. Bribe!

Thank you guys for having me take your family pictures! If you guys win the lottery any time soon I hope I get a cut since it was my camera that caused the purchase of so many lottery tickets in such a short time period =)

PS. After checking out their pictures below take a look at Kelly's business, SOS GIFTS. You can like her FACEBOOK page and check out her ETSY storefront. The Sand Spikes are awesome and at that price they are sell in no time!