It wasn't such a "Little" Wedding

I decided for 2017, I wanted to blog a recap of the weddings that I photograph, because if you know me, you know that I LOVE love.

I got to the church, and immediately started looking around for the bride. She was in the basement getting ready with her beautiful bridesmaids, and actually remaining very calm. She didn't seem too stressed, but very happy. I have had the privilege of watching Charice grow up, and to see her marrying the man of my dreams pretty much brought tears to my eyes all.day.long.

I knew all of the bridesmaids, so it took everything in me to be the photographer and not just go around hugging and crying with everyone (happy tears of course), but I quickly got to work capturing the special last minutes of the girls getting ready. Before Charice put on her dress, she asked me to capture her daughter trying it on.

This very well could be my favorite picture I've ever taken of a flower girl!

It wasn't long until Dana was lacing her up, and I could capture her last few thoughts of as a single woman getting ready for one of the most important moments of her life.

While the ladies were finishing up the last touches on their makeup, and adding that extra bobby pin to keep their hair in place--I went upstairs to get a few pictures of the groom with his kids, and then with his groomsmen as well. I'm pretty sure the kids stole everyone's hearts as you can see in these pictures! Chloe is clearly the boss in this family!!! She did NOT want to have her brothers kiss her on the cheek! haha!

Finally the groomsmen were ready, and even though it was early February, it was BEAUTIFUL outside, and we could take pictures in front of the church. As it is with most groomsmen, it was easier to get them to be goofy then to just sit and smile, but they were a great group of guys who didn't complain "too much" at having to get their pictures done! They were definitely a great group to work with.

We still had a little time before the wedding started, so I quickly went back downstairs to grab the ladies for some pictures. I always try to get as many pictures before the wedding so that we don't have as many in between the wedding and the reception--and they can get to the party as soon as possible!

Since the girls were all friends (which is actually pretty rare in a wedding party), it was really easy to capture the fun, laughter, and smiles between the group. The bright red looked perfect against her write dress, and all of the bridesmaids were so beautiful (inside and out--not that I'm partial at all! :P)

But on a very serious note....have you ever seen a more adorable flower girl dress??

The wedding started, and before I knew it, Charice was walking down the aisle with her dad and oldest son. Colten looked so grown up--and SO proud to be able to walk his mom down on such an important day. I had to wipe back tears, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too--though I'm fairly certain it was how beautiful that Charice looked that caused Josh to have to look away to fight back tears. :D

I love seeing a groom so blown away that his bride has chosen him that he gets a little misty eyed.

I can't get enough of seeing the look in the bride and grooms eyes when they are are pledging their lives to each other, and giving each other rings to symbolize their love. I don't usually do many pictures black and white with a pop of color, but since the ceremony was based on the Beauty and the Beast--and her bracelet fell just perfectly...I couldn't help myself!

Before we knew it, they have said their vows, lit their candles, and they were ready to seal it with a kiss and go celebrate!!! Have you seen such a happy bride and groom? After 12 years together, I would say it was a long time coming!

After lots of kisses, hugs, and congratulations, everyone filed outside to send them off with balloons! I think more people should use this as a send off because it was so fun and colorful!

We spent the next 45 minutes capturing pictures of the family, the wedding party, and the special moments of just the bride and groom. I try to work fast so that they can get to the reception as soon as possible, but it is important to make sure to get all of the pictures that the couple wants because you can't go back to this day and try it again! Here are some of my favorites:

This last pictures takes my breath away because you can really see how much the couple loves each other so very much!

We headed to the reception to dance the night away! As a new mom myself, I cannot help but tear up when they dance with their parents because I know that someday Tony will be dancing with our girls at their weddings, and I will be dancing with Ace. I'm sure this mom and dad felt like the time went so fast, but I could tell they were so thankful that their children had grown up to marry someone they loved so much.

Next was the cake cutting. I'm pretty sure they didn't know until they got up there whether or not they would shove cake or be nice. It started off pretty sweet, and then got into an all out war!

Colten and Colbee stole my heart with their love for their mama. They have got to be some of the sweetest boys I have ever had the pleasure of knowing!