Janine had two children when she met Jeff so they are of course a big part of their story as they officially became a family on Friday.  The other part of their wedding day story was the massive rain storm that rolled through during their reception.  As much as the rain was troublesome to the event it, at the same time, was a blessing creating moments the were totally unexpected and memorable.

Finally to be the cherry on the top of my sundae I also got to work this wedding with some of my favorite people.   I had the chance to shoot the event with my dear friend and talented photographer Kirsten Lewis.  Another close friend and wedding photographer Verna Pitts was the officiant and finally all off my family was there with my seven year old Alex taking the role of my assistant.  It was a great day.

So today I share a photo of their first dance as well as their first kiss as a married couple.

The first dance.

The first kiss with the kids and the guests showering them with ice cream sprinkles.  Awesome moment even though everyone had sprinkles in areas they would rather not mention.

Thanks for asking me to shoot your wedding guys!  It really did mean the world to me.

Ty

Even though I specialize in non-posed documentary photography portraits are still a big part of what I do.  I approach my portraits in the same way as my moments.  I am always doing my best to include as much information in them as I can to tell a story, so it was awesome when I got the chance to fly to New York City a few weeks ago and tell Rachel and Michael’s story.  It was hot but we had a blast running around town making engagement photos that were packed with meaning.  We started at their apartment in a neighborhood they love and ended at the bridge in Central Park where they got engaged.  The day wrapped up with the best margarita’s I have ever had.  Thanks guys for having me out to witness your life in the big city.  Looking forward to your wedding!  Fingers crossed there will be margarita’s.

Tricia and Matt had all of their guests form a tunnel with their arms that they ran through on their way to the limo provided by Pech limousine ready to take them home.  I loved how much fun everyone was having as well as Tricia and Matt as they made their way through the tunnel of love as the DJ called it.

Here is one of my favorites from the day.  Gretchen, the bride, making her way through the crowd saying hello to her guests in her carnival tent reception.

I don’t cry at weddings. Sometimes, now that I’m a father, I get emotional during the father daughter dances, but generally weddings don’t shake me. Especially while I am shooting them. Too much is going on to really think and feel (cameras to keep track of, audio to worry about, etc). Listening to the wedding ceremony of Brooke and Jason, trying to pick out what to put into this short film got to me. When I got to the vows and saw the impact that saying them was having on the bride and groom, I lost it. I couldn’t decide what to use in the film.

So I went back again. And lost it again. I just couldn’t decide.

So I left them all in there. The vows, the pauses, the tears. It didn’t matter that all I really had for those vows was one camera angle. What mattered was how watching them made me feel, and I wanted their film to let you feel that, too.

I started over. Scrapped everything and created what you are about to watch. It is different than some of my films, but I think it is worth it. It is the film that this wedding required. Enjoy.

Tyler also posted about this wedding during one of his Teaser Tuesday posts. Check it out here. Teaser Twosday, Brooke and Jason.

Music in the video is “Together and Telling (Instrumental)” by Young Oceans. Licensed from The Music Bed.

I had the privilege of documenting Sharon and Rod’s wedding on Saturday.  This was a second marriage for both of them so their story was a bit different.  Sharon and Rod both have grown children from their previous marriages so it is always important to focus on those relationships as well as the story of the wedding.  Upon arriving Saturday I learned that Rod’s son Zach had to be deployed and was going to miss his dad’s wedding.  Thanks to modern technology he was able to watch the wedding via Skype on a family members cell phone.  It meant a lot to Rod that he was able to be there to witness it.  Finding hidden stories like this at weddings is what makes this business such a treat for me.

Here is a photo of Zach watching his father give his vows to Sharon thousands of miles away.

Megan and Larry’s wedding was the first I documented this season and it did not disappoint.  It was also the second of three in a row that took place at Mission Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kansas.   I told them how even though 3 of the four weddings I did at the start of the year were at Mission Hills it did not matter as each one was so different and personal.  I love that about weddings.  I can find myself at the same venues week in and week out but when documenting each couples unique story it is always different.

These two have a great relationship.  My first chance at witnessing them together was at their engagement session in Kansas City.  We hit the normal spots, Union Station, Liberty Memorial etc…  But the session was anything but normal.  These two had themselves and myself cracking up the entire time.  They love to laugh together.  It was not until the wedding did I get to see the other side of their relationship.  People show love in different ways.  On the surface they are like any other couple.  They are totally comfortable with each other and enjoy each others company but do not come off as super sappy.  A week or so before the wedding I received word that both Larry and Megan were planning to surprise one another with gifts and cards prior to the ceremony.  They both had the idea of giving each other a card minutes before Megan walked down the aisle.  In the end Megan was the only one able to make that happen but I found each others intent awesome.  Larry made up for it by giving Megan an awesome gift prior to the ceremony.  In the box was a beautiful ring but more importantly were all of the ticket stubs, hotel room keys, and souvenirs from every thing they had done together while dating.  Awesome.  Like many of the weddings I witness Larry and Megan’s friends and family just added to the greatness.  In the end this wedding had it all.

The details-

Ceremony- Our Lady of Sorrows

Reception- Mission Hills Country Club

Video- Wirken Films

Floral and design- Trapp and Company

The photos:

Love the makeup artist’s tattoo.  I am always looking for interesting ways to show the ordinary.

Larry getting help with his bow tie.

The dress.  Megan’s grandmother loved butterflies so they had the dress designer sew some into the dress.

Megan worried the dress was to tight.

Megan’s mom upon seeing the finished product.

Larry loves fashion so instead of the typical groomsmen gifts he gave each guy in the bridal party a pair of his favorite shoes.

Apparently this clown nose showed up another friends wedding.

One of my favorite moments of the wedding.  Megan’s dad’s knees literally buckled when he saw his daughter for the first time. 

Megan gave her dad some gold cuff links in the shape of knots as a gift.  He immediately went down stairs to put them on.

Megan and her dad leaving for the ceremony in Pech Limosine’s vintage Bently. 

Sharing a laugh on their way to the ceremony. 

Megan surprised Larry with a card minutes before she walked down the aisle. 

Megan and her dad waiting for the call.  Photo By Tori.

Their dogs are like their children and were waiting for them outside the church. 

This was great.  Larry took part of his dad’s ring and incorporated it into his wedding band.  Here he is showing his dad.

First dance under a clear roofed tent at Mission Hills Country Club.

Father/ daughter dance. 

Megan dancing with her grandfather.

One of Larry’s groomsmen got on stage and did an amazing rendition of Lets get it on.  Not bad when the band jumps in as back up.

Laura and Ryan’s wedding was a very laid back event that felt more like a family bbq than a wedding which I loved.  It was the perfect blend of both.  There were awesome toasts, great food and drink, casual conversation with friends, and a pretty awesome first dance.

Here is one of my favorite images of that dance.  I loved the red curtains of the Vox stage and how the light fell just on Laura’s eye adding a little mystery to the frame.

Congrats you two!

Kayla and Chris are refreshing people to be around.  I remember our meeting long ago when Kayla was here talking to me about their wedding.  Kayla’s energy and honesty were undeniably appealing.  She was so excited about her wedding to Chris but more importantly she was probably the most fun loving, laid back bride I have ever met.  Qualities I am sure Chris loves about her as well.  Their wedding would prove to be exactly like that first meeting but with an added bonus.  Their families were just like they were!  I loved how everybody and I mean everybody was unashamed to be themselves.  Kayla is a very unpredictable personality so it was only fitting her wedding was the same.  It was a non stop marathon of sorts for me to keep up with all the moments.  These two made it fun to witness.

The details:

Ceremony- Guardian Angles Church

Reception: Terrace on Grand

The photos:

Chris decided to get his hair cut a few hours before the ceremony as he did not get it done in New York before leaving.  I love this moment as it really shows his ability to just roll with the situation.  He found a barber shop down the street from the hotel and rolled the dice.

The stylist there decided to take some liberty with the cut and gave Chris a stylin’ dovetail that she was very proud of.

Kayla getting her hair done. 

Kayla’s friend was supposed to do her makeup but was running late as the salon she went to messed up her hair.  So when she got there the hair stylists had to work on both her and Kayla’s hair as she worked on the makeup.  Team work. 

Kayla’s mom came over to see the progress and they both started to break down and cry. 

The kids during their first ever limo ride.  Everything was exciting out the window. 

Kayla walked down the aisle with both her dad and her uncle.

Just outside the church after the ceremony were some of the best moments of the day.  Here Kayla says hi to her grandparents.  The look Kayla and her grandmother are giving each other says so much. 

I have no idea what is happening here but what I do know is this is exactly how Kayla and her mom are together. 

There was a great sky that night so we stopped off at the Liberty Memorial for some real fast portraits. 

The best man toasts. 

The reaction. 

The first dance. 

The father/daughter dance. 

Kayla also danced with her uncle whom she is very close with. 

Mother/son dance. 

Great moment of grandma and grandpa. 

In the cab back to the hotel. 

This was such a Kayla thing to do.  She got to the hotel and realized she never threw the bouquet.  So she decided to throw it to two of her bridesmaids on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.  Awesome.  Here is the toss. 

Here is the catch. 

Perfect ending to a great day.

I recently had the privilege to witness and document the birth of Grace.  I absolutely love photographing births.  Being able to be trusted and invited into such an intimate event in a couples life and to provide a record of what the first day of a little ones live was is a responsibility I gladly accept.  Some births, however, are more challenging than others.  Danielle and Chris found out a few weeks prior to the due date they were going to have to have a planned c-section and I was not going to be allowed in the operating room.  That of course provides a challenge in me telling a birth story visually if I cannot be present for the actual birth.  Thankfully there was another wonderful story to be told.  When I got there that morning I was greeted by Danielle, Chris and their parents.  The soon to be grandparents had traveled from Georgia to be there to meet the first grandchild of the family.  I was stuck by how close Chris’ parents and Danielle’s were.  Turns out Chris and Danielle are high school sweethearts and both of their families pretty much grew up with each other in small town Georgia.  They spent the years going to sporting events together, having dinners and even taking trips together.  So it was a joy to be able to not only tell the story of the birth of Grace but also be able to show the dynamic of the two families.  The joy I witnessed was some of the most pure I have seen.

Getting ready to head into surgery.  Danielle said at the viewing she loves this image because she remembers how nervous everyone was including Chris.

The soon to be grandmothers prior to the surgery.

It was great how supportive Danielle’s parents were.  

Chris getting ready for the surgery. 

Chris’ mom giving Danielle a good luck kiss. 

The moment the grandmothers received Chris’ text with a photo of Grace.  Chris’ mom shouted-”I GOT A PICTURE” the second it popped up on her phone. 

The proud grandparents could not stop looking at the photos on their phones as they were waiting in anticipation for Chris to come get them to meet Grace. 

Still waiting. 

Finally the time came to meet Grace. 

Love this moment of the two grandmothers. 

They could not take their eyes off of their Grace. 

Mom and baby. 

Grace’s first bath.