Erin + Kevin were married in their very own neighborhood, surrounded by their nearest and dearest — friends, family and friends-like-family as well as their precious, flower-clad pup. I loved every single part of this day, not least of all the two people who were the reason for it all.
Enjoy some of my favorites from their Cliff House Dallas wedding, which started off with getting ready at the Renaissance Hotel and a whole lot of flower girl-ring bearer shenanigans in the bridal suite.
My trusty brother Jacob second shot this wedding day with me and I particularly enjoy the groom portraits he took of Kevin before they headed over to Cliff House.
When your friends react to your wedding look like this you know you’re doing something right.
And we’ll end on THAT BEYOND ADORABLE NOTE. Thank you for checking out the blogpost. Erin and Kevin, thank you a million and 87 times for choosing me to document this day for y’all. It was such a joy to be there and witness your love for each other.
This has just been one of those family sessions that has been stuck in my mind since I took these images. I think it’s partly because the flow of the session was unlike any I had done before. I always coach my family clients to think through what portions of this particular season of their lives are especially meaningful to them. What part of your days is your most favorite? Which part will you be saddest to see go? What do you want to remember about this specific interval of time? Then let’s document those things. Most often I come for a session and the entire family is gathered  together ready to spend time together (which is great!) but for this session we wanted to document a bit of Jen’s homeschool time with her boys, the often-looked-forward-to event that is dad coming home from work at the end of day, and then some family time altogether after that. I love the natural storytelling flow that this set up offered for our time together — the day-in-the-life approach was so literal to their days together. I also just think that the love this family emits towards each other and those around them is something so special, which is most likely another reason these photos have stuck with me so much that I’m blogging them a year after taking them.
Enjoy a peek into the Windle family in-home session last year.
Trent waited quite some time for this day, to marry Emily Hennessy. The first time he asked her out was in high school, to be exact. The timing must not have been right because her answer was no. Years and years down the road, after high school, after college, the timing finally seemed to be right . . . until Emily put him in the friend zone. And he waited there for her, the “friend” who invited her to take swing dancing lessons with him, until she realized she loved that steady friend of hers. Really, really loved him.
Waiting, in the moment, is not fun. It’s just not. It may seem sweet when I talk about it on a wedding day blogpost, but the reality of waiting is not an enjoyable task. But some things are just worth that perseverance, right Trent? I love the look on his face in this first image as Emily looks up at him. He’s living his dream, walking hand in hand with Emily, on the day they got married.
It was a sweet, effortless day. Emily’s sister did her hair and make-up. The flower girls made up of Emily and Trent’s niece and cousins ran around the bridal suite in awe of all things bridal. Emily and Trent’s first look was flooded by the most beautiful, golden sunshine. Their outdoor ceremony was only minimally interrupted by rumbling thunder but the rain itself held off until all the guests had made their way inside after the pronouncement of husband and wife.
I particularly enjoy the sequence of the next two images — Emily looking up at the sky as the thunder rolled ominously during their outdoor ceremony followed by her looking over at her sisters all “Here we are. Let’s see what happens.”
It was here, knowing the rain would inevitably start falling soon and our original plan for sunset portraits after the family portraits would not be a possibility, that I rerouted Emily + Trent from our original gathering spot after the ceremony to that bridge just a short ways away. I wanted to pull them away even if for a single minute to allow them to soak in what just happened and give them some portraits together after they were married. What followed were some of my favorite bride-groom portraits of all time mostly because what was happening in front of me was so real. I didn’t have to say a word beyond guiding them to the bridge. They just held each other, the storm overhead growing increasingly dark. It couldn’t have been more than two minutes we were on that bridge. But every second of it was beautiful.
Because I was exposing for skin above it made the sky appear much brighter than it actually was but here are some reference photos for what it really looked like in those minutes directly following the ceremony. Then came the rain.
I’m so happy for y’all, Emily + Trent. So dang happy.
This was my third time to photograph these two and goodness gracious it just doesn’t get old, not even close. We met up at sunrise in honor of their second year of marriage and you guys, I was literally yelling “IT’S LIKE A MICHAEL BAY MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!” because the solar flares/general epic-ness this particular sunrise and SHELBY AND CAMERON were putting out into the world.
Thank you for letting me document your love, yet again, Shelby and Cameron. Y’all know I’m game to photograph you two a hundred years more or as long as you’ll have me.
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