Meet the Wilson family.
I met up with the Amanda, Joey, Carter and Abbey on a sunny afternoon a couple of weeks ago in Denton.
Amanda, I’m a firm believer in big bows on tiny baby girls too.
Carter is the type of three-year-old that needs to be constantly engaged in what’s going on or else he tends to wander . . . Â like up the underside of a bridge. But Amanda just climbed up there to him and played right along with him.
It was then that I realized how much I admire Amanda and her mother-of-a-three-year-old morale.
I just love how it looks like Carter is break dancing in the picture on the left. As I mentioned in the sneak peek, Carter is energetic. To say the least. I described him to Amanda as one of those little toy cars that you wind up and just have to let go round and round in circles until they run out and need to be wound up again. She agreed.
Sweet baby Abbey couldn’t keep up with Carter, so she just slept contentedly in her daddy’s arms.
I was so pleased with the surprise ‘pop’ their blanket brought to some of the pictures with it’s pattern and color. Good going, Wilson family. High fives all around.
Home boy has some amazing eyelashes.
And home girl has some B-L-U-E eyes.
In looking through my pictures I would have to stop multiple, multiple times to shake my head at how gorgeous Amanda’s smile is. It definitely slowed down my editing a bit.
Goodness, aren’t they just adorable? Amanda and Joey, y’all are precious together. I repeat, precious.
I like this shot of Carter from the very end of the shoot because I feel like it’s the most serene one of him from the entire afternoon. The toy car finally wound down.
Wilson family, it was terribly fun getting to know your sweet family. Let’s do it again sometime.
The day began at a house full of bridesmaids and a bride named Erica.
And now, meet Erica.
I love the way people look at a bride on her wedding day. It looks like this.
While Erica and her bridesmaids finished getting ready, I headed to the reception site, the Santa Fe Train Depot, to grab some detail shots.
I always love seeing the printed versions of the pictures I take, so I was thrilled that one of the major decorating components at the train depot mixed in amongst the roses and different vases were framed photos from the railroad-themed engagement and the bridal sessions I did for them.
I loved the athletic clothes/dress shoes combo of the maid-of-honor, Kelsey, as she rounded up the bride and headed out the door to the church to change for pictures.
“Could I BE holding anymore stuff?” she exclaimed.
After Erica’s mom, Jill, helped the bride slip into her wedding dress she just stepped back and beamed.
For this wedding day we played “hide the bride” as we took pictures before the ceremony so that Josh, the groom, wouldn’t see her before she walked down the aisle.
We sent Erica back inside to hide and then brought out Josh and his groomsmen.
I told them all to take a picture that explains why Josh chose each of them to be his groomsman. This is what they came up with.
This is probably one of my most favorite groomsmen shots I’ve ever taken — everyone was totally committed.
Though the bridesmaids certainly didn’t hold anything back either. Work it, ladies.
I just really like this picture of Josh’s dad. He looks so happy.
As the time for the ceremony approached the bridesmaids and mother of the bride gathered around to pray over Erica.
Gosh, I just always include this moment in my blog posts because I think it’s such a sweet, sweet part of the wedding day. Gets me every time.
This is the face of a girl who’s ready to get married.
And this is the face of a boy who’s ready for his bride.
Erica and Josh wrote their own vows to each other, but I was still caught off-guard when Erica started hers off acknowledging that she can be a drama queen. Turns out their pastor had switched out her real vows with a little something of his own he had written.
This was Erica’s reaction.
Don’t worry though. He handed over her real vows to read after she poked him.
Before heading to the reception I snapped some shots of the bride and groom:
Some were more celebratory.
And some were more sweet.
Then it was off to the reception where friends, food, and cherry cobbler shots awaited.
Two words: Starbucks bar.
Erica and Josh’s reception was not one with dancing, but instead it was the kind of sweet reception where you get to catch up with old friends . . .
. . . and the kind of reception where you see a secret handshake between friends.
Can you guess what just happened?
As a finishing touch to the reception, Erica hired specially-trained body guards to guard the bathroom while she changed into her send-off dress to leave the reception. They were super-intimidating.
Erica and Josh had personalized train whistles for each of the guests to blow as they left the reception.
Erica and Josh, I enjoyed the lovely day of celebration of such a lovely couple. I couldn’t be happier for the two of you!
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If you live anywhere near North Texas, you know that the area has been seeing a lot of snow lately. Pictures of snow and snowmen and snow-frolicking popped up on my Facebook news feed, as is to be expected. So I thought I’d share with you how James and I do snow days.
We avoid the snow at all costs. We stay inside, covered in blankets. We eat home-made cinnamon rolls. Well, first I make them. Then we eat them. James watches movies and I edit photos.
And THAT’S how you enjoy a snow day as a snow hermit.
(Shameless plug: Those paintings behind James are ones he painted! Woah. I know. You can see more of his work here.)
Kim started her wedding day with her mom and a few of her bridesmaids in a hotel room where they prepped for the big day.
One on the bridesmaids, Dani, perfected Kim’s makeup while Christmas music (Kim’s absolute favorite) played in the background.
I’m in love with Kim’s unique vintage ring.
After hair and makeup we headed to the lovely Ashton Gardens, a great new wedding venue in Corinth.
Can I just say that every single moment of this day was filled with laughs and smiles. Call it cheesy, but that is precisely why I love doing wedding photography — people are at their happiest.
After Kim slipped on her wedding dress, her dad came in for a peek at the bride.
As I mentioned in my earlier post of Kim and Vinnie’s first look, I was second shooting at this wedding for Stephanie Rose. This meant that at times that Stephanie was directing large groups of wedding party or family I would step back (or sometimes closer) and capture details and the in-between moments.
Now it’s time to finally meet the groom, Vinnie. He’s the one leading the pack of groomsmen.
Kim, you are absolutely stunning.
Because Kim and Vinnie did a first look (which you can see here) we were able to snag lots of shots of them together before finishing up the full wedding party and family shots before the ceremony. I would highly recommend a first look to couples to whom photography is an integral part of their wedding day.
Before the ceremony started I grabbed some details shots of the reception area.
These two are actually a combination before and during the ceremony. Kim and Vinnie used the tree as their guestbook for guests to  write notes on the paper ornaments before hanging them up on the tree.
I was greeted at the ceremony entrance by the sweet flower girls passing out programs.
Because the venue only had the middle aisle, I took shots from the balcony of the musicians and aerial shots of the ceremony while Stephanie took care of the shots on the lower level.
I love this wider shot of the entire aisle as Kim and her father near her groom.
Then it was on to the reception and I have never seen a bride and groom receive a warmer grand entrance than the guests gave Kim and Vinnie.
I believe the two young children in the photo below are the flower girls eagerly trying to capture the grand entrance on their pink iphones. I thought this was comical . . . I hope that’s ok.
It was when I saw the MASS of people swarm to take the newlyweds’ photo that I lol-ed behind my camera. But honestly, this is just a small picture of  how absolutely loved and adored Kim and Vinnie are by each and every single person around them.
Their dj, Intelligent Lights & Sound, was one of the best that I have had the opportunity to work with — great lighting and great music. Here he had the newlyweds play a quick, fun game on the dance floor before dinner was served.
Literally the second the floor was cleared after the mother-son and father-daughter dances a legitimate conga line was formed. This reception was such a vivacious celebration up until the very end.
This was the best reaction I have ever seen a groom have to taking his bride’s garter off. Hands down.
Gosh. Look at that face. It’s a face that would rather be right there. Holding that woman. More than anything else in the world.
Kim and Vinnie were sent off with bells rang by all their friends and family.
Kim and Vinnie, please know how completely and utterly supported y’all are. I saw it in every face at your wedding.
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