After the dinner was over, I leaned over to Abbey, who was photographing B&J’s Magnolia Hall wedding with me and said, “Oh, I should have told you, these people are going party!” Between the great band, the fun collection of guests and the wonderful occasion, I knew this was sure to be a lively night.

First, some of the beautiful details from the day. The couple had assistance on the day of the wedding from planner Courtney Surber Paz.

The bride’s uncle played the bagpipes for the procession and recession, as well as to invite the guests back into the hall for dinner.

And a few of the “informals”. These are the portraits that I love to get, where they aren’t thinking about the camera, the shoulders relax and you get to see an authentic expression of emotion…in this case, joy!

The very happy mother of the bride. 

The groom and his baby sister.

Finally, the party! Starting with cocktail/kisses/hugs/congratulations hour…

Dinner and toasts…

Dancing, dancing, dancing…amazing music provided by the Bradley Cole Smith Band…

Seriously, I could keep going and going. When the house lights came up, I caught this moment with the bride and some of her best girlfriends who came from near and far.

The newlyweds! Thanks, B&J, for letting me a be a part of your day in this way. I’m looking forward to lots of little “photo ops” in the future!!

More pictures from this event can be found here and here, or with other weddings in the Weddings category.

Check out Abbey’s pics here.

I so enjoyed photographing M&L’s rehearsal dinner at the beautiful Roswell Mill Club, in Roswell, Georgia. This facility is adjacent to Ivy Hall, both of which have been restored from a Civil War era cotton mill. Overlooking Vickery Creek and a park that includes a picturesque covered bridge (unfortunately not easily accessible in the heels all the ladies were wearing!), this is a part of town that I had not been to in ages and plan to return to with the family on one of our next trips up. 

They say you can judge how a man will treat his wife by how he treats his mother. Judging by how sweet this groom is with his mom and grandmother (below), I’d say L is in good hands.

The bride got comfortable so she could go mingle with her friends and family.

The RMC is a beautiful venue both indoors and out, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the elegant room and porch.

There was a nostalgic slideshow at the end of the night with pictures of the couple from childhood up to their courtship. This is the mom and sister of the bride watching and reminiscing from the back of the room.

Thanks and best wishes to the newlyweds. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with your family and be a part of this special night on the cusp between your old life and your new one.

Magnolia lawn, where the ceremony was originally slated to take place. Check out Abbey’s blog  to see how beautifully Plan B turned out inside. I’ll have some pics from the ceremony and reception here next week.

The father of the bride with his lovely wife…and daughter.

The ladies got ready and were treated like royalty at G Salon.

Whether at a dress fitting or for the  main event, putting on the veil is always one of my favorite moments. I don’t know what it is, but it makes it all come together and feel real. It was then that B’s sister and “MOH” (maid of honor) said, “this is really happening!” and a few tears were shed by all. Those are the mothers of the bride and groom in the background.

Last few moments of prep and anticipation…

You can find more “bibi+ yoyo” posts under the Weddings category.

I had the honor of photographing B&J’s wedding at Magnolia Hall in Piedmont Park in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Despite the rain (and wind and lightning) that threw a wrench in their plan for an outdoor wedding, they managed to pull off a beautiful celebration. I have been to a lot of weddings, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple that was any happier than these two clearly are. I am going to break this event up into a few different posts. This one will focus on the bride…

and groom.

I love to look for the little telling moments of interaction. These two did not let me down. Lots of hand holding, kissing, and…ahhhh…the way they look at each other.

A spontaneous kiss for her new husband while on the dance floor.

Did I mention there was a lot of kissing going on between the happy couple? And every time that I saw them, whether I had my camera pointed at them or not, he would break into a smile mid-kiss.

Congratulations, bibi and yoyo!! More to come here in the coming days and, I promise, you’ll have all of them just as soon as Abbey and I can get them edited!

Those are lyrics from T&B’s song, and very appropriate for them indeed. These two have been through incredible challenges to get to their wedding day and they deserved to celebrate and be celebrated. I’m so proud and happy for them. And I was honored to be asked to document their day.

On a personal note, I learned a ton from my first official wedding shoot. First of all, that I LOVE doing it! Secondly, that I have a LONG way to go – but really I will probably always feel that way. I couldn’t just pick a few images to share here, so I put together some collages.

Getting ready…

Some of the details that they put much thought and effort into.

Ceremony…

For a guy who supposedly doesn’t really dance, B looked great on the dance floor…

Just a few more…

Anyhow, I ran up the road to Savannah recently to check out the location of a WEDDING I’ll be shooting in a few weeks! So excited about the opportunity, but I know I’ll be sweating buckets when the day comes. I keep telling myself, “It’s family. It’s going to be small and intimate.” And yet, I know it’s a once in a lifetime day for people I love and I just want to do a great job for them.

While I was there, we did a quick engagement shoot. You’ll see more of these pretty faces in a few weeks!