Hey everybody!
I have been SO excited to share this wedding with you! In all my years of shooting weddings... I've never seen such a before and after transformation than I witnessed as I pulled up to the family farm shop in McGehee, Arkansas. Shawna and her team at Young Designs took a blank canvas and transformed it into the masterpiece you'll see below.
Thomas and Anna's wedding day was beautiful and lovely, despite the rain. Rain on a wedding day is supposed to be good luck, I hear, and while I don't really believe in "luck" I do know that 1) rain didn't hold us back from taking exceptional photos and having a fun and amazing time, but also, 2) marriages are more important that weddings.
My heart broke a little as I watched tears fall from Anna's eyes as I arrived for her getting-ready photos. While I know it seemed like the end of the world to her in that moment, I knew that through the care and diligence with which Shawna would execute a backup plan (which, tbh, is just as dreamy as so many Plan-A's I've photographed) that Anna had nothing to be sad about. Additionally (if you follow me on insta you might already know this), it motivated me to create something super extra with her wedding portraits (see the bridge pic below). The way everyone joined forces to a killer wedding for Anna and Thomas couldn't be more inspiring.
Ok... enough with all the words. Let's look at pretty pictures, shall we?
Anna's mom, Amanda, is the coolest and sweetest MOB... I love that I was able to capture these moments of her helping her daughter get dressed for the wedding ceremony.
I never "push" for first looks, but man oh man... the potential energy in this image is everything.
Oooookaaaayyy cute and sassy bridesmaids...
This is the series of images I created on the bridge when the rain stopped. Crazy thing is, I've always wanted to shoot with these trees and finally got the perfect chance to use them for wedding couple portraits.
The reception space - farm shop turned into glam wedding reception - was too pretty to not also use for portraits.
So, I made a collage (for those Pinterest users out there, PIN THIS!), but also included the individual shots in case you wanna see details...
I just love the way she's looking at him. Hahaha... goals.
So, I lit the reception and party pics differently from what I typically do at a wedding and I'm obsessed with how natural it looks. I didn't overpower skintones and got to preserve the lighting and ambiance of the reception. Do you agree?
So I have to end with this... because it's just TOOO good.
Can I just share one more thing? I got this text from the lovely MOB today:
Dale, let me say... I have never seen a photographer with more talent! The insta story was AMAZING!!!
You have an amazing gift and I’m so glad we were fortunate enough to get to have you as our photographer! We love and appreciate all we see!!! YOU my man are amazing beyond belief!! We just love you and plan on you being in our lives forever, and capturing important moments in our world as well!
Real tears.
Talk to you soon,
Dale