Ashley and Keith had a most beautiful wedding at Highland Park United Methodist Church and The Aldredge House on Saturday night. Flowers and decor for both the ceremony and reception were provided by Bella Flora. The gorgeous cakes were designed and made by the always fabulous Dallas Affaires and the awesome Colby Logan of Astounding Sounds provided the entertainment for the evening. We also really enjoyed working with Kelley Crowder of Elle Films for the first time. Kelley comes to our studio a lot to meet with clients and we are always looking for opportunities to work together! Ashley and Keith are so happy to have each other in their lives. They have learned to literally cherish every moment and know that it is a gift. Ashley has been fighting cancer over the last year so this couple takes nothing for granted. This time we are going to do something a little different. Every picture we take has a story behind it. So we are going to give you a little glimpse of why we capture the images we do and why they are important.
Obviously here we have the church. It’s kind of a no-brainer– the bride and groom want to have memories of the way the church looked that they were wed in. Greg also shot Ashley’s engagement ring in the spine of the Bible. Ashley and Keith’s faith is extremely important to them and this shot was a special request of theirs. Of course we want to comply with our bride and groom’s every wish!
Laura: In this shot, the mother of the bride is holding up Ashley’s dress. Connie showed me the patch of her own wedding dress that she had Ashley’s initials and wedding date stitched onto and sewn on the inside of Ashley’s dress, so this was her something “old”!
On the left we have little Eleanor who turned out to be quite a character. She was proudly showing Greg her fruit snacks. On the right Laura snapped this shot of Eleanor helping her grandmother button up her Aunt Ashley’s dress.
On the left is the image that Ashley chose to display at the reception. It was her favorite picture from her bridal session outside the Aldredge house and she looks absolutely gorgeous! On the right Greg captured Keith right before the ceremony. Keith was a very calm and cool groom. He just kept saying how excited he was to marry Ashley and was also trying to make sure everyone else was happy and had enough to eat and drink!
Greg: I liked this because it was a juxtaposition of old and new technology. The scripture was written on a piece of paper and also on the iPad. Again, it conveys the strong faith that Ashley and Keith share.
This is a secret note that Ashley gave to us to pass along to Keith just minutes before the ceremony…
Keith and Ashley have a long running joke involving the Geico googly-eye stack of money that they hide all over the place for each other to find. We may not get it, but they sure get a kick out of it which is fun to capture!
Laura: HPUMC has such a beautiful sanctuary so I like to snap on the wide-angle for a few shots to capture it from floor to ceiling.
Greg: I got to stand at the front for this ceremony so it was great to be able to shoot everyone participating up close. Clearly Eleanor was not a happy camper at this point.
Ashley and Keith’s ceremony was extra personal because their childhood friend Stacey officiated the ceremony. She knows them both so well and was able to convey to the congregation how incredibly destined to be together this couple really is.
After the ceremony Ashley pretty much had it with the wig so off it came and her mom was very happy about that. She is equally beautiful without it! When you “clothe yourselves with love” like these two do, nothing else matters.
Thanks to Megan and her team along with Bella Flora, the Aldredge house was looking gorgeous for the reception. The paper lanterns in the back yard created such a soft romantic light.
The gang at Dallas Affaires did a beautiful job on both cakes! Greg set up a side strobe to shoot the cakes to create a softer less harsh light and emphasize the ornate detailing on the bride’s cake.
Laura: Being an Aggie, I can guess what this acronym means… Beat the hell outta breast cancer!
Greg: I snuck out onto the roof to shoot Ashley and Keith during their first dance. Kelley’s video light is the only thing lighting their faces. I also love how you can see the happy faces of all the guests surrounding them. Thanks Kelley!
Laura: To me, this is the holy grail of wedding photography. Capturing the father of the bride with a tear running down his cheek. This is why I do what I do. To capture emotion.
Greg: This was really fun– Keith and his mom had an entire choreographed dance to “Fly me to the moon”
Megan is ready to serve the bride and groom their champagne!
Laura: The cake cutting was tricky. Everyone was crowded into the fireplace room so there wasn’t much room to have 2 photographers and 2 videographers. So Greg suggested I try to shoot from outside through the window and it worked out pretty well!
Laura: This is just something weird I do at every wedding, not sure why. But I love to put the rings on a slice of cake and shoot it!
Colby was getting his groove on!
Kelley and Laura
Here we have Ashley about to toss her bouquet from the grand staircase to a whopping four single girls!
Laura: One last kissing shot of the newlyweds before they headed off in the Rolls Royce. Thanks again Kelley for your video light =)
