Josh and Amanda's Wedding, Part 3...The Reception

After the wedding, we all enjoyed a reception brunch at Ellendale's restaurant , where we had yummy made-to-order omelets, all sorts of pasta and veggie salads, fruit, a hot gourmet buffet,dessert (the cheesecake was fantastic!)...the food was the best I have ever had at a wedding reception, and the staff was very friendly and accomodating:

There was special music by Delores Hershey:

Josh and Amanda danced to "Valentine" (Martina McBride's song):

 And Amanda's grandfather cut in for a kiss:

Eric and I heard our wedding song, "At Last", so we danced, too (thanks to Hannah Mac Photography for this picture!):

Instead of a big cake for a small wedding, Josh and Amanda decided to have cake pops, Italian Opera Creme for her, and White Chocolate Raspberry for him-so yummy and perfect with a cup of coffee!

The Bride and Groom cake pops:

And a shot of Josh and Amanda with them:

(I think Amanda may have wanted to hide hers):

And the pretty pops that the guests received:

I have to admit, this last shot shot was inspired by the actual wedding photogs-I saw them photographing the cake pops on this gorgeous mosaic table, and thought it was a fantastic idea!

It was fun to watch them feed each other-it brought back memories of my own wedding, when Eric wouldn't let me smash the cake in his face (he HATES sticky stuff and sweets):

Cake kiss:

After that, the photogs took Josh, Amanda, and Porter outside for some photos-I took some, too, but they get all credit for posing!
I love Porter playing with his Mommy's necklace:

Love these mother/son moments:

Amanda's "supermen":

(I love how Porter was checking out Josh's pose to see what to do!)

Amanda is one lucky lady to have 2 super guys! Thank you for allowing me to share Josh and Amanda's special day with you...tomorrow, I will have a few outtakes of various other family members and photos that my kiddos allowed me to take of them in their dress clothes.

Josh and Amanda's Wedding, Part 2...The Ceremony

I have to say, the ceremony was difficult to photograph-it was rather dark in the chapel, and many tears of joy were shed (by me as much as anyone else, so my hands were not as steady as they needed to be, but I love the emotions, so I am sharing anyway).
Josh, waiting for his bride:

 He sees her now, and eyes filled:

They all came together at the alter:

And we all got a chuckle when Amanda wiped Josh's nose:

I loved how they made Porter such a big part of the ceremony:

Josh made vows to him too:

And they knelt together in prayer:

Porter wrapped his arms around the altar:

They lit the Unity candle together:

They had a solo by Jane Storie:

And Josh finally got his kiss:

Congratulations to the Josh Griggs family! I love my new sister and nephew and welcome them to the family!

Porter was happy to get some time with his Mommy after the ceremony (It was so cute to see him play with her dress and pretty curls):

We got a few picures in the foyer of the church before heading to Ellendale's for the reception:

And...I will finish up tomorrow with the reception photos, so be sure to follow me or drop back by!

Josh and Amanda's Wedding, Part 1... Getting Ready

Before I start...I wasn't "the wedding photographer", the professional pictures were done by Shots By Cheyenne, with an assistant, Hannah McDerman of Hannah Mac Photography. They were amazing, and super sweet about me running around with my camera, and I had fun chatting with them, too. I loved taking photos...but I totally know why photogs get paid "the big bucks" to do weddings! It is so hard to get decent shots in dimly lit churchs, organize the family for group shots, be ready for the important moments... It takes an incredible amount of knowledge, skill, and planning to do a proper job, and that doesn't even count the many hours they spend editing the photos after the wedding. I just wanted to capture some fun (hopefully decent) shots for my scrapbooks, and learned some things about wedding photography along the way. But enough about me, you are here to see the pictures, and hear about the wedding, right?
 We all know that weddings take a ton of planning, nail appointment, hair appointments, etc, etc, etc.. and then, of course, you have to find the Perfect Dress:

Close Up of the gorgeous embroidery and beading on the back:

And I must tell you, her dress was a dream! Ruffles, rhinestones...and it fit her like a glove! She did her own makeup:

 Even though her phone kept going off, lol :

She wore my Gran's pearl earrings:

After she was ready, she sat down to read a letter from my brother:

It made her cry and laugh at the same time:

Her Mom helped dry her tears:

 

So I ran downstairs to get some shots of Josh and Porter getting ready:

He is going to be such a good daddy to this precious little man!I am so proud of my "little" brother!

I liked the reflection in this shot:

I took a moment to snap a photo of my mom and dad while we waited for the ceremony to begin:

And... you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the ceremony photos! If you've made it this far, I would love to know what you think, so please leave a comment...they make my day!

It's All About The SHOES!

I love shoes, especially pretty, dressy (and of course, sometimes painful) shoes. So, it should come as no surprise to you that I took lots of "shoe pictures" at my little brother's wedding this past weekend. Without further ado...
Several shots of the bride's shoes {weren't they pretty?}:

I couldn't stop! I was having so much fun taking pictures of Amanda's shoes...and playing with them in Photoshop, too! Here is a photo I took of them and turned it into a "painting":

And, then of course, there were my shoes:

Josh and Porter's boots(Very appropriate for a Nashville wedding, I thought!):

Our sister, Elisabeth had some very impressive black sandals:

And, last but not least...my 12 year old, Caitlin, loved her pretty white high heeled sandals from Nanny!

Over the next few days, I will be sharing many more photos from the wedding and reception, so be sure to drop by my blog(or follow me so you don't miss them)!