The morning of Caroline and Anthony’s wedding went by in a blur but when he waited for her at the end of the church hallway it truly felt like things slowed down. Where there had been rushing around minutes before, there was a quiet, sweet anticipation.
I love first looks.
I love that it slows things down.
I love that it makes certain that there is time set aside for nice, long extended hugs like this one.
Poor Anthony was wiping red lipstick off his face from this moment until the send-off at the end of the evening — he just couldn’t keep himself from kissing that beautiful bride of his.
Here I shall list some things that are bizarre:
- feeling like you’ve been going non-stop since April and waking up one day and there being no. more. editing. for you to do becauuuuuuuuse . . .
- you’re LESS THAN TWO WEEKSÂ out from your due date with your first baby . . .
- so blogging a lifestyle newborn session and knowing that it’s going to be y-o-u in a short matter of time having your baby girl’s newborn photos taken and seeing your husband turn into a dad right before your eyes — well, let’s just say there are a whole lot of feelings being felt in my office this morning.
Lauren and Lee, thank you for inviting me into your home to document those earliest days with sweet baby Scout. I can’t believe how much she’s grown since we’ve taken these photos. It’s been beautiful watching the two of you become parents, the three of you become a family.
Everything about Lauren and Phil and the wedding day they put together makes me want to photograph weddings for the rest of my life. They just got everything so right. They surrounded themselves with their favorite people as they got ready at the light-filled, historic Grand Hotel down the street from their venue, the Mckinney Flour Mill. The day went at a relaxed pace — so much so that Lauren informed me she’d had time for a bubble bath late that morning and Phil and his groomsmen were ready in time to leisurely walk to the Flour Mill before portraits began. Beneath the calm and the laughter in the hotel rooms we could all still feel the weight of the significance of this day, this day that Lauren and Phil would become Lauren-and-Phil-forever-and-ever-alright-oh-yeah.
They saw each other for the first time of the day in the same space where their ceremony would take place that evening. They met in the middle and took a moment to hold each other tight, to laugh the kind of laughs and smile the kind of smiles that one exchanges in the last couple of hours before they marry the person in front of them. We followed this with portraits during the best light of the day. I loved that time with Lauren and Phil on their wedding day, seeing how happy they were, getting the honor of documenting a bit of it.
During Phil’s vows to Lauren he thanked her for marrying him. Not once, not twice, and not three times but even more than that and with each time he repeated it, earnestly, everyone laughed not just because it was comically redundant but because it was so obviously sincere.
And then they danced and ate Texas BBQ and spent the rest of the evening under string lights, celebrating and enjoying their friends and family, some of whom had travelled quite a long way to be there with them dancing and eating and celebrating.
Lauren and Phil, you two and your wedding day are what my wedding photographer dreams are made of. And with that, hopefully the photos tell the rest. Enjoy!
For those of you who made it all the way to the end and are thinking, “WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS ADORABLE COUPLE BEFORE??” it may have been from their NYC engagement session in Grand Central Station and the Brooklyn Bridge. Or I suppose it could have just been in passing on the subway (although they did confess they’ve become more “taxi people”).
Lauren and Phil — I think you guys are SO GREAT. I couldn’t be happier for you two and your growing family. Like Phil in his vows I feel the need to repeat it over and over and over, from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you
 thank you
for choosing me as your wedding photographer.
What do you do when you need to shoot an engagement session in the height of Texas summer heat? You find a space built in the 1930s  with plenty of window light and take the session indoors OF COURSE. I just finished editing Becca and John’s photos earlier this week and for some reason couldn’t wait a moment longer to get them on the blog. These two are so fun, super-chill and are also parents to an adorable baby boy named Mason so brace yourselves for some serious 9-month-old cuteness later on in this post. Being the sweet, incredibly thoughtful momma that she is, Becca actually made and gifted some pacifier clips for my little baby girl on the way and I just cannot wait to use them! How such wonderful brides and grooms find me I do not know, but I sure am thankful.
Enjoy some of my favorites from Becca and John’s Dallas lifestyle engagement session.
HIIIIIIIIIIII, MASONNNNNNNNNNNN!
sidenote: I’m in love with Becca’s hummingbird tattoo that she got in honor of her grandmother, especially because every time I see a hummingbird I think of my grandmother too.
Thanks to Pouf for Becca’s lovely hair and make-up.
Hope you guys have a great move to Colorado — send some of the pretty mountain breeze our way, pretty please — and I cannot wait to meet back up with y’all for your Milagro Farms wedding next April!
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