Hannah + Ryan | Married - Elizabeth Gelineau Photography

A Bella Sera Gardens Wedding

Oh how fast the time goes between the engagement session and wedding day! It always seems like it’s only been a few weeks time between the two. March is flying by equally as fast! I can’t believe that with Hannah and Ryan’s wedding, the month is officially half over! Photographing five weddings in a row is quite a marathon, but I’m loving working with every single one of these couples. This past weekend marked my first time to photograph a wedding at Bella Sera Gardens in Loxley, Alabama. This lovely little venue is tucked down a driveway and you immediately feel like you’re in another world. It’s so quiet and peaceful!

While I enjoy photographing weddings at many of the classic Mobile venues, it’s fun to visit new places once in a while! I found that Bella Sera Gardens has a lot of portrait options to choose from. Hannah and Ryan told me they loved everything about the location, so we tried to get in as many portrait spots as possible. I think we succeeded! Thanks to Hannah’s comfortable and sparkly Ked’s Kate Spade wedding shoes, we were able to move quickly!

Hannah and Ryan’s First Look has to be one of my all time favorites. Ryan is very expressive, so I knew we were likely in for a fun moment. Right as we were getting Hannah set with her dress, she said Ryan’s name matter of factly and he started to turn around. We screamed, “don’t look yet!” Ryan assured us he didn’t see anything and once Hannah was all set we went ahead with the First Look. Ryan’s reaction when he saw Hannah in her gorgeous gown was priceless. In true Ryan form, he exclaimed that she looked “even better than he did in his suit” – I’m telling y’all he is a character!

My other favorite moment of this wedding was the bouquet giveaway. I’d never seen this done before, but it’s definitely a twist on a tradition that I love! During the reception, all couples were invited to participate in an anniversary dance. At the end of the dance there was one couple remaining who’d been married for the most years. Hannah presented that couple with her bride bouquet instead of doing a traditional bouquet toss. It was the sweetest moment!

Enjoy this preview of my favorite moments from Hannah and Ryan’s day! Be sure to scroll through to see Ryan’s AMAZING groom’s cake, which was a tribute to his love for Coca-Cola. It was seriously one of the coolest cakes I’ve ever seen!