Lauren + Chris | Married - Elizabeth Gelineau Photography

An Orchard at Caney Creek Wedding

I have many photographer friends who love traveling to photograph weddings. They get excited for new venues and new locations. I, on the other hand, am a photographer who loves the familiar.

I love photographing weddings in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama, working with vendors I know who have become friends, and working with a team who knows me well. I especially love getting to sleep in my own bed at the end of a long wedding day. It’s the little things y’all!

When my cousin, Chris, and his fiance, Lauren, asked me to photograph their wedding in Texas, I knew it was definitely going to push me out of my comfort zone! But I was also excited because their wedding venue looked beyond DREAMY! I just needed to figure out the logistics and I prayed I could get one of my regular second photographers to make the trip to Texas with me.

The Dynamic Duo

Thankfully, when I mentioned Chris and Lauren’s wedding to Alexis and Regina, they were both on board for a road-trip to Texas.

Alexis has such an adventurous spirit and it just so happened the wedding was taking place while she was back in the States for a few months before returning to her new home in India. Regina started a new job a week before this trip, so I am super thankful that she was able to spend her holiday weekend with us. It meant the world to have this dynamic duo with me for the wedding!

Since it was a family wedding, I drove out with my parents ahead of the big day so that we could spend some time visiting with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Y’all, this was my first trip since the pandemic!!! It was so nice to take a few days off to relax ahead of the wedding weekend.

A Dream Day

Lauren knew she had found her dream wedding venue when she first toured The Orchard at Caney Creek. There was no doubt in her mind that this was where she and Chris would celebrate their wedding day. The venue offered so many beautiful spots for pictures and the ceremony, but it was the gazebo in the middle of the pond that sealed the deal. Lauren LOVES gazebos and the minute she saw that spot of the property, she knew there was no sense in looking anywhere else.

Leading up to the wedding day, I scoured Google, Facebook groups and the venue’s website trying to get the lay of the land. But when we pulled up the night of the rehearsal dinner, it was even more beautiful than I imagined it was going to be. As we drove down the tree-lined drive, I knew I wanted to get some bride and groom portraits in that spot during Golden Hour.

We had the most beautiful weather the day of the wedding. Even though it was a bit hot, we had clear skies and a breeze throughout the day. I loved that all the buildings on the property are in close proximity to one another. It made it easy for me to move everyone in and out of the air-conditioning.

After the ceremony, the venue’s coordinator drove us to some further away portrait spots on the property. The light was beyond beautiful! After portraits and dinner, Lauren and Chris shared their first dance in the gazebo by the pond. I knew Lauren was most excited about this moment and I loved seeing everyone watch from the deck while Lauren and Chris could soak in a private moment.

Back to My Roots

This coming weekend I’m getting back to my roots with a wedding in Mobile, but I am so very happy that I was able to capture the memories of Chris and Lauren’s wedding for our family. It took a little village to pull this off! Special thanks to my dad for being my Uber for Saturday and to my aunt and uncle for chauffeuring me to and from the rehearsal. I am definitely sticking to my rule of no weddings anywhere that requires me to fly (unless someone wants to bring me to an elopement style wedding in Italy that doesn’t require me packing all the gear I take with me on a normal wedding…I could probably be talked into that some day…just saying!).

Cheers to the newly Mr. and Mrs. Eickelman!