A Spring Hill College Wedding

When I first met Mackenzie and Christopher, we found ourselves talking about our grandparents. I met up with them for a consultation right before my Granny passed away last year. Mackenzie happened to work at the same hospital and on one of the specialty floors where my grandmother stayed for part of the time she was in the hospital. I felt certain their paths had to have crossed at some point. Mackenzie has such a caring heart and I could tell how much she loves caring for her patients.

As we chatted about our grandparents, Mackenzie shared that she and Christopher were both close to their grandparents. So when I heard that Christopher’s beloved grandfather passed away a few days prior to their wedding, my heart ached for them. On the day of the wedding, Mackenzie spotted several butterflies throughout the day. She said she felt it was a sign that Christopher’s grandfather was smiling down on them and sharing in their joy. I was wishing I’d caught one on camera, but knowing they were there is what matters.

Mackenzie and Christopher chose Spring Hill College for their ceremony and reception. As a Spring Hill College alum myself, it is one of my favorite places to photograph a wedding! There are so many beautiful portrait spots to choose from. The only problem we had the whole day was dodging traffic in order to get photos on the Avenue of the Oaks. This avenue is known to many as a great portrait location in our area, but it is extra special to all who attended the Jesuit College of the South.

When you’re a student at Spring Hill, you start and end your college journey with the Avenue of the Oaks. It is a sentimental location for all Spring Hill grads. I’m so glad we were able to get in a few photos in this spot, even though it was challenging. Two weddings were happening on campus at the same time so there was quite a bit of traffic!

Mackenzie and Christopher, it was such a joy photographing your wedding! Enjoy this preview of your day and happy honeymooning!

Christopher wore this family heirloom in memory of his beloved grandfather.

Mackenzie shared a First Look with her dad and it was the sweetest moment!!!

We were finishing up bridal party portraits when Christopher’s grandmother arrived. Her reaction to seeing Mackenzie in her gown was one of my favorite moments of the day!

This is why you want to save time for Golden Hour portraits! We could not have taken this portrait any earlier in the day than we did because this spot would have been in full sun. I’m so glad these two took a few minutes post ceremony for some bonus bride and groom portraits! These were some of my favorites of the day!

VENDORS

Second Photographer | Evan Davis

Photographer’s Assistant | Alexis Williams

Venue | Spring Hill College

Planning | Bella Victoria

Catering | Sharr Jones, Aramark – Spring Hill College

Cake | Cakes by Judi

Florals | Beth Pederson

Hair Stylist | Marissa, Identity Salon

Makeup | Olivia Fryfogle

DJ | Ed Oetken, Mobtown DJ

Rentals | Port City Rentals

Bride’s Gown | I Do Formal

Bridesmaid Dresses | David’s Bridal

Groom & Groomsmen Attire | Jos A Bank

A Cooper-Riverside Park Engagement

Sally and Travis grew up knowing of each other, but didn’t actually meet until they were in the 8th grade. They described their first meeting as slightly awkward. It wasn’t until years later that they actually got to know each other.

College took them separate ways for a while, but Sally and Travis remained friends. Fast forward to Mardi Gras 2016. Sally found herself on the Mardi Gras court and asked Travis to be her knight. The rest is history! These two have been together ever since and if that isn’t a made in Mobile love story for you, I don’t know what is!

I love that Sally and Travis described themselves as proud Mobilians. I definitely share that love for our hometown and was excited that they chose to do their session at Cooper-Riverside Park. This quiet park is right on the waterfront, but is still so full of trees. It makes it perfect for shooting in the late afternoon. It was also fun to incorporate the GulfQuest Maritime Museum into the background of some of the portraits since that is where their rehearsal dinner will be next May!

Sally is a talented designer, so she knows how to put together an outfit. I love that she chose fun and colorful accessories to wear during her session. I even used her earrings for one of their rings shots!

As we headed to the parking lot at the end of the session, I noticed how gorgeous our little skyline looked. Sally and Travis were both up for a few more shots, as was I! I love that these two both embraced spending this time together and savored every minute of their session. Enjoy some of my favorites from their downtown Mobile engagement session!

Definitely my new favorite ring shot!

Travis gave Sally this bracelet the year she was on the Mardi Gras court. I love that she wore it to their session!

An Izenstone Wedding

Frankie was so excited that his parents were getting married! They were equally excited to have their fur-baby be part of their special day! It’s always a bit tricky to incorporate pets into a wedding day because you never know what their reaction will be. Fortunately, I got to meet Frankie at Ginny and Michael’s engagement session and I knew he would do just fine.

Ginny and Michael are such a sweet couple. I remember the first time I met Ginny and hearing her talk about Michael. I love that she didn’t let the distance of living in different states deter her from following her heart. I also love that Michael’s main concern was all about Ginny enjoying their wedding day. Whatever made Ginny happy would make him happy. How sweet is that?!

After months of knowing these two and hearing them talk about their families, it was so wonderful to meet everyone on wedding day! Many of their friends and family traveled down to the Alabama Gulf Coast from different states to celebrate with them. Thankfully, we had the most picturesque day for the wedding. Yes, it was still a bit hot, but no where near as humid as July and August were! I’m sure all their guests from out of town thought I was crazy talking about how it wasn’t that hot, but it was seriously a HUGE difference from the summer months.

This wedding marked my first time to shoot at Izenstone in Spanish Fort. This property is so beautiful and the barn is the perfect mix of rustic and polished. I love that the interior is all light toned! It photographs beautifully and is large enough to host a large reception. Michael’s extended family alone could fill up the huge dance-floor space!

A St. Francis at the Point Ceremony

I was also excited to return to St. Francis at the Point for the wedding ceremony! The first wedding I ever second shot was at this church and I’ve loved it ever since that day. When Ginny first told me she’d selected it for the ceremony, I could barely contain my excitement. Because of all the large windows, this church has an abundance of natural light. My photographer friends and I talk all the time about how it’s a photographer’s dream ceremony location!

I love that after the ceremony, the bridal party gathered outside the church to cheer for Ginny and Michael as they made their way down the front steps. It was such a joyful moment! I also love that since we had a 3 o’clock ceremony that we still had time for Golden Hour portraits once we returned to Izenstone. Definitely scroll down to see those because they were some of my favorites of the whole day!

Frankie was definitely ready for picture time!

I have a feeling this one is going to go in a frame!

Moments like this are what memories are made of! I don’t even know if Ginny and Michael were aware of the cuteness happening behind them in this moment.

I absolutely LOVE this shot that my second photographer, Alexis, took during the exit from the church! I asked her to shoot from behind hoping that she’d get an opportunity for a shot like this and she absolutely nailed it!

Ginny and her brothers planned a special dance and, oh my word, it was AMAZING! They brought the house down with laughter and cheers!

Then, Michael’s dance with his sweet mom had everyone in tears again!

I walked outside to check the light for Golden Hour portraits and it was absolutely PERFECT!

It was such a treat to run into one of my 2017 couples, Rachel and Alex, at the reception! These two recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary and are expecting TWINS next year!

I glanced across the dance floor and the sweetest moment was happening between Ginny and her grandmother. Cue the tears once again!

VENDORS

Second Photographer / Assistant | Alexis Williams

Getting Ready + Reception Venue | Izenstone

Ceremony | St. Francis at the Point

Catering | Jonathan Kastner, Anchor Bar & Grill 

Florist | Belle Bouquet

Cake Artist | Pollman’s

Hair Stylist | Jessica Price

DJ | Southern Aire DJs

Bride’s Gown | Bridal Suite Pensacola

Bridesmaid Dresses | Azazie

Groom & Groomsmen Attire | Men’s Warehouse

A Bayside Engagement

It might not feel like fall around here, but fall engagement season has definitely arrived. September, October and November are always hugely popular months for engagement sessions among my brides. It’s crazy to think that I’ll be photographing nearly half of my annual wedding booking’s engagement sessions during these months, but that’s how the calendar filled in. I LOVE the fall season though, so I’m super excited for all the shoots I have coming up!

I’m excited to introduce y’all to Anna and Michael today! These two met in medical school at Auburn University. Anna says they were instant friends and that it wasn’t until nearly a year after meeting that they realized they wanted their relationship to be something more. Anna and Michael are so at ease with one another! It’s easy to see that they had a strong friendship as the foundation of their relationship.

I loved that both Anna and Michael were equally excited for their engagement session! Anna described herself as a huge picture person when we first met. Her enthusiasm reminded me a lot of my cousin, Brittany. Michael, knowing that Anna treasures photographs, even hired a photographer to capture the moment he proposed. He also made sure that her family was in town that weekend, meaning that everyone could celebrate together over dinner at their favorite restaurant after she said yes. How sweet is that?!

Anna is a Texas girl and Michael is from Fairhope. They decided that the Alabama Gulf Coast was the perfect place for their April 2020 wedding. I’m excited for their spring wedding, which will be at Izenstone, one of our newer venues in the Spanish Fort area and also the venue for the wedding I’m photographing this weekend!

Even though I hadn’t met Michael prior to their engagement session, I got to meet his mom at the consultation. I loved that Anna brought along her future mother-in-law to our meeting since Michael and her mom couldn’t attend. Anna said their moms have become best friends and are having so much fun helping her with all the wedding plans!

The engagement session always seems to fly by so fast! I was sad when the sun set and our time was up. I can’t wait to see these two again next year on wedding day!

I am also obsessed with this photo in black and white! The light was so magical!!!

Hair & Makeup | Jillian Jensen Holt

View more engagement sessions here!

A Grand Hotel Point Clear Wedding

Fall wedding season is about to kick into high gear and engagement season is in full swing! My Inbox has been overflowing with wedding inquiries, but my family is also celebrating an engagement of our own. On Saturday night, my sister, Katherine, answered the most important question of her life and became engaged! Yay!

The past few days have been a bit of a whirlwind with nailing down a wedding date, which is quite tricky since I’m a wedding photographer with over half of my 2020 season booked! Thankfully, I was not booked on their date of choice. Since I had a heads up that Phillip was about to propose, I was able to pause booking weddings for a few weeks until they selected a date.

Wedding planning is a series of decisions. Two of the first decisions that every bride will make are regarding their venue and photographer. The venue determines the date and you have to have a date confirmed in order to book a photographer. The two go hand-in-hand.

Once you choose your wedding photographer, you may also find yourself trying to decide whether or not to purchase a wedding album. I absolutely love creating wedding albums for my clients. Printing your photos so that they may be enjoyed off the screen is so very important! An heirloom quality wedding album will stand the test of time. Here are three reasons I think it’s beneficial to order your album from your wedding photographer.

1. Prevents Procrastination

“We intended to create our own album, but just never got around to it.” I’ve heard this way too many times! Yes, it’s tempting to try to cut down on that package price by skipping on the wedding album, but the reality is that life often gets busier after the wedding day. It’s easy to put the wedding album on the back-burner. Before you know it, you’re celebrating your third wedding anniversary and that album still remains on your ever-growing to-do list. Ordering an album from your wedding photographer will prevent you from procrastinating on getting that album created.

2. Expert Curation

When I photograph a wedding, I’m always trying to tell the story of that wedding day. The wedding album is the overview of that story in printed form. One of my favorite parts of the wedding process is curating images for the wedding album. I pull together the best images from the wedding day and use them for a pre-design. This lets my clients have some idea of what the album design will look like. There is always an opportunity for them to make changes to the photographs that are in this pre-design, but that is much less overwhelming than having to select images from the full gallery for a blank design.

3. Professional Print Quality

One place that professional printing really matters is in the wedding album. Considering this is an heirloom that’s likely to be passed down to future generations, you want ink, paper and binding that can stand the test of time. Ordering your wedding album from your photographer will also ensure colors print as accurately as possible. Read more about the importance of professional printing here.

 

Carolyn & Neal’s Wedding Album

I love receiving wedding albums in the mail and I’m always sad to part with them. Carolyn and Neal had a beautiful spring wedding at Sacred Heart Chapel and The Grand Hotel in Point Clear. Every detail was planned by the amazing team at Jenna Laine Weddings. I am still obsessed with the invitation suite from this wedding. The details spread is one of my favorites in this album! Enjoy taking a look through all the spreads below!

I loved how this design turned out and the light blue leather cover Carolyn chose is my new favorite! I loved it so much that I ordered myself a new mini album to have on hand as a sample! This six by six inch miniature album is also the perfect gift for parents!

Album Design by Andrea | Align Album Design

See Carolyn & Neal’s Wedding on Coastal Bride!

View their full wedding post on my blog here!