No, seriously. Last pic.

Wendy, as usual, started her day off with the girls…

…while I went over to Alison’s house where the guys were getting ready.

Hugo gave his groomsmen one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever seen: real books that had been hollowed out to contain a flask and a cup.

Wendy took this next photo so that Alison could see what the back of her hair looked like and whether there was enough baby’s breath in it. And you thought wedding photographers were just good for taking pictures!

I love this picture below on the right that Wendy got of Alison shortly after the rain ended. I think she captured the thankfulness that Alison was no doubt feeling beautifully.

So the guys packed up and headed to Founders Hall, which, have I mentioned, is gorgeous? Here’s the room where the girls were getting ready:

And here are the ladies, all ready to go.

A toast!

Alison’s friend and former roommate Kaitlyn put together these gorgeous centerpieces for Alison and Hugo:

Additionally, the path to the hall was lined with votive candles in mason jars filled with dried beans. When I type it out like that it sounds odd, but I promise the effect was magnificent.

So while the girls finished making themselves beautiful, the guys arranged a patriotic tribute…

..then just stood around looking good.

Then, well, why not? Alison and Hugo got married.

Okay, enough of that mushy stuff! Now onto the food!

This gorgeous (and delicious) food was provided by Fork fine catering & events. If you like to eat, I suspect you’ll like them.

I have to stop now because you need to be prepared for what you’re about to see.

The food below is (and I promise I’m serious about this) chocolate-covered bacon.

And this is its effect on a healthy adult male:

That guy, by the way, was my best man. If I see you making that face over chocolate-covered bacon, I probably won’t post it on our blog. (I may, however, ask you to hand me a piece.)

So, if you have chocolate-covered bacon at your wedding you’ve already pretty much won the wedding competition. But Alison and Hugo couldn’t be content to stop at that. No, Alison’s dad had to go and make and bottle his own wine for the reception.

At the reception, a guest suggested I take this photo of the ceiling fan. I can’t figure out why.

As the sun began to set, I stepped outside to get a photo of Founders Hall in the fading light. Seriously, I love this venue.

As the sun went down, the party kept on going, with dancing, singing, eating, drinking, and lots of great friends.

Remember these guys? It’s Britt and Jason! They just celebrated their 1-year anniversary back in June.

Alison and Hugo, we can’t wait to see the ways God blesses you through marriage as the two of you grow closer together. We love you!

To start with, we’re going to celebrate the wedding of Chris and Joie. These two were married on a beautiful (if famously hot) South Carolina day at the Seibels House and Garden. Chris and Joie are a fantastic couple and obviously overwhelmingly in love. Wendy and I both love the way they look out for each other, even if it meant Chris shooing us away so that he could have some alone with Joie before the wedding. And Joie–when she looks at Chris, you can just tell she has his back and that she knows that he has hers. They’re a beautiful pair.

Anyway, enough of my blathering. Here are the pictures!

(Don’t forget about the guys.)

I swear we did not set up these next two photos.

Chris and Joie opted to have a “first look” before the ceremony. That gave them a chance to spend a few moments alone together and gave us a chance to get these uninterrupted photos of the two of them seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day.

The party next moved on to the Columbia Museum of Art…

We don’t know exactly what was hanging from the ceiling, but it looked dangerous!
[Update: The chandelier is by artist Dale Chihuly, who looks fairly dangerous, himself.]

Chris dancing for joy at his good fortune in marrying Joie.

Chris and Joie, it was wonderful celebrating with you and your delightful family and friends. May you continue to delight and delight in one another for many, many years to come!

There’s more to come, but here are a few teasers from the wedding.

We’re starting the week off with an awesome wedding from back in January. You should remember Leah and Greg from their engagement session and from Leah’s bridal session. This was an incredibly special wedding for me not only because Leah is a former student of mine, but because not one, not two, but three of her bridesmaids are my former students! Add to that the fact that I teach with both of her parents, and that everybody involved is simply a whole lot of fun, and, well, we had an amazing time. Check it out.

Leah and Greg were married in Greenwood, SC, so Wendy and I started out the day by driving out to the church to get a look around and scout locations. It turns out that Leah was there dropping off her dress, so we also took that time to get a few shots of the dresses and other accoutrements.

After photographing a few of the details, Wendy went to photograph Leah and her bridesmaids getting ready while I got the guys.

I absolutely love this photo of Leah that Wendy grabbed before the ceremony.

Finally, it was time for the ceremony.

Wendy and I think that a wedding ceremony is one of the most beautiful symbols of love that exists. Sadly, not everyone can work up the level of excitement about them that we have.

Next, we moved on to the reception, which was held at the Sundance Gallery which belongs to Jon Holloway, who is not only an amazing photographer, but a very gracious guy.

The food at the reception was not only beautiful…

…it was delicious.

From there on out, everybody pretty much just had an awesome time.

Leah’s brother and sister-in-law apparently thought the whole affair was very romantic.

…fortunately, so did Greg and Leah.

What would a wedding post be without a good sword photo?

…or the grandmother with the beer can pyramid?

…or one last dance with the girls before departing.

And goodnight everybody!

We wish Leah and Greg the absolute best in their new life together!

We’re only on day one of the FIVE (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING, so check back all this week for kids, actors, and even…web developers?

Lauren started off her bridal shoot at our place with some shots on a simple gray background.

One of the wonderful things about photographing Lauren, though, is that the shots didn’t stay simple for long.

After breaking out the cowboy hat, Lauren showed off her United States Air Force garter. (If I were single I would have actually tried to catch this one.)

We didn’t stay in one place for too long on this shoot, though. Next we headed over to the South Carolina State House where we took this shot on the gorgeous marble floor.  (Doesn’t her dress look like something Marilyn Monroe might have worn?)

By this point, we’d been shooting for a couple of hours, so we thought Lauren deserved a break.

Don’t you love the boots? You’d think that would be enough, wouldn’t you?
Not Lauren!

Why settle for just cowboy boots in your bridal shoot when you can also also have combat boots? (Answer: no reason at all.)

Lauren, you see, served for several years in the Air Force Reserve as a bomb loader or, as she affectionately called the position, a “load toad”. I’d love to show you tons and tons of pictures of Lauren with the F-16, but frankly, the guys at McEntire Joint National Guard Base scared me silly that I’d accidentally post something that gave away national secrets. (You might note that this F-16 has no weapons whatsoever on it.) The bicycles (they’re actually tricycles) in the background are apparently not weaponized…yet.

Despite my fear of being whisked away by armed men in a camouflage jeep, here’s one more picture of the beautiful bride and one serious flying machine.

To get the rest of the story, visit their personal page where you’ll find a link to their complete wedding gallery as well as a link to Britt’s bridal photos.  Before you do that, though, enjoy the slideshow!

(The lovely music in the first half of the slideshow is “Movie Star Faces” from the album of the same title by The Verna Cannon.)

Come back soon. There are new photos already waiting in the wings: a magnificent musician and six, count ‘em, six adorable kids!

Jason and Britt have been two of my favorite subjects since over a year ago when I shot their engagement session. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Aw, just look at them. So young. So in love. And now, more than a year later, they’re…well, still so young and so in love, so let’s get to the marrying.

Wendy started out with the girls as they did all the things women do to prepare for an event as important as a wedding.

So while the ladies were getting dressed, making themselves even more beautiful, and seeking God’s favor on the marriage, the guys were…

…playing Rock Band.

You have to understand, ladies, mental preparation is necessary for an event as significant as a wedding.

Wendy rode with Britt over to Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the site of the ceremony and snapped this lovely picture of her in the car.

…and also got this shot of Britt’s awesome bracelet.

Once we all arrived at the church, Wendy and I grabbed shots of some of the other details of the wedding, like the bridesmaids shoes…

…and the groomsmen’s boutonnieres (have to look up the spelling on that one every time).

The flower girls, per regulation, were adorable.

At long last the church was ready…

…Jason was ready…

…and Britt was ready.

…so they got started.

(Jess, when you get married, we hope you’ll either hire us to photograph your wedding or just let us assemble an album from all the pictures we already have of you. We can Photoshop you into a white dress if you want.)

Britt and Jason decided, after they got engaged, to forego kissing until they were married. I’m totally blown away by that. What kind of longing do you think that must create in a couple who obviously love each other as much as these two?

My guess? A lot of longing.

From the church, we all went over to the Westin Poinsett Hotel where Britt and Jason had their reception. Check out this reception hall:

…and this awesome cake:

From there, it was pretty much one amazing party.

Britt, of course, tossed the bouquet…

…but Jason was in for a surprise with the garter toss.

Wendy assures me those are not Britt’s actual underwear.

After that there was still more dancing…

…and still more adorable children.

Before the night was over, we slipped Jason and Britt outside to get a shot of them with the Poinsett in the background. If you saw a guy with a camera lying in a hotel driveway in Greenville that night, thanks for not running me over.

Wendy and I had an amazing time photographing Jason and Britt’s wedding and, while we’re going to miss having them here in Columbia, we’re glad they’re off to a fantastic start to their marriage.

Come back tomorrow for the final day of TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING!

When I arrived at Gabe’s parents’ house, he and the groomsmen hadn’t yet shown up, so I walked around greeting the dogs and the goats (yes, goats) and generally getting a sense of the place. Very shortly though, the guys arrived in this:

I mean, as a photographer can you ask for more than that? Well, I did.
See, there was this trampoline…

Lydia, if your husband was smelly on his wedding night I am really, really sorry. It’s my fault.

One thing that you might notice is that Gabe and his groomsmen are wearing brown patent leather shoes. I’d never seen those before and commented on it. Gabe quickly gave the credit to Lydia for finding them, which I think gives a pretty good indication that they’re going to do very well at this marriage business.

If the Volkswagen hadn’t been enough, it turns out that Gabe’s dad also has a classic Shelby Cobra. Despite the fact that Gabe was angry with the car (it had burned Lydia recently with its exhaust pipe) he agreed to be photographed with it. Let me make this clear, Gabe was angry with the car for harming his bride. Like I said, I think they’re off on the right foot.

Gabe and Lydia opted to see each other before the wedding, so Rebekah went ahead and got a lot of the ‘formals’ out of the way. I snapped this one quickly in order to prove that I could get six children out of a group of seven to completely ignore me.

Mission accomplished.

Do you see what the flower girls are wearing? That’s right. Green tutus. Come on, it’s like they did the work for me!

After the ceremony, Rebekah got the wedding party to traipse out into a field with us for a few more photos. Please note the pink Gerbera daisies that the bridesmaids carried and that made up Lydia’s bouquet. This girl has style.

From the field we all went to the reception which was lovely and where they were serving very good coffee (important when driving home to Columbia after a long day of shooting). The usual festivities ensued, including, of course, the garter toss.

(He looks delighted with his victory.)

I had a great time at the wedding, so big thanks are due to Rebekah for inviting me and to Lydia, Gabe, and their families and friends for being so cool to hang out with. I have no doubt that Gabe and Lydia are going to have a fantastic marriage and I’m really honored to have been a part of its beginning.

Come back tomorrow as TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING continues…

Wendy started the day early, photographing the girls as they got ready at Becky’s place. Becky not only did her own makeup, but that of several of the bridesmaids as well.

Meanwhile, Loren and I headed to the Corley Mills House to photograph the guys finishing up their preparations and get a few shots of Danny with his groomsmen.

Finally, the big moment arrived. The ceremony was beautiful. Danny and Becky had written their own vows and immediately after exchanging rings they took communion together for the first time as husband and wife. It was absolutely lovely.

The reception was, like the reception of most Shack weddings, raucous and tons of fun. We especially appreciated the enthusiasm of the folks vying for the garter and bouquet.

Though everyone wanted to spend some time with the new couple, we managed to pull them aside for just a couple of minutes to get some shots of the two of them alone. How did they spend that time? Well…

When it was time for them to go, Becky and Danny’s guests sent them off in a hail of bubbles.

Finally, here’s the slideshow I promised yesterday. Give it a little time to buffer and I think you’ll enjoy some fantastic music along with some more of our favorite images from the wedding.

Danny and Becky’s Wedding Slideshow from J.P. Stephens on Vimeo.