Goin' to the Chapel: Part Five

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. The ceremony.

I was so stinkin' excited about shooting this wedding. Heather and Jeff didn't want me to miss a thing and said it would be great for me to be up front with them during the ceremony. I tried to remain out of sight as much as possible, but being that close was INTENSE! Heather got a little choked up....that stuff always gets me. But then Jeff started telling her how beautiful she was and just whispering to her and all was well with the world. It was wonderful. Simply wonderful.

Goin' to the Chapel: Part Four

Since I'm still working on editing the ceremony photos, I'll show you something special: the details.

Heather's family is one to be admired (I'd talk more about Jeff's family, but I really don't know them. No offense to them, of course...they all seem like lovely people. ). But what I know about Heather's family is that they know how to take what they have and make something totally remarkable out of it. Her mom is responsible for almost (if not all) of the wedding decorations and flowers! She told me that she has been working on them for the last six months!! Incredible!!

You'll also notice that the REAL RINGS are on the ring bearer's pillow!! I haven't seen that happen in a LONG time!!! I thought it was very impressive...and very brave. :) But I will say that the rings made it safely to the bride and groom...and you'll hear more about that later.

So here are....the details.

Sometimes this is the only way I can get in a photo. :)

Goin' to the Chapel: Part Three

And here we are at Part Three. Cruising right along.

Heather is such an organized person. At her bridal session I asked her to make a list of the photos she would like taken at the wedding. A list really makes those family photos at the end of the ceremony go much quicker. Well, Heather went beyond the call of duty and had everything laid out for me. So organized. So prepared. And when the clock struck one....I knew it was on my agenda to get to work and take some photos of the wedding party.

Goin' to the Chapel: Part Two

The hair and makeup are done. The only thing missing is the dress. So we make our way to the church....following Ford balloons along the way. Did I mention this was a Ford wedding? More about that later...

The guys and girls had about an hour to relax and have lunch before it would be time to get dressed and start taking pictures. This was probably the one part of the day that didn't go by lightening fast. However, it was still over before we knew it.

The girls helped Heather wiggle into her dress...a task we allowed 20 minutes for. The next 45 minutes became a blur of blue dresses, silver shoes, garters, Ford tie tacks, corsages and shiny black shoes. Three o'clock was quickly approaching.

Goin' to the Chapel: Part One

Saturday I had the honor and priviledge of photographing the wedding of Heather and Jeff Matthews! I have known Heather for....well....ever. We went to church together as kids. She was a youngin' in my youth group when I was youth director. And as we grew older...we grew more and more alike.

It has often been said that Heather and I look alike. We used to both wear glasses, wear our hair in buns and often wear the same clothes. And as we were planning for this wedding, we found ourselves thinking with the same brain...suggesting photos the other was thinking.

So I couldn't have been happier when Heather and Jeff asked me to photograph their wedding!! It was an amazing day! The ceremony was as perfect as a wedding ceremony can be! You'll get to see more about that later. But because she IS such a great friend of mine, I want to walk you through our day together yesterday.

The day began at Kut-N-Up hair salon at 9:00. Not many brides want me to "stalk" them all day, but Heather didn't want me to miss a single detail of this special day. So I put on my hideous, but comfy black shoes and prepared myself for a long day of bride chasing. :)

Here are some photos of the girls getting their hair and makeup done. Stay tuned for Part Two.

No pictures.

No pictures today. The camera is dead. And I do mean DEAD. I've tried everything to fix it, but to no avail.

The scary part is that I have to shoot a wedding Saturday....and have to do photos for the rehearsal Friday night. I've needed a back-up camera all along and now I'm paying for it...literally.

My camera has been by my side almost daily since the spring of '05. I have taken over 20,000 photos with it. Sounds unreal, doesn't it?!?

It is possible that the camera can be fixed, but most of you know that I live too far from a camera shop to have anything done by Friday.

So I have about 24 hours to find a camera and have it shipped overnight in order to have it by the weekend. Wish me luck! Pray for sales! :)