Hello, friends! I am SO excited to finally share this blog post with you! Sean and Caitlyn are MARRIED and I was blessed enough to document the entire day. If you weren't there (or if you just want to re-live it again as much as I do) hopefully this post will give you the full details of the day and help place you back in the bliss.
Sean and Caitlyn got married at the adorable Canopy Creek Farm. I had never been before, but the space was gorgeous. The reception space was decorated with twinkling lights that ever so perfectly matched the details planned into this day. From the flowers and jewelry to the cake, cupcakes, and candy bar, this wedding was packed full of sweetness.
I spent my entire summer last year working weddings with a wedding coordination company, but this was the first full wedding day I worked as a photographer. Compared to the weddings I was so accustomed to working, this wedding went SO smoothly. Yes, things went completely wrong at times (weather is a tricky thing!) but it all turned out so BEAUTIFULLY and I couldn't imagine a bride who could be more calm and collected than Caitlyn. She blew us all away with how peaceful she was. Here are a few shots of her and her girls getting ready for the day.
Caitlyn's absolutely adorable flower girl, Nyomi, was right in the middle of it, too. Feeling just as pampered as everyone else. How CUTE is she?!?
Even though we didn't plan on doing anything like a "first look" with Caitlyn and Nyomi, it actually worked out so that we had one unexpectedly. Nyomi left to take a few photos with Sean before Caitlyn had finished getting ready, but came back just in time to see her step outside. Her reaction to seeing Caitlyn all dressed up for the first time melts my whole heart. You can see how much she looks up to and admires Caitlyn written all over her face.
This next first look had me almost in tears. Caitlyn is a Daddy's Girl and they have such a strong relationship. These series of first look photos with the two of them just melt me, and if they melt you too, just wait until you see their Father/Daughter Dance. OH my goodness.
While I was busy taking photos of the girls getting ready, my awesome second shooter Elizabeth Zalla was busy getting shots of Sean and his groomsmen. And just because so many people have asked me, yes! I absolutely picked Elizabeth as my second shooter so that it would be so much easier for everyone to remember our name. Not really, but maybe ;)
Sean and Caitlyn did not want to have a first look before their ceremony, so we took separate photos with Caitlyn and her bridesmaids and Sean and his groomsmen before joining them together after the ceremony. These two are so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful support system.
Let me give you a few background details for the weather on this particular Saturday. The sky was dark and things were not predicted to be great that evening. On my way there, the rain settled down a bit. I remember praying and thinking that God can change the direction of any storm if it's in His will, and I stopped my worrying at that. As the day went on, the rain cleared up and we started setting up the outdoor ceremony space down by the lake.
God has quite the sense of humor and wanted to keep us all on our toes. The rain had stopped for a couple of hours and as soon as (I kid you not, literally the moment it happened) Caitlyn stepped off of the golf cart taking her down to the ceremony space, it started sprinkling. She took a deep breath and simply said, "rain or shine, I'm getting married out here, right now." And that she did.
As Caitlyn stood with her dad at the end of the aisle, she and Sean saw one another for the first time and the rain stopped. As the ceremony continued, the sun actually came out and the clouds cleared.
The ceremony was beautiful. Absolutely perfect. As soon as they kissed they were back down the aisle and we stepped away for a minute to take a few photos of the two of them as Mr. & Mrs. Burton.
However, as all good stories go, one more bad patch of weather had to come through before we were in the clear. For about five minutes, we had intense rain. I mean, it poured. So hard. At that point, they were married and that was all that mattered, but we were worried that our outdoor activities were done for the evening.
But our God is SO GOOD and the rain stopped. Just as soon as it had come, it had cleared. We had nothing but a beautiful golden hour sunset for the rest of the night. Everything had worked out perfectly.
Before heading into the reception, we took a few more family photos and bridal party pictures with Sean and Caitlyn together.
After we finished with all of the family photos, we headed to the reception for the fun. As a photographer, I love the opportunities that the reception brings. When everyone is having fun, it's so easy to capture natural smiles, hugs, and moments that everyone else forgets about. Most of those moments won't be included in this blog post, but they'll all be in Sean and Caitlyn's wedding collection! However, I did include a few of my favorite moments here. The first one is Sean and Caitlyn's first dance as a married couple. OH my goodness. My heart was bursting the entire time.
Shortly after Sean and Caitlyn's first dance came the Father/Daughter Dance. If my heart didn't melt enough watching Caitlyn and Sean, it sure did while watching Caitlyn and her dad. The moment was so emotional that the two of them ended up in tears, and so did Caitlyn's Momma watching from the side. Probably one of my favorite moments of the day. It was so, so incredibly sweet.
Next came the Mother/Son Dance! So many laughs here!
Next came toasts, cake cutting, and the bouquet and garter tosses!
Honestly, this entire day was so much fun. I'm so blessed to have been able to work with such a sweet couple (along with both of their loving families) for my first full wedding day as a photographer. I can't wait to continue learning and growing with all of the weddings I have booked over the next two YEARS (that's so crazy to me!!) and it blows my mind that God has taken this little passion I have and has helped it grow into a strong little business. Thank you so much for getting this far, I know that this blog post was long, but I know that so many people are looking forward to seeing these photos and I wanted to be sure you could see a good chunk of them before the rest are ready to send over to the new Mr. & Mrs. Burton.
