It’s my favorite time of year…. the day you all get to see what being a wedding photographer really looks like!! I am so incredibly excited to share today’s blog with you. You’ll get to see a whole new side of me.. the good, the not so flattering, and the… well you’ll just have to find out for yourself! What you may not know, is that a wedding photographer does so much more than take pretty pictures on a wedding day. We are kind of like your best friend/wedding planner/schedule keeper/hair pinner/dress fluffer/pep talk giver/party starter/joy giver, etc. I’m sure you get the idea!

Today, I hope you get a little glimpse into what The Wedding Experience with me looks like. However, I wouldn’t be able to provide such a joyful experience for my brides if it weren’t for my amazing second shooters. These girls are my rock on a wedding day. While I am serving my couples, they are serving me to ensure that the day goes as smoothly as possible. This year, I had the opportunity to work with so many talented women, including Mariah Ellenwood, Tristan Handley, Alayna Parker, Stephanie Brann, Michelle Staley, Marissa Lantz, Katelynn Dow and Monica Brown. Most of the pictures you’ll see today are theirs! I had so much fun going through all of my weddings this year gathering these behind the scenes pictures. I’m just going to give you a fair warning, there are some pictures of me in here that are not flattering. Like AT ALL. But in the spirit of entertaining you all, I decided to keep them in. I also wanted to give a disclaimer – apparently I need to get some more dresses to wear to weddings because I rotated between 3 pretty much my whole season! I guess when you find something you like, you just make it work! So with that, let’s dig in!

As many of you know I always start my wedding days with photographing details. Usually I find a window or a door, or I’ll even go outside. It’s my favorite way to mentally prepare myself for the day!

Don’t worry, I will be sure to handle your rings with care.

Something strange that you’ll probably notice is that I shoot with both eyes open. When I see pictures of myself photographing something, I have to admit, it is kind of weird! Like, what am I looking at below?? Who knows!

I will bring my styling boards for detail pictures and most of the time they have more than one purpose! Reflectors for the win!!

I’ll be sure to capture a shot of that beautiful gown of yours!

You’ll find throughout this post that I tend so stick my butt out a lot… I should probably be more aware of that while I’m shooting haha!

I’m just gonna leave this one riiiiight here because I don’t know how to caption it LOL

Any guesses on how that dress got there??? Yup. I climbed the tree. In my dress. It’s a good thing I always wear my spandex shorts!

Also, that tree climbing picture is an iPhone photo so…. that’s a perfect example of the impact and incredible difference in quality between a phone photo and a DSLR photo. Anyway back to the regularly scheduled blog!!

While you are putting the final touches on your details, I’ll be sure that everything is exactly where it needs to be. I’ll help you put your shoes on if you need it, I’ll button your buttons (those little guys can be tricky!) and even show you how to put on your veil.

We can’t forget about your handsome groom! I’ve gotten surprisingly good at pinning on boutonnieres for all of the groomsman. I think my record is pinning on 10 boutonnieres in less than 5 minutes!!

Before you see your groom for the first time, I’ll give you a pep talk, fluff your dress and send you on your way to your first look!

I’ll oooooh and ahhhh over how sweet your first look was. It’s seriously my favorite part of the day!

After your first look, we’ll usually move right into bride and groom portraits. Don’t worry though, I’ll make it really fun and exciting! If you don’t giggle at some point during our portrait time, then I didn’t do my job!

We’ll always fluff your dress (are you surprised??) haha

You’ll never need to worry about not knowing what to do, because I’ll gladly demonstrate all of my poses!

Yes, even the dip and kiss! Clearly Wiley got a kick out of that!!

And I’ll sometimes even give myself a pat on the back if you follow directions!

If it rains on your wedding day, do not fear!! I may look like a hot mess, but I’ll pretty much do anything to make sure you still get amazing pictures! Including standing in the pouring rain/soppy grass and ruining my shoes. They drowned that day and were not recoverable haha It’s okay though, they needed to go!

Brides, if you have a veil, you better believe that we are going to do an epic veil shot!!

Sometimes I may even recruit part of your bridal party to help 🙂

While we are walking from location to location, I’m pretty much a pack mule. I’ll gladly carry #allthethings for you!

Don’t be surprised if you find me off-roading in the bushes.

Or standing on my tippy-toes! I mean, just LOOK at those calves!!! I like to say that weddings are my weekly cardio haha hopefully you can see why!

I’ll take my stool over my tippy-toes any day, though. I’m still trying to come up with a name for my stool, so if you have any ideas, send them my way!

During our bridal party portraits, I make sure that we all have a great time. We are celebrating, people!!

Even though it may look like it, I promise I’m not bossy!!

I’ll even lend an extra hand if you need it.

As much I love photographing weddings, sometimes I want to be in the bridal party, too! Thankfully, this job allows me to be an extension of the bridal party in my own little way.

When taking pictures, no one ever knows what to do with their hands, am I right?? Clearly I don’t either!

I won’t forget to get to know the little guys, too!

I’ll be sure to tell you what we’re doing, right when we need to do it. In a loving way though, I promise!

When it’s time to go though, you won’t need to walk alone!

Wedding days are touch work. You have to fit a LOT of things into a very condensed timeline so I’m always on the go.

While you’re tucked away for your ceremony, we’ll be taking pictures of the ceremony space and taking test shots. Gotta get those settings just right!

I’ll browse through your ah-MAAAAZING pictures if I have a few minutes before the ceremony starts!

If I get a chance to give you a squeeze before you walk down the aisle, I will!

With all eyes on you, it’s time for you to GET MARRIED!!

I love watching the ceremonies.. they are all so unique and so special! There’s nothing quite like watching two best friends commit their lives to each other every single weekend!

I get so excited for your entrance to the reception that I can’t help but break out a dance move or two early.

For those of you who didn’t know, growing up I danced for 15 years. SO, you bet I’ll be cutting a rug out on the dancefloor!!

To be honest though…. I was just REALLY excited for the food in that last one ^^^ haha

If you noticed, I wore this dress to almost every wedding LOL but there’s a reason…. POCKETS!!! It has pockets big enough to hold a lens! It isn’t that flattering but gets the job done!

One of my favorite parts of the day is sunset portraits. Usually just the bride and groom sneak out of the reception, but this time I took the paparazzi with me!!

My last picture of the day (if I can remember to take it) is always a picture with the bride and groom. You guys are finally MARRIED and it was a JOY to serve each and every one of you last year!

Aaaand just for fun. These are the cream of the crop! And no, I am not picking my nose!

I hope you enjoyed browsing through!