What a beautiful day for a wedding! May 19, Saturday, could not have been more perfect. From the mild temperature, quite unusual for northeastern Florida this time of year,  to the clear blue skies that accompanied. This was the first day of no rain for our island, since the Saturday before. Everyone agreed they ‘done good’ choosing their day. Katrin, my youngest daughter and 2nd shooter for this wedding, and I began with the gals, as we do 95% of the time. We caught a few finishing touches and then the bridesmaids as they helped their friend, Laura, into her beautiful bridal gown.

Laura looked stunning! I have known Laura a few years, and I have never seen her look more beautiful. She just glowed for her wedding day and took on that model essence. 

After taking those bridal portraits of her and her gals and her family shots, we then captured a few of the guys, as well as DJ’s family and then DJ. Capturing a few images of the groom prior to the ceremony is just as important as those of the bride–but, of course, the groom’s takes minimal time :=). Some of the greatest images a guy will ever have are captured on his wedding day. DJ  was no exception. He was strikingly handsome and debonaire . Again, quite different from the kid that played baseball with my youngest son a few years ago. (-but seems like just yesterday!) 

Many of the bridal party were those I had known from their youth and that always makes for loads of fun! Katrin and I had a great time with all of them. I had photographed the wedding ceremony of Ashley and Will, both in the bridal party, in 2010. It is always neat when that happens and it has happened many times in my years of photographing weddings.

The ceremony was gorgeous–and included a strolling ‘bassinet’ for the littlest flower girl. It was held at Amelia Baptist Church on the south end of Amelia Island and was a very touching service. The flowers in the sanctuary were gorgeous, just as were all the bouquets and boutonnières.

Following the ceremony we took the family photos- such a very special time on the wedding day. After the family left, Katrin and I took the bridal party to the best site on the church property, as far as lighting, and captured some special times of DJ and Laura and their bridal party. As soon as the bridal party left, we had the ‘special moments’ time. That is the time I set aside in each wedding schedule to capture the bride and groom just being themselves, with no one else (except us) around. It is usually the only time they have any moment of solitude during their day. It is a very special time and we treasure being their to capture it. This area on the church property with its beautiful, Spanish moss-covered oaks was the perfect back drop for DJ and Laura and we were able to capture both traditional and the more creative and artistic images, which we love to do. 

After the ‘special moment’ photos, we headed to the reception. At the reception is where things break loose, so to speak, and is where the more relaxed atmosphere is found–not for us, of course, but for everyone else. We capture introductions, first dances, welcome, blessing, meal time, table shots, wedding cake, food, candid, creative and artistic shots of anything and everything happening. The dance floor is always a great place to capture a few candids here and there. Such fun! 

If the daylight and venue allows, I usually plan a 2nd time in the schedule for one more ‘special moment’ time. I slip the bride and groom away for a few minutes (of course, this is planned ahead of time), and this was one of those weddings in which I was able to do that. There is not a more beautiful venue than Walker’s Landing with its lush, tropical foliage and its moss-draped oaks. The glistening water of the river, with its golden marsh grasses is just gorgeous on any day, but place a bride and groom front and center,  and it makes for phenomenal images.

And, on this particular day, we had the most perfect sunset for the finishing touch .

Not long after those moments, there was the bouquet toss and garter throw. It was a wild time, with the most single ladies and men as I have seen in a long time. The gals were all excited when the bouquet was tossed, and most stretched their arms up in hopes of being the one to catch it.  On the other hand, I have these words of wisdom for the guys.  “Guys, you can’t catch the garter if you don’t, at least, HOLD OUT your hand”. :=) Enjoy these images from this beautiful day. Included are some of the more romantic moments (with the exception of the ‘flip flop’ photo). Please know there are many, many more images from this wedding, including many candid and fun images. I’ll be busy for quite awhile…. Many Blessings…