Niki & Jeremy were so, so chill on their wedding day.  Even the threat of rain didn’t phase them.  These two wanted nothing more than to hang out, get married, and maybe have a little fun at the reception.

Hey, if you are looking for a pretty great place to get married… Wildcatter Ranch in Graham, TX is your jam.

Niki’s “something old” was her grandmother’s wedding ring. She passed away just shy of 50 years of marriage. Could this ring be any simpler?

Nothing about it says “look at me”.

All it really says is “Don’t bother looking. I’m taken. I’m committed.

‘Til death do us part.”

This is what people pay me for.

Jeremy and his son were getting ready together.  I loved how inclusive both Jeremy and Niki were to him the whole day.

I love when a First Look goes from the first reaction being a smile to everyone tearing up within 4 seconds.

One of my favorite family photo moments ever.  Of COURSE her grandfather said “hang on a minute” after their picture and gave Niki a 100 dollar bill. :)  Because that’s what grandfathers do.

Their reception was what every wedding reception should be: laughter, dancing, family, & friends.

Did I mention fireworks?

And… what do you do if it’s raining when you are done with the party and need to walk back to your cabin?

You put a trash bag over your wedding dress.

Thank you for being so relaxed.

Thank you for not stressing about rain.

Thank you for including your son every step of the way.

Thank you for leaving in a trash bag.

Tony’s opening questions on OKCupid was “Did you go to Hopkins?” (As in Johns) Rebecca said it was the least creepiest, most interesting opening line she had ever heard and was curious about this guy. Turns out she has pretty good instincts.

Their story started while she was finishing up medical school. Their work schedules were off, and, like most people starting their residency, Rebecca did not have much free time. But she did have to eat. Tony seized the opportunity and brought her pizza. He basically became her private delivery boy; any excuse to see her.

Apparently, Rebecca and my wife Danielle have the same Love Language-Fun Food.

About half way through our session, Rebecca noticed this sign in the gardens and demanded a photo with it.
“Even tiny balls and little feet can crush our babies.” Uh… yes please.

Rebecca said that her favorite thing about Tony is how when they fight, it feels like they figure something out on the other side of it.  I think that may be my favorite answer ever.  Seriously, if you hang out with ANYONE long enough, you are going to disagree.  The couples that can work through those and learn from them are the couples that stay together.  I LOVE that they are already starting to click in that area.  684 Relationship Points go to Rebecca & Tony!

I always love when one person is ready to kiss the other and the other person is like… not quite right now.

So even though Rebecca is the bubbly outgoing one in the relationship, it was super obvious how much Tony values and respects her.  He was so tender and kind to her the whole session.  I loved how he listened to her and how his steady personality is the perfect balance to her go-go fun-fun one.

Reason 892 why Rebecca and Tony are great together.  He puts up with her hip checks when they are just walking through Herman park.

Tony’s willingness to go with the flow and Rebecca’s fun quirky spirit is what’s going to keep these two together.

That and Tony buying her pizza throughout the years.

It’s that time of year again, as we flip the calendar and look towards April and all things spring, it’s the time of year when our little house celebrates one of our favorite holidays.  I’m talking of course about Snake Attack Day.

10 years ago while sitting at my desk working I heard Danielle let out a blood curdling scream.  Being someone who likes to document events I grabbed my camera and headed her way.  The following video is the result.

So now each year we celebrate our victory over the slithery beast.  We partake in gummy worms and crushed oreos to remind us of how close we came to defeat.  We tell tells of battles won against the serpents of yesteryear.  We share theses stories to remind the young that one day their time will come.  They will have a family and house of their own to defend.  And just when all hope seams lost they will think back on April 5,  2006 and remember how their father conquered the carnivorous reptile and protected his legacy and linage.

Happy Snake Attack Day everyone.

Can I let you in on a little secret?  I’m not impressed or excited by how pretty your wedding is.

It’s true.  I mean, sometimes it’s cool and all, and I may even pretend to care, but that’s not really what I love about photographing weddings.

And the reality is, even though you may not realize it, you might not care about the pretty by the end of the day.

Now, before you freak out, stay calm and look at the photos below.  I take pictures of all the beautiful.

See, I told you I could do it.  I told you I could take pretty pictures of pretty things.

But like I said, the pretty is not what I’m there for.  I’m there for the random, the obscure, the genuine moments that bubble up throughout the day.  Those are my favorites.  And part of me knows that the further away from your wedding day you get, the more you will love and laugh and want to look back on those moments as well.

Like that moment when I walk into the brides room and she’s doing this. :)

Or the moment that you realize that you only wrote your groom a short card, and he gave you two hand written pages of commitment on your wedding day.

That moment when you point at the one bridesmaid who is wearing leggings.

The little details.  Like the fact that even though your sock won’t show, it still matches your colors.

That moment when one of your flower girls calls you out for getting married in tennis shoes.

That moment when your brother-in-law photo bombs your formals.

That moment when your brother walks into your room, and everyone squeals with delight, and your sister stands in the background while the two of you hug.

Speaking of sisters… only they love you enough to rub in your deodorant.

That moment when your mom wants to both film your wedding and pray for you all at once.

That moment when your flower girl decides that she is done holding that basket you handed her and would rather balance it on her head.

That moment when you can’t get the unity candle lit and your groomsmen are hacking you as you struggle through it while the whole world watches and waits forever.

That moment you forget you are a bride and just decide to act like a normal person and lick part of the cake that got on your hand.

Or maybe my favorite moment of the night.  That moment when your flower girl head up collecting money for your honeymoon and ended up with over 300 dollars in cash and would not give it back.  And it literally took you and the groom’s sister ripping it out of her hands as she was carried away crying.

So yeah, make your wedding pretty if you want.

Make it beautiful.
I suppose someone cares.

Just not me.

Because what I loved most was while Lacey & Cory were struggling through that unity candle, and his guys were teasing him and poking fun at his failures,
Lacey kept smiling.

While it seemed like it took for-ev-er to get it figured out (it really only took 53 seconds),
Cory stayed cool.

When their perfect plan of a perfect unity candle flopped in their face,
they figured it out.

That is my favorite part of their day.  And if they can keep smiling, keep their cool, and work together, the rest of their marriage will be more beautiful than their wedding.

I first met Cassi on a mission trip to Haiti back in 2013.  It was her first trip and she jumped right into doing the hard work as well as playing with the kids.  One of my favorite things about her was how welcoming she was to anyone she met.  My oldest son Joseph was also making his first trip overseas.  Over the course of the week, they developed a bit of a friendship and she gave him the nickname J-Money; partly due to his skill on the basketball court, and partly because nicknames are cool.

The next year, a trip to Belize brought more hanging out with J-Money as well as more basketball.

Last year, she met Sara and right away began investing and pouring into her life throughout the week.

(Even though they only see her about 7 days a year, our kids think Cassi is the best.)

A few weeks before our trip last year, I noticed a LOT of a certain boy showing up on Cassi’s Instagram feed.  I checked in with her mom about the lad, and she assured me he was legit and might stick around.  I knew Cassi would not be able to go a WHOLE week without seeing him, so I brought along a little cardboard cutout of Justin-the mystery boy.  Much fun was had.

Fast forward about 8 months and guess who is engaged and getting married?!?!  That’s right.

Cassi & Justin!

We started out by hitting their favorite date spot.

Cassi is a basketball coach way far away in Nazareth and her schedule is pretty tight.  That left us only with a Sunday to shoot on.

Well, Chick-fil-A is all like… “We are closed on Sunday.”

Did that stop us?  Nope.

Justin, being the winner that he is, went and bought food 2 days before and kept it nice and fresh for our session.

We then went on a little tour of San Angelo where these two met and went to school.

This was by far one of my favorite engagement session moments ever.  While shooting, Justin reached into his pockets and found this piece of paper.

It was a note Cassi had left him from when she did his laundry a few weeks back.

And now we are getting to the good stuff.  This is actually where these two met.  They were on the same intramural flag football team.  As Cassi tells it, this is a great team.  To be on the team you either have to “know someone” or “be really good”.

Cassi said she knew someone, that’s how she joined the team.
Justin is just really good.

Look at that catch.  I told you he was really good.

His second week on the team, they had an out of town trip and she made sure she ended up sitting at his table.  Her excuse was that she didn’t want to have her “back to the door”, but hindsight being 20/20, we all now realize it’s just that she wanted to have her face facing his.

These two love to compete at everything.  (Cassi is a killer basketball player having played for SanAngelo and now coaching at Nazareth.)

Cassi with the quick first step.  Justin with the foul.

I think my favorite thing about these two is how comfortable they are with each other.  Justin’s love for her is super obvious, but his respect for her is what really stands out.  He values her input and treats her as his equal.  Cassi is one of the most confident women I’ve ever met, but I also see the trust she has in him and the security she finds in him.  I love seeing how their story, which began on separate but similar paths, has now joined up.  Last year when Cassi was in Belize, Justin was on a mission trip to Africa.  This year after the wedding, they are heading back to Africa together.  As great as these two are as individuals, I can already tell they are going to be even better as teammates.