One of the things that really makes weddings fun is getting to share your day with your closest friends and family.

One of the things that really makes wedding planning NOT fun is deciding who your closest friends and family are.

Time and time again, when I meet with couples and talk about how the planning is going, the thing that constantly brings the most stress is the guest list. Whether it’s the addresses, narrowing it down, or licking and stamping the envelopes, the guest process seems to be one of the more stressful parts.

Erika & Phil took a slightly different approach when it came to planning their wedding.  They only invited immediate family.  :)  Thats right, the 11 people you see in that photo are all that were there to witness their vows.

(Actually, myself and super cool wedding videographer Vanessa McKellar were also witnesses, but you get the point.)

Phil’s comment to me was he “didn’t want to be introduced to anyone on his wedding day”.  Not a bad way of looking at it.  Erika told me they wanted a smaller wedding, but as they started coming up with the guest list it kept getting bigger and bigger til they decided there was only one way of doing it.  Just family.  I have photographed weddings with hundreds of guests and a wedding with less than a dozen guests.  There is no right or wrong way to do it.  My advice to you is invite who you want.

It’s your wedding.

If you only want 50 people there, invite 50 people.

Trust me, your friends and acquaintances that do not get invited will not stop being your friends.  They may be confused at first.  But if they are truly your friends, then they will understand.  They want you to be happy.  If having 50 people at your wedding makes you happy, then they will support you.

Side Note: You may end up getting less gifts this way, but we’ll assume you’re OK with that.

If you want to see more images from Erika & Phil’s September 9, 2009 wedding click here.
I’ll give you one more shot to entice you click that link.

Erika & Phil had and amazing little wedding in Gore, OK this past week. I was honored to be there documenting the day and can’t even begin to explain how neat it was to see a wedding unfold without many of the “extra stuff” that we just assume come with weddings these days. It was neat to see a couple share a day with only their family. When I was asking Phil about their decision to have such a small wedding the thing that stood out to me was this little quote: “I don’t’ want to be meeting new people on my wedding day.” It was such a small thing, but going to weddings week after week I sometimes get sad to see just how much time a bride and groom spend being shuffled from table to table saying hello to complete strangers while their close friends and family are left in the background of the day.

Anyway, all that to say.  There is no “wrong” way to have your wedding.  What works for some people may not work for you, and don’t be scared to try something different.  It’s your day and that last thing you want to do is look back on it and wish you had done the thing you always dreamed of doing.

It looked to me like an eyelash torture device, but I’m guessing this is something most girls do?

The super talented tandem of Vanessa & Brent McKellar were also there filming and making their movie magic. (I can’t wait for the wedding trailer)

Erika didn’t have any toothpaste so I ran to my van and shared mine. It was the last little bit of paste, but I’m sure Phil was thankful for it.

There’s always that point of the day where it “hits” brides that they are getting married. This was Erika’s moment.

Phil had a great reaction to seeing his bride come down the aisle.

One of the cool things they did during their ceremony was plant a tree. (Try doing that inside a church.)

Here is a quick little overload on details.

I blogged this last image for the sneak peak, but love it too much to not include it in their full post.

Erika & Phil, thank you for making me feel like family and for trusting me with your day.

I just got home from Gore, OK and am exhausted, but before I crash I HAD to post a few shots from Erika & Phil’s wedding. You’ll see more in the next few days, but these just jumped out at me as I imported them.

In case you didn’t read the previous post. Erika & Phil chose to just have a small ceremony with only immediate family. It was one of my favorite weddings I have ever attended!

(Can you spot the secret code?) :)



Thanks guys for trusting me to capture and pass on your day to all your friends and family. I’ll be blogging more soon.

Does Gore, OK count as a destination wedding?

Just a quick heads up, I may be a bit harder to get a hold of the next few days. The family and I are taking a little road trip. I have a wedding this Wednesday (09-09-09) in Oklahoma and we decided to load up the kids and swing by and see Aunt Nichole and her family who work at New Life Ranch also located in Oklahoma.

I think they have phones and internets there, but who knows when or if I’ll get around to it. I’m pretty sure my Twitter statuses will be riveting these next few days.

Either way, try not to miss me too much.