Stephanie + Jacob’s Wedding at Gruene Estate

September 8, 2019

Remember the #bumblecouple who met at a Mexican Restaurant on National Margarita Day?? Take a look back to their Engagement Session with me… it was a beautiful, golden-lit day at the Japanese Tea Gardens and we had such a fun time together!! Well, I finally got to photograph Stephanie + Jacob’s Wedding at Gruene Estate Sunday, September 1st!!! Why am I so excited?? Look at this couple!!! They are head over heels in love and have a host of crazy-fun friends and supportive family making their day one to always remember. From start to finish, Stephanie + Jacob had loved ones helping, serving, admiring from afar, showering with gifts, speaking encouragement/glee, and digitally capturing the timeless, joyful, silly, exciting, emotional (I’m not crying, you’re crying!), and elegant day set before them. What a day.

Colorful robes draped around each bridesmaid as they scurried around with smiles and laughter and admiration in their eyes for Stephanie as she sat quietly in her makeup chair getting beautified by the lovely Hayley Lavon. With curlers going and selfies being captured on the side, the whitewashed rooms inside the Bridal suite had me giddy and excited for editing all these beautiful moments!! Justin Kellough of Mr & Mrs Kellough video’d over my shoulder as we captured the stunning Stella York dress on the Mrs King hanger, all 3 rings, the shoes, the earrings, the garters, the pink Chanel perfume, the invitations, and the surprise Football for the garter toss! Details, details, details…. love, love, love! The getting ready room was chock-full of laughter and excitement. After the shots were taken for the bridesmaids in their robe photos, the day – as per usual – began to speed up into full speed crunch time!

Stephanie must have gifts as her love language because there were lots of gifts given and received for hers and Jacob’s wedding day. She had surprise gifts for her parents to open just before signing her maiden name for the very last time, and then she and Jacob opened their gifts from each other… a fun segue into seeing each other for the first time, fully ready in their get-up. Time to walk to the first look!

As you may have heard from their Engagement session blog post, Stephanie’s veil was surely a lot to handle, but she rocked it!! On down to the chapel we approached in anticipation to see that face of Jacob’s… Would he cry? Would he smile? Would he widen his eyes in amazement? When Stephanie opened the chapel doors, the look on Jacob’s face turned soft, happy, thankful, pleased and in love. It was incredible to see all those emotions at once flood this groom’s disposition. They embraced and kissed, she showed off her veil and stunning dress, and they got to take some pre ceremony pictures right then and there. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

After being tucked away, Stephanie had some time to touch up and let the day set in her thoughts while Carly and I snagged some shots of the Reception decor, beautifully put together by Moonlight Memories and their staff of professionals. And then the ceremony commenced, taking me back to my own wedding day, realizing that this is the moment. This is the stamp of forever, binding and bonding these two together, creating a moment in time they get to always look back on and be forever grateful to those who came, supported, dreamed with them and want them to succeed. This is the stamp that marks history in their journey. Of course, you can’t have a ceremony without a little laughter, so naturally the best man, Jared, pretended to forget the ring, patting his jacket and looking back to see who had it. All who had been holding their breath suddenly let out their air and a relief of laughter broke out when we all realized Jared had given the ring to someone else to hold. Warning, Stephanie – Boys never grow up, lol. That’s what keeps life with them so filled with laughter and adventure!! 😘

As the evening rolled into reception and dancing, toasts and sendoff, the party was truly epic! We belly laughed during toasts, teared up during the father-daughter dance, Jacob and his mom teared up at the mother-son dance, and we all laughed at the surprise garter toss, starting with Jacob’s means of retrieving the frilly, red material. 🙈 Hysterical!! Finishing the night with backlit stained glass chapel pictures and then a sparkler exit was the ONLY way to finish a day like Jacob + Stephanie’s. What. A. Day.