The Wedding Day
This was one of my favorite weddings I had ever done for a couple reasons. First and foremost, this was my first wedding job after we had moved to our home in Leon County. We had just settled in to the house for maybe a week, and then we packed up and drove out to Nacogdoches to attend the wedding. The second reason was that this would be the third shoot I had done with Melissa, the first being her high school graduation, the second was her engagement session with Chad.
Before the Big Day
Just one week before their wedding day, my family moved to our new home. We had packed up our home into 2 cars, a U-Haul truck and trailer, and drove from Lubbock, Texas, to our home in Hilltop Lakes, Texas. It was a gigantic moment in our lives, we left friends, jobs and a church we had rooted into quite well, and left it all to be closer to family. It took us two full days to load everything up and get everything in the house cleaned up, and make the 500+ mile drive. Funny enough, it took us half of a day to unload everything and get all of it moved into the house. Less than a week later, we drove out to Nacogdoches to be a part of the wedding.
The Big Day
A little behind the curtain here, getting there wasn't bad, the true challenge was this was our son, who had just gone through so much with the move, and had not had enough time to adjust to all of the new changes that had just happened. Poor guy was cranky, and he wanted to make sure that we understood his disposition. Finally, once we got into town, we checked in to the hotel, and we relaxed for a little bit before I had to head to the venue. Fortunately, the little bit of resting time helped both my wife and son, while I went ahead and got ready to go. I went ahead of them and headed out to the venue...
Summer in the Piney Woods
One thing about summertime in Texas, it can get unbearably hot, and ridiculously humid. Nacogdoches is in the Piney Woods, an area of Texas filled with beautiful, tall pine trees. This town was one of the first towns founded in Texas, way back in 1779, and was also one of the first clashes between the Texans and Mexican army, where Texan revolutionaries pushed the Mexican army out of the garrison based in Nacogdoches. Based on its location, it was also labeled the Gateway to Texas, similar to St. Louis being the Gateway to the West in the days of Manifest Destiny.
Photo taken by Zack Frank | www.roamingtexas.com
Act I | The Bride
We started with the Bridal Party and her family, and I had to move as quickly as possible, with the heat being what it was, I wanted to make sure that Melissa's makeup wouldn't start to run due to sweat. We started working on the shots, starting with the Bridal Party, then just the Bride, and finally, her family. Melissa was an absolutely beautiful bride, and it was kind of surreal, considering I had done her high school senior portraits just a few years ago. A little fun bit I tried was that I had the bride in the foreground, and had her bridesmaids behind her doing silly poses, but I did not allow the bride to see what they did. I wanted to give them the chance to be
Act II | The Groom
Once Melissa and her group headed out, Chad and his groomsmen came in to get their portraits done. I kind of new Chad before the wedding, but not on the same level as I did Melissa. When I started talking to him though, I could tell this guy really had a good head on his shoulders, and a good heart. Honestly, I thought they were an awesome couple once I got to see them interacting with each other. It was cool seeing these kids that I had seen when they were young taking one of the biggest steps of their lives together.
The Venue
So Chad was telling me more about the venue while we were waiting for the ceremony to start, and he had told me that the land belonged to his family. The area was hidden away back in the woods, with a gorgeous set of enormous trees providing some shaded areas for the guests. The reception would be under the large tent, which unfortunately there was no breeze, so it was hot and humid under there.
Act III | The Main Event
Now for the main event, we got started with the ceremony. The sun fortunately was hidden by clouds for the majority of the ceremony, so we weren't all dying of heat stroke, just sweating to death due to the incredibly high humidity and formal clothes we were all wearing.
Act IV | The Reception
Let the fun begin! The reception had landed right at Golden Hour, so I had to get as many shots done as I could while in this window, it was just too good a setting to not get good shots here. Some of these photos were absolutely beautiful, the lighting was just so good, giving their skin a soft, warm glow. One of my favorite shots that I took that day was with the fallen tree in the background, and it's not just for the cool background. What someone told me at the wedding was that one of Chad's uncles owned that land, and that tree was a strong, large tree. Unfortunately, his uncle passed away unexpectedly, and apparently the tree had fallen the same time he passed.
The Final Act | The Send-Off
Finally, we sent the newlyweds off. Before they started making their way down, they asked me for a couple more shots in the dwindling light. I think the shots came out alright, but I didn't have the best experience in low lighting shoots, and I didn't want to use the flash. I may take some more time to play with them and see if I can bring them to a better look and feel.
In Conclusion
This wedding was one of my favorite shoots to date. The venue alone made this one of the prettiest places I had ever shot at, and getting to see two of my friends start their new life together. I loved this wedding, and I use a lot of what I did here in other weddings and shoots, because the results came out so well! I definitely believe that this was a benchmark for me, that my photography turned a corner here, and my skill and talents were evolving for the better.
Are you or someone you know looking for a wedding photographer? Please reach out, using the link below, I would love to get to know you, and talk more about what you would like me to photograph!
