Susan & Thomas are married!

Monday, April 11, 2011

I. LOVE. THIS. WEDDING.

I love it so much that it’s inspired me to try something new. After their beautiful, ranchy wedding at the gorgeous StaR Ranch in Corona, I sent Thomas and Susan a questionnaire so I could hear about their wedding day in their own words. I want to be able to really portray the wedding the way it felt and I think that only happens when you hear it straight from them. I’m pretty excited to be able to share their wedding day experience with you. It was such a beautiful day, so full of love and helping hands and no rain! Well, almost no rain. There were some brief morning showers so Susan got the best of both worlds, the good luck AND no rain during her wedding. Win win!

I love the excitement here. When asked how she calmed her wedding day nerves, Susan said, “We didn’t really. Once the day was here, it was just a natural progression. It felt right, we both felt good. The momentary jitters were just excitement! Also, once the day was upon us, we both just let all the wedding planning take care of itself. There was nothing more we could do about it.” Even though the plans of the day became a little behind schedule, Susan had padded the timeline with tons of extra time to make sure everything would run smoothly. This is her best advice to other brides: give yourself way more time than you will need on your wedding day so you have time to relax and enjoy the day. If you ask me, it’s pretty sound advice, especially if you want some really great, creative photos!

I could shoot at this location a million times and still love it. There’s so much to work with, it was like a playground for a photographer!

I would normally only post one dress shot but I can’t help but love the contrast of the fierce-looking wolf next to Susan’s stunning dress.

I love that Susan’s “something borrowed” was Grandma’s pearls. That will always be incredibly special.

A few more of the getting dressed details.

The moment leading up to the first look! Quiet anticipation, I love it.

Thomas, the handsome groom.

When I asked these two what one moment they will never forget they agreed that it was seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day. For Thomas, the suspense was killing him. Hearing each step as Susan got closer and closer, with a rush of images going through his head of what she might look like only to finally turn around to find that the vision of his wife-to-be standing in front of him was even better than anything he could have imagined. He says, ”She was beautiful; I couldn’t help but cry.”

As Susan marched toward Thomas in her adorable boots and a look of pure poise and excitement she saw Thomas standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking relaxed and ready to meet his bride. On the outside, there was no telling of the rush of emotions going on inside his head…until he turned around. Susan says, “I loved walking up, touching him on the shoulder and watching him slowly turn around. Once we were looking at each other, we could hardly stop laughing and kissing. It was REAL, this was our wedding day, and we were ready.” That’s the perfect way to explain it, they were ready. Ready for the life that lies ahead, the bright future, the challenges of this important commitment, the love and laughter and so much more. I love their love, truly and deeply.

Thomas’ advice for other grooms is this, “If you are a groom with over-functional tear ducts, I strongly suggest a ‘first look.’ It gives you time to enjoy each other on the day of the wedding and to share a special moment without hundreds of guests staring at you.” I happened to be a bride with over-functional tear ducts so I fully believe in the first look as well and I love those intimate moments before the craziness of being surrounded by guests sets in. I think it gives you the best of both worlds on your wedding day; the alone time and the celebrate-with-everyone-we-love time. I would have been a mess if I didn’t have some time with my guy before the ceremony!

This is one of my favorites from the day.

The wedding colors were a perfect compliment to the rustic venue. Coral, brown, tan and baby blue made for a different, beautiful palette.

This is another favorite. One thing that Thomas and Susan have in common is their amazing faith. It’s a beautiful thing.

I loved watching Susan with her sister, Jennifer. They were adorable together and I’ve never seen a sibling quite this amazingly excited and supportive of her little sister.

How can you not love this. Susan is girl after my own vintage-loving heart!

Super cute kid alert! The hat and little bow-tie just kill me!

This is one moment that Susan couldn’t wait to see in photos. Ring Bearer, Harry, pulled a wagon with little Carson in tow and it was ridiculously cute. I think he had some fun too, judging by the giant grin on his face.

I really loved Susan and Thomas’ raw emotion. You could feel their love and excitement in the air at every part of the day. Free-flowing tears and lots of laughter made for an emotional and beautiful ceremony.

There were still a few tears in their eyes as I grabbed them for a quick photo right after their exit.

On to the reception!

Thomas’ Aunt Sherry made this beautiful cake. Susan loves antique cameos so a great friend of the family, Jamie, created silhouettes of Susan and Thomas. The originals were scaled down to size and mounted to become cake toppers (love!). They get to hang the originals in their new home together. I am a huge fan of using things in your wedding that you can have in your home. Not only is it a great way to recycle but you have a constant reminder of that beautiful day. The cake was really stunning.

A great deal of their wedding inspiration came from the StaR Ranch. Since the location was so beautiful, Susan & Thomas just ran with it. In addition to their color palette, “ranchy” became their wedding planning buzzword and they implemented some great textures like burlap, high quality cotton bolls, a variety of handmade doilies and raw coffee beans. I love texture so clearly I’m a huge fan! The decor was beautiful in an understated way that didn’t take away from the venue, it was perfect.

As the reception began I found one of the ranch hands taking a little break amidst the sunset. What started out as a rainy day ended in a stunning sunset.