Wedding: Amy & Jon – First Baptist Church & Bottling Plant Event Center Downtown – Opelika, Alabama

If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember me mentioning that I wanted to adopt a bride who brought cookies from Sweet Malisa’s to our first meeting  (clearly it doesn’t take much to win me over).  Well, that was lovely bride Amy, whose wedding day at First Baptist Church turned out to be a rainy one.  The soggy weather didn’t dampen her spirits though, as her mom helped her put on her Sincerity ballgown, and her grandmother’s ring, which was her “something old”:

Since he’s currently stationed in Texas, I didn’t get a chance to meet Army Captain Jon until the day of the wedding. Turns out, he’s a perfect match for Amy, because he is just as kind as she is. It’s hard to describe, but he looks at her with this kind of quiet admiration that was so sweet, it made my insides go a little melty.

Once they had their “first look”, they exchanged gifts. His gift to her: a diamond necklace. Her gift to him: a set of antique Tiffany & Co. cocktail picks that were miniature replicas of the swords given to officers in the Union Army during the Civil War. She included a note that said they were symbolic of how she sees him: “a rare find”, “fun to show off at parties”, and “a little bit nerd-tastic” among other things!

Amy’s dad has been playing the piano at the church for many years, so it was fitting that he play the prelude at his daughter’s wedding. Later, he played another piece on the Steinway during communion, which left everyone wide-eyed in awe of his talent.

We had planned a pre-reception stop for pictures just down the road at The Overall Company, which is where Jon popped the question. That’s when a little serendipity came into play – I always carry a solid black golf umbrella in my car just in case it rains on a wedding day. Black is great because if the bride and groom need to use it, it still looks good in pictures. When I went to get the black umbrella out of the the car, I noticed I also had a yellow one in there – the exact shade of yellow that Amy chose for one of her wedding colors. I bought that umbrella for my 2011 Christmas card shoot, and to this day, I don’t know how it ended up in the car, because that shoot was done in my house. I took it as a sign that we needed to bust it out for at least one or two shots!

The reception (there’s that yellow again!) was held at the Bottling Plant Event Center, where Jon sabered the champagne (he’s no rookie, Amy told me he practiced), and modeled his Army Stetson:

Amy & Jon: it’s not often that I get a sweet note in the mail with parts written by the bride AND the groom! Thank you so much for the cookies, the note, and for trusting me with your day!

Ceremony Venue: First Baptist Church

Reception Venue: Bottling Plant Event Center

Photo Location: The Overall Company

Wedding Gown: Sincerity

Groom’s Gift: Tiffany & Co.