Weddings

Saturday’s wedding found us back home in Franklin. Emily & Jock tied the knot at Epworth United Methodist’s newly built building–gorgeous church.

And speaking of gorgeous–Emily & her girls getting ready

Meanwhile Jock & the guys are hard at work using the radio tuner built into the TV to find the UT vs. Alabama game. It was a close call–They tried two different radios with no luck, and finally got the TV working.

The girls

The guys

And when the girls aren’t in the photos… Wow, look at all these cameras. Is it just my imagination or is she using two cameras at the same time??

The guys’ entourage

Time for the ceremony… or is it? I catch two of the guests sharing a radio… UT vs. Alabama game, I suspect?

And I’ve been spotted. Yep, definitely the game.

Mel catches this shot from the balcony right as Emily & her uncle walk into a patch of sunlight.

At the same time, I’m down in front to catch Jock’s reaction.

The newly married couple

I think this is my favorite.

Off to the Governor’s Club to partay. I tried something new here. I put the camera on a tripod, and set it for a long exposure… and then ran around all over the place popping the flash to freeze action here and there.

Tennessee WINS. Jock informs us that UT is #1.

Time for the money dance

I think this is one of the bridesmaids’ husband–he was hilarious. He decides to get in on the money dancing action with the groom. Plenty more shots like this will be in the gallery in two weeks. Be sure to check those out!

That about wraps it up…

Thanks, Emily & Jock–have a great honeymoon, and we’ll talk to you soon!
-Sean

As Mel was saying… three hours of sleep after the wedding on Friday, and down to Atlanta, GA we went.

Here’s Ashleigh. She’s laughing.

Ryan & his dad getting ready. Ashleigh’s room had an official “Bride’s Room” sign hanging on the door. When we first got there, Ryan and I searched for the official Grooms Room with no luck. Instead, we just picked out the coolest room we could find. It ended up being really nice. You can’t really tell from this photo, but imagine that you’re in a nice room that’s pretty cool. Got that pictured? Great–that’s pretty much what it was like.

They kept going back and forth trying to decide if they wanted to see each other before the wedding or not. They ended up going for it… And Ashleigh went on and on about how it was so great to do it that way, and that she’d never even have considered waiting until the ceremony if she knew what it was like to have some alone time together before seeing each other in front of everyone else, and not being able to talk to each other alone for hours. We like it better this way too because we have a lot more time to create great portraits of the couple on their wedding day rather than rushing through things to get on to the reception.

The happy couple

The bride

The groom. Look at Ryan–He knows what’s up.

Unexpectedly, Ashleigh’s dad opened the door to look out right as we were taking this formal of the wedding party… We like it like this, so we kept it.

Melanie was in the back of the church and up in the balcony getting these types of shots…

While I was hiding behind plants & the piano on the stage, I was able to grab closeups like this…

Actually, before I go on, let’s back up a second. Observe my ninja skills… Hidden on the stage, it’s as if I’m not even there!

Ashleigh singing with a group of people she sang with in college. They all sang an A Cappella song during the ceremony, and it was incredible.

And then they were off–and so were we–4 hours back home… to sleep for a long time! Congratulations, Ashleigh & Ryan!

-Sean

We found ourselves right around the corner from home this weekend. St Paul’s Episcopal Church is in downtown Franklin.

Exciting McLellan Studio fact of the day: Several years ago (in a previous life) I ran all of the networking cables through the ceiling of the offices next to the sanctuary in this church. I was much more excited on this visit to be on the ground, photographing, rather than inhaling insulation inside of the 100+ degree roof. Enough of that–back to the wedding.

Jodi’s mom *almost* cried when she saw Matt.

Meanwhile, the girls seem to be having a great time.

Matt & Jodi decided to see each other before the ceremony. If I had our wedding to do over again, I would have done it like this. I never knew it could be done quite like this, though. When you go about it the traditional way, you see each other for the first time in front of a zillion people, and then you aren’t alone with each other and really able to talk to each other for hours and hours. This way, we are able to get a couple of great shots as you see each other for the first time, and then we’re gone… and so is everyone else, so you get to be alone together for 10 or 15 minutes.

After that, we have plenty of time to get all the photos done before the ceremony so that you are able to head straight to the reception right after you say “I do.” That’s right, let me say it one more time. It goes down like this: Matt: “I do.” Jodi: “I do.” Father Bob: “I pronounce you husband and wife.” And just minutes later, Jodi & Matt arrive at the reception.

Anyway, look, it’s a red door. All you need for a good portrait is nice light and a red door.

Couldn’t resist putting this one up. For about 5 seconds it got really windy outside.

This is Matt, looking cool. “That’s right, I’m Matt”

Jodi can do cool. She said that the bouquet was the one thing she already had pictured when they first started putting the wedding together. Margaret Roberts did the flowers, and they turned out great.

At this point we are standing in the middle of the street to get this shot. I imagine that they are talking with each other about how we are about to get hit by a car.

Matt had two groomsmaids

And Jodi had two bridesmen

Brentwood catering made the cake and all of the food. Yes, the cake tasted just as good as it looks. I had two pieces just to make sure.

First dance.

Jodi’s mom and stepdad were DJ’s for years, so finding the right DJ was a huge deal for her. They settled on Awasso Entertainment–we were impressed. Matt insisted “there will be NO ghetto rap at my reception” So picture the following to the soundtrack of “The Hustle” and “Stayin’ Alive.”

I think a Cha Cha Slide slipped its way in right here… or was this Play That Funky Music?

And there you have it–congratulations, Jodi & Matt!

-Sean