ALLIE & BRANDON

Hello Everyone! April is zooming by and so will I. :--)

We had a wonderful wedding this past weekend! Super Nice Couple Allie and Brandon were married April 25^th at Born Again Church. Their reception was held at Bluegrass Country Club.

Lynette and I LOVE Born Again Church. We’ve had two weddings there before and both were so enjoyable, that we were thrilled to have another opportunity to have another wedding at this wonderful church. Of course we do a lot of weddings at the same locations or at the same church. And we do love familiarity. But weddings at Born Again Church are more than that. I don’t know if my description will do it justice, but the PEOPLE at Born Again Church are the nicest, most genuine, welcoming, pleasant, fun, accommodating, people we have ever worked with. I mean, after the first wedding we thought everyone at the church, right down to the guests, had been wonderful to work with. But after THREE weddings at this church, and everything from the beginning of the day to the end were consistently enjoyable, well, it’s more than just a coincidence. The people who we’ve met at this church are truly some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. And I know Lynette feels that way too.

Another thing about Allie and Brandon’s wedding that made it really nice, was their Wedding Planner, Parthenia Fayne of Epiphany Events. We’ve worked with Parthenia before and she is so organized and prepared. She always gives us a timeline which is something we don’t always get. Parthenia had everything that was going to happen during the day neatly organized on the timeline. There were no surprises which make for a much easier day for everyone! Plus, Parthenia doesn’t get too stressed during the day. If she does, she doesn’t show it! Again, an unstressed Wedding Planner also makes it an easier day for everyone!

I also knew this was going to be a really fun wedding. I could tell immediately after meeting Brandon at the rehearsal. Lynette had never met Brandon before. Sometimes she meets the groom before the wedding, sometimes not, and Brandon was a “sometimes not”. So at the rehearsal after we said hello to Allie and were making our way back to our seats, a handsome young man with lots of charm came up to me and Lynette and said “Hello! I’m Brandon”! So nice! And as I whispered to Lynette as we sat down to watch the rehearsal, “Our groom is a CUTIE!”

As we continued to watch the rehearsal and decide where to put our cameras, it became apparent that the groom and his guys were a fun bunch. It was a fun rehearsal, and so I knew it was going to be a fun wedding.

Saturday began sort of hazy and on the warm side. Lynette arrived at the church first to begin shooting Allie as she started getting ready for her big day. Sometimes Amanda gets to the church first to catch the bride as she starts preparing for her day, but Amanda’s last wedding for awhile was last weekend and now she’s waiting for her new baby to arrive in August. So for now, Lynette is pulling the “early bride coverage”. Then I arrived not long afterward to start hanging with Brandon and the guys. They were having such a good time they kept me in stitches! Brandon seemed a little nervous but he was still fun, and his brother and Best Man, Darius, along with the other guys were a hoot and kept Brandon from getting too nervous.

Soon Lynette and I were joined by Dream Team Laura and Dawn! Dawn started by helping me with the photoshoot, and Laura started getting some of the details that I hadn’t had a chance to get yet, such as the decorations in the church, flowers, and such. Laura is very creative with the camera and she always gets some really great shots! She then spent time with Allie, staying with her right up until she walked down the aisle. Laura and Dawn did such a great job that they even covered part of the photo shoot by themselves while Lynette showed me how to work the new recorder that we were using at the reception. We are so proud of our Dream Team!

Speaking of the photo shoot, Allie and Brandon chose to not see each other before the wedding, so photos were taken separately of Brandon and the guys and Allie and her girls, and the guys with Allie and the girls with Brandon…..you get the picture! And during the photo shoot we all had a pleasant surprise. Our “surprise” was photographer Emanuel Roland of Roland’s Photography. We had never worked with Roland before, and anytime we go into a wedding not knowing the photographer, I must be honest and say that we are all a bit nervous. A photographer can make or break our day, or make or break your video! We can only edit out so much, and sometimes we have worked with photographers that we couldn’t edit out enough, because they stood in front of our cameras all day! So we all breathed a sigh of relief after meeting Roland and finding him to be a super nice guy, super easy to work with, and also super talented! We hope to be able to work with him again!

Can you tell how much I’m liking this day already! A beautiful couple! A wonderful group of people at the church! A wonderful wedding planner! A wonderful photographer! I’m thinking we died and went to heaven! :--)

It was a busy day and time flew by fast! Before we knew it, it was time for Allie and Brandon to get married!

Allie looked BEAUTIFUL! The moment that Brandon saw her walking down the aisle, he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. It was a very emotional moment. But I jump ahead of myself. Before the emotional “first sighting”, there was the processional which included two adorable flower girls that were barely able to step up on the stage because of the high steps and their long dresses….. It was sooooo cute!

Okay. THEN Brandon gets to see Allie as she walks down the aisle, and then the service begins. It was a solemn ceremony and also a happy ceremony. Both Allie and Brandon were so happy and so much in love you just couldn’t help but be excited for them!

And now it’s time for the reception! As you may know, it’s my goal to get Lynette OUT of the receptions, so finally she agreed and let me and Laura cover it. YAY!  Lynette and Dream Team Dawn stayed for the “after wedding” photo shoot. :--)

Somehow, Laura managed to beat me to the reception site, which means she either drives really really fast, or stopping at McDonalds drive thru to get a coke slowed my time down and gave Laura the edge. It must have been the coke…. :--)

Since Allie and Brandon didn’t see each other before the wedding they stayed to take photos after the ceremony, which gave me and Laura plenty of time to get some great shots of the reception room before the guests and Allie and Brandon arrived. Everything looked beautiful!

And of course we got the cake! And it was a gorgeous cake too. Laura and I really loved the cake topper, which was a flower along with a set of rings. Pretty! And it was “pretty” tasty too! :--) Each layer was different with a different flavor. I THINK I had the chocolate layer. But maybe it was red velvet. I’m thinking it might have been red velvet…..Either way it was delicious yummy! I would have liked to have eaten my way through every layer but didn’t want to appear, umm, strange? So I restrained myself.

When Allie and Brandon arrived, they made an impressive entrance. They entered through smoke! It was a first for us and we loved it! Allie and Brandon went straight into their first dance before enjoying a nice meal with their guests. After the meal, there were more special dances, cake cutting, and toasts. And then the party began! SUCH a fun evening! When it came time for me and Laura to leave, everyone was having a great time dancing and visiting and just enjoying celebrating this wonderful occasion.

Thank you soooooo much, Allie and Brandon, for letting us capture your beautiful day for you. We wish only the best for your future together!

And now it’s past midnight, so it’s time for me to go to bed!