Leona and Alex Get Married

As I was getting this post together today, I took a break to take Gretchen out to pee (mostly because I couldn’t think straight for the high-pitched barking and baying she was doing in my ear), and on my doorstep I had a package from Leona. I opened it excitedly (I LOVE packages!) and found inside an Alice in Wonderland teacup that she brought me back from her honeymoon in Disneyland. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I did a little dance in my kitchen. For one, Leona has always remembered my love for Alice (and my love for Zooey Deschanel, who she threw into the wedding music playlist just for me! :D), and the fact that she gave me such a thoughtful gift just served as a huge reminder of how lucky I am to be a wedding photographer.

On that note, here is the wedding of Leona and Alex! This one I flew back to Salt Lake City to shoot, and Leona was so kind and understanding when I explained everything that happened with my dad and the move and how I would now be coming from out-of-state to shoot their wedding (little did she know!). And thank GOODNESS for friends like Mike & Sam, who not only drove me to and from the airport and gave me a couch to crash on, but also came to shoot the wedding with me. How could I have done it without them? I mean, really. Love you guys!

Once again, this wedding was a huge family affair. It was really touching to see how their families really came together and helped them pull this off. I know it was especially hard for Leona to go through the whole wedding planning process without her mother, who sadly passed away several years ago, but the way the women of her family stepped up to the plate to be there for her on her big day was truly inspiring. One of the many, many things to love about weddings.

We started the day at the home of Leona’s cousins. It was absolutely gorgeous! They built it in a Victorian style, but with every modern convenience you could imagine. Thank you guys so much for opening up your home to us and letting the photographers roam all over the place in search of shooting locations and props.

Maid of honor Deb was awesome, as always. She didn’t miss a beat all day!

See what I mean? Beautiful!

Okay, so technically speaking, this isn’t the best photograph I’ve ever taken. The sun was crazy bright and created all sorts of harsh shadows. But you know what? This is Leona and her sister Catie hugging right after the ceremony was over, and you can tell it was an extremely emotional moment. And I’m so glad I caught it. It’s moments like this that define a wedding and a family, and I’ll take this over technical perfection any day. Just my two cents!

Something about this one I just adore….

Smokin’!

This next series is by far my favorite bridal party shoot ever. While everyone was eating, I spotted a little boy next door jumping on his trampoline, and I turned to Sam and said, “We’re totally getting the bridal party on that thing,” and she was all, “Heck yes we are.” And thankfully they were up for it! I may or may not have made a complete fool of myself by ramming my head into a beam while attempting to demonstrate a pose to Deb, but eh, what can you do? It was worth the headache to get these: :)

Some of you might recognize this quote from the movie Inception (amazing, by the way!). I adore the fact that Leona incorporated something from a movie that wasn’t necessarily “romantic.” In this context, it just works!

Yeah, it’s pretty on the outside, but it was even better on the inside! Anyone who uses pumpkin spice as one of their cake flavors is A-OK in my book.

Just love this.

This photo needs no caption.

…. Let’s just say there was lots of crazy hair movement going on. :)

Congratulations Alex and Leona! Thank you guys for being so darn amazing!

To see more of their day, watch the slideshow below, featuring We Shot the Moon’s “Perfect Time.” (After they did their first dance to this song, I had to ask Alex who the band was, because I was certain it was Waking Ashland [LOVE!]. Turns out that Jonathan Jones started We Shot the Moon after Waking Ashland broke up…. so yeah, totally the same guy. Which basically means that I love the song and I love Leona and Alex even more for dancing to it!)