Kim + John // A Modern and Fun Kentucky Distillery Wedding

When Kim called me the Wednesday before her wedding, I could hear the tinges of panic in her voice. Her mom had broken her arm and was worried about having a cast for photos. The forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms that weekend and she had been refreshing weather.com every hour, on the hour. Despite her best efforts to plan and prepare for every detail of her wedding day, all of these things she couldn’t control were starting to freak her out a little. But if you’ve ever been a bride, you KNOW the feeling! I can remember very vividly my one bridezilla moment, when two days before our wedding, the chance of rain increased dramatically and I just melted in a puddle of tears. Alanis Morisette, rain on your wedding day is a little more than ironic… it’s basically enough to cause the most level-headed of girls who have never given a thought to planning according to weather to suddenly treat the Farmer’s Almanac as the gospel truth and weep at the mention of a Plan B.

So when Saturday arrived and began as a sunny day, we were all cautiously relieved. But sure enough, I kid you not, just as Kim was putting her dress on and we were getting ready to head to the Buffalo Trace Distillery for her first look with John, the skies opened up and the rain began. Not just a pitter-pattering of rain, mind you, but a torrential downpour… the kind of rain where even an umbrella isn’t going to keep you dry. But I insisted to Kim that everything would work out perfectly, and guess what? It totally did! We moved portraits to the porch of the log-cabin-style building where the reception was held, the soft light was actually beautiful to shoot with, and lo and behold, with less than an hour before the outdoor ceremony was to begin, the skies cleared and the rain stopped. John later pointed out to Kim that the sun even came out right as she began walking down the aisle. Aww! The rain really was a blessing in disguise… it cooled the air, gave us great light for photos, and made for a stunning sunset later that evening. So the lesson is this, for all you planning your own weddings: there are things you absolutely will not be able to control, but if you hire professionals to make the most of any situation, there’s really no cause for panic. Just call it an exercise in character-building! ;)

All rain talk aside, this wedding really was so special to me for many reasons. For one, Kim is one of my former co-workers from the Starbucks days (which you can read more about in their engagement session post from last fall), and there were many times throughout the day when I distinctly remember thinking that I’ve never seen her so happy and glowing, and how perfect she and John are for each other. Also, it was my first trip to Kentucky, land of bluegrass, horses, and bourbon, and it was exciting to get to experience the best of it by shooting a wedding at the longest-running distillery in the nation, Buffalo Trace. Since my husband is somewhat of a whisky fanatic (shameless plug: he runs an excellent whisky blog called The Porch Hound for any of you who might also be interested), he was particularly jealous of me getting to shoot this one. ;) I also loved how Kim (who is a Tennessee girl) and John (Kentucky bred through and through) incorporated a little of both cultures into the wedding day, despite their intense rivalry on the basketball court. One of absolute favorite moments was when they played “Rocky Top” at the reception and Kim’s whole family swarmed the dance floor and began clapping and singing like crazy (I’ll admit, I joined in… I gotta represent my roots!). Right afterward, they played the Kentucky fight song and John’s friends and family stood up and started clapping and cheering. It was kind of awesome.

But I have clearly done way too much talking and not enough showing, so on to the photos! Huge thanks as always to the wonderful Mary Margaret Smith for all her help and for capturing some of the shots you’ll see below.

Our mutual friend Carrie (also from the Starbucks days, and who has made a couple of appearances here on the blog also!) came up from Knoxville to do hair and makeup. She did an incredible job, and actually JUST graduated from the Aveda Institute yesterday. Congrats! :)

See what I mean? BUCKETS of rain. But ain’t nothin’ gonna break our stride…

I loooved Kim’s White by Vera Wang dress. I always rejoice when brides choose dresses that suit them perfectly, and hers did for sure!

I also love that she wore her cute glasses throughout the wedding. She wouldn’t have looked like herself without them!

Ugh, love it.

Such a dapper wedding party, no?

I’m pretty sure my second shooters and I have never been able to get such a unique perspective of the first kiss. Thank you Mary Margaret for capturing this stunning shot!

Perfect, perfect, perfect light. And love. :)

One of the neatest parts of the day was when Kim and John arranged for their guests to participate in a tour and tasting in lieu of a traditional cocktail hour. What a fun experience for everyone! I was off shooting family formal shots while MM was capturing this next series, and seeing the photos later made me think that I probably need to find an excuse to go back soon so I can do one myself. :)

In lieu of a standard guest book, they opted to have everyone sign a Buffalo Trace barrel for them to have for their home. Love it!