Morgan Trinker

Rikesha and Day. Oh, these two. I just love them so. You may remember them from their engagement session, where I learned just how much opposites can attract. :) (Oh, and Rikesha’s to-die-for dimples? Who could forget those?) When it came time for their wedding a couple of weekends ago, I knew it would be a fun one. The first thing Rikesha’s mom said to me that morning was that it was nice to finally meet me in person, because she had been talking about me so much that she had almost started having dreams about me. Ha! Mary Margaret and I felt completely at home with their entire family and their friends, and it was a joy to celebrate alongside them as their two families became one. PLUS, we got to be part of one killer dance party, during which I spent most of the time wishing desperately that I had even a fraction of the moves that all the super cool 12-year-olds did. :)

Huge thanks as always to Mary Margaret Smith for assisting me and capturing some of the shots below. Don’t know what I’d do without her. :)

Rikesha, you’re stunning. That is all.

One of my absolute favorite things was seeing how much these kids loved each other. Day’s children, Day Day and Nyah, and Rikesha’s nieces, Ivy and Chloe, have definitely become cousins in the truest sense. They absolutely adore each other!

I love wedding day luck. A lot of times, I’m shooting at venues I’ve never been to before, so scouting locations is something I do at the beginning of every wedding day. On the way to the church, we spotted a new neighborhood development right down the street, where they have constructed new houses to look as if they’re historic, like they belong on a street in downtown New Orleans or Savannah. So I suggested that to shake it up, we take Rikesha and Day there for their portraits, and I couldn’t be happier that they were on board with the idea… love these!

They are so. stinkin’. cute!

I was in the other room taking some family portraits when MM captured this amazing shot of Day Day doing a hand stand at the end of “the Dougie.” Needless to say, the crowd went wild. :)

Rikesha and Day, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your day. We had a blast!

Today’s wedding is a special one because it’s a family wedding! I always love shooting these. :) My cousin Halie married Seth in Gallatin, Tennessee on a beautiful September day, and everything came together perfectly. AND it was fun because I actually got to work with my family… my mom did the coordinating and flowers, my dad was the officiant, my cousin Zach was the DJ, and my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins helped do the setup the day of the wedding. So it was really neat to get to spend the day with everyone and see the whole family come together to help pull off the wedding.

You might remember when I posted a preview photo on Facebook from Halie and Seth’s engagement session that Halie and my Aunt Heather are the queens of bargain hunting at Goodwill. No, REALLY. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff they’ve found there! You also won’t believe how much of the stuff from the wedding came from Goodwill, from the decor to Halie’s accessories to the bridesmaids’ dresses. No kidding! It just goes to show how a little ingenuity can stretch a wedding budget a lot further than you think without sacrificing style. Prepare to be impressed. :)

Let’s get to the photos, shall we?

Another special part of the day was Halie’s dress. It was actually my Aunt Heather’s wedding dress, and they took it to a seamstress to remove the sleeves and modify it a little to make it more modern. I loved the result!

My mom made Halie’s brooch bouquet, which ended up being harder than she expected, but it turned out so beautifully. Thanks Mom!

I was eating up all the gorgeous natural light in the house where they were getting ready. Couldn’t resist using it for some portraits too. :)

Gorgeous!

Love these of Seth, looking very Southern-gentlemanly on the big front porch in his bow tie. :)

My mom, Aunt Amanda, cousin Hannah, and grandmother (“Nan”) putting the last minute touches on everything before the wedding:

…. And Jamie, my mom, and Uncle Ricky moving the cake. It was a little nerve-wracking, to say the least. ;)

This stunning house belongs to one of the family’s friends, Joe Howard. He graciously opened up his home to host the wedding, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Halie walked down the aisle to the same song that I walked down the aisle to, Ben Folds’s “The Luckiest.” It’s already such a special song to me and Jamie that I immediately began getting emotional as soon as the first notes began to play.

Love these!

Halie and Seth did their first dance to Dolly Parton’s “To the Moon and Back.” Y’all KNOW how obsessed I am with Dolly, so that was a fun moment. (This song is actually from the movie she did with Queen Latifah, Joyful Noise, which I dragged Jamie and my parents to see with me in the theater. Jamie’s impression was that it was a glorified Lifetime movie, and while I’ll admit that it was pretty terrible overall, the scenes with Dolly were wonderful. Of course. I love that woman.)

It was also fun to get to see my grandparents having such a good time and dancing, since I didn’t get to see them dance at my own wedding. Pop was even out there doing the Cha Cha Slide!

My cousin Hannah caught the bouquet!

So for many reasons, this wedding was obviously a special one. I’m so thankful to have created these memories with my family, and I wish Halie and Seth all the happiness in the world!