Alaina + Dustin. Part 1.

I don’t even know how to start to describe such a perfectly beautiful, crazy, laughter-and-tear-filled day. There’s something extra special about a family wedding and this one was just perfect. This gorgeous day came together in just a couple of months with the help of Alaina + Dustin’s family and friends. The weekend of the wedding was spent with sisters, brothers, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends unloading chairs, arranging flowers from the farmer’s market, making seating charts and putting out place cards. I can’t wait for you to see the reception – it was incredible! All the prep leading up to the moment when my sweet little sister walked barefooted through the woods to meet her man under a beautiful canopy of trees, surrounded by a circle of their closest friends and family. They promised themselves to each other and kissed in a shower of rice and applause. It was a dream.

But I also have to tell you what was going on behind the scenes… When Alaina first got engaged, we talked about me photographing the wedding as much as possible. I thought, this won’t be too hard! I’ll just shoot the parts of the wedding that I’m not in and the second photographer can handle the rest.
Yeah.
It turns out that it’s hard to shoot a wedding at 8.5 months pregnant while also being the matron of honor and mother of a 1.5 year old ringbearer. And did I mention I wore heels? I had asked Mabyn, of Mabyn Ludke Photography, to shoot with me and she ended up being a serious gift from the Lord. In between getting ready for the wedding, transporting all my equipment and my sleeping toddler, and handling other small details of the wedding, I didn’t get to shoot as much as I had originally planned. In fact, it was much, much less. Normally when I make a blog post of the wedding, I try to use as few photos from the second photographer as possible – just to make sure I accurately represent my work to all of you. But this time is different – Though my photos are mixed in as well, much of the credit goes to Mabyn. She was so kind and gracious and picked up the role of lead photographer when she saw I was in over my head. Mabyn, we can’t thank you enough! You all need to do yourselves a favor and check out her blog when you can!

Dustin + Alaina, you know how much I love you guys and how absolutely thrilled I am for both of you. You are a perfect match and it’s so good to see you so freely and completely in love. . .

The details : Venue – Private Residence | Bride’s dress – Free People

Part 2 of this gorgeous wedding will be posted in a couple of days! You don’t want to miss this incredible reception!