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Joe + Kelsey

Owen Farm Wedding

I first met Kelsey via FaceTime. I love to meet my couples in person to talk about their wedding, but Kelsey and Joe live in Atlanta so that wasn’t going to be super convenient for them at all. Thank goodness for modern technology! Kelsey and I had the best conversation! We were able to talk about all the details that she and Joe had already planned for their Owen Farm wedding. For the details that they hadn’t decided on, we were able to talk about all their options and I was able to give a photographer’s opinion on what would photograph well. I really do love that part of my job! I remember one of the more important things that we talked about was the advantages of doing a first look and I’m so glad that they decided to go ahead and do a first look! We were able to capture so many special moments before the ceremony had even started.

I didn’t get to meet Joe until weeks later when Kelsey and Joe were in town visiting their families for the holidays. We met at Starbucks to finalize their timeline and make sure that they were going to have enough photography coverage to capture everything that they wanted. I got so excited just planning their timeline that I knew their wedding day was going to be so much fun. Kelsey and Joe are so funny and easy going and when we left Starbucks that day, they felt like friends instead of clients. If you spend even just a short amount of time with them, you will see that they are so perfect together.

The wedding took place at Owen Farm which is a gorgeous wedding venue with the whole package. Kelsey and her girls were able to get ready in the main house and the guys got ready in the adoarble Silo house near the reception location. It is a perfect setup to keep the bride and groom from accidentally seeing each other! Kelsey and I were able to go outside the main house to capture her getting in her dress, a few moments with just her girls, and the moment her dad got to see her in her wedding dress for the first time. First looks with dads are always a favorite of mine to capture! Kelsey’s dad reminds me so much of my own dad so when he got to see his baby girl in her wedding dress for the first time, I had to fight back tears of my own. Now that I have a baby girl of my own, I am soooooo much more teary-eyed while photographing weddings.

Once we were done with Kelsey’s first look with her dad, it was time for Joe to see his bride. They exchanged their gifts right before their first look and it was so sweet to witness. Both of them had written the same exact thing at the beginning to their letters to one another! They couldn’t help but laugh and I couldn’t help but think how perfect they are for one another. Joe’s reaction to Kelsey’s gift was so sweet and perfect. It seriously made me want to go back in time and redo the gift I gave my husband on our wedding day.

I’m so glad that my wonderful friend Bri was able to shoot alongside me that day so that we could capture both Kelsey and Joe’s faces during the first look. I love how intimate first looks can be and that couples get to have this sweet and private moment where they can hug and actually talk to one another. Joe’s face when he saw Kelsey for the first time was so perfect. You could see how much he loves her and you just know that he feels like the luckiest man in the world for getting to marry her. Their ceremony and reception were perfect and I think my favorite moments were Kelsey’s father daughter dance to Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl (so so fun!!) and her dad’s toast to them. Mr. Kenneth’s toast was the perfect balance of funny, sweet, and meaningful!

OH! And I loved their Krispy Kreme donut bar instead of the traditional cake. I love me some Krispy Kreme donuts!!

Kelsey and Joe, thank you so much for choosing me to photograph your elegant country wedding! You guys were a joy to get to be with on your day and I hope that we will keep in touch so that I can celebrate all your big moments as your life grows together. Below are just a few (ok, maybe a lot!) of my favorite images from your wedding day and I hope that you love them as much as I do!

Each half of the heart that was sewn into the bottom of Kelsey’s dress was a piece from each of her two grandfathers’ shirts.

Kelsey’s florals were stunning!

We couldn’t leave their dog Ace out of the photos!

It’s always fun when little ones are a part of the ceremony. I think there might have been two meltdowns but they eventually all made it down the aisle with a little help. They were so adorable!