sunflower wedding — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

Well, this one is another one close to heart which is crazy that our past 3 blog posts were good friends before. For some perspective, we photographed their best friends’ wedding back in 2017, their whole friend group getting baptized the following year following great loss of their friends and then Matt also went on a mission trip to Haiti with us in 2019. A lot has happened since then that has brought this couple’s family together even still and getting to know we’ve photographed so many big events for their lives is so special but, this day at a friends event property on the Savannah River of course holds such a huge and special place in the list.

The day itself started with us meeting up with Rashelle (our 3rd shooter for the day) and saying hey to everyone. We instantly grabbed details from Anna for photos and I made my way downstairs with the guys for some getting ready photos and once we finished all of those up, we took the dress outside and got to take some adorable photos of their daughters in the dress just before Anna got into the dress as well. As soon as she was in her dress, we got their boys mic’d up and in place for a first look with Anna and honestly the boys are just hilarious in general and their reactions were funny but they still had a loving moment too which then transitioned straight into the next first look with her Step Dad and Brother. It was super sweet and they all shared some great hugs and that was bringing us close to ceremony time but we had one more thing to do which was their first touch right before for them to just hear each other’s voices and say how excited they were. The ceremony started with everyone being driven down the hill on a trailer attached to the back of a truck and once they hopped off the back and formed a line, everyone made their way down the aisle with a few stars of the show being all of the kids and then their flower man/beer passer outer guy. During the ceremony the whole family came up to complete a unity puzzle and they also exchanged some beautiful and personally written vows. After they said their I-do’s and sealed the deal with a kiss. They walked back up the aisle together as the Joyner’s and as they started taking the chairs up to the reception tent, we transitioned into family and wedding party photos leading into their couple’s portraits which fell into Golden Hour perfectly for some gorgeous sunset light.

As everyone prepared to enter into the reception tent, they all planned out what to do. Once they began entering, they all danced or did something as a fun gesture which the finale was Matt and Anna entering in with a twirl into their first dance. That sweet dance was then followed by Anna and her Step Dad sharing a dance and then Matt and his Mom as well. Everyone then went to get some delicious tacos for dinner. As the night rolled around more and the open dance floor was filled, it began turning more and more into a hilarious and fun party for everyone. At one point they took a break and made their way inside to cut the cake and even shared some with their youngest Blakeleigh. From there, it was even more open dance floor, bouquet and garter tosses then the last big formal event was toasts. They had a few that were planned toasts and then a few that weren’t and it’s easily to tell that everyone loves and cherishes the Joyner family so much. They ranged from everyone crying to everyone belly laughing so, I can only imagine how those will turn out for the wedding videos later. We ended our night with them at the sparkler exit by the front porch and streamed lights which worked out perfectly. We love this family and are excited for their future and seeing the kiddos growing up over the years to come!

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Flowers - Lings Moment

Cake - Halee’s Sweet Bites

Men’s Attire - Simon’s Formal Wear

DJ - David Doane

Dress - Elegant Bridals

We had a great chance to meet with Marcus and Lilly a while ago and already having mutual friends through their church family, when we did their engagement session came around (which you can see here), we already had a kinship and it made for an amazing session. That only transferred and made the wedding day even more laid back and fun! This beautiful wedding day took place between two different locations. It was our first time visiting at Warren Baptist Church and then the other location we have been to a lot, the Savannah Rapids Pavillion.

The day started with the girls in Evans where we did details and photographed them getting ready then split where I went to photograph the guys down the road for a little bit of getting ready with them before returning back to the girls to help with the reveal with the bridesmaids. Once the girls turned around and saw Lilly, they screamed with joy and then Lilly hit them with a hands in the hidden dress pockets twirl and they ran in to hug her making for an amazing moment. We then got her Dad and brought him out facing the other way to setup for their first look which turned into a beautiful and emotional moment once they hugged and we could tell he was fighting back tears. They finished their moment and took a few photos together and then we left to meet up with everyone at the Savannah Rapids Pavillion for the Bride and Groom’s first look and some group photos. Once we had Marcus setup, Lilly made her way out to him and tapped him on the shoulder for him to turn around. He had a huge smile on his face and they shared a sweet hug before heading down the stairs to meet up with the rest of the wedding party for group photos. Once we finished the group photos, we also did a few couples photos with Marcus and Lilly followed by us splitting up to meet back up at the church. Once everyone made it inside at Warren, we had a few minutes still of guests arriving and so Morgan and I took our places once the doors started shutting. It was split into the two aisles of the chapel so Morgan and I split up the aisles to get everyone coming down and then once it was Lilly’s turn, Morgan focused on Marcus as I photographed the Bride and her Father coming down the aisle at the same time. From here I went upstairs and Morgan stayed in the back of the chapel and we captured different angles of the ceremony where they prayed, took communion, exchanged rings and vows then finished off with their first kiss as husband and wife. They had so much joy on their face as they went back up the aisle together (they pretty much always have a ton of joy anyways but this was especially joyful). From here, we went to the prayer garden on the other side of the church grounds for the family formals and a few other couples portraits before driving to the reception at the Savannah Rapids Pavillion.

The reception was already full and felt like twice the amount of people than were at the ceremony somehow but we captured the details as everyone lined up to make their entrance and in just a matter of minutes everyone was dancing their way into the reception. Everyone had something funny for their entrance but there’s so many photos that it just didn’t make sense to blog them all here. Once they made it to their table, the food was blessed and in the next photo you see the toasts starting. Everyone’s toasts had such a different vibe and funny stories throughout so it was a lot of fun to hear and set a great tone for the rest of the reception. It was then time to do the dances where they had their first dance and at one point burst into laughter which was hard to not have a huge smile on your face seeing them having so much fun. They also did a Father/Daughter dance and Mother/Son dance before the cake cutting and then the dance floor opening up more. Right after the cake cutting, the first song that started playing had literally everyone singing. By the time the second song came on, I am pretty sure that maybe 8 people tops were still at their table instead of the dance floor which made for probably the most full dance floor we have ever seen, especially at the Rapids. Since everyone was dancing, the DJ setup a couples dance to see who had been married the longest. This is always one of our favorites to see and they even gave the winners a beautiful bouquet of flowers. From this point on was just pure party and fun whether it be forming a line going around the entire building, lifting their hands up and yelling “shout”, throwing the bouquet and even a bunch of fun line dances. They ended off the night with a super fun streamer exit and hopped into their SUV to drive off into the night as Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.