sweet april cakes — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

Back in the Spring, we had the chance to meet up with Andrew and Samantha in person for the first time at their engagement session which you can see here. It was so much fun and the fact that we were able to include their sweet pup Stevie which you will notice he shows up in some details in the wedding since he stayed home on the big day. The wedding day itself took place at one of our favorites, Windsor Manor, where we got married back in 2018 ourselves and every time we get to visit, it’s so special and we have such a kinship with the couples in having similar taste already and this couple is just so sweet and we have loved the entire process of getting ready for this wedding day with them!

The wedding day itself started with us showing up and saying hey to Samantha and everyone getting ready in the bridal suite and then gathering details to photograph which is also where we got to formally meet the coordinator Justine as well and she helped even with some of the details in the midst of juggling doing a ton of other things as well and we loved talking with her. Once we finished with details, we poked our heads back in and said hey to Andrew and his Groom’s team also as they were all showing up. Once everyone was ready, we set up for their first look for photo and video really quick with just Morgan and I covering it. Once they had a short sweet moment together, we hopped straight into some couples portraits before getting the wedding party together and they made their way inside to do one more practice of their first dance together inside which made for a great photo op as well! At that point we also had the finished cake nearby to photograph and some other details then before long it was time to setup for the ceremony and get in place as guests were showing up. As the ceremony started, the song selection was immaculate and a lot of the wedding party danced their way in a little down the aisle which would be better seen in the video later and would have been a ton of photos to include here. From our understanding, this was all a passion project of Samantha’s for the songs and then it switched from the upbeat songs to the beautiful song “Turning Page” by Sleeping at Last as Samantha and her parents came down the aisle and Andrew only got a little misty eyed but had a huge smile on his face which would later change during their vows and the story he told about the courage that Samantha has given him to overcome things in his life and the way that she loves him and really all of the vows and stories were beautiful and I am pretty sure everyone shed a little bit of a single tear at least. As they exchanged all of their vows and rings, they then finished off the ceremony with a kiss and making their way up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

After the ceremony, we all met up together to do the family formal photos and full wedding party as well as just a few more couples portraits with the Golden hour light since we were ahead of schedule on everything and then it was time for Samantha’s dress to get bustled so they could make their way to the dance floor for their first dance which was so well done with the Ballroom Dance Center being great dance teachers and it all ended with a nice dip towards everyone at the reception. It was then time for the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances, a delicious BBQ dinner and then we made it to an open dance floor for a while followed by cake cutting which apparently was something they had been waiting on in excitement for a while in the planning and it turned out beautifully and even had Stevie included in the decor on the cake table. It was worth the wait they said and they had multiple flavors so it was fun to see some guests wait in line for the next layer to get cut instead because they wanted it bad enough. From here, we got back into an open dance floor for the rest of the night and taking photos with the different tables walking around then ended the night with a fun glow stick exit surprise before going back into dance some more where Mike from Magic Sound Productions did an amazing job as always so it was a ton of fun to see him again. From here, it came to time for us to leave and so we got to say goodbye to everyone and congratulate them again. We of course cannot wait to see what the future holds for them and Stevie as they start this new chapter together officially!