tate house — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

Well this one is close to our hearts as we’ve been friends with Austin and Emily for years. We’ve seen them go through a ton of loss and hardship and yet come out on the other side super strong and smiling together, seen a ton of wins in their life and more than anything, their lives together are marked by their amazing sense of humor and ability to laugh and have fun all the time. That being said, the fact that this has been a dream wedding for Emily since she was a little girl having passed by the Tate House wedding venue for years and seeing how it all came together was absolutely gorgeous and we are so honored to have been able to be a part of telling their story and capturing this amazing wedding day.

The day started off with us meeting with the DJ briefly and wedding coordinator Sandra from the Tate House to tour the space a little bit which led right into us saying hey to Emily and her girls as they were getting ready and bringing everything in. We then photographed the details and just knew we wanted to take the dress into the mansion to do something with the stairs there as well as doing some flat lay details. Once we finished that, we prepared for a few first looks with the Bride’s Father and all of the Groomsmen as well. You can see in the photos some great reactions and just how much everyone loves each other in this tight knit group. We then did a few bridal portraits inside before splitting up for me to get photos with the guys praying over Austin while Morgan did photos with the Bridesmaids. What came next was such a beautiful moment where they privately shared vows at the first touch and Morgan and I had to hold back some tears ourselves. That moment led straight into getting ready for the ceremony which the beautiful all white and bright ceremony space with the pops of color from flowers was absolutely gorgeous. During the ceremony, everyone came out to epic music that then switched to beauty when the Bride came down the aisle with her father. They exchanged vows guided by their friend who was their officiant as well as one of their groomsmen. Surrounded by their friends and family, they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Dockery and shared a kiss.

Post ceremony, we completed all of the family photos then made our way out to the front of the mansion to do full wedding party photos. Once we had finished those, we got to walk around with the newlyweds for a bit on the grounds of the Tate House where we could have walked around for hours and had a blast. Before long, it was time to get them into the reception where they were announced and greeted by a room full of cheering loved ones. The reception started with their beautiful first dance followed by the Father and Daughter dance then Mother and Son with one last one being the Mother and Daughter dance. The dance floor then opened up for a while then we came to the cake cutting followed by an absolutely beautiful toast by Emily’s Mom. The rest of the night was characterized by a bunch of their friends dancing and having a great time but then the night ended with the sparkler send off to their stylish getaway vehicle. We already know that this is just the beginning for their amazing story to continue and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for the Dockerys!