Courthouse Weddings Deserve Their Flowers
The Littles say I do at home before they head to the mountains for their intimate destination ceremony.
One of my favorite things about Madison and Tyler is that despite them being private and pretty quiet people, we keep having very public photo moments together. I first captured their engagement session in Fort Worth at Hotel Drover a few days before Christmas. There were dozens of people taking pictures at the beautifully lit hotel, and a huge wedding was taking place in and around the very small area. The second time we worked together was a few months later at their courthouse wedding in downtown Rockwall. It was a beautiful day and so many people were out around the square while we documented their new marriage.
This August day was so perfect and so intentional. The Littles were headed off for an intimate ceremony in Wyoming a week later so our focus was capturing the authentic joy of their official ceremony. We wanted our time together to be exciting, joyful, and a touch romantic. We started in the shade, close enough to see the "Rockwall County Historic Courthouse" in the background and cool enough to avoid the late summer Texas heat for a bit. I wanted to knock out the standard poses or fridge framer photos first. We got the new rings, fresh smiles, florals, and day of details. Then, we made it fun and light. We tapped into their excitement of the day and what's to come, plus I made Tyler laugh a couple of times (he's a serious firefighter so I don't take that lightly). Things we're rolling so effortlessly when I pulled out the film camera that we just let the sunshine and comfort wash over. We leaned into the downtown feel, letting businesses show up in reflections, congratulations from passers by give us pause and laughs, & the energy from live music set the romantic scene.
This session was effortless for a few reasons. First, Madison and Tyler are so chill. They know what's most important in life so this session was intentional yet relaxed. They trusted that I was capturing authentic moments and focusing on the overall feeling of the day. Second, they trusted me to capture their elopement because we had already worked together. When I documented their proposal, we connected personally. Tyler and I had a few conversations leading up to the proposal. I knew how these two met, why their relationship was so special, and his nerves about proposing in such a public space. I got to celebrate with Madison and document one of the most exciting moments in their relationship. All of that showed in their proposal photos. Which is why, thirdly, I cared SO much going into this elopement session. There was trust and comfort, sure. But there was also deep adoration and care. I always want to do a great job and produce great photos, but there's something extra that motivates me when it's a repeat client. There is an excitement of growth. An attempt to one up myself from the session before and deliver an even better gallery than the last. All of that marries together for sessions like these.
