Kelly, here, again. I have another wedding debut, as promised; that of Tim and Lauren Irwin.
We, T&J Studios, have gotten to know these two pretty well over the past year or so. Brett shot two engagement sessions with them so that they could be sure to include a few of their rescue pets; two great danes, a blue macaw and an African grey (parrot). (Pet rescue is a topic that both share quite a passion for.) Then we collaborated on a designed card to announce their big day, and finally, we had the pleasure of photographing their wedding on Saturday, November 5th, 2011.

The day started when we met Lauren and her bridesmaids at the Broadview Hotel, here, in Wichita. One of her stylists/bridesmaids was my hair stylist and friend, Kristy Pauly, of Beehive Salon, which was pretty cool. It’s great to see familiar faces. I also found Lauren’s little sister, Kelli, not only serving as a bridesmaid, but also as the resident (very skilled) make-up artist to be totally awesome. It’s always nice when brides have talent within their parties that can be there to help the actual mechanics of her day run smoothly, while providing moral support. All of her bridesmaids were very attentive and appeared to be wonderful friends to Lauren. Their energy was great and made the rest of the day very enjoyable.

Once hair was done, make-up was on, and her dress had been tied as tight as it would possibly go, Lauren and I made our way downstairs, with the help of her step sister, Amy, to capture a few bridal shots before we left the hotel. She looked stunning and had quite an audience of encouraging other guests at the hotel. “He’s definitely going to cry, girl, you look goooorgeouuuus!” one guest exclaimed, and no one was there to disagree. Lauren look absolutely perfect. However, a Kansas wedding couldn’t be complete without ridiculous wind to threaten the bride’s hard work and preparation. Leaving the Drury Inn was no easy task, but somehow, we made it out to the car, dodging a Veteran’s Day parade, to the church and inside without much of a disturbance of Lauren’s look.

When it was time to see her groom, everyone was on their tippy-toes with excitement and anticipation for his reaction. When she entered the church, her mother and bridesmaids peeked through the windows of the closed chapel doors to watch the reveal. Everyone was giddy to see the tears that would inevitable fill Tim’s eyes when he saw her. The reveal was no disappointment. Tim’s face was glowing the entire time she walked down the isle toward him. It was a great moment.

Family members filled the sanctuary while we took group pictures before the ceremony. Bride and Groom were calm and ready to say “I do,” more than ever.

When it was finally time for their wedding, the church was filled with guests from front to back. It was a beautiful Catholic ceremony complete with a wonderful singer and beautiful venue at St. Mark, in Colwich, KS.

Afterward, they hopped on their pink Party Express Bus and we braved the wind to take some outdoor “country” photos. That was interesting. At one point, Lauren had almost a whole tree stuck in the lace of her dress; but she just laughed it off and had a great time with it. Everyone had finally let loose and it was time to party, so we made the photo session quick and headed on to their reception at Newman University. The venue looked absolutely great with glowing pink uplighting, provided by their DJ, Brian, from Absolute Sound, that matched Lauren’s stargazer lilies (flowers by Michael Ward of Bubbles Company Florals). There were a number of awesome personalized touches: a quilting table, where guests would write wishes on pieces of fabric that Lauren will eventually quilt into a blanket for her new husband and her, their cake table that showed images of them together and with their pets and held a “Big Dogs, Huge Paws” cake, themed after the rescue that they are actively involved with, and puppy chow wedding favors that told the story of how they met at the dog park. Every detail tied into Lauren and Tim wonderfully. The day was truly about them and the love they shared.

These two make quite a couple, and I know Brett and I were both happy that we got to share their day with them. Below is a quick slide show of images from 11.05.11. We hope you enjoy seeing what we got the privilege to document.

Best of luck to the Bride and Groom.

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On October 29th, 2011, we made our way out the the “boonies” for the day. We arrived to find Amy’s dad setting up in the reception hall with her younger brother. They quickly gave us the lay of the land and pointed us in the direction where she, her mom, mother-in-law, and her bridesmaids were getting ready.

We made our way through some very wild Kansas wind to the “Happy Trails Theatre” to find our calm bride having her hair done while her various attendants prepared themselves for the day. While the gals got ready, I took some photographs of the great details they had pulled together for their country wedding, including the bride’s cow[girl] boots that she would wear, the wheat that stuck out, here and there, from her sunflower bouquet, and the dainty pearls she would wear with her beautiful lace wedding dress. And while I was busy with the gals, Brett was capturing a few great shots of the guys getting ready in their [portable] dressing area: a state-of-the-art RV! This wedding was definitely different from others, but in a great, homespun way.

When it was time for the ceremony, Amy loaded herself into a beautiful white carriage that would take her to the isle that would lead her to her groom. Mathue watched eagerly as his bride got closer and closer. Nothing beats that look that grooms get.

The ceremony was beautiful despite the wind’s attempts to make it otherwise. It was truly a pleasure to witness the love between these two and the happiness their families shared with them.

I could go on all day, but I’d like to get to their pictures. Hopefully they can tell the rest for me.

Enjoy.

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So, in light of the expected wedding planning process, we scheduled to have our engagement pictures taken in September. Much to our luck, the weather was AMAZING and we were all in good health. Josh and I met at the studio, put on some of our good duds and got to feel like famous people for a few hours while Tyff and Jeff marched around town with us, documenting our coupledom. We all had a good time goofing off and trespassing in various areas of the city… just kidding… kind of.

Josh and I actually got Tyff and Jeff to go with us to our favorite bar, The Shamrock Lounge, where we had our first date and ended up getting us access to a spaces we weren’t entirely sure existed. A game of pool, a couple of beers, and a few saucy shots later, our shoot was wrapped, and the waiting game began.

It was hard being on the other side of the photoshoot for once, but I think Josh and I did pretty well. The cool part about working here, though, is that I am now able to share our engagement photographs with not only our other clients, but also all of our friends and family. So, in the interest of not dragging on any longer, and on behalf of T&J Studios, I present, Josh and my engagement pictures.

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The day started out quietly at the Broadview Hotel, in Wichita, where the wedding party was getting ready for an evening ceremony. Jordan’s bridesmaids and friends helped one another with hair and make-up in one hotel room while awaiting her arrival from the hair salon, and the boys watched Saturday football games in another with the groom.
Jordan arrived, hair done in a fashionable 1940s-inspired up-do. She was bright-eyed and lovely, clasping a mug of hot tea while her maid of honor helped her with her make-up. You would have never guessed that Jordan had not been feeling well all week prior to the day. She was happy and seemingly stress-free.
The day went on without many hiccups. Their ceremony was held at Morningstar Community Church, which was a new venue for us. The girls over at Jubilations Event Planning did a wonderful job decorating the altar with an a-symmetrical design that catered to Justin’s graphic design sense. There were touches of their 1940s theme here and there: in the entry way, guests were presented with vintage post cards to write notes to the bride and groom, in the reception hall, some of the tables were adorned with center pieces made of martini glasses, pearls, and satin gloves. Their music fit the mood with tunes from Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and the like. It was an enjoyable dinner party, catered by Corporate Caterers and DJ’ed by Another Dimension. A few show stoppers of the evening were the maid of honor’s toast during which she sang “Make Someone Happy” to her best friend, Jordan and her new husband, and then Justin’s dad’s toast, where he dispensed some long-awaited knowledge to his son about his insurance plan.
It was truly an enjoyable event and we were honored to be there to document their day. Now, without further ado, we will retell their story the way we know best: through our pictures.

Best of luck to this wonderful couple in their life together.

To Mr. and Mrs Justin and Jordan Eddy:

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As we mentioned on Facebook, we have been creating some great images of kids, lately, so we figured we would share some of our favorite shots with you! It doesn’t take much to introduce these little faces, so, as we promised…