Downtown wedding at sunset

Matt and Emily. Salt of the earth people with amazing families. One of those initial meetings, when you look up and realize you've been talking for 2 hours. I don't even know where to start with all the amazing storylines that were happening at this wedding. Friends from around the country, sisterhood, adorable young ladies in ballerina slippers idolizing the bride in her dress, best men brothers away at military training, Father thanking son for his unwavering character that helped him find God. Real life in all it's profound beauty! The team and I stood in the parking lot for half an hour after they left and talked about which part made us cry the deepest.  

So this wedding, and a few others over the past year have helped me develop so much. I've noticed that when all of us in the business of pulling off wedding days do our jobs well...we make space and time for these amazing interactions.  Life changing stuff. That's why it's so important that after we help it happen...that we LET it happen.

Ok, admittedly I've started to get a little preachy about this over the past year. Started mentioning to my couples that I want to help you plan a relaxed, intentional day and then get out of the way and "let real happen".  In fact, in an attempt to be social media relevant I've started to use #letrealhappen and made mention of it my print advertising. Never thought I'd be the kind of guy that tries to invent a hashtag. It appears to be, if not the only way, a hopeful way to legitimize an approach to wedding photography that has been overlooked for a decades in favor of editorial style details and perfect (not so candid) candid portraits.

Make no mistake. We all love those things, especially my dear friends who work their backs, feet and fingers sore to make those details happen. Of course I still photograph flowers, dresses and shoes, and rather enjoy it! They're what makes a wedding day beautiful. I'm only asking...shouldn't there be more? Shouldn't those details, those utterly beautiful flowers, the colors, and the fashion add to a collections of wedding photos when they're surrounded by the real stuff?

Thats the whole thing for me, really. The beautiful is assumed. If you're a professional photographer, beauty is the price of admission. It's step 1. Let's move the conversation forward, let's get into the real stuff! 

If you're a bride who wants and beautiful and memorable wedding day. Hire good folks and let them work for you. When you hire professional vendors who care, the beauty will be there. Step back and take it in. Be present. Dwell on the relationships around you. Let yourself be in place of joy and appreciation. Let real happen.

See how I worked it in there again...

Folks with sore backs and feet that helped all this real happen!

Design and coordination - Leslie Herring Events

Floral - Poppy Lane

Venue - Magnolia Room

GF donuts! - Holey Rollers

Videography - Dewberry Cinema

Robert and Mary's Wedding at the OKC Farmers Market

It’s been an incredibly busy Spring season for us so far. I think the last time I blogged a recent wedding during wedding season was in 2008. I’m feeling pretty good about the timing here. We’re still delivering our weddings in under 2 weeks as always.

Chris and I had a great time at this wedding. Robert and Mary, now residing in Ohio, had a wonderful wedding ceremony with their family and friends last month. It’s always nice to take advantage of the great light that pours into the antique windows of the Farmers Market building in downtown OKC. 

Make sure to checkout the incredible cakes by Madison’s on Main. You better believe Chris and I each took a doggie bag home!

to life!

Josh

Vincent and Micaela'a Wedding

Vincent and Micaela, as I’m sure you can tell in these photos and their wedding film, are quite a perfectly suited couple. They balance each other perfectly…and rightfully so since they have been a couple since their teen years. To be able to watch different couples and how they interact with each other is a real privileges as a wedding photographer. I was impressed with how personal, warm and true to their relationship this wedding was. It was one of the most luxurious weddings we’ve ever worked, but it had such a family feeling about it. That, I’m sure, was due to the hard work of all the vendors on the design side. Special thanks to Gibson Events, Kelly of Poppy Lane Design, Cafe Evoke, MOOD, Mariannes, IES Lighting and a wonderful cake by Sugar for creating such top notch work for us to photograph. I also want to say thank you to my friend & neighbor Todd of Beautiful Day Images for shooting this wedding with me. He’s an incredible photographer with a distinct style and it was great to have him along. Chris Fox, our wedding filmmaker,  also cut together a special trailer. Here are some of our favorite moments from the Vincent and Micaela’s wedding film.

to life!

Josh

Eric and Aubrey's Wedding

It’s always an honor and a big responsibility to photograph a wedding. To photograph a photographer’s wedding carries a different weight. It’s all at once flattering and terrifying. But, when the bride is as warm and sweet as Aubrey, it’s a joy. Eric and Aubrey, now enjoying life in Texas, had a beautiful afternoon wedding here in OKC. This might as well have been a styled shoot for a DIY wedding blog with all the florals and textures and detail that Aubrey incorporated. Plenty of pretty stuff for me to point my camera at!

Brandon and Raegan's ranch wedding

From our first meeting with Brandon and Raegan, I knew they would have an incredible wedding for us to document. This land has been in Raegan’s family her whole life. She has a childhood of memories there, so the significance of having their wedding there was really powerful. Brandon and Raegan both come from warm and hospitable families that make you feel right at home. We loved the rustic yet elegant feel that they put together. All the florals were the work of The French Bouquet and all the details were planned by Ki Matlock of J. Bailey Occasions.  

Matt and Caroline's Downtown OKC Wedding

As a wedding photographer all you can ask for is clients that aren’t afraid to be themselves. Thats these two. Caroline speaks in emoticons; she’s not afraid. Matt’s not either. He’s a musician and creative pro here in OKC. When he first saw Caroline in her wedding dress he spun her around the room, lifted her in the air and gave here the most theatrical dip/kiss you’ve ever seen. It was somethin. I decided against giving them posing suggestions after that. One of my favorite portraits of the year came from this wedding. It’s the first photo in the post. I love it so much I couldn’t decide on the black & white or color version, so I included them both. (rookie move I know)

It was an incredible wedding full of love, warmth and friendship. Can’t get much better than that. 

Oh, they did dance to Ryan Adams. That was perfect. 

to life!

Josh

Kyle and Brianna's Dominion House Wedding

Meet Kyle & Brianna. They’re a sweet southern couple that had their wedding at the Dominion House in the charming historic town of Guthrie. I really enjoyed being able to shoot for them!

to life! 
Josh 

Brian and Lauren's Farm Wedding

We made the short trip to the Ponca City area for Brian and Laura’s spring wedding. There were so many meaningful touches to this one. Laura’s mother handmade her dress if you can believe that! The wedding was on her grandparents farm in the rolling hills just outside of town. I spoke with Laura’s grandfather a bit during the wedding. I was commenting on how beautiful his land was and he told me that Laura had always talked about getting married there. It was a joy to be there for the culmination of everything. These are two families that certainly embraced the wedding as a celebration of life. I remember one moment in particular that tears welled up in my eyes behind the camera. Brian’s Dad, who is battling cancer and wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it to the wedding, spoke about how his love and pride for Brian and all that he’s been able to see him accomplish. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Katie and I left the wedding feeling refreshed and reinspired by the deep meaningfulness we’d been able to document.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. I love my job!

to life!

Josh

Greg and Brittany's Wedding

Is it illegal to blog a Fall wedding in the middle of Summer? Not if you’re as behind on blogging as I am. Brittany was a bridesmaid in David and Krista’s wedding back in 2008 so I was really excited when she contacted us for her wedding. As a photographer, there is no higher honor that being referred by your clients to their friends and family. Greg and Brittany had a great fall wedding at a small church. One of those days with good light, constant laughter and the occasional tear. Thats my kind of wedding! 

to life!

Josh

Seth and Emily's Wedding

Here’s a wedding from January. I could have easily shot this one entirely in black and white. The venue and the colors just looked excellent in black and white. Winter weddings are a different ball game. The light is cold and sun sets early. I love shooting natural light details and portraits ,but at 8pm in January, thats not happening. You might notice this post features few details and directed portraits. During weddings like this, I think it’s important to take a documentary approach. It’s fun to watch for emotional connections and glimpses of intimacy that you may miss when you’re directing portraits or shooting details. It’s a challenge to be constantly looking for those things. You have to stay curious! 

to life!

Josh

Jason and Leslie's Wedding

Just a few from Jason and Leslie’s wedding last summer. She works for the Thunder, so Rumble the Bison was obviously on the guest list! 

Chris and Jaquelyn's Wedding

One benefit of being almost a year behind on blogging is that I get to re-live some really fun wedding days. Chris & Jacquelyn’s wedding was in Tulsa last year. They’re a really fun crew, I had a blast!  

to life, 

Josh

Stephen and Megan's Wedding

My photographer friends from the east coast might assume that all weddings in Oklahoma have square dancing. They’d be wrong, only the awesome ones do!

I had a great time shooting this one. Steven and Megan are so full of life and love.

to life!

Josh

PHOTOBOOTH LOVEI almost forgot to blog Jeff & Jessica’s photo booth, complete with real family photos on the wall! I’ll be borrowing a truck for the next bride and groom who want to use the wall, it doesn’t fit in the hatchback. Enjoy!
-to life 

RILEY & LESLIE Here’s another one I had to blow the dust off of. 2009 held so many fun weddings for me. Hopefully I can start a habit of blogging again to share them! This one was great, we had a beautiful day. Awesome couple, awesome church, really awesome car! Enjoy. to life!

I’m in the process of gathering my favorite images from 2009 for my portfolio and though I’d share some. This one was a blast to shoot! I think I shot the most film at this wedding to date! to life!

So, this summer I had the opportunity to shoot Kyle & Nikki’s wedding, which was quite amazing! After getting to know these two during their engagement session, I anticipated how awesome their wedding would be and decided to hire Andrew Smith of Smith Pixels to come along and document the wedding day as well. I’ve always found it tough to describe how I shoot to potential clients, so I thought it would be much easier to just show them! I originally wanted to wait to unveil this video with an all new portfolio from this season, but with this home renovation, a full calendar of fall weddings and the many other directions we are going I couldn’t wait any longer. Plus I’m sure some of you are wondering if I’ve still alive with this blogging hiatus I’ve been on. 
This is why I love my job so much. Every weekend I get to be around people who are on cloud 9. We always have a good time, keep it relaxed and make some memories! Andrew is quite the Jedi with his camera, check it out!
TO LIFE!

Trying out some film-ish processing, do you see it? 
TO LIFE! 

Here’s another way back blog post, back in May to be exact. Weird how that seems so long ago when you’re at a wedding every weekend. Part of what I love about photographing wedding days is the way you feel like you’ve learned so much about a family after only spending a few hours with them. Theres so many emotions and small dynamics of people that come out on a wedding day, I love to see that. This wedding was a perfect example. Tommy and Lindsey are such a sweet couple, their family and friends were so warm and inviting. I even got a couple hugs, can’t argue with that! I was honored to be a part of it!
TO LIFE YALL! 
Cool moment with Lindsey and her Dad, Tony….

Some of the sweetest folks ever! We caught some good sunset light at Gallardia after their wedding. More to come! Congrats Michael & May!!
TO LIFE!