Every time I shoot a wedding and start to go through my images for the blog post, stories and speeches start coming to mind from that day. It’s these tidbits that I love to share in the blog post because they round out the whole picture of the day. Obviously the pictures are a big part of it, but the speeches or little moments I catch witness to speak of the people and who they are. The problem I’m running into with Erika and Armilles beautiful wedding day at The Carriage House is that there are SO MANY of those story breadcrumbs that I don’t know which one to start with!

However, when I take a step back and think of an overarching theme of the day, without a doubt it is family. Let me share a few parts of the family theme that was so apparent to me on this day.

First, Erika did a first look not only with her love Armilles, but with her mom and then her dad too! I’ve seen a few dad first looks, but never a mom first look, and it was truly special to witness (and obviously it was impactful because there are SO many pictures from this in the post to follow!). Then, after Erika did her first look with her dad, here we all were: Erika, mom, dad, and me. Her mom, Tichie, looked up at her husband and said, “Look at us. We did it! We did good!” And that alone was enough to get my emotions flowing. Their familial bond was this present the whole day long.

And then you have the lovely group of friends that Erika and Armilles chose to be in their bridal party. You could just TELL that these people loved them and celebrated them as if they were family. They were GENUINELY excited for Erika and Army, and it was so cool to witness their undying support on this special day.

Finally- the most literal meaning of family this day had- Erika and Army’s daughter Zuri was front and center the whole day. Quite literally, this day the three of them were becoming an official family for forever; the day before Zuri’s first birthday, no less.

I could go on, but I’m hoping these pictures will fill in the rest. Erika and Army- it was such a pleasure documenting this special milestone in your lives. Cheers to many happy and healthy years of love!

Venue: The Carriage House // Wedding dress shop:  Adore Bridal // Hair: Roots Salon // Makeup: Vanessa Terry // Bridesmaid dresses: Lulus // Shoes: Badgley Mischka // Groom’s tux:  Men’s Warehouse // Invitations: Basic Invite // Programs: Zazzle // Flowers:  Alfa Flower & Wedding Shop // Cake: Gigi’s Cupcakes // Wedding coordinator/planner: Marie Johnson // DJ: Midwest Sound & DJ