Soergels Orchard Wedding

Gooooodddd Morning!  Wedding #19 for the year is a Soergels Orchard Wedding and it’s the first of FIVE weddings for this month! Here we go!  Katelyn and Josh are now Mr. & Mrs. Marsh and they are on the blog right now!

Katelyn and Josh have been one of my more quiet couples.  I’d get an email here or there every few months from her but she wasn’t one to send me weekly panicking emails (you know who you are…HA!) and I am pretty sure I had to BEG for a wedding dress photo…but that didn’t prevent me from getting to “know” them!  They’ve been so sweet and so humble this entire journey even from that first meeting and I was eager to see what their wedding day was going to be!  We also had a great time at their engagement session (HERE).  So yea…it was nice getting to see them again after they’d had me booked for so long!  So, let’s get into the day!  We didn’t start out this Soergels Orchard Wedding at the orchard.  Nope.  We started it in Fombell at the Living Faith Baptist church.  After being greeted by the friendliest cleaning crew we have ever met, we found the ladies getting hair and makeup done in the basement!  It may have been cold…BUT this day was beautiful!! Even the sky was on board!

Everyone was so chill and relaxed.  We got to chat with everyone and just enjoy the morning!

…and of course, we went right into details!  This was one of those weddings I don’t even know why I bothered because Kari’s details were so much better than mine!  Enjoy!

Like I said, it was a very chill morning (and not just the weather).  No one seemed stressed and we were able to relax, take our time with photos, and enjoy ourselves with everyone else.  We all got to chat and get to know each other and it was nice for a change!!  We’ve had some pretty fast paced timelines lately so this one was a breath of fresh air!  Even the little ones were getting in on the fun!

Want to know one of the things I love about Katelyn?  Most brides stress about their hair and makeup.  She didn’t seem that way at all!  To top it all off, the makeup artist asked how she wanted her makeup.  She replied, “Well, I don’t really wear a lot so I want to go full out GLAM!”  AHHHHH!!!! It’s so NOT what I expected her to say and the opposite of what most brides would say and she ROCKED this makeup like no other!  You just wait and see!! For someone who doesn’t wear a lot, her beautiful face still looked natural while looking what I called “Bride Katelyn!”.  So, it was time to get her ready!! EEKKKK!  Katie jumped in to help!  As always, this is a good mix of my photos and Kari’s…all shot at the same time, of course!

Then, we took the ladies outside and took their formal photos!

THEN, the guys arrived!  I didn’t give them much time to get used to me before I dragged them out for their formal photos too!

I had one last detail photo I needed to take before we got ready for the ceremony!! Katelyn requested a photo of their rings on a newspaper.  I grabbed that bouquet and made it a truly “wedding” photo!

There’s a funny story behind this (below) but for now…I’ll just show you their photo when they got to say a few words to each other before they tied the knot!  This was like 5 minutes before the ceremony!  AHHH!

Ok!! So, they had their moment and it was time for the ceremony!!  This was really one of the only times in the day we were crunched for time.  You see…Katelyn had a surprise for Josh BUT the surprise needed to get through the door without Josh knowing or seeing.  I had to tell a little white lie to Josh that I needed to bring Katelyn back out for a minute so he needed to go hide.  I’m not sure who picked the location but someone shoved him in this little closet…Oy.  LITTLE CLOSET.  Poor guy.  I think he ended up hiding in there for 30-45 minutes because the surprise hadn’t arrived when we originally thought.  The whole time I’m panicking because he thinks it’s ME who is holding him up and I giggled with Katelyn and told her I was going to have to clear all this up once it all happened! HA!  So yea…the surprise arrived, we got him out of that dreaded closet, they had their moment (above) and it was time for the ceremony!

EVERYONE was getting emotional at this point!

And right before Katelyn did her grand entrance, the music changed…and bagpipes started playing.  Josh loves bagpipe music so Katelyn wanted to surprise him…WITH A REAL BAGPIPE PLAYER!!  AHHHH!!! That’s right!! I love these moments!  You’ll see Josh’s surprised face when he realized what was happening!

Huge shoutout to Kari for getting this shot!  Where are my Outlander fans?!  AHHHHH!!! I love this stuff.  P.S.  Bagpipes are LOUD!  I MAY just have some audio to share with you sometime!! You just wait!

Did I ever mention how much I love unique details?!?!  I know Sam does too and she was there, as well!!

It was a short and sweet ceremony with a tree planting ceremony!  More unique details! YAY!

Mr. & Mrs. Marsh, everyone!!!  OooOo my goodness me…that bouquet had me love love loving the fact she chose live flowers!! EKKK!

After the receiving line, we went into family formals.  I fessed up to Josh and explained how I was NOT the real reason he was locked in the closet earlier! HA!!  It was a big family list so Kari got right down to it calling out names.  One of the last photos we took before heading off to Soergels Orchard was their family house shot and I just love all the love I’m feeling looking at this one!

OoOoo wait…just a few more!!  I can’t even get over that train!! AHH!

Then, we arrived at Soergels Orchard to finish this wedding!  A miscommunication led to us having about 20 minutes for photos (and I begged for an extra 5 minutes from the awesome DJs who were happy to help me out)!

FINALLY!  I had the bridal party all together!!!

Kari and I took entirely too many photos of Katelyn.  With a girl and a dress like this…I’m ok with that! 100%

We absolutely did NOT leave Josh out though!

…and now…for the bride and groom formal photos!  These are all compliments of Kari and I rush…rush…rushing!!!

It’s amazing what you can do on a tight timeline with two people, two cameras, and different lenses and a couple who is more than willing to do whatever you need them to do!

Kari is known for creeping in the foliage! Love it!

Then, we found this spot!  I told Josh he looked pretty dang good leaning up against this building!!  I have NEVER seen Kari so excited about a location! HA!  Sam and I were totally laughing at her.  She was in her element and feeling all the wedding photography vibes in this little nook!

I wasn’t kidding.  We took all of these and more in about four minutes flat!  Then, we took a few extra because of Kari…seriously.  I wish you could have seen her excitement! HA!

…and a perfectly executed, grand finale dip, ya’ll!

Now, time to get this party started at Soergels Orchard!  Mr. & Mrs. Marsh one more time, everyone!

This was one of those weddings you could just feel and see all the love…everywhere.  It didn’t matter if they were mingling with family and friends.  They were excited when I asked them to share champagne.  Their first dance was so sweet.  Alllll the love was flowing at this point!

Can we just talk about this card box?  It’s a MAILBOX…for cards!! Get it?! AHHHHH!!!!

You know…it’s funny.  At a lot of weddings, people talk through the first dances.  Not at this wedding!! People were fully present and enjoying the bride and groom’s first dance.  I made sure to document it, of course!! ALL THE LOVE!

Then, it was time to dance!! WOOOOOOOO!!!

Do you all know about my “DJ Anxiety”? I’m going to talk about it at the end of the year but these two did NOT give me any worries!! Nope!! We were having a good time!

Part of the HBP dream team!!!  We were missing Lacey tremendously!  ONE DAY…we’re ALL going to be together at weddings…OooO dreams can come true!!  (I’m going to need more people…Oy).

…and right before we left…Katelyn and Josh came and found me and asked for a “last photo fo the night”.  UmmmMmMm…YESSSSSS!! Most couples don’t want to leave their receptions for even a minute so I miss out on these opportunities!! Not these two! Let’s do it!!  So, I had them dance in the gazebo and I had all the end of night feels!

Ok. Ok. Okkk.. one more!

Well, this is usually the point in the blog I wrap things up.  Nope!! Not this time!

So, here’s the funniest part of the blog.  Those of you who know me well will get a real kick out of it!  You ALL know I take professionalism VERY seriously.  Well, on the way from the ceremony to the reception, Sam and Kari mentioned they wanted to go for a drink and get hard cider after the reception and before we headed home.  They said “you can’t go to Soergels without having the hard cider”.  I’m not a big drinker AND I’d never been to Soergels so I didn’t know…but I also knew I didn’t want to get “caught” drinking after we were done for the night.  We were contracted until 8 pm…but still…people didn’t know that!!  It could look bad, right?!  People might think we left early while the party was still happening to go get a drink.  Ugh.  Nope.  So, I shut that idea down real quick and it was like saying no to my children.  Seriously.

So, the night went on.  I was so happy with everything we covered and decided Sam and Kari deserved that drink after all!  So, after we packed up the car, we walked around to get those drinks.  Even though we were past quitting time, I was still nervous.  Kari and Sam were getting a huge kick out of it especially when we entered the place and there stood a guest.  Busted.  Ugh.  I told him the story and we had a good laugh.  Kari and Sam sampled some of the cider and then I bought them their drinks.  We proceeded to hide in the corner the best we could….until the bride’s brother showed up.  Again, Kari and Sam had a great laugh!  He said all kinds of nice things and off he went.  THEN, the groom’s sister showed up…not even kidding.  Kari and Sam were DYING laughing at this point, as you can imagine.  So, I told the story again (it only made sense for me to do so since Kari and Sam were clearly having a grand old time watching me squirm).  “You see…I was afraid people would think we left the job early to go get a drink…”  It’s the story I kept telling.  So, I’m saying this again only to find the bride and groom right behind her…that’s right…Katelyn and Josh were right behind them.  I don’t think Kari or Sam could have enjoyed this more!!  So, I told them the story ALL over again (for maybe the third or fourth time now) about how nervous I was that people would think I was drinking on the job and how I TOLD Kari and Sam this would happen and how this exact thing leads to bad Facebook reviews.  On and on and on I went.  Kari and Sam are giggling their little hearts out at this point.  OoOO goodness…Josh and Katelyn even had a great laugh over all this and then went on to ask why the heck we didn’t just go back over and drink their alcohol (crazy, right?!).  These two…I can’t tell you how sweet they are…and then they offered us cake and cookies (which Kari could not have lit up more about)…and THEN they came in and had a drink with us!  That’s right!! Kari offered to buy them a drink and they came in with us! AHHHH!!!  Good people who love good quality time do still exists in this world….and it’s ALL documented on our phones.  Enjoy!  What a turn of events, I tell ya!  These are the type of people I love to spend my Saturdays with!

This was the initial photo we took and sent to Lacey telling her how much we missed her!  This was before everything happened!

Then, this was when I got “busted” by the bride and groom.  Everyone was quick to say “blog material” and I kind of love how that everyone is thinking about the blog story throughout the day!  As Kari and Sam laughed their butts off…they also took photos  of it all!

Now I can’t stop laughing.  It’s a good thing Kari’s camera skills aren’t as bad as these cell phone photos!  It was probably all that laughing…she couldn’t hold the camera still! HA!

So yea…that’s how we ended the night with this sweet couple!! These are memories we will NEVER forget!! I’m so happy for them and hope they love love love their wedding photos!  They’re planning on a honeymoon road trip with a bunch of stops to their favorite places!  She said, “anything /anywhere goes, we’ll see where we end up” and THAT explains this couple to a tee!!  What more could you want?!  I mean…Josh and practically his entire family have already left me reviews (like the day after the wedding).  AHHHH!!!  People keep asking if I hate spending all my Saturdays working.  Nope.  I sure don’t…and THESE are the reasons!  Getting all emotional over here!

That’s it!  That’s a wrap!  CONGRATS ONE MORE TIME…TO THE NEW MARSHS!

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Vendors

Bride’s Gown – Babette’s Gowns (Designer: Jasmine)

Bridesmaids’ Attire – David’s Bridal

Men’s Attire – Men’s Wearhouse

Shoes – David’s Bridal (Bride’s Custom Design by Katelyn Herself)

Jewelry/Rings – Swarovski, Blue Nile, Kay

Hair/Makeup – Wanderlust Beauty Salon

Florist – Gidas Flowers

Cake – Bethel Bakery

DJ 0- DJ Joseph Costa (Assigned DJ Present Craig McClintock)

Reception Venue/Catering – Soergel Orchards

Limo – Vogue Limos