The wedding party and our families gathered beneath the tree in the side yard. Our candid “photo session” produced more frame-worthy photos than I had hoped for.
With 80% of my “bridal brigade”:
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The Enginerd with his brother:
Filling the groomsmen’s flasks:
Me with my dad:
Mr. E with my dad:
Me and Mr. E with his dad, brother and uncle:
MOH Ginger and BM-K in animated conversation:
An emotional embrace between me and Mama Ginger:
The first of many times MOH Ginger (also my sister) said to Mr. E, “Brothers don’t shake hands – brothers gotta hug!”
The joining of families – FIL Enginerd with Mama Ginger & Step-G:
The ladies attempted to bustle my gown:
I monitored their progress:
They finally found all those pesky buttons and hidden loops:
There was laughter:
(Boot) Glasses raised in celebration:
Infectious joy:
In the time that has passed since the wedding, I have only become more confident in my decision to forgo formal portraits and use the time between the ceremony and reception to capture these brief, beautiful moments. But for the sake of honesty, I will admit that we were convinced to pose for one family photo:
Some of the Enginerd family (now my family!) had requested a group photo with all members in attendance. We obliged – but before I get called out as a hypocrite, I need to explain. The folks in that photo above come from all over the country. Among the states represented above: Texas, Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, and Iowa. It had been several years since that many of them were together, and it will likely be many years until it happens again. So we all gathered together and smiled at the camera.
I will also say that the experience of capturing this single group photo only further reiterated my reasons for not wishing to have more of them. It took a minimum of 20 minutes to gather all of the family together and have everyone stand still while the photographer clicked away. I am happy to have this photo, but if we had to spend 20 minutes on each variation of a family photo, I don’t know how we would have found the time to enjoy our reception.
*All photos in this post courtesy of Mark Hayes Photography, unless otherwise noted.
Previous Episodes:
- The wedding crashers were exposed!
- We hugged it out with family and friends.
- We vowed our love and traded rings.
- We were united in wine.
- FIL-Eng performed our ceremony.
- I improvised traditions.
- Step-G spoke.
- I walked the plank.
- Almost time!
- The ladies beautified.
- We rehearsed!
- We unloaded and assembled.
- Someone unplugged the fridge
- The Music Played
- We Honeymooned
