•  Chris and Ben are animal lovers (we went to the zoo for their engagement session) and what’s even better fellow squirrel lovers so I knew that this day was going to be a great day with kindred spirits.

•  The day of their wedding it was the hottest day (this far) of the summer with a heat index over 100º and their church wasn’t air conditioned.  Needless to say it was HOT!  They thought of their guests beforehand though and thoughtfully coordinated a punch and snack reception in the air conditioned area of the church immediately following the ceremony.

•  Chris hand drew the details on the menu, invitations and other stationery items!  Talk about talented!!

•  The favor at the wedding was homemade strawberry jam that the bride and mother of groom made with hand picked local strawberries and they made it themselves!!

•  The sunset that night was spectacular, I’m so glad that I was at a place where we could get some shots outside before the sunset was gone.  I call fiery sunsets like that “Titanic” sunsets after the awesome sunset in the movie!

Vendors

Cake Artist: Wild Flour Bakery
Catering:  Sammy’s
Ceremony:  Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
DJ:  Marty Bates with DJ Packy Malley
Florist:  Prestige Floral
Reception:  Metropolitan Ballroom
Wedding Planner:  Alison of Kirkbrides

 

Christen has some amazing eyes!

 

Trinity is GORGEOUS.  One of my favorite ceremony locations I’ve ever been to.

 

 

 

Breathtaking location!!!

 

After the ceremony we had a super quick outdoor photo session – as in maybe 10 minutes at most.  There was a pretty nasty storm blowing in so we made the most of the time we had before the rain fell.

 

 

 

The guys had some spiffy argyle socks on – which seems to be a theme this year!

 

We took some pictures outside on the roof of the Metropolitan Ballroom after the storm passed.

 

 

GORGEOUS sunset!!!!

Tina of Prestige Floral always does an amazing job with the flowers!

 

 

 

Just a few of the amazing reception details.  I loved how Christen and Ben collected and displayed all of their families wedding pictures to welcome their guests into the reception.  The broach on the cake was a family heirloom.

 

Their first dance was a fun upbeat song that they had fun dancing around to rather than the traditional swaying slow dance.  LOVE!

 

Keeping with the tradition of upbeat and fun vs. slow – Christen and her Dad twisted it out for their dance!  Notice the GORGEOUS sunset in the windows!  Ahhh!

 

Christen and Ben set the tone for having fun and dancing your heart out and their guests followed their lead!  Everyone had a ball!