You’ve seen some of Kacey and Chad’s engagement photos and now some of Kacey’s bridal portraits.  Now it is time for a sneak peek at the wedding festivities photographed by Kim and Steve Cooley of Carpe Vita Photography.

We started with the rehearsal Friday night at the First Methodist Church of Longview.

Kacey and her future mom-in-law pose for a photo by a friend.

Kacey and dad practice their walk down the aisle.

This group was the first our June weddings with awesome shoes.  If my big toe would fit in any of these, I would have been begging to borrow all of the incredible shoes in the crowd.

After the rehearsal, we headed off to the Country Tavern for some amazing barbecue – definitely worth the stop if you are ever in the East Texas area.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmm

What better meal is there? Ribs and cake.  The cake honors the company Chad and his brother Clay run.

Chad looking very relaxed for the day before.

I love this photo of Kacey and her maid of honor Miki caught up in the moment.  Kacey and Miki are both getting married this summer (Miki is marrying Kacey’s brother Trevor) so they have had a lot going on.  Miki was a great help when we did Kacey’s bridal session.

Chad’s dad starts the toasts.

Check out these boots – makes me want to go shopping!

The boys didn’t want to be left out.

Just the sign makes me hungry.

For friends and family of Chad and Kacey – to see all of the photos from the rehearsal and Friday night’s dinner, click here and you will be taken to Pictage, our online proofing partner.  You will need to know the Event Key which was sent to the people who registered to see the photos at the dinner.  If you don’t know what this is, there is a link to request the Event Key (click on it) and a message will be sent to Kacey with your email address.  If she recognizes your email address, then she will let you know the Event Key.

Friday, July 18th, Carolyn and Nathan prepared for their wedding the next day with a rehearsal at the church. Crosspoint Church in McKinney is a sweet church and their staff was incredibly helpful and excited to have the wedding there.

Carolyn and her dad practice the walk, while Nathan is trying to get the hands just right.

Carolyn’s big sister Elizabeth is one of our past brides. Elizabeth and Jeff were married last August so will be celebrating their first anniversary soon.
It was terrific to see a lot of Jeff’s family at the wedding.

The rehearsal dinner was at Shady Oaks BBQ and boy is their bbq yummy!

The first introduction to Carolyn and Nathan’s monogram – on the slide show orchestrated by Carolyn’s dad. Wayne is known for his slide shows so this was a special treat.

Nathan’s parents enjoy the evening – they were wonderful hosts.

Got to have a video…

We are so blessed to be invited into some many wonderful people’s lives and sweet celebrations. We are always treated like family which is such an honor to us and that makes us want to leap even taller buildings for our clients.

Lauren and Conor’s wedding photography coverage at the beginning of May started with us photographing the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner Friday night. We love photographing this part of the celebration because you learn so much more about all of the individuals involved. Plus this was our first opportunity to get to meet Conor.

The wedding/rehearsal was at Saint Michael and All Angel’s Episcopal Church and Gayle was most helpful in making sure everything moved along smoothly. Lauren’s brother Bear was her Man of Honor.

Signing the church’s wedding roster for their historical record.

We grabbed a few photos of the couple in the chapel’s courtyard before heading on to the rehearsal dinner.

The Cantina Laredo on Lovers Lane is where Conor’s parents Jamie and Bob gathered everyone for yummy Mexican food and margaritas. This gave the guests a chance to relax and get to know each other while honoring Lauren and Conor with their touching toasts. General Manager Irene and her staff made everyone feel at home. If you are looking for a Dallas restaurant to host your rehearsal dinner – they will definitely take care of you.

Lauren gives a special hug after receiving one of a kind artwork from her little brother Cameron.

To top off the evening, Lauren’s girlfriends threw her a little bachelorette party there at the restaurant. Here are a few of the photos before we called it a night.

Lauren’s Fighting Irish pose for her honey,

A kiss goodnight before she heads to her little party.

A group photo of the ladies. Looks like someone (gentleman in the back) wants to hang out with the girls…

Here’s the slideshow to share a little more of the evening.

Friends and family can register to see all of the photos from the Rehearsal by clicking here. When Lauren and Conor release the event, an email will be sent to you.

After our whirlwind weekend of Elizabeth and Jeff’s wedding, we are finally getting caught up so that we can start posting some of the photos documenting all of the fun.

Part of the fun with every rehearsal is figuring out the little details that makes everything flow smoothly and Elizabeth is all about the details as you will see.

At the church, Jeff and Elizabeth’s dad, Wayne, figure out the smooth switch-a-roo.

At the rehearsal dinner, Brenda and Wayne relax and enjoy the fun.

Jeff’s dad, Gary, welcomes everyone and after a yummy dinner catered by Babe’s/Bubba’s, there were toasts by Carolyn and Paul (Elizabeth and Jeff’s siblings and honor attendants).

Susan hangs out with the girls.

Elizabeth’s dad, Wayne introduces the slideshow they made – but soon Elizabeth and Jeff learn a few little surprises have been added (some unexpected “outtakes”) to the slideshow. Friends and family not in attendance, will have to ask the couple what was soooooo funny – we were busy taking the photos so we are clueless.

Here’s a shout-out to Morgan and her part of the Banner family. We met Morgan doing a joint High School Senior session with a pal of her’s and they were so impressed, they recommended us to Elizabeth and Jeff. So thanks to Morgan and her family – we really appreciate you believing in Carpe Vita Photography!

We thought the welcoming sign at the Corral Barn at Fairview Farms, where the rehearsal dinner was held, was a perfect ending to a great night!

Recently, we have found ourselves at more rehearsals. We love this because come wedding time, everyone involved knows who Steve and I are and they start to not notice us which is nice. Friday’s rehearsal was at the beautiful Independent Presbyterian Church of Birmingham. We were blessed to have three church ladies (Nancy, Beverly and Beth) and they made sure everything rehearsal and wedding oriented went quickly and smoothly.

Brad practices his reaction to seeing Nancy walk down the aisle. What a pro!

One of things we love about rehearsals is we can pretty much go anywhere and not get into trouble. At this church, we were only allowed to have one camera on tripod in the back choir loft during the ceremony – and Dallas photographers thought Perkins was tough. This is a fun angle taken through a mirror setup for the organist.

The rehearsal dinner was held in Brad and Nancy’s backyard which was a special treat for all. I saw touches of Southern Living everywhere I looked.

Here Brad is comforting Max during the blessing of the evening meal while Nancy keeps her connection with Brad.

During the toasts, the mom’s Helen and Debbie celebrate that Nancy and Brad are finally getting married and Debbie’s finally going to get to be an honorary sister.

The ringbearer’s payment for being such a great sport was a bag full of fireworks that were set off that evening in celebration.