Intimate Backyard Church Wedding: Gerald & M’Lee

If I could make this wedding fit in one word, it would be:

P E O P L E

Gerald & M’Lee’s intimate backyard church wedding photography session was held under a magnolia tree behind their local church in Marion, IN. What made this wedding amazing was all of the incredible people that participated. From the couple, to the guests to the family helping them prepare for their ceremony, to the pastor… They were the most intentional and excited people I have ever met. During their ceremony, every single one of their guests was half standing with their phones outstretched ready to capture every moment right along with me. Typically that bothers me when guests do this, but the only time it seemed to phase the bride and groom was when she yelled at one of her guests in the middle of the ceremony for standing in the middle of the aisle when I was trying to get a shot! Bahhaha!

Everything was so casual, and I could tell that this group of people just really loved this couple, and wanted to document it as well. Gerald & M’Lee embraced, it was their family culture, so I didn’t let it distract me, and instead used it to add integrity to the images I shot. I wanted them to remember this part of their day!

M’Lee was so giggly the whole day, but Gerald was a hard man to crack! He barely smiled once the whole day, and I finally got him to laugh at the very end of our day. But there was one thing that made him a softy, and that was his wife reading her vows. She had just finished and he leaned forward to kiss her. She died laughing and pushed him away. ‘Baby, it’s not the time for that part yet! You gotta read your vows and put a ring on this finger first!” He looked embarrassingly at the guests and they all were just cracking up!

This is by far one of my favorite weddings I have ever shot, and I think that’s because I found this ability to bring integrity to my documentation. They didn’t care too much about all the fancy stuff. Gerald got ready in their future house, and M’Lee got ready in their church basement with orange walls. She didn’t wear a huge fancy dress, and her hair was pinned up in rollers for most of the time I was taking photos. But they didn’t care at all. The most important thing to them was each other and getting married.

Also – we went to the same place Aaron and I got our wedding photos taken, and that was SO special. Such a beautiful location, and it was awesome to relive a bit of our day! 🙂

If you would like to see more of my photography or book a backyard church wedding photography style session, I would love to hear from you!

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