Shelly + Ben were married in Jackson, Missouri.
Shelly is an elementary school teacher (yeah for teachers! they are awesome people) and Ben comes from a long line of farmers. They are such down-to-earth folks. Loved hanging out with them.
Shelly and Ben's wedding was brimming with do-it-yourself goodness.
On to the pictures....
I think the following image has to be my all-time FAVORITE image .... EVER.
Couldn't resist this beautiful springtime delight. The profuse pink blooms on this tree was just too perfect for showcasing Shelly's dress and shoes.
Little Miss Taylor was such a doll.
She insisted on putting both shoes on the bride. No one else was allowed this privilege.
Now after you get your shoes on, you must of course be helped to stand up and twirl around to make sure everything is just perfect. I think she was star struck by the princess Bride.
The guys have it soooo easy when it comes time for getting ready. They were just hanging out waiting for all the festivities to actually start.
Backstory on the image below:
I've never been to Jackson, Missouri, prior to Shelly and Bens wedding other than to shoot their engagement session on their farm. So I thought it would be a good idea to get there a little early and scout out locations for possibilites. We stumbled across this grungy old unused railcar and were just squealing with excitement. To the normal person, it was just an old-icky-uninteresting area. But to me, it was full of possibilites!!!!!! So Shelly was very open-minded and said, whatever you want is fine with me...you are the pro, I trust you. I LOVE hearing those words. Now it took some pleading and begging to get Ben to agree but I am SOOOO incredibly glad and thankful we did this location.
I think those were my favorites of the day.
Here are the little more traditional location shots.
Such a pretty cake!
Shelly and Ben's First Dance....see the flower girl and her daddy in the background. Isn't that sweet?
Love the drama of this Father Daughter dance.
OK, so here's a first. This is the first wedding I've ever been to where a torch is involved.
I believe this is the prelude to the garter toss.
And why did Ben need the torch? ......oh, cause there is a chain involved. It needed to be installed? or cut?...I don't know. I wasn't listening very closely when the DJ explained this to the audience.
The person that caught the garter has to put it on the person that caught the bouquet....and the higher the garter goes above the knee, supposedly is how long the newly married couple's marriage will last. Ben wants that garter to go up, up, up.
I think this was a get-down and party group!!!!
Shelly and Ben, thank you for sharing your day with me. It was a great kick-off to the season!
Thank you to Paula, for sharing your talent and for keeping me awake on the long drive home.
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