This past year was a pretty perfect start to full-time photography for me. I did a wedding back in April that changed my whole trajectory. I was referred by a friend from nursing school to a nurse she worked with. It was love at first sight for both of us. The bride and groom were gorgeous, I was excited to be doing a wedding without much advertising happening at the time, and they were happy to find a photographer that was available. They didn’t know I would make them laugh so much, hehe, BONUS! I ended up shooting a beautiful wedding at a venue in Levelland, TX called Broken Spur Event Center. That day, back in April, I had a conversation with the maid of honor, who happened to be a manager at a prominent restaurant in Lubbock. We were equally stoked to meet each other and she later recommended me to a coworker that has since become a client and great friend. I also ended up talking to the venue owner for quite a while after my shooting time had ended. By the end of the night, I had an offer to be their only preferred photographer to come with all-inclusive packages. I’m telling you, it was a great wedding and set me on a path for success before I even considered doing photography full-time. So, long story long, this gallery is of is one of the most recent weddings I did at Broken Spur. I did about eight weddings for the venue between April and now, and I can tell you there wasn’t a single bad experience there. Since the new year, we’ve decided to go easy on the all-inclusive weddings they offer because it had become a little too hectic, plus I didn’t have as great of an opportunity to learn about the couples as they primarily dealt with the venue owner for planning. However, it is still one of my favorite venues.

This couple, Kirsty and Colin, were amazing to work with. They were high school sweethearts and have a precious little girl. Their wedding party was genuine, hilarious, and so kind. Kirsty did a first look with both her dads (stepdad and biological dad), and it was so sweet. They married on her mom and stepdad’s anniversary, which was even sweeter. Colin got very, very into the garter toss and the bouquet toss was almost violent in a hilarious way. It was a wedding full of life and passion. My favorite thing, though, was that it was truly about Kirsty and Colin, not anyone else. It was done entirely on their terms with no apologies, and I love that. We organized the staged send-off around 10pm, and after everyone exited the building, they said “Ok, now it’s time for our private dance.” It was about thirty degrees outside and people had to wait because it was the only time to do the private dance without anyone but them, me, and the videographer present. It was just a cool and inspiring move for them to cater to their love and desires for their wedding day instead of putting everyone else’s expectations first. It was about a three-minute dance, and the shots were pretty epic despite the fact the videographer and I were also told after we had gotten set up for the send-off. But hey, you gotta be prepared for anything during a wedding! Flexibility is key.

So here’s the album of my favorite images from their wedding day.

Look at those little baby shoes! Crying.

Every little detail was so well thought-out, so perfectly coordinated. Except, we actually lost a button on the groom’s jacket. It popped off right before all of this, so we used my sewing kit (that I bring to every wedding in case of something like this) and sewed it back on just in the nick of time!

Have I mentioned that I get all teary-eyed at pretty much every ceremony? Enough that I started wearing waterproof mascara to weddings. What can I say? I’m sentimental and believe in love.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, we were late in our timeline, so we had to use flash for the after-ceremony photos. This was definitely a first for me, but it worked out perfectly! We were also freezing, but everyone was a total champ. The guys were absolutely hilarious. All-in-all, I would say these were a success.

And then… things got fun

It was an amazing day altogether. The reception was packed with laughter, dancing, and amazing cake. And the bubbles!! I LOVE bubble send-offs.

I hope your week is fantastic and full of love!

XO

Kensey