pure photography by april cochran-smith

emily & andrew - slideshow

emily & andrew

Wedding & Ceremony - University Plaza

Cake - Cakes by Kelly

Flowers - Alley Flowers

DJ - WSL Mobile DJs

At last, here is Emily & Andrew's full (& very long) blog post!  I had the best time photographing their wedding & hanging out with this amazing group of people.  It was the type of wedding where you just want to put down your camera & enjoy the party.  While Emily's family is from around the midwest, Andrew is from Wales, & they both live in Bristol now.  The really cool part is that a lot of their friends from over there made the journey across the pond to celebrate their wedding, even though they'll be having another celebration over there.  I guarantee that the reception wouldn't have been the same without them.  Don't worry, you'll see what I mean when you get down to the bottom of the post.  

When I finally got to meet Emily & Andrew in person, just a few days before the wedding, I knew that I would be photographing a really cool couple.  They truly are perfect for each other.  I usually get some shots of the groom before the wedding, but Andrew was so nervous, that I knew that he just needed some space to pace back and forth :)  When I talked to Emily after the ceremony, she said that as soon as she took Andrew's hand in hers, she felt him stop shaking.  Seriously, how sweet is that?  You could see on both of their faces just how happy they were to see each other.  THIS is why I love photographing weddings. 

 

Emily's one request was that I get a shot of her tattoo.  It says Hiraeth, which is a Welsh word with no direct translation.  Click here to see a short definition within a wikipedia article.

After the salon, we went to her Grandmother's house for a yummy brunch.  Thanks for sharing your delicious breakfast with me! 

 

Emily's mom gave her an earring that Emily's dad had given to her on their wedding day.  It was originally a pair, but really, Emily only needed one anyway :)

I <3 shoes!

Emily's nephew Noah did not want to get dressed for the big event.  So, Emily did what any good aunt would do & acted silly for him.  The funny thing, though, is that every time he'd see my camera pointed at him, he'd stop crying.  Just call me the baby whisperer...

Cue up some camera magic...

 

See?  How happy does he look?!

I love the look she's giving him here...

FAVORITE!!

Andrew's suit was completely custom made.  How awesome is that?  It was lined in the same pale pink as the bridesmaid dresses & he wore these really cool pink socks.  Also, both he & Emily's initials, along with their wedding date, were embroidered on the cuff of his shirt.  Tell me that's not the greatest thing ever.

Emily & her brothers...

Isn't this cake beautiful?

Love this first dance shot...

I absolutely love her ring.  It was handmade by Andrew's uncle, if I remember correctly.

Let the party begin!

THRILLER!!!

I wish I could remember what song this was, because it looks like she's totally owning it, whatever it is.

Hello rockstars...

I don't know what's better, the air guitar, or the looks on the faces of the people behind him

The guys managed to get all of the wait staff on the floor for a dance.  I hope they still had jobs the next day :)

classic.

Stay tuned for the slideshow coming up in a few days!

we <3 sesame street

These are a couple of Jack's latest obsessions & I have to admit, I really like them too :)

wade, jennie & zander - slideshow

Well, try as I might, I can't get the slideshow to show up here.  But, if you click on the link below, it'll take you to it on a different page.  Grrrr....

SLIDESHOW LINK

wade, jennie & zander

I've known this family for quite awhile now, but I'm always so happy when I get to do pictures for them.  I did maternity pictures for Jennie the night before she had Zander (we didn't know we were cutting it that close at the time).  Jennie was also in my senior portfolio project at school.  I did Zander's two year pictures last year (click here to see them again) & this year, as you can see, I got to photograph the whole family!  This was labor day weekend and it was soooo hot all day long.  Luckily, by the time that we did the photo shoot in the evening, the heat of the day had transformed into a perfect, breezy evening.  Enjoy your little peek at our wonderful summer night...

Sometimes my favorite shots are the ones that I get when I'm testing the light.

I love little moments like these...

Cool tree, huh?  Perfectly sized for a 3 year old

Love it.

So, in this shot, I was tilting the camera to get an interesting angle.  Well, Wade thought it'd be funny if they all tilted too.  haha Wade.

Hellooooo gorgeous...

Stay tuned for their slideshow!