Manda and Joel | Wedding at the Hudson

Weddings

February 24, 2018

Couple disclaimers here: ONE, this post is a little longer than others because she’s my sister so I have a lot to say LOL.Â SECONDÂ I can officially say this is my favorite wedding we’ve done this year because it actually IS the only wedding we’ve done so far this year PLUS she is my sister so I can be bias right?Â LASTLY, I will say I have never photographed a wedding while also in it, and it was definitely an experience I won’t forget. I was so, SO grateful that Amber Sublett and Tuan Nyugen were there to second and third shoot. So huge shout out to them for tons of these precious moments! (If you are a photographer and want to know how it went down being IN and photographing a wedding, you hit me up and we will chat ;))

Manda and Joel. Where do I begin? If there was such a thing as a perfect couple, they would be one of them. As I stated in my toast that evening, I could not be HAPPIER that she found Joel. He is an amazing man who is patient, kind and incredibly loving. And what’s even more awesome is that they each think THEY are the ones who scored big! I love it when that is the case. (To read more of how they first met and their story, see their engagement post here)

After months of planning, hours upon hours of work on decorations that my mom did, and us bridesmaids staying up until midnight steaming tableclothes (is that what everyone has to do?!) the wedding day was here. I have to say I was blown away with the amount of people that came together to make it all happen. There were people setting up hours and hours before the event to pull everything off. At one point I actually debated whether it would all get done on time. But it all came together and was perfect.

When it was time to line up to walk down the isle, I wasn’t even the one getting married but I became so nervous. That excited-nervous, where something big is about to happen and your stomach is upside down. There were several points I wanted to cry but kept it together for the sake of the wedding flow (plus I was singing so it really wasn’t an option!)

I loved hearing Manda and Joel’s sweet vows that they wrote each other. What was funny was that they were very similar. Which is always how they’ve been on topics- always almost saying the exact same thing.

As wedding days tend to do, we got a little behind. But even when we only had five minutes for bridal portraits, Manda and Joel rocked it. They were incredibly grateful for all the people that stayed and waited to see them afterward.

When we were sitting at the head table eating, I looked around the crowd, at my new husband, at my friends, and then down at my hands and just closed my eyes for a second. ‘This is happening. This is my wedding day.’ It felt surreal. And I kept reminding myself to not miss a moment.

One of the things I was looking forward to at the reception was the father-daughter and mother-son dances. My brother (sorry Ry, I just have to mention this!) eloped with his fiance in NV a year ago, and my mom had expressed how sad she was that she never got her mother-son dance. So we thought it would be really sweet to plan a surprise group mother-son and father-daughter dance (I love it when I see these done now!) I am so glad pictures of all of this were captured.

I could go on and on about the whole day, from the sweet toasts to the way Manda kept jumping up and down with joy to the trick that the DJ played on Joel… but I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves now. I loved going through all of these because I was able to relive the wonderful day over and over. When you’re part of a wedding, the end becomes bittersweet. Although you are relieved the chaos is over, you are sad the bridal experience (which has been your whole world for the previous 9 months+) has come to an end. But now we can celebrate the new chapter of their lives as Mr. and Mrs. Gouvion!

Vendors from their day included:

Venue: The Hudson
Coordinator and decorator: Rebecca Whitely
Floral: The Flower Factory
Cake: Manda herself
Dress: Dress Gallery
Bride’s cape: 2nd 2 None
Bridal Jewelry: David’s
Suits: Men’s Warehouse
Catering: Culinary Catering
DJ: DJ Dee
Bar: Exclusive Events

ALSO– once you scroll past the wedding day, you will see photos from our bridal snow session with her cape! This was done before the wedding day and we kept it a secret until the wedding!

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