It’s been a week since Alyssa + Scott’s beautiful spring wedding at Maceli’s Banquet Hall and I’m still swooning over what a beautiful day it was. The day started in the bridal suite with the details and ended at Sandbar almost 12 hours later (stay tuned for those photos, they were so fun! You won’t believe how fun and cute Alyssa’s second outfit, a bridal jumpsuit, was)!
It was very important for Alyssa and Scott to include their three sweet kitties and their dog, Zoe, in the wedding day. I absolutely love when pets get involved in the wedding day and of course I get it! Would it really be the love story it is without the furry friends? Zoe was the cutest flower girl on four paws and while the cats couldn’t be in attendance (cats are not as excited about wedding days, hehe), Zoe wore a bandana with the cats drawn on them.
Among the details was a favor given to all guests – a paper square with the drawing of the four pets with seeds! It included instructions on how to grow the seeds in the favor. It was the perfect sustainable favor for their Earth Day wedding day!
Alyssa and Scott’s wedding party were so sweet and excited for the bride and groom. I appreciate them being down for my ideas and the wedding party portraits were such a blast! Alyssa’s sister and maid of honor, Alannah, really made sure Alyssa was taken care of and was by her side the whole day. Maid of honor goals.
One of my favorite parts of the wedding day is when the bride puts on her wedding dress and this wedding was no exception! Alyssa’s off-the-shoulder dress from Savvy Bridal was a dream. The ceremonious moment of putting on the dress had a wave of emotions that I’m sure Alyssa was so grateful to have her favorite people by her side to process. I always say it’s one of the big “IT’S REAL” moments of the day. The dress is on. You’re getting MARRIED! But first, Scott was waiting for his bride at South Park, just a short walk away.
Lawrence is amazing in many ways, one of the reasons being that there’s all kinds of Earth Day celebrations around the city. South Park was hosting Earth Day festivities and fundraising the morning of the wedding, which brought in quite a crowd. Luckily, by the time we were ready for the first look, the park had cleared out and we practically had the park to ourselves. It was meant to be!
Alyssa and Scott had their moment together for their first look and my goal was to stay behind the scenes as much as possible. First looks are all about the couple and I try to make it as private as possible (while documenting all the sweet moments, of course). Once they were ready, we took bride and groom portraits around the park. The park housed so many gorgeous trees with blooms and I couldn’t contain my excitement on how gorgeous these two looked among the greenery. When I picture a spring wedding, I picture this.
Remember when I mentioned the wedding party portraits? After the bridal portraits, we had a blast in the alley behind Maceli’s with the wedding party. I love that Alyssa and Scott requested photos in the alleys of Mass Street. Downtown Lawrence wouldn’t be as iconic without being lined with the alleys and art among them. I found this spot that highlights South Park if you follow the end of the alley. It really ties everything together!
I will let the ceremony speak for itself with these next photos, but I do want to point out three things. One, the bride and groom planted seeds together! Two, the raw emotion was unreal. Everyone in the room could feel the amount of love these two have for each other. Three – they had a RING “BEAR”ER. Get it??? I LOVE a good pun and couldn’t get over how cute it was!
First comes the ceremony, then comes the party! Keep scrolling for the rest of the wedding fun through out the night. Shoutout to Maceli’s for food to die for, Complete Weddings for providing a personalized, fun dance floor vibe, The Photo Booth by Carrie for a photo booth that guests couldn’t get enough of, and of course Sylas and Maddy’s for coming in clutch with the dessert! Alyssa and Scott collected all kinds of plates and bowls. Each table was unique with plates and named after a coffee drink. Why coffee? These two first met at the Koffee Korner in Lawrence! I can’t tell you enough how much I love when a couple makes a wedding day THEIR wedding day. From beginning to end, the wedding day had Alyssa, Scott, and their love story written all over it.
I’m going to end this blog post with the big finale – husband and wife portraits at golden hour! We’re actually going back in the timeline in this – as Alyssa and Scott’s guests finished up their dinner, I stole them away to take golden hour photos at South Park and of course, we had to take some downtown Lawrence shots with a background shot of Sylas and Maddy’s! Don’t ever underestimate golden hour. You’ll never regret taking a few moments outside for some husband and wife portraits in a gorgeous glow!
Alyssa and Scott, thank you for your trust in my vision to document your wedding day, I am so incredibly psyched about the photos for this sneak peek! While I’m finishing up the rest of the gallery, I hope you are enjoying your time as newlyweds! Married life is the best! Congratulations!
If you’re reading this and planning your own wedding, here’s a few things to learn from Alyssa and Scott’s beautiful wedding day.
- Make the day YOUR day. Choose which traditions you want to include in your wedding day and which ones you can toss out. Personalize aspects like your seating chart, dessert menu, favors, vows, etc. so guests can see many important pieces of your love story!
- Set aside that time for newlywed portraits. It was perfect to have a first look and some portraits before the ceremony, as well as portraits after the ceremony during golden hour.
- Have fun! There were so many smiles on this day! Take fun photos with your wedding party, chat with your guests, and dance on the dance floor.
- Focus on the two of you. While you will have guests that will be so excited to see you (and vice versa), don’t forget to enjoy time and take a deep breath or two with your other half. You’ll be so glad you set aside time and while wedding days are SO fast, it truly helps slow down the timeline juuuuuust. a little bit!
Cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Lamb! I can’t wait to see what married life holds for you guys, but if it’s anything like what I’ve been able to witness as your wedding photographer and now friend, I know it’s going to be full of adventure, endless love, and of course dog/cat hair with all the cuddles with the cats and Zoe. So happy for you both! Congratulations!!
