Tyler + Carla|Timeless Church Wedding

October 14, 2019

Sometimes you come across people in your life and you just know they are suppose to be a part of it. Sometimes they come and go but ultimately they are there in your life in the back of your mind forever.

Carla and I met at a cowboy poetry gathering in Pigeon Forge TN. Something I wish they would bring back. Anyway, she was there to perform poetry with Cal Farleys Boys Ranch. We had met the team from the ranch years earlier so we always spend a bit of time with them every year at the gathering. Carla quickly became my little sister. Someone I wanted to encourage, be a part of her journey and just be there in case she needed someone. We would fall in and out of touch with each other. Thanks to facebook we found a way to keep up with each other consistently years later.

So imagine the complete delight in my heart when she gets engaged and asks me to photograph her wedding. Not to gift it to her or because she couldn’t afford a photographer. But because she wanted it to be captured by someone who knew what this day would mean to her. And how very special it was.

Tyler and Carla I love to refer to them as my real life Cinderella story. Oh the way he loves and adores her just makes my heart explode. Not just in a taking care of her way. But in the way that he wants to make sure how she is physically and emotionally. I witnessed this when I met them for a quick little visit before the wedding. And I saw it very clearly on wedding day. Carla had initially wanted wedding photos in a barn just before being introduced into the reception. Y’all it was HOT the day of their wedding. After completing photos at the church and then in St Louis when we got to the barn as we entered the reception venue property we all piled out of the limo and Carla and I headed to the barn. She started to question if we should do them. I assured her we could do it quickly if it was important to her. Overheated, tired and ready to be with her guests she decided not to. Tyler wanted to make sure she didn’t want them because if she did he wanted to make sure she got that photo. Y’all most grooms would be like yeah ok we don’t need any more photos. So while a small little significance of a moment I saw the meaning of that moment. He was looking out for her. A sweet woman who gives up anything she can to make others happy. I was happy I witnessed that moment as it assured me Tyler loves her with everything in his being. And lets not even get into the fact he wrote and sang their first dance song. Which I wish I had a copy of to share with you because it was amazing.

Carla had a dream wedding, surrounded by people she loved, and every little detail came together to rival any wedding you see in a magazine. I managed to only cry a few times and I will forever be grateful for the blessing and honor of capturing the beginning of their legacy.

P.S. I hear the Cannoli’s were amazing and I may have told my assistant to eat more just because I couldn’t eat them.