Marry the one you love without the stress of planning a wedding.

L reached out to me via my website a few weeks before her wedding date. She said a vendor had referred me to her, but to this day I have no idea who. I’ve only worked with a handful of vendors before, and none of them knew me by name. Especially out in Dallas, which is where L and her fiancé D were coming from.

The two had planned to get married on the trails near Belton Lake, but due to weather had relocated to a family member’s backyard in Salado. Then, just a few days before they relocated again, still in Salado, but to a Creekside just off the main road. Honestly, this was my first real elopement so they could have told me they were getting married in the middle of the lake and I would have rolled up. The couple was so kind and apologetic over the location changes, but I didn’t mind.

The day of the elopement I pulled into a parking lot a short walk from the creek and panicked. There was an Ampitheater behind me with dozens of people decorating and perfecting the space for a wedding. Catering vans were starting to show up and for a moment I was honestly worried I had been deceived. I triple checked the address I had been given; yup this was the right place. I braced myself, realizing I might have been tricked into doing a full wedding for the cost of an elopement. Until a text message finally came through “hey we’re here!”

L +D, and their family members began descending from cars around us, joking that someone was crashing their wedding. They began to lead me into the field, where a tree-lined path held a small “wedding in progress” sign. Thankfully this was not a surprise full wedding, it was just unfortunate timing that the two celebrations were scheduled to start at similar times.

The wind whipped wildly around us, and the 98* weather we had been experiencing all week was gone. The whole family was prepared for this though. They had blankets and extra sweaters. They were prepared to stand out in any weather to witness these two wed.

L’s dad was their officiant.

With their families gathered around them, L’s father gave the most beautiful sermon about two souls finding each other. He sung high praises of both his daughter and his soon-to-be son-in-law. He was so proud to be standing there while they crossed this important bridge in their lives.

After the vows we took formal portraits with everyone in attendance. I didn’t know it at the time, but these photos would later become many of their family Christmas card photos that year.

Afterwards the couple and I went through the streets of Salado to capture portraits of just them. The bride had grown up in Salado, so wanted to feature some icon locations: the bridge, the butterfly benches, and the little Santa’s workshop that was always set up for Christmas. I had been hired for two hours of photography coverage and 75 photos minimum, so I was down to explore the town with them.

We ended the evening with one more quick shot on the bridge before calling it quits. Even though it only lasted two hours, I know the memory of their wedding day will last forever, and I’m so glad they chose to work with me. Their full wedding gallery can be viewed here.