Weekday weddings are becoming more and more popular and are a great way to give brides and grooms more options in Florida’s busy wedding market.  Katelyn and Lucas were married last Tuesday at the Grace Christian Fellowship Church in Largo with their reception at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater.  Dad has photographed weekday weddings before so that wasn’t unusual.  Most mid-week celebrations are intimate, low-key affairs but when it got to be midnight on Tuesday and mom still hadn’t heard from him she knew Katelyn and Lucas’s wedding must be one awesome party!  When dad got home he said it was a blast!  The couple, their families, and all the guests were so nice and dad had a great time with them.

Mom thinks it was meant to be for dad to photograph Katelyn and Lucas’s wedding.  They found our site on a referral from a friend and when looking through the galleries they were surprised to see a picture of Katelyn’s dad.  He officiated a wedding for a cousin whose wedding dad photographed in New York.  That cousin was Shannon who married Duane and now have a beautiful baby girl.  Mom got to meet Shannon in New York City when dad photographed her maternity session in the famous Rockefeller Center and she is just a wonderful person.  Dad wishes she could have come to the wedding so he could have met her new daughter!

Katelyn and Lucas put together a fabulous wedding with a black and white winter theme.  There were penguins and hot chocolate and yummy black and white desserts.  Guests were given dominos as favors with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date.  The bridesmaids wore long black dresses while the groomsmen were in black shirts with white ties.  The adorable flower girls alternated, with two wearing dresses that were mostly black with some white and two wearing dresses that were mostly white with some black.  Katelyn’s dress was beautiful!  It was a fitted V-neck silk dress covered with lace.

Since it was going to be dark out after the ceremony, the bride and groom decided to have a First Sight earlier that day.  Lucas looked so emotional waiting for Katelyn!

With the bride and groom pictures before the ceremony, dad had lots of time with them to get some great images.  The couple told dad about a nearby park for pictures and he is so glad they brought it up because it made for a gorgeous background!

The ceremony was sweet, and made even more meaningful with the bride’s father giving Communion.

The bridesmaids having some fun:

The reception tables were named after famous TV couples.  Mom liked that Turk and Carla were included 🙂 .

A wedding really is an important part of family history.  Katelyn and Lucas included their family history as part of their reception decor.  There were framed pictures and albums from past family weddings (dad enjoyed seeing how photography trends have changed) and important anniversaries.  Mom’s favorite reception detail was the display of wedding gowns that the bride’s mom, groom’s mom, and bride’s grandma wore on their wedding days.  The gowns were hanging on dress forms with  the veils on top and a sign saying the gown owner’s name, wedding date, and relationship to the couple.  Since most brides no longer wear their mother’s wedding dress, this was a special way to honor their moms and grandma.

One of dad’s favorite parts of the wedding was the couple’s first dance.  They had a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s Beat It!

A family friend played piano for parts of the reception.

At the end of the night, the couple left through a sparkler send off to a vintage pink Cadillac!  Dad said he doesn’t care if it is pink; he’d drive that car around every where!

We would like to give a really big thank you to Angela Sackett who was dad’s second shooter for the wedding.  She was so helpful and got some great pictures!  Dad said he enjoyed shooting with you, Angela!!

Thanks so much to Katelyn, Lucas, and their families for having dad at such a terrific celebration!  Not only did dad enjoy being there, but mom had fun just looking through the pictures!  We wish the newlyweds all the best for a very happy life together.