Are you a soon-to-be bride planning to have your wedding at the Mount Timpanogos LDS Utah Temple? I have spent many hours at this temple, photographing couples on the happiest day of their lives! It is definitely one of the busier wedding temples due to the beauty of its architecture and its stunning mountain backdrops.
For Kristen and Kord, it was a beautiful fall day, and the couple was blessed with lovely lighting and jaw-dropping fall foliage which, might I add, stuck around a lot later in the season than it normally does (they lucked out!). For me, this was 1 out of 3 weddings that I had done for this family, and it was so nice to see some familiar faces among the crowd of guests waiting to welcome the couple as they exited the Temple.
For me, temple exits (first looks are a close 2nd) are some of the things that I feel so blessed to be able to capture. The level of emotion felt amongst the bride and groom, the guests, and even me, is palpable. For the average person, they may attend a temple exit or two over the course of several years but for me, I get to experience these special moments upwards of 10 times per year. How lucky am I?!!
After the exit, the bride and groom snuck off to the side to share a private moment. This was a sweet and intimate moment that I was happy to capture.
From there it was time to take pictures with family. The lighting that day was a mix of sunshine and overcast. Their wedding was held around noon-time which, I won't lie, is a photographer's worst enemy, (as far as lighting goes). And although noon-light isn't ideal, you can still achieve flattering images as long as you know where to place your subject.
Once the family pictures were done, we excused the entire bridal party over to a nearby church to prepare for the ring ceremony and luncheon/reception. Luckily enough, the lighting switched over to overcast which creates a more flattering look than we were achieving earlier in the day.
After a few a few shots with the bride, it was time to let Kristen and Kord do their thing as a newlywed couple which is one of the greatest things about shooting weddings. Couples do require some direction on posing and what not, but when they get together, the sparks that they create is credited to only them and it's my job to help that emotion shine through in a photograph.
I always make sure to get the quintessential shots of the bride and groom in front of the temple (always with Moroni) done as quickly as possible because it's such an important shot and I don't want to forget it before we run out of time, or I send the bride and groom along their way.
From here, we started to focus more on the fall foliage which I mentioned earlier, should have been gone this late in the season (It was mid-November!). We were blessed with a warm and mild fall so many of the colors were still present along with some greenery. I just really felt like Kristen and Kord's wedding was truly blessed.
Now it wouldn't be a wedding for me if I didn't spend a little bit of time making the bride twirl. I know it sounds a little silly (I'm sure it feels silly too to the bride) but the pictures produced are so sweet and cute and the bride ends up walking away with a ton confidence and a huge smile on her face.
After such a long, fun, and loved-filled morning, Kristen and Kord were so excited to head to the church next door for their reception which included a ring ceremony, dancing, and yummy catered food from Olive Garden. For me, I was set to shoot Kord's brother's wedding the following January which would make 3 weddings for this family in total and although all of the adult kids might be married off-no more weddings for me :( -I hope I get a chance to shoot for this family again as their little family sub-units continue to grow through the years ***sniff-sniff** and if I'm still around in twenty or so years, maybe I can start again with their kids' weddings!
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