JC and Katie- Thomas Birkby House Wedding

It can be easy, understandable even, for couples to get overwhelmed and swept up in all of the little details on their wedding day. There are so many different pieces up in the air on a wedding day, so many people coming and going, that even the most organized people can feel a little crazed… and then you have people like Katie and JC, who are the definition of calm, collected, and so SO joyful. They had pieced together a great team for their day to take care of all those little things, so they were able to relax and truly ENJOY the day! I haven’t seen a day flow that smoothly in quite a while, and everything was absolutely perfectly from start to finish. In fact, Katie and JC spent their day asking everyone ELSE what they needed, what they could do for them, and making sure that their family and friends were well taken care of. That just tells you the kind of people Katie and JC are… thoughtful, caring, and so incredibly considerate! JC even came up to Joseph and I during the reception and insisted that we take a break and go get a piece of cake! Have I mentioned lately that I have the best clients ever?! :)

A big shout out to the wonderful Tyler with Voila Event Studio for helping coordinate the day and making sure that everything flowed perfectly! She was so fun to work with and was there to help with everything from boutonnières to bustles to sparklers and absolutely everything in between! And as always, thank you to my friend Joseph for helping me out for the day! He has quickly become one of my favorite people to shoot with, as he always manages to take the shot that I set up and find a completely different, yet equally as awesome angle to photograph it from his creative perspective. Our photos always end up so different which I love, yet flow seamlessly together when they are side by side, which is exactly what you want when you have two photographers shooting your day! :)

JC and Katie, thank you for making us feel so welcome and for letting us be a part of your day! I’m so happy for you both! Enjoy LOTS of favorites :) Happy viewing, friends!

LOVED how Katie’s bouquet came together! all of the florals throughout the day were gorgeous!oooh goodness gracious.. Katie you are absolutely STUNNING! Katie had her new monogram as a little ‘something blue’ on the inside of her dress :) the shot on the left is mine, the one on the right is Joseph’s: We decided to work their gift exchange into their first look! I think JC was a little bummed that Katie got a sneak peek of him as she walked up behind him :) but I’m so glad we did it this way, it made for some really fun photos and I love that they got to at least HEAR each other’s reactions ;) JC had designed Katie a stunning pair of earrings, and Katie got JC a pair of socks in his all time favorite color (which originally she told him they couldn’t work into the wedding colors) and a brand new watch… but I think he would have been just as happy with the cobalt blue socks ;) after they opened their gifts, they got to do their official ‘first look’ which is ALWAYS one of my most favorite moments on a wedding day! i think exchanging gifts first built up the anticipation, JC kept asking if he could turn around yet :) My angle on the left, and Joseph’s on the right :) love JC’s expression in these next two right when he saw Katie :) these next two shots are just another example of why having two photographers there to catch different angles is so important! of course we had to give them a minute to put on their new gifts :) love this candid shot that Joseph grabbed in the mean time: one of my favorite portraits of JC and Katie from the day: another one of Joseph’s shots: I love going through photos and seeing ones that were taken in the exact same moment from my camera and from Joseph’s and seeing how well they always go together, yet can have such a different feel and crop to the image! these next three images were all taken within about 3 seconds of each other: LOVE this little shed on the Thomas Birkby House property! again my photo on the left, Joseph’s on the right: safe to say these two made my job REALLY easy all day long :) such naturals in front of the camera!
had to show off those cobalt blue socks :) GAH! Katie you’re killin me! SO so gorgeous! while I was photographing the shot above, Joseph grabbed this one. It was one of those photos that stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw it. Absolutely LOVE the composition, the emotion, and the intimate feel of this shot. I’m thinking this one deserves to be a big canvas somewhere, what about you?? :) I remembered from their engagement session that these two were pros at dipping, so I couldn’t resist when I saw this pretty gazebo behind them! The Thomas Birkby House has so many charming portrait spots on their property! :) I could have done bridal portraits of Katie alllllll afternoon :) she was seriously such a natural in front of the camera, and while I LOVE those photos of her flashing her gorgeous smile, she had such a stunning “fierce” look that I have to admit I’m loving as well :) When we were putting together the same day slide show for the reception I said how I just couldn’t get over how WELL she could rock that look, and Joseph came up with the word ‘fierce’, which perfectly describes this gorgeous bride :) love the pretty afternoon light behind them as her dad walked Katie down the aisle :) can’t you tell how proud he is of his girl in these photos? :) thanks to Joseph for these first two shots: and my view from the front: Joseph snuck up to the balcony of the main house to grab this shot of the property during their ceremony! It really is such a gorgeous venue tucked away in downtown leesburg! MARRIED! :) one of my other favorite moments during the day is when the couple is walking back down the aisle after just being pronounced husband&wife… love the emotion in that moment :)
while I grabbed shot the wedding party coming back down the aisle, Joseph grabbed this one of JC and Katie: JC and Katie had an awesome timeline which not only allowed us to do all of their portraits before the ceremony, but even allowed us some time to do a few EXTRA portraits right before the reception! LOVE that gorgeous evening light! while the light was a little too intense by this tree earlier in the day during their first look time frame, it was PERFECT right before the reception and I’m so glad we were able to use this spot for some extra portraits! Thankfully I have incredible couples who prioritize photography, and JC and Katie let me keep them as long as I wanted for portraits… best clients ever!! :) and as much as I love the more close-up, intimate photos, I think this is one of those moments where Joseph’s shot with the wide angle 24mm lens wins :) Love that he was able to get the full landscape of the tree in his shot: I just had to do a few more bridal portraits of Katie in this spot… love love LOVE! JC and Katie had an absolutely stunning reception set up! the florals were SO gorgeous, and everything came together so perfectly. The white drapes on the tent and the chandelier really add such a classic, elegant look! everything looked so elegant! a few of Joseph’s detail shots: welcoming Mr&Mrs Kent! Katie and JC’s dads both gave such sweet, heartfelt toasts during the reception:
first dance :) Joseph’s view of the father/daughter and mother/son dance: one of my all time favorite mother/son dance photos :) You could tell right away what a great relationship JC and his mom have! I have a soft spot for guys who respect and love their mamas well… Katie, I have no doubt JC is going to be the best husband to you! It seems like his mama taught him well :) the shoe game! I haven’t seen this at a wedding in a few years, and it is such a fun way for the guests to get to know both sides! basically the idea is that they each hold one of their shoes and one of the other persons, and you ask the couple a bunch of questions such as “who made the first move? who kissed who first? who is the better driver?” and they raise the shoe that they feel is the correct answer! so fun! such a pretty property all lit up at night! and they are off!! :) Hope you had an incredible time in Maui!! Congratulations again!! :)

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  1. Just came upon your website from another post and forgot what amazing pictures you did at Katie and JC’s wedding…thank you for capturing my flowers so beautifully. It was a pleasure to work with you. Hope to see you at another wedding in the future!

    ~Jan Yantz
    “I Do” Flowers

  2. Jessica, these are gorgeous images! You really did a wonderful job of capturing such an adorable couple on their gorgeous wedding day! So fun :) Thanks for the shout out and hope we can work together again soon. Your work is amazing!

  3. Katherine Bruder says:

    These are beautiful!! You both did an incredible job.

  4. gail schoolfield says:

    Oh Jessie, your images are stunning! You never disappoint! Thank you and Joseph for capturing this wonderful day for us.

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