We always get asked, “What’s it like to shoot your best friend’s wedding?” Well, today, you’ll get that answer! Instead of just telling you about it, we thought we’d show you a little glimpse of what it looked like when Amy was both a bridesmaid and a photographer this weekend. If you haven’t seen Melissa and Braedon’s real blog post, stop what you’re doing, and catch up here! Trust us, it’s a swoon-fest! And we have to warn you, these photos will NOT be as dreamy as those ones, but WILL probably be some fun. So here’s a little look at life behind the lens this weekend!
When Amy said she was shooting in her jammies, she was NOT exaggerating. It was a very Risky Business kind of morning in the bridal suite.
Luckily, she gave herself plenty of time to shoot all of the details before hopping in the hair and makeup chair, and still enjoy a little hot chocolate with the crew! Melissa made the cutest personalized mugs and gifted all the bridesmaids matching flannel jammies, which was so sweet and perfect for her winter wedding!
Naturally, we had to grab a few cute shots with our jammies and hot chocolate. Jordan is officially a pro at taking girlie photos.
This is one of Amy’s favorite shots of the day. Jordan caught Amy having a “THIS IS IT!” moment with Melissa during final touches.
Bonus fun fact: If you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you know that our crazy-talented makeup artist, Arielle, did Amy’s makeup at our wedding, when Melissa was a bridesmaid for us! Full circle moment!
The key to being a bridesmaid in your friend’s wedding is to have another photographer you trust implicitly. Luckily for Amy, she has Jordan, who rocked ALL the girlie photos like a pro.
But Amy couldn’t resist shooting some of the bridals!
Walking to, setting up and capturing the first look was so fun.
And then it was on to posing instruction and some serious dress fluffing.
“Just hold your arms like a ballerina, like this.”
Amy still took lead on the posing throughout the day, and Jordan took all of the bridal party and family portraits, just like normal.
During bridesmaid photos, Amy organized and posed the girls like she aways does, and just left a hole for herself to slide into at the last minute.
Gosh, Amy is so bossy.
There she goes again.
That moment the back of her dress came undone. Now she’s just holding up the show.
But it was all worth it.
The other trick to success on a wedding day is WEAR FLATS. Trust us on that one.
One of the coolest moments was getting to stand alongside our VERY FIRST #ajbride EVER, Jackie! Our oldest #ajbride and our newest, in one photo! We’re so thankful she took a chance on us and trusted us with her wedding day back in March of 2011, and while we aren’t going to say too much right now, this might not be the last time you see her cute face on this blog!
We’re so thankful that we had the amazing ladies of Ashley Gain Weddings helping to make sure everything run smoothly. Ashley and Courtney were so helpful all day and jumped in wherever they were needed, including some serious ring bearer wrangling and boutonnière pinning!
Jackie wasn’t the only AJ Bride at Melissa’s day! Remember Ashley’s wedding?! She was a guest too and looking absolutely GORGEOUS! So great to see her again! Amy snuck in a super quick photo before heading down the aisle.
In the rush of the day, we’re so glad we took a second to grab one shot of all four of us!
During the reception, Amy entered as a bridesmaid, shot the rest of the special moments like toasts and dancing with Jordan, and then joined the party for open dancing and photobooth fun.
All three AJ Brides in one photo!
And a really cool test shot pose. Amy Cool Demos right here. And some awesome photo bombers.
Jordan made sure that Amy soaked in time to just be a friend, and she loved every minute of it.
Jordan with Andy and Jackie, our first couple EVER, at the end of the night! Love these two!
And we HAD to grab a photo of these four. If you remember Melissa’s epic proposal on a cliff, then you remember these girls, too. These four ladies spent every day in college together, and this is our cabin weekend crew where it all started. We all got to be in on scheming Melissa’s proposal, and it was so fun to celebrate her marriage together this weekend. If you haven’t seen the proposal story yet, grab some tissues and click here!
So that’s it! Our little glimpse behind the scenes! If you want to see the final product, you can check out Melissa and Braedon’s real wedding day blog post by clicking here! Enjoy!