My Experience with #MakingSouthernWeddings

My, my, my! It's no secret that I absolutely adore Southern Weddings.

At the beginning of this year when I got an email from Emily asking if Ben and I were available to model as bride and groom for one of the V8 shoots... I immediately lost all of my cool. I remember shaking as I called Ben at work to tell him about the email! I have a super sweet trooper of a husband who agreed this would be really fun, and a great reason for a day trip to Austin. Emily shared that the shoot was going to be Friday Night Lights themed.. so I had to start watching the series on Netflix. I'm forever grateful for how Tim Riggins was brought into my life- haha! Favorite character ever! We were so truly honored that Emily and Lisa had thought of us, and I loved chatting with them in email to prep for "the big day".

We don't live in Stephenville, we live North of Fort Worth.. this is just a snap of us partially done with our road trip to Austin for the day of the shoot. I remember I watched a new episode of Pretty Little Liars on my iPhone haha.

I remember being so nervous as we pulled up, wondering how saying hi would go. (so so silly!) There was a lot to be silly nervous about that day.. I was worried I wouldn't be great at posing or that the gown wouldn't fit my body right or whatever! Ha!! When we arrived at the beautiful, cozy Star Hill Ranch that day, Lisa was taking photos with Jen Dillender (who shot behind the scenes shots for the day).. she quickly stopped photos, apologized and came to give us both huge, excited hugs! Emily soon came around the corner to do the same. It sounds silly, but the warm welcome from these friends made us feel so at ease. I knew that this shoot was work for them (and I soon got to observe their professionalism) and so I was nervous about chatting because I knew we were just a tiny part of this shoot. These girls, and all of the vendors, made us feel like a million bucks from the very start.

When we got there, the bridesmaids were already in hair and makeup. When one of them, sweet Kara, a Baylor student, showed me all the dresses in the other room. The Modern Trousseau gown was really different than my own dress, and STUNNING. The veil was classic and beautiful. Every detail of our shoot was going to be very Texas.. and this was a gorgeous start!

I snapped this excited (and trying to be subtle) selfie to send a friend while my hair was getting done. I couldn't see what was being done while I sat there.. and I remember Emily coming through and proclaiming "BIG TEXAS HAIR!!"

I soon saw for myself. :)

As soon as I was ready we still had some down time and Chick Fil A lunch to eat. Much to his dismay, Ben had to get his hair done and a bit of makeup put on as well. At that moment I realized how much my husband loves me!! Just kidding.. but he really was such a good sport throughout the day, knowing how happy the whole thing was making me. While this was happening.. Lisa told me I was welcome to check out the rest of the venue.. all set up for basically our big fake wedding!

I'm STILL swooning over this detail at the church. So so cute.

The adorable table, with a lot of things fluttering in the wind. It was just waiting for the floral arrangements before we shot at the table. :)

I don't know what I expected as far as hair and makeup, but the style of Southern Weddings should have already told me.. I felt like a natural, most beautiful version of myself.

The rest of the day is a blur of lots of fun. Lisa helped me zip into the gown, and we discovered that without clips at the back it showed a bit too much cleavage. We would use the clips for the majority of the shoot, but it's notable that I remember Lisa telling me that Lara wouldn't be happy with anything revealing in the magazine. That comment grew my already existing respect for the magazine.

We then shot a ceremony, and I got to experience what it was like to have a glam squad. I literally said out loud that I felt like Beyonce.. because there was always someone doing hair and makeup touch ups on me and perfectly arranging my dress. It was genuinely one of the most fun things of my life! I felt so special and the incredible vendors were so kind and encouraging throughout the whole thing. They made me feel like Ben and I were genuinely doing a good job at modeling.. and I'll never forget Lisa saying "every girl in Texas is going to want to BE you!" :)

More behind the scenes here

While we were shooting portraits (for several hours) the girls casually mentioned to be careful not to lock my knees because lots of model brides have passed out in the past. I was like "whatever that won't happen to me!" but sure enough.. during one shot where I was on an uneven spot of ground, I felt the world going black. I told Ben and he quickly had me lean on him which kept me from actually passing out. It was kind of all of a sudden, and it wasn't that hot (it was March!) and I felt very silly! I was super concerned about not wanting to sit down because of the dress but everyone encouraged me to and Lisa and Emily got me water and a cliff bar and were all about me taking a break. I felt like a moment like this would make me feel very foolish but instead it turned into just another way to see how amazing Lisa and Emily are at their jobs. They made me feel like it was all okay.. and Lisa joined me on the ground for a chat about other times similar things that have happened. She was like "let me tell you about a time worse than this..." which made me feel SO SO SO much better. They shot groom and groomsman shots for a few minutes so I could take a break and chow down on a cliff bar. I share this story just to show anyone who may read the magazine how genuine and loving these gals really are! All the vendors involved were incredibly sweet during this time too. Man I loved this day and these people!!!

After a long day of shooting and prep, the AMAZING photographer for the day Kristin Kilpatrick was shooting just the table and some other details, and the whole wedding party went up to look at the amazing sunset. Ben snapped this quick pic of me on my phone, and it was such a sweet reminder of our fun day for me to look at on my phone while we waited from March until November. It was SO SO worth the wait though!

Love these gals!!

All the vendors: 
I seriously can't even express how amazing these folks were! Seeing everyone thrive in using their gifts was a really encouraging part of the day. Wishing I could give them all an extra hug of thanks today! Being a part of this shoot was a dream come true for us, and we're so grateful!!

@SouthernWeddings
@KilPat
@WithoutWaxKaty
@StarHillRanch
@LootVintage
@PolkaDotsATX
@MakenziLaine
@LoveOfWildcat
@ModernTrousseau
@JenDillender
@PinkAvocadoATX

Since the release of the magazine, it's been really fun for friends and family to celebrate with us! Everyone has been so kind and  I stole these snaps from two besties :) 

To finish off this already long, photo heavy post, I'll share a few of my favorite photos from the actual shoot. The entire shoot can be found here. With behind the scenes photos here.

This last image left such an impression on us that it inspired Ben to change his phone background for the first time since I've known him, and since he's had an iPhone.. which would be junior year of high school! HA!