Last August I came home from a mentoring session with Katelyn James and my husband sat me down in a very serious fashion and said, “We need to talk .  . . How would you feel about doing a vow renewal and having Katelyn shoot it.”

That simple question just made me fall apart.  My husband knows the desires of my heart and with our ten year wedding anniversary coming up, it was the perfect time to celebrate all the adventures the last decade with the Army has thrown our way.

 It feels strange and exciting to be planning a wedding again in some ways.  Ten years ago I wasn’t a photographer and knew next to nothing about weddings.  I would say that being on the flip side of things is harder as I now know all the amazing possibilities that are out here in Virginia compared to what was available to us in rural Georgia at the time.

While planning a wedding is often a lot more elaborate than a vow renewal, I hope you will follow along with us on this journey and enjoy the planning process with me.

For many brides, it is hard to decide where to start planning a wedding.  Bridal shows can be overwhelming and with the internet, there are pages upon pages of vendor listings.  Where is a girl to start?  For me finding the right vendors came down to two main things: the venue and photography.

As a photographer, I value images almost more than anything else on the wedding day because after all the cake has been eaten and the confetti is tossed, pictures are what remains as a legacy of that moment in time.  I knew I wanted images that were joyful, timeless, and left an added legacy to continue to teach our children the value we place on marriage.

The venue was vital to determining a date and so we booked Katelyn and our venue almost simultaneously as it is March and our vow renewal is in October, we needed to get our butts in gear.  With our mutual love of history, Jason and I knew that it had to be something Colonial in nature.

Last November I spent a weekend at Seven Springs Farm and fell in love not only with the history of the location but also the fact that they are bringing back heritage livestock on the property.

So you are probably asking . . which vendor should I look for first?  Determine what you value above all else and go from there.  We knew that no matter what photography was foremost in our minds and that once that was settled and the date was picked, we could move forward with everything else.  Check back next week for how I picked my dress.  Shhh . . don’t tell Jason.

Planning our Ten Year Vow Renewal | Wedding Photographer