So here’s the scene (L-R):
Chris Torres from 6 of Four (not shown father-to-be and host), Livingston Jackson, Terrell Clark, Jeremy Roth, Mark Adams from LaCour, Patrick Williams, Drew Newman, I’m the one with the camera in my hand.

No Shows (no link love here):
Zack Arias, Charlie McLarty, Matt Yung, Hassel Weems, Ross Knight, Scott Chester, Marc Climie, Adam Linke, Chris Rank, Andrew Niesen, Jerrod Brown, David Christensen

This one is beautiful, so poetic and full of emotion. The money shot. The caption: “You’ll do better next time honey.”

Jeremy and Mel (above) have a baby on order so these poker nights are crucial for him before his social life goes on lock-down in a month or two. He was last to leave last year. This year…. uh, first. As a father of three, I know the routine.

Can you believe that Patrick ditched Bible Study for this…

Chris Torres showing the deep, down, fierce hunter/gatherer in victory.

My friends Chris and Katie Torres of 6 of Four and I have shot with each other a number of times. They came down to the beautiful FL Keys with me for Nikki & Johnny’s wedding and helped with Laura & David’s amazing wedding weekend last year. One of the perks of being a 2nd shooter is that you can experiment and there isn’t the same pressure. The bottom line is you have the freedom to be a little more creative.

Oh yeah, and you get to take embarrassing pictures of your friends … that I’m nice enough to keep to myself (for now).

So not much explanation needed on the images… here are a few that I liked:

Ben Vigil, …congratulations to Sarah and Rob!

*** CLICK HERE *** to view the slideshow

Congratulations to Laura and David who were the most gracious hosts! Wow, what a wedding. Susan Graham and her team along with Bold American and everybody else from the stylists to the band pulled out all the stops and made it a weekend to remember for Laura and David. Chris and Katie from 6ofFour were on hand to help as well as my trusty assistant Brian — they all captured some stellar images and I want to thank them personally.

Congratulations again to Laura and David!

There’s not much explaining I need to do here… I’ll let the images speak for themselves. These are just a quick few. You REALLY need to watch the slideshow — there’s even an option to view the slideshow full screen now.

Ben Vigil

*** CLICK HERE *** to view the slideshow

“Dear Jason, I am so excited to spend our lives together…”

That is how Vicky’s note to Jason begins. And this is how their married life begins:

One of the things that I sometimes find intriguing is the timing of the day. Since all of us capturing images on your wedding day (whether it’s two or three or four of us) all synchronize the times on our cameras I always take the images from all the cameras and edit the images chronologically. The part that I find really amazing is to see what the bride and groom are doing at the same moment. Sometimes you find the bride reading a note from the groom and vice versa at the exact same time. Here’s Vicky and Jason both getting ready to walk out the door and looking in the mirror.

The stunning bride…

Ahhh, the waiting…

Bride on the run image #1. Leaving the church in a stylish Rolls Royce.

This is one of my favorite moments of the day. Don’t think I’m weird. After Mass, the wedding party was invited over to Vicky’s parents’ beautiful home in Country Club of the South. As we were getting ready to depart for the reception, Vicky and Jason stepped into her father’s basement office and took a few moments to practice their dance one last time. Just Vicky, Jason and dad who snapped a few frames with his camera too.

Bride on the run image #2. Going to the reception.

The first dance…

This is where it gets amazing! Vicky’s mother, had alerted me in the weeks leading up to the wedding that if the weather held up then Vicky and Jason and all the guests were going to be surprised with an evening fireworks show. And surprised they were! This show was as good as the Stone Mountain show — just to give you an idea of the scale.

A very special thanks go out to Brian Steele for his trusty assisting/shooting and to Chris Torres of 6 of Four Creations for coming out and getting some amazing shots.

Congratulations Vicky and Jason!

*** CLICK HERE **** to see the slideshow.

Wow, what a pleasure!

Having a beautiful bride and groom who are a pleasure to be around on the happiest day of their life is only part of the story. It’s the most important, of course, as a photographer. But behind the scenes making it all happen are all the vendors who help the family and the couple and just let go and enjoy the day. So it’s always great to work with some of the top folks in the industry.

I’ve heard many good things about Kourtney Coleman so it was a pleasure to finally work with her and she did a stellar job! Del Baroni and his full orchestra was fantastic! I have to add this comment: if you are going to hire them, do yourself a favor and go for the full orchestra. It really adds a lot and they are so so versatile in the styles of music they can do. I was really impressed! And Jonathan was a pleasure to work with. As it turns out, we both worked a wedding a couple weeks later too, which I’ll blog in a couple days. And last but not least, Katie Torres, of 6 of Four Creations fame, came and helped me out getting some amazing images while Brian Steele assisted and got some great ceremony images too.

I was chatting on the phone with Stephanie about her wedding images and which ones were her favorites… she mentioned the flower girl and how she looked just like a perfect little doll that they bought at the store for the wedding. Check out this picture of her at the rehearsal dinner. Don’t you agree with Stephanie!

And isn’t Stephanie just the definition of class!

They chose to see each other before the wedding (as you can tell above), and as we arrived at the church, amid the bridal party last minute chatter and chaos that takes place at every wedding, Stephanie stole a quiet moment with her groom to be. You might think this was a “posed” shot but it wasn’t. Just a simple moment that none of us would have remembered…

Stephanie in her chambers as she waits…

Back at the Cherokee Town and Country Club the newlyweds have a moment to share alone before the reception begins.

And then they stole away in a 1941 Cadillac Convertible…

Congratulations!

Lauren was radiant and stunning on her day!

I thought I’d present Matt as the stoic here on the blog. He’s a really cool guy and handled everything with ease…

Ahhh Bernie. Can you tell Lauren’s father was a little tensed up as they were getting ready to take that long walk down the isle? I think Lauren had to relax him a little

But he did just fine!

Here’s Msgr. Marren, our old pastor giving the couple a little advice. The whole party loved Msgr. Marren and I overheard one of the bridesmaids telling Lauren how cool he was.

So I was wondering if Bernie was going to make it through the Ave Maria but being the pro that he is, he did just fabulously.

Lauren and Matt caught a brief moment after the ceremony to say hi before the bridal party rushed in and the congratulations started…

This young man was actually in the party for wedding I did back in 2006. It’s obvious he has the stuff it takes to begin a career in photography!

Congratulations to Matt and Lauren!

Ben Vigil

Talk to you soon!

Ben

Which brings me to my last wedding of the year. I thought it would be nice to post their images today as a humble Christmas present of sorts. Kassie and Andrew were supposedly not too comfortable in front of the camera but I certainly couldn’t tell — they were clearly in love. Chris and Katie Torres from 6 of Four Creations were on hand to help me out and did an amazing job with a lot of the details as usual.

***CLICK HERE*** to view the slideshow

Location: Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Coordination: Lisanne McDearman with Watermark Weddings
Catering: Affairs to Remember
Jewelry: Kelly Wenner Designs

Many years of blessings to you Kassie & Andrew!

Ben Vigil