Apr 13, 20224 min read

Sahara and Keagan's Wedding at Stonegate Glass Chapel

A Romantic Cherry Blossom Themed Spring Wedding

We have to start with a re-wind to Sahara and Keagan's engagement photos. If you haven't read through this blog post, I'll give you the summary. We had the the hardest time scheduling due to extreme weather conditions. We were nervous that because this kept happening that their wedding day might have some sort of monsoon 😂. Flash forward to their wedding day, we could not have been more wrong. The sun was shining. Temperatures in the 60s. Birds chirping. Small blooms were beginning to peek through the ground and on the trees. You could not have asked for a more beautiful day to get married.

Sahara and Keagan were supposed to arrive at Stonegate Glass Chapel around noon. I planned to arrive shortly after. Upon pulling into the venue at 12:30, no one was there. 😂 This happens on weddings days. Sometimes things get behind, but I wasn't worried at all. Not too long after, Keagan pulled into the parking lot. He looked like he was on a mission. He informed us that Sahara was also running a bit late. On her way, she needed to stop at the dress shop to pick up her gown. Apparently the dress was supposed to be picked up by someone else and that did not end up happening. A little after one, we saw Sahara arrive.

Hopping up, Allie (a stonegate employee), Alex (my husband), and I grabbed the bouquets of flowers and headed down to meet Sahara. Sahara had the choice of three bouquets. I heard through the grapevine that there were minor flower hiccups on the back end lol Sahara had originally requested a cherry blossom bouquet in hopes that the flowers would bloom in time for the wedding. The week of the wedding, the flower buds had not bloomed and as a backup, two additional bouquets were created. Just in case. 😉 Some magic must have happened and the buds had just started to bloom, giving Sahara and opportunity to have her dream bouquet!! How amazing is that timing? After choosing her bouquet, I quickly realized that Sahara did not have her wedding dress. Sahara explained that Danya was picking it up on her way to the venue. 😂 Making absolutely sure that was the case as I explained that Keagan thought that she was picking it up, Sahara assured me that Danya was getting the dress and it would be here soon. And for amazing timing, Danya walked in about 5 minutes later. The dress had arrived!!! Friends, it was a ball gown and I was in love. Not too many brides choose ballgowns these days, but my heart will always be with them. I knew I had to make the most of those dress photos during details.

I left Sahara to photograph her details and take photos of Keagan. Keagan was dressed in an all white tux with light pink accents. This was my first time photographing a white tux and you know what, it looks really good in photos. I might be a white tux fan from now on. Keagan explained that they wanted a look that matched and decided to go for the white. But from a photography standpoint, I told him I loved it because white is such a great natural reflector. It makes skin tones look so good!! Hiding Keagan away, I went to check on Sahara. Hair and makeup fell slightly behind, but that was no problem at all. I left Michelle to work her magic on Sahara and switched up my plan. Time to head up to the reception space and check out the cake. Sugar Leaf Bakery had designed a cherry blossom cake and it was beautiful. I tried a bit at the reception and it was to die for. So delicious!!! Sugar Leaf Bakery, you did a fantastic job!

The time had come to get Sahara into her wedding dress. Shiela, her mom, helped put a pearl necklace on and lace up the back of her dress. They may have enlisted the help of the bridesmaids too! Tying the back was a bit tricky. The hardest part was deciding if a bigger bow or smaller bow looked best on the back. It was a tough call, but we went with the bigger bow 😁. Sahara had requested a first look with her dad. I prepped Charles by joking that I was going to pull him into the room backwards. It probably looked ridiculous, but the moment he turned to see his daughter he burst into tears. I won't lie, my eyes burned photographing the moment. I was touched.

Their wedding was officiated by Uncle Johnny...who was terrified that he might have to officiate the wedding virtually as he got lost on the way to the venue 😂. He made it though and the wedding was short and sweet. Keagan and Sahara sealed their marriage with a kiss and had wide smiles as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife. Walking out of the chapel, they shared a quiet moment together before heading to do family portraits.

After portraits, we headed up to the reception. Sahara and Keagan made their grand entrance and went strait into their first dance. The reception space began to shine in golden light and we made our way out for evening sunset photos. When we got back up to the reception, many guests had made their leave, but the ones who remained were ready to party. It may have been a small group, but I could tell these individuals cared deeply for both Sahara and Keagan. Caleb, the DJ, turned off the lights and flipped on the disco ball. Sahara and Keagan humored me as I asked them to spin maybe one too many times in order to get some magazine worthy dancing pictures. The night ended with a bubble exit and it was one of my favorite parts. Guests and family threw out ideas for poses that may look best on camera and Sahara and Keagan tried them all. They were troopers!!! It was a blast and the bubbles were so fun!!