Right after the ceremony, as we were headed for the signing of the marriage certificate, Brandi said 'come on husband'. I asked her how strange that felt and Brandi replied that while it was strange, 'it just felt right'. I don't think there's any better way to explain Andy and Brandi and have it be any more accurate than 'it just felt right.'

From the very first email I received from Brandi, I immediately liked her. She's seriously such a sweetheart and incredibly polite. This runs in her family, as her parents and siblings are also very sweet. I talked to and met Andy for the first time at their engagement session. I also immediately liked him as well, and it was obvious how over the moon he was for Brandi. He demonstrated this again and again at their wedding. Their was that phone call that I'm positive will forever be talked about among his groomsmen (you know the one Andy), and anyone that was there to witness their first look could never doubt how in love Andy is.

Andy and Brandi were married on October 1st, on a private property owned by close friends. The property was so gorgeous, with beautiful views in every direction you looked. There were also many personal touches at the wedding, not only from the couple, but from so many other people as well. Handmade signs, homemade earrings, the traditional items for the bride to have from her twin sister and many more. It's always such an amazing thing to see people come together to make the day happen for a bride and groom which also speaks to their love for the bride and groom. Andy and Brandi are most certainly loved by many people.

The wedding colors were lavender and gray. The bridesmaids wore lavender dresses with a chiffon overlay, while the groomsmen wore full gray tuxes with lavender vests. The bride and groom wrote vows which they read, both added laughter and tears to the ceremony. During the reception, the couple had a catered street taco bar, a sweets table full of all sorts of goodies, hilarious speeches and a lot of dancing and laughing. At the very end of night, they left in a vintage chevy.

Andy and Brandi, it's been such a privilege getting to know you guys and thank you for letting me capture your wedding day! Wishing you both many years of love and happiness!

As a photographer, whenever a bride and groom tell me they're waiting to see each other after the ceremony, my photographer brain immediately thinks about the photos we have to take after the ceremony and how long I will have to keep the newlyweds from enjoying their wedding. If photographers (or maybe I should just say me) have a choice, we would choose to do a first look simply because it's less time we have clients during the reception. But there's always one thing that you can absolutely never get when you choose to do a first look rather than wait until the ceremony. It's the look that the groom gives his bride when he first lays eyes on her, and man did Jose have that look. It was one of those pictures worth a thousand words, and I was privileged enough to capture that.

But let me rewind a bit. Alina and Jose are literally two of these most polite people I've ever met and they just come off as two old souls that found each other. That's at least how I felt and continued to feel every time we met. And they had a very clear vision of their wedding and paid attention to so many details. It paid off, their wedding was gorgeous.

There were so many great and different things about their wedding, that I've never seen at another wedding. They had a mariachi band that was amazing. They bought rosaries for all of their guests, rented a bouncer for the kids and had a photo booth. The groom was flung into the air by his fraternity brothers and males guests, which was both crazy and hilarious to watch. The list could go on.

I think one of my favorite things about Alina and Jose's wedding was how much you wanted to smile or laugh or even cry with them. There was so much love for these two, not only as individuals, but as a couple. 

Jose and Alina, I just wanted to say that it was truly an honor working with you guys and I wish you both many, many years of happiness!