Erin + Justin | Wedding Part 1

Sunday, March 17th was a big day for my family! This year was no ordinary St. Patrick’s Day for the Leonard clan, it was the day my big sister exchanged vows with her soul-mate, Mr. Justin Patton Rush, and became Mrs. Rush!!

As the maid of honor, this was an especially emotional day for me. Because of my maid-of-honor duties, I relinquished my photographer duties to the ever-so- brilliant Havi Frost and my ÜBER-talented husband. They made sure that Erin’s and Justin’s story was told just as if I had been behind the lens.

Erin is the one who taught me that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The two of us could sit and look at old photographs in the middle of a living room for 3 days straight… Nostalgia is our middle name!! Needless to say, narrowing down images from this wedding took on a whole different approach.

After having blue skies and a perfect 73 degrees the day before, the bride and groom were a wee bit discouraged as they scurried around on Sunday through a drizzle as they set up for their outdoor wedding at Winfrey Point on White Rock Lake. I suppose God wanted to add a little luck of the Irish!

By the time Erin and her bridesmaids arrived at Chad Rookstool Salon, just before noon, the sky had cleared and the sun had come out to play! Anne Howrey and her crew at Chad Rookstool Salon went above and beyond accommodating us by allowing the bridal party to take over the salon as if it were our own! The salon brought in three talented stylists on their day off who rocked out twelve girls’ hair in less than three hours!

Erin and Justin booked their wedding hotel block and bridal suite at the Belmont Hotel, a historic boutique hotel and home of the best view of Dallas’ skyline. The skyline was a picturesque backdrop for the “first-look” and pre-ceremony formals.

Despite the fact that Joey and I didn’t do a first look before our wedding (we’re just too conservative) we love to educate our brides on the benefits of doing a first-look where the bride and groom see each other before the wedding. If I knew then what I know now, I would have definitely opted to throw tradition out the door. During our first-looks we do our best to create a comfortable and intimate setting in order to allow the bride and groom to “soak it all in.” As you can tell from these images, Justin was taken aback and filled with emotion when he saw his radiant bride for the first time. Erin, in turn, was able to feel the comfort of Justin’s warm embrace before ever going down the aisle.

Doing the first-look allowed us to also take the majority of the bridal party pictures before the wedding ceremony, which gave more time for romantic post-ceremony sunset portraits of the bride and groom without taking them away from their reception!

At 5:30 guests began to take their seats with a pint in hand. The bagpiper, Don Shannon, former piper of Ireland’s favorite band, The Chieftains, put the guests in the St. Paddy’s day spirit as he played traditional Irish tunes!

Ireland’s own Niamh Parkinson performed “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” as Erin walked down the aisle and Justin looked at his stunning bride and soon-to-be wife as if it was for the very first time! It was a magical moment leaving few dry eyes in the crowd of over 300!

The Rush wedding was full of LOVE, boisterous laughter, musical acts, sentimental touches, surprises, DIY projects, vintage family heirlooms, and visitors from all over the world that came to dance the night away to celebrate the life and love of two of my favorite people on Earth!

Erin taught me how to fly by the seat of my pants, create memories, travel often, take risks, build relationships and keep in contact despite distance. She taught me how to be passionate about life how to live every day to its fullest. She inspired me to work hard to pursue my dreams and that sometimes procrastination pays off! I am thankful Erin “procrastinated” and held out for Justin and I am thrilled to finally call him my brother! Justin has been blessed to have two loving parents displaying their love for each other for 44 years and I have no doubt he will be a rock in their relationship and a role model to their children and ours when that day comes:)

Click here to see the engagement session.

Click here to see the bridal session.