This wedding was posh.
Not stiff posh.
Hill Country posh. The kind that knows how to loosen its tie once the music starts.
Sharlene and Chip were married at The Preserve at Canyon Lake in Canyon Lake, Texas, and from the moment I walked in, it felt elevated in that quiet, confident way. Strings were playing. The space glowed. Everything felt intentional without feeling tight. Fancy, yes. But warm. Inviting. Alive.
There was laughter everywhere. Not polite laughter. Real, uncontrollable laughter. The kind that spills out of people who feel completely at ease.
Chip makes Sharlene laugh in a way I don’t see often. When she sees him, she settles. Her shoulders drop. She sparkles. It’s like her whole body knows she’s safe. That energy carried through the entire day, and you could feel it in every room they entered.
Her parents were a joy to watch. I walked in on her dad lining people up for a group photo and teased him that he was coming for my job. He laughed, completely unbothered, clearly having the best day of his life. Throughout the night, I’d look across the room and catch him beaming, doing a little dance while his wife stood beside him glowing with pride in her beautiful dress. They didn’t try to steal the spotlight. They didn’t need to. Their happiness said everything.
The ceremony itself felt elevated and intimate all at once. Strings played softly as light poured in through the windows, and the room leaned in together without being asked.
From the start, there was a quiet weight in the space. Chip’s brother and father stood in uniform, present in a way that didn’t demand attention but held it anyway. His dad stood beside him with his walker, steady and determined, staying there with him as they waited for Sharlene to come down the aisle.
I noticed he never sat down. Never stepped away. He just stood with his son, exactly where he wanted to be.
By the time Sharlene reached Chip, I was already fighting for my life trying to keep everything in focus through tears. There are moments as a photographer where you stop thinking about composition and settings and you just try to keep going. This was one of them.
After ceremony, Chip dipped Sharlene into a kiss. Completely unplanned. She laughed as she fell into it, trusting him without hesitation. The guests laughed too, not because it was a show, but because it was unmistakably them.
That moment summed up the entire day. Fancy, yes. But never forced.
Chip owns several bars, and one of my favorite under-the-radar details of the night was watching his bar people be bar patrons for once. The energy was different. Relaxed. Celebratory. Everyone knew how to have a good time, and they weren’t holding back.
At one point, Chip told the story of how they met. He bought the whole bar a drink, and Sharlene grabbed the mic to clarify that there were only five people there. The room lost it. That’s their dynamic. Big gestures paired with perfect timing and humor that lands every time.
Dinner was fantastic. Chip joked that he threw Sharlene the fanciest wedding he possibly could, as long as they could still have Texas barbecue. It worked. The food hit, the wine flowed, and conversations lingered longer than planned. No one was rushing through anything.
Then the band took over. A full cover band, playing all night, and the dance floor stayed full. People shimmying. Singing. Moving like no one was watching. Including me. It’s hard not to dance when the joy in the room is that contagious.
One of my favorite things about Sharlene and Chip is how present they were with their people. They mingled. They laughed. And every time a slow song came on, they ran back to the dance floor together. Chip would lean in, whisper something in her ear, and without fail, she’d throw her head back laughing. It happened over and over again, and it never got old.
And then there was the exit.
I had this feeling that they needed something special. Something that matched the energy of the day. So I told Chip to lift her.
Here’s the problem.
I have a slight lisp.
He had a little whiskey.
He thought I said flip her.
And he did.
Fully flipped her.
It was chaotic and perfect and completely on brand, and I think it might go down as one of the coolest shots I’ve ever taken. The kind you don’t plan. The kind you couldn’t recreate if you tried.
That’s how this whole wedding felt. Beautiful. Fancy. Full of laughter. Grounded in love that doesn’t need to prove itself.
Years from now, when the music sounds different and these photos live in a box, this is the kind of day that will still feel exactly the same. Because joy like that doesn’t fade. It settles in and stays.
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