Nashville Wedding Photography | Trinity + Andrew — Wild Turkey Ranch
Before She Was a Bride, She Was the Girl Who Watched Spirit on Repeat
I've known Trinity since she was a little girl. She was horse obsessed, and she watched Spirit over and over on DVD. I babysat her and her siblings. Her mom and dad were like a big brother and sister to me — they brought me down to Nashville with them, and I lived with the whole family of six for a year and a half.
The kids have all grown now and Trinity has her own children. After years of being an incredible single mom, she met Andrew — and when he proposed and they set the date, they hired me to photograph her wedding. They got married at the end of June last year, and I'm just now catching up on getting this blogged because social media and blogging is not my strong suit.
I have a confession: I get way more nervous photographing people I know. Merging professional me and friend me makes me feel self-conscious. When someone has known you since you were taking macro photos of Christmas lights and thinking it was cool, it's hard to feel like the big bad 17-year pro. But that little girl and her siblings were more like brothers and sisters to me than anything else, and this family had given me so much over the years. I wasn't going to let a little insecurity get in the way of making sure Trinity had the wedding of her dreams, so I pushed it down — and I'm so glad I did.
The horse-obsessed girl found the perfect location
Trinity found Wild Turkey Ranch in Lebanon, TN — a horse farm. It rained on and off all day, so the ceremony had to move inside. Cocktail hour took place in the horse stalls inside the stable, bar included — guests got their drinks handed to them out of an actual horse stall.
Everything was made by Trinity, her mother, her friends, and her family. People spent hours gathered together making centerpieces, gathering vases, and baking desserts — for the girl they loved, and because they were so happy she'd found such a good man to be her partner. Her dad performed the ceremony himself — the man who raised her was also the one who made it official.
The moments that stuck
Her three brothers balled their eyes out the second they saw her — and again more than once through the night. Her boys saw her for the first time in her dress and were in awe. Her dance with her dad was set to a song she wrote and recorded for him herself. And the dance floor was opened by a surprise appearance from her "baby" brother in a T-rex costume — the room erupted in laughter.
There were so many heartfelt personal touches, made by the people who love her, for the day she finally got the partner she deserved.
As a Nashville wedding photographer, I don't often get to shoot someone I've known since before either of us knew who we'd grow up to be. Watching Trinity marry a man who loves her well — surrounded by hand-built decor, by brothers who couldn't stop crying, and by one brother who turned the dance floor into pure chaos for exactly one glorious minute in a T-rex costume — felt like closing a loop I've been part of since I lived with her family, folded in as one of their own.
Congratulations, Trinity and Andrew. I am so happy for you. Thank you for letting me be part of your very sweet story.
Interested in working together?
You can see more of my work here: Nashville wedding photography — including Riley and Brennan's barn wedding at White Dove Barn if barns are your thing.