party – Jess Jones Photos Blog

Ashley + John Wade | River Mill Event Center | Columbus, GA

Ashley and John Wade Ginn shared a fabulous wedding celebration at the one and only River Mill Event Center in Columbus, GA.

This whole celebration was laid back and The Ginn’s just wanted to have a good time and I think they nailed it! Ashley had two dresses for her celebration. The one she wore to her actual wedding in Las Vegas and her awesome comfy hi-lo party dress that she danced the night away in. This bride was stunning in both dresses.

Ashley’s beautiful sister and mother helped the bride get laced up into her formal dress and placed her veil perfectly.

The huge industrial style windows at the River Mill are always the perfect backdrop with the gorgeous light that they provide. I’m a such a huge fan of the old historic look and love when I can mix the old and new elements in one photo.

John Wade and Ashley met me in the garden for their portraits under the setting sun and the ethereal spanish moss that hangs from the trees in the River Mill Garden. They laughed and danced while I photographed. They both were totally chill and ready to party. Ashley’s gorgeous jewel toned bouquet was created by the talented B. Anderson Florals who never seems to disappoint us with her talents.

The whole family joined us in the garden for portraits and the beauty queen grandmother’s showed us all how to pose to create those flattering curves!

The time had come to get the party started. The ballroom was beautifully decorated with string lights over head and flowing white fabric. B. Anderson floral designs were on every table. She chose some really beautiful evergreen foilage paired with deep magenta toned flowers. The tables had some awesome brass candelabras and vases that lended a cool antique vintage vibe.

The Carson Hand Band totally killed it with their music and had the whole guest list on the dance floor.

The newly-weds shared an anniversary dance with all the couples in attendance and were left dancing with longest married couple in the room, John Wades’ Grandparents, with over 60+ years of marriage! How amazing is that?! Something to be celebrated for sure!

Guest mingled and snacked on the delicious food that was prepared by Jamie Keating. It all looked amazing! Oh and they had a deconstructed smore’s bar! #dead

I totally loved photographing this celebration of marriage and loved seeing tons of familiar faces. It was definitely a Harris County reunion!

Here’s to The Ginn’s! Wishing you guys many many happy years!

DILLY DILLY! 😉

The Fab Vendors:

Venue: River Mill Event Center
Florals: B. Anderson Florals
Band: Carson Hand

David + Elissa

I met David and Elissa nearly a year ago at Trade Craft coffee. They had found me online and I liked them as soon as I met them. They both loved music. David had played in a band that toured around the country and Elissa once upon a time worked in Vegas! After talking to them for a few minutes about their wedding, I knew it was going to be saweeet.

I arrived at the hotel to find the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready for the big day. Fortunately, all of Elissa’s friends have some sort of make up/hair styling skills! Elissa was getting her long locks braided and curled as I arrived. Bridesmaids were in varying stages of applying makeup and getting their hair done. Elissa’s make up was a rockstar shade of pinky-orange on her lids and a dark red lip.

I went to grab her dress and shoes to go photograph out of the room and I was thrilled when I discovered it was pink! This gorgeous dress was a beautiful shade of blush with black appliqué details around the bodice. The back laced up with black ribbons.

The gorgeous bouquets arrived and I took them out to the pool for their photoshoot. They were made of gorgeous pink roses and white hydrangeas.

Elissa truly looked one of a kind when she stepped into her dress. Her mother and sister helped lace her up.

I found David and his boys upstairs having some beers and discussing the big day. They were also reading the instructions on the pocket square manual. 🙂 I made them all pile on the bed and take a picture. I think they loved it.

Everyone headed to the Desert Botanical Gardens for the ceremony. It was a warm sunny day in El Paso. The ceremony area was a covered patio and surrounded by native plants to El Paso. Friends and family filed in and waited for the bride to enter. David waited nervously at the altar for Elissa. This sweet guy teared up as the stunning bride was escorted down the aisle by her father. A huge smile spread over Elissa’s face as she saw David for the first time.

The couple’s close friend, DJ officiated the ceremony. He surprised Elissa with a special edition of her favorite book, Alice in Wonderland. The first time she saw the gift was when he presented it at the altar to read his notes for the ceremony. The ceremony was short and sweet. They exchanged vows and took part in a hand wrapping tradition to bind the couple together. They shared their first kiss as newly weds and threw up the rock symbol as they enthusiastically made their way back down the aisle hand in hand.

After the ceremony we headed back to the hotel to load up on the Dryft Party Bus. The white bus pulled up to the hotel and this little old lady with white hair steps out. She’s wearing and leopard print shirt, white pants and lavender lipstick. She is grandmother goals.

It was an old school bus painted white and decked out with stripper poles, club lights and a Michael Jackson video on repeat! The wedding party blasted music, danced and drank beer. We headed to our first stop at Memorial Park to take some pictures of the wedding party.

Our next stop was Tom Lea Park overlooking downtown El Paso where I took photos of the new husband and wife. I couldn’t take just typical pictures of these two though. A couple months before the ceremony I suggested to Elissa that we use some smoke bombs to make their pictures Epic and that’s what we did. We made some epic smoke bomb wedding photos.

It was time to head to Selarom Ballroom to get the party started. The sun was setting and casting a gorgeous light through the windows of the ballroom. The tables were decorated with crystal skulls…yasss! Pink and black guitar picks that said “David picks Elissa” were sprinkled on the tables. The three tiered cake was a conglomeration of ribbons and white chocolate skulls that smelled ahhhmazing.

David and Elissa shared their sweet first dance. They seemed calm in each others arms and a sense of “we finally did it” hung between them. As sweet as their first dance was, the real surprise came in the form of the daddy/daughter dance. The wedding day was the first day that I had met Elissa’s dad. Just knowing him briefly, he seemed to be a quiet man, who seemed like a real guy’s guy. I found him hanging out with David and the groomsmen earlier in the day. He got around with the help of a walker and oxygen. Having said that, you would think the first dance would have been a slow side to side sway between father and daughter. Nope. Wrong.

It did start out with a sweet back and forth sway to Butterfly Kisses which always makes me cry, but suddenly made a 180 about thirty seconds in to Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes and they started twisting and boogying on the dance floor. They really rocked out when Turn Down for What Remix kicked in. The grins and surprise from everyone in the room said it all. He had the time of his life dancing with his daughter. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room after that dance.

The wedding party looked like they had a blast dancing. I’ve been saying everyone in El Paso has the “good dancer” genes. Guests took turns in the photo booth wearing funny hats and masks. The bride and groom even had a chocolate fountain that looked absolutely divine. People were lined up to the back wall to get a little chocolate fountain action.

The bride and groom had the bouquet and garter toss, but not before David tried the garter on his head. #weddingtrophy

The dollar bills started flying when all the guests jumped in line to pay for a dance with the bride and groom. I think they racked up enough cash to enjoy several good honeymoon dinners. 🙂

It was such a pleasure to be able to photograph this wedding. David and Elissa are great people and are so perfect for each other. There is just a sense of calm when they’re in each other’s presence. I loved photographing this unique wedding and I want to wish these newly weds a very happy life long marriage!

Cheers (to the Chews!)

Enjoy this snippet of photographs from the Chew’s wedding day.

Watch me whip…watch me nay nay.

Nancy + Andy

The vibe of this wedding definitely didn’t start like it ended! And it ended with a bang!

I began the day at Nancy’s house as she got ready for the day without all the hustle and bustle that normally occurs during wedding prepping. It was just Nancy, her mother, father, brother and niece that helped her get ready. Her mother, Gracie, helped the beautiful bride put on her wedding dress from White Lace Bridal Boutique in El Paso. Her train was long and the top of her dress was full of rhinestones and sparkles. She wore beautiful blue shoes with a crystal pendant on the tops.

The first time her father, Jose Silva, stepped into the room to see his daughter after she was dressed was full of quiet emotion. There wasn’t a huge outburst but you could tell by the look on his face that he was holding back tears. Nancy hugged her father as Nancy’s brother entered to see the final results.

The finishing touches were applied when her father and brother put on Nancy’s earring and her mother helped with her beautiful diamond bracelet.

Nancy’s niece, Naomi, helped Nancy put on her sparkly white flats so that she could comfortably and stylishly, walk around. Then she helped her put on her garter that was adorned with a blue flower.

A few of Nancy’s bridesmaids showed up at the house to help with last minute details. After everyone was prepped and ready to go, Jose, Nancy’s father, helped her into the black Charger that was waiting to take her to the ceremony.

We caravanned to San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church, where Andy and the groomsmen were already waiting. Another wedding had just finished up and that party was right outside the church taking pictures and and mingling. The priest was preparing for Nancy and Andy’s ceremony.

Their ceremony quickly got underway not long after we arrived. It was a traditional catholic ceremony. There was a simple guitar player at the side of the sanctuary playing soft music between prayers. Both Nancy and Andy’s parents along with the wedding party sat in the the front rows behind the couple as they prayed and took communion. A couple of members in the wedding party participated in the ceremony by reading scriptures. The maid of honor, draped the ceremonial lasso around the couple for unity and the best man presented coins to the bride and groom for good luck.

The newly-weds completed their prayers and were announced husband and wife. They marched out of the sanctuary followed by their family and friends. I caught Andy as he wiped his brow as they exited the church. Following the ceremony they spent some time in the church’s foyer greeting friends and family.

After the ceremony, it was time to load up and head to take pictures of the wedding party. We went to Memorial Park and I began lining up the bridesmaids in their blue lace dresses. The groomsmen arrived and made a bee-line for the snack truck. Andy was kind enough to bring Nancy and bite of hamburger and a blue slushee to re-energize. I managed to squeeze the whole wedding party under some shade and snapped a few fun pictures of them before everyone melted in the heat.

I took Nancy and Andy to their own photo spot at the El Paso Rose garden. As we walked through the garden, I snapped pictures of them dancing and enjoying each other’s company among the pink roses with the appropriate titles.

It was time for us to head to the reception, the Mariachi trio was playing at the door as Andy and Nancy entered the EPIC rail yard. The reception area didn’t need much decorating, because the place is so awesome already, but they had some roses and succulents scattered throughout and painted blue vases on tables that tied the decor together. There were beautiful carved wooden elephants that greeted everyone as they signed the guest canvas. Trains were passing by the windows right out side the receptions room. They weren’t loud, I don’t even remember hearing them over the DJ’s music.

Dinner was served and it was the groom, Chef Andy’s, own recipes. A delicious herbed chicken served with perfectly seasoned veggies and mashed potatoes. People lined up to be served and then hit the bar for refreshments.

After the announcing of the wedding party, I quickly grabbed Nancy and Andy and ran up to the rooftop and took a few more awesome pictures of the couple in the setting sun. The buildings of downtown El Paso stood off in the distance and the Franklin Mountains were directly behind them.

Nancy and Andy shared their first dance, followed by heartfelt father/daughter dance and Andy’s dance with his mother, Gloria who cried as she danced with her son.

I think the coolest part of the night was when the DJ pulled out a huge bin of those long colored balloons. Almost everyone was out of their chairs swinging balloons in the air to the music. The colors of the lights and the balloons accompanied by the awesome music really got the party started! (I’m sure the open bar helped too 😉 )

I had never seen a reception with such a cool party atmosphere. It was definitely REALLY fun. Young and old alike had a blast dancing and swinging the balloons through the air.

I have to give the DJ, Rhythm and Dance Factory D.J. Service, some props because they did an amazing job keeping the party going and their lights were amazing! They were an awesome team.

Another part of the reception that I thought was really cool, was when the DJ had Nancy and Andy make a bridge with their hands as they stood high up above their guests in chairs. The party single-filed under the Diaz bridge and snaked around the room until the song ended.

After the dance train, it was time for the garter and bouquet toss. The bride tossed the bouquet from high up on her chair to her single ladies and the groom flung the garter into the small crowd of single gents, but not before he wore the garter on his head.

At midnight, it was Nancy and Andy’s actual 10 year anniversary of being together, so they shared that moment together dancing and then invited the other couples to join them on the dance floor. Everyone had some dance skills. Must be in the El Paso water.

I left the reception with everyone still partying into the night.

Cheers to Andy and Nancy!

Vendors
Flowers: Angie’s Flower-Erika Pegueros-dreamweddingselpaso@gmail.com
Cake: Angie’s Flower-Erika Pegueros- dreamweddingselpaso@gmail.com
Hair: Sol Hair Illusions, Lupe Solis, https://www.facebook.com/solhair.illusions
Wedding Dress: White Lace Bridal Boutique, http://whitelaceboutique.com
Bridesmaid dresses: Bridal-Novas, Silvia, https://www.facebook.com/Novas-Bridal-Wear-Evening-Wear-Collections-165539690153896/
Tuxes: The Tux Shoppe, Chito Aguilar, www.elpasotuxshoppe.com
Mariachi: Mariachi Trio-Los Aventureros, David Martinez, www.facebook.com/triolosaventureros.com
DJ: Rhythm & Dance Factory DJ’s / Pro DJ Rentals, https://www.facebook.com/RDFactory/?surface=rese

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