They were supposed to be getting married in Costa Rica at an all inclusive resort that would have made for an incredibly easy wedding day. But instead, three months before their day, they had to pivot hard and figure out how to turn their backyard in Decatur, TX into a magical wedding venue to come close to rivaling Costa Rica.
With their ceremony view being a pasture for cows and an iron fence, Emily was incredibly strategic and created a gorgeous DIY backdrop with floating artificial flowers which turned out to be the star of the show.
I got introduced to the Oxford fam a couple years back by getting the honor of photographing Emily’s sister Sara’s wedding in 2019. I very quickly fell in love with this kind and generous family who prove that they love people deeply within minutes of meeting them. So when Emily reached out to me about being a part of their small 40 person destination wedding I was over the moon. A chance to spend more time with this sweet family and document E+C’s love in a gorgeous place?! Doesn’t get much better than that.
But then COVID hit. The week before lockdown we had E+C’s engagement session scheduled. I was surprisingly supposed to shoot 7 sessions in 9 days that week. Including 2 wedding days in those 9 days. This was the aftermath of from some random reschedules, but it turns out everything worked out perfectly. So I had a whole week in March, with no rain, that let me photograph every session, and E+C’s session happened to be one of those. We went to one of my favorite locations, hiked our way through some humidity, and experienced our last semblance of normal together, dreaming of being in Costa Rica together in just a few months.
Through the next few months – everything was uncertain. As it was for all of us. But the Oxford ladies amidst all of the chaos made it happen. They put all of the beautiful pieces together, had a sweet friend come out do work on one of the most beautiful floral installs I’ve seen in a minute.
Leading up to the day we were praying hard for a gorgeous weather day, as we had hit 100 degrees already in early June. But instead we woke up to 20mph winds, a brisk 88 degrees, and the most LOVELY weather in the middle of June.
After all of the planning, all of the pivoting, we still got to celebrate Emily + Chad’s love, even in the midst of a pandemic. But at least we got to do it while smelling fresh pineapples from their centerpieces.
Emily got to get ready in her parents bedroom, the same bedroom that her sister Sara got ready in a year and a half before. Chad got to take photos in their airplane hangar with their incredibly cool planes. The day was sweet and full of many intimate moments that I believe will reign even sweeter because of all that’s going on around us.
These stories of making something joyful out of disappointment will probably be my fondest memory from this crazy time.
I love you big E+C. ♥️ .
I hope you enjoy going through this beautiful day.
Rachel Meagan is a North Texas Wedding Photographer based in the greater DFW area. Available for travel worldwide. She specializes in photographing ridiculously in-love couples who have a desire to document that love.
