It’s not everyday you walk into a reception hall and see a massive cake with a dragon head adorning the top. Was I at the right place? Was this Katherine & Josh Heriford’s wedding?
(Cake by Edible Art by Sara — she’s based out of Lake of the Ozarks)
It was! There was the blushing bride —
And the grinning groom —
And a flower girl with the most fitting name — Violet!
And we can’t forget the groomsmen — the armed groomsmen. There’s a story here, I swear.
… those weapons the men in the wedding party are holding — it’s a wedding tradition between all of them. They gift each other weapons! Josh also mentioned armed weddings date back to the dark ages — and said the weapons were meant to help protect the ladies!
And with the groomsmen go the bridesmaids! This was a pose I first introduced at Matron of Honor Misty’s wedding — and Katherine wanted to make sure we got a pose like this for hers, too!
Misty also asked that I point out when I did this pose at her wedding — I was 6 months pregnant, laying on my back to get the shot! Haha.
Plus, dragons, fairies, themed drinks galore! What a fantastic wedding theme!
It was a hot weekend in Jefferson City, but Josh & Katherine’s wedding at Apple Creek Farm was still stunning.
The happy couple opted to do a reveal shoot — which is something I absolutely recommend. That means they stood back to back, and we had the groom turn around to get a first glance at his lovely bride before she walked down the aisle.
When he turned around, he couldn’t stop kissing her. He told me he was speechless. At that moment, he felt like the luckiest man on Earth. Or even Middle Earth. Maybe even in the entire Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.
After the reveal, the head-over-heels couple exchanged gifts. Katherine’s gift to Josh was rather sneaky on her part. She bought it at a convention called JordanCon. Josh had seen this pocket watch and loved it. He had planned to buy it, but didn’t have the money for it at the time.
Katherine secretly whispered to the woman selling it: “Can you hold this for me?” She went back and bought it later that day, Josh had no idea.
For Katherine’s gift, Josh bought her a charm bracelet with “Doctor Who” charms for their first Christmas together. A few months later, it broke. She had been wanting a new one, but never got one for herself.
Josh surprised her with a new bracelet, attached all of her old charms to it — and added a new addition: A Star Wars charm!
Seriously. These two. Can it get any cuter [oh, it can. Keep reading]?
Katherine had the longest, most beautiful veil I had ever seen. So long, that it started getting stuck on the brick as she walked down. Sometimes, the photographer also has to work in the damage control industry!
I saw the panic paint across her face as her veil kept snagging as she started the walk down the aisle toward her future husband, so I tapped a wedding guest on the shoulder who was sitting in the back and handed them the veil: “Could you?”
Phew, problem solved! You can see her holding the veil in this photo!
Thank you, wedding guest!
Their rings were also completely perfect for these two gamers — just look at what the inside of the band says:
“Score!” Perfect!
After the ceremony, Mr. & Mrs. Heriford made their way to the reception hall. This is where the dragons and fairies awaited us!
It was all handmade from their amazing wedding planner (and best friend and bridesmaid), Misty Stinnett!
Not to mention the groom’s surprise — a custom dragon topper for his giant pile of cookies (he doesn’t like cake), that was handmade by Misty’s husband, Steve! I seriously couldn’t get enough photos of all the decor, it was gorgeous!
One of the best games at the reception was a cake smash contest. Wedding guests voted on whose face the cake should be smashed into. It was pretty clear who the winner was:
And so …
I mean, he did lose fair and square!
There was also the first dance. It was so sweet, and they never took their eyes off each other once. It was a dance full of laughter, kisses, and twirls!
We at Kansas City Photography wish Josh & Katherine many, many happy years — thank you for letting us be a part of your most special day!
I wasn’t able to be at their wedding. Thank you for such a wonderful job capturing their day.
So glad it helped! It was a wonderful day!