Kelly + Theo | Kitty Knight House Wedding | Eastern Shore, MD

October 9, 2013

Kelly and Theo are awesome. I went to middle school with Kelly so I’ve known her for a long time, but we hadn’t talked in years before we first started talking about her getting engaged and the possibility of me photographing her wedding. I was excited about the prospect of photographing her wedding for superficial reasons at first (“Yay! Another gorgeous couple for my portfolio!” or “Cool, a wedding on the water!”) but as the next year went by I got to know her and Theo better and my main reason for being so excited for their wedding was because they are such an incredible couple and I couldn’t wait to witness what was sure to be a beautiful day in so many ways. I mean, come on, Theo proposed with a KITTEN! Clearly, this crazy cat lady (me) loves these two. As my friend Jess pointed out, their venue name even had Kitty in it… AND I learned during the Maid of Honor speech that her dad even gives their cat walks around the block on a leash. I love these people.

Their October wedding day was a chilly 90 degrees. Of course, as I’m writing this just a few days later the high temperatures are in the 50s. Go Maryland for being predictably unpredictable. Despite the unseasonable weather, it was an amazing day and we worked around the intense heat! No one melted, so I’ll mark that up as a personal success.

I started my afternoon off with Kelly while Jen was with Theo. Kelly’s new last name is long and hard to spell and pronounce, and I’m happy to say that I figured out how to pronounce it the first time and only missed ONE letter when spelling it from memory the other day. Heck yes.

Her dress is so stunning, but just wait until you see it on her. I loved the little sailboat decoration I found in their room!

Their first look is one of my all time favorites. Before Kelly even got to Theo she started crying. I was a little teary watching her compose herself and get ready to see her groom.

…and then he cried and I lost it.

Theo was so sweet, telling her how beautiful, amazing, perfect, she was and how it was everything he imagined and more seeing her in her wedding dress.

She certainly makes an absolutely stunning bride. I love everything about her bridal look.

Theo isn’t too bad looking himself ;) Quite the handsome groom indeed!

Love this couple!

Thinking back to the beginning of their engagement session and how nervous they were at first it makes me laugh. They were such seasoned pros by the wedding day. Totally rocking the posing and model face. I love every single portrait!

This next collage is what I like to call “Ode to Kelly’s Bouquet”. I LOVE it. I’ve never seen anything like it!

Given the chilly (blazing hot) temperatures I mentioned earlier, we stuck near the house for bridal party and bride and groom portraits during the early afternoon to keep everyone out of the heat and direct sunlight. We got more out on the lawn closer to sunset, but I actually really love how these all turned out!

Check this out! We actually got everyone on the stairs AND in the shade! And by “we” I mean Jen. She rocked it out staging this photo!

After a quick break inside for the bridal party to freshen up and relax a bit and for Jen and I to photograph the reception setup, it was time for the ceremony! It was truly beautiful.

We got some additional photos of the bridal party before they all headed off to enjoy the cocktail hour!

I was so excited about this wedding being on the bay-side of the Eastern Shore, knowing that the sun sets over the bay. It made for some pretty amazing photos.

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Their reception pavilion was beautifully decorated AND had an amazing view!

I love that in lieu of a traditional favor Theo and Kelly chose to donate to the ASPCA.

I’m including this photo simply to explain the money on the ground in the next shot. Each bridesmaid/groomsman couple came into the reception to their own song!

There were funny and emotional speeches by both the Maid of Honor and Best Man.

The cake was finally brought out at the end of dinner. It wasn’t brought out sooner to prevent it from melting. It was so pretty! I love Sugar Bakers. They do an amazing job and their cakes are DELICIOUS.

Daddy-daughter dances always make me cry. I’m such a daddy’s girl.

Right after Kelly and Theo cut the cake, Kelly pleaded with Theo “No smashing, PLEASE! NO smashing!” SO what does she do? Get him REALLY good. And her white dress stayed perfectly clean. Smart girl.

Jason Wallace from Absolute Entertainment was a master at keeping the dance floor going as always. He rocks.

Keep an eye out for this guy, he comes back.

I love this shot of Kelly and her awesome bridesmaid Karrianne! Karri is one of my brides for next year! I have the prettiest brides.

The couple that won the Anniversary dance had been married for 66 years. SIXTY SIX. That’s so amazing.

Oh look, it’s our friend again! He tried to hijack the garter removal. Lucky for Kelly, Theo stepped in and took over.

And of course, our friend CAUGHT the garter. These two were SO funny. I overheard a guest telling Kelly afterwards that there couldn’t have been a more perfect pairing to catch the bouquet and garter. I can’t disagree. They were certainly into it!