jennifer & josh

After the ceremony, we headed inside the Airbnb for family photographs and a few candid moments while the rain continued outside. We weren’t sure if we would get the opportunity to make it to the beach, but we were keeping an eye on the weather and hoping for a little break.

And then, finally, the rain stopped. & We didn’t waste a second. We packed up and headed straight for the beach, just minutes away. And OH. MY. GOODNESS. The sky. The wind. The ocean. The waves were crashing, the clouds stretched across the horizon, and the entire beach had this incredible dark, dramatic atmosphere.

It was wild, moody, and absolutely beautiful.

And Jennifer and Josh just embraced every second of it. They ran along the shoreline, chased birds across the sand, laughed together, and let the wind carry Jennifer’s cape behind her. There was no worrying about perfect poses or keeping everything in place. Just two newlyweds enjoying their first moments of marriage along the edge of a stormy ocean.

And I got to photograph every bit of it. I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting ending to their wedding day.

Rooted in Kentucky. Drawn to Everywhere.

While Kentucky will always be home, sometimes love takes us a little farther.

Whether you’re planning an intimate ceremony close to home, a mountain elopement, or a wedding somewhere along the coast, I’d love to hear what you’re dreaming up.

Let’s make something beautiful together.

A Wedding Day after a Hurricane

When the Storm Became Part of Their Love Story

When the Florist Becomes the Bride

Let It Rain

Chasing the storm to the beach

I’ve photographed a lot of weddings over the years, and one thing I will always believe is that your wedding should feel like you.

Not what social media tells you it should look like.

Not what tradition says you have to do.

And certainly not what the weather forecast has planned.

Jennifer and Josh could have looked at those storm clouds and felt like their day was ruined. Instead, they embraced every bit of it. They stood in the pouring rain with their children, laughed when thunder interrupted their first kiss, and spent their first moments as a married couple running around a windswept beach. And somehow, every single part of it fit them perfectly.

I’m so incredibly grateful that our paths crossed again, this time hundreds of miles away from Kentucky.

Jennifer and Josh, thank you for trusting me to capture your day, for embracing the unexpected, and for reminding me that sometimes the most beautiful moments happen when we stop worrying about how things are supposed to go.

Here’s to a lifetime of love, laughter, and dancing through whatever storms come your way.

With love,

Ashton

⸻

An intimate Florida wedding filled with pouring rain, rolling thunder, windswept beaches, and a whole lot of love.

Some weddings go exactly as planned.

And then there are weddings like Jennifer and Josh’s. The kind where the skies open up, the thunder rolls, and everything you thought might go wrong somehow becomes everything that makes the day unforgettable. And honestly? I couldn’t imagine their wedding happening any other way.

A Little Backstory...

Before we get into the rain, the thunder, and those absolutely incredible beach portraits, I have to tell you a little about Jennifer. She is the incredibly talented woman behind The Ky Flower Girl, and our paths have crossed more times than I can count. She actually created my wedding bouquet and boutonniere back in 2019!

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside her at several weddings, and I’ve always admired what she does. Her floral arrangements are absolutely stunning, but it’s more than that. It’s the way she creates them. The attention to detail, the creativity, and the way she can take a handful of flowers and turn them into something beautiful.

So when the opportunity came to photograph her wedding, I was beyond excited. Originally, I was supposed to photograph Jennifer and Josh’s wedding last year, but life had other plans for them, and thankfully so.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks before our family vacation. We had already planned this trip to Florida when Jennifer reached out with a question. Their wedding plans had changed, and they were getting married in Florida on October 10th. Would there be any chance I could make it?

And wouldn’t you know it? I was already going to be in Florida! Sometimes things just have a funny way of working themselves out. So of course, I said yes!

As their wedding approached, we started keeping a very close eye on the weather. A tropical weather system was making its way through the region, bringing plenty of rain and some seriously unpredictable conditions. Hurricane Isaias was making landfall, quickly.

Jennifer had been sending me the most beautiful possible portrait locations. Gorgeous trees draped in Spanish moss, dreamy coastal scenery, and a beach just minutes from their Airbnb.

Everything was coming together. Well, everything except the weather.

By the time October 10th arrived, the rain was coming and going, and none of us knew exactly what the skies had planned. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about weddings, it’s that sometimes the unexpected moments end up being the ones you remember most. And this day was about to prove that.

When I arrived at their gorgeous Airbnb, Jennifer was still getting everything ready. And I don’t just mean herself. There she was, on her own wedding day, making boutonnieres for everyone else.

I couldn’t help but stand there and admire her.

Watching someone who’s spent so much time creating beautiful things for other people’s weddings finally prepare for her own was such a special moment. Her hands were moving quickly, putting together the sweetest little floral details while making sure everyone else had what they needed. Between the flowers, the kids, and everything happening around her, Jennifer was one of the last people to get ready. I grabbed a few photographs of her working because I couldn’t imagine not documenting that part of her day.

While everyone was getting ready, the weather had been unpredictable, with rain coming and going throughout the day. But almost as if Mother Nature had been waiting for her moment, as soon as Jennifer slipped into her wedding dress, the skies opened up.

And I mean POURING.

I’ll admit, I was a little worried. We had an outdoor ceremony ahead of us, and the rain was coming down hard. But She wasn’t worried at all. She told me that she actually LOVES the rain and storms, and honestly, she was completely okay with getting married in one. And suddenly, it all made sense. 

Outside, everyone scrambled to get tents up for their family and guests, but Jennifer and Josh weren’t looking for shelter. They were ready to get married, rain and all. With their children beside them, the rain pouring down, and their loved ones gathered around, they exchanged their vows. There was something so beautiful about watching two people embrace the day exactly as it was. No fighting the weather. No waiting for everything to be perfect.

They incorporated an Irish handfasting ceremony, symbolically tying the knot, and then came one of my favorite moments of the entire day.

Their first kiss.

As Jennifer and Josh kissed, a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed by an enormous crack of thunder. I’M NOT KIDDING. The timing was unreal. Everyone reacted, and Jennifer just laughed. Thankfully, I caught that moment, and it’s one of my favorite photographs from the entire wedding. 

Their wedding wasn’t beautiful despite the rain. The rain was part of what made it beautiful.

One of my favorite little details from the day was something Jennifer had brought to create floral and greenery arrangements with. It was a giant leaf! The second I saw it, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into their ring photographs.

Being in Florida, surrounded by water, I thought, why not take this gorgeous piece of her floral work and float it in the pool with their wedding rings? Sounds simple enough, right?

Well.

Turns out, the leaf didn’t actually float. 😂 So there we were, with Jennifer’s new sister-in-law holding the arrangement in place while I photographed the rings, knowing I’d be editing her hand out later.

And honestly? Worth it.

The final images brought together so many little pieces of their day. The water, the Florida setting, their wedding rings, and Jennifer’s incredible talent as a florist. I’ve always loved finding ways to make detail photographs feel personal rather than just pretty. And these weren’t just photographs of their rings. They were photographs of something Jennifer works with as a florist, holding the rings that represented the beginning of their marriage.

A little creativity, a little teamwork, and a little Photoshop magic. Sometimes that’s all it takes.