It’s weddings like this one that remind my why I love wedding photography so much. The entire day was nothing short of magical- spent with the most amazing people celebrating a love that is so perfect, so destined to be, that you could feel it in the air. Alli and John Michael’s fall wedding was held at Dixon Garden and Galleries, and it was filled with beautiful florals and autumn colors.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to play a role in Alli and John Michael’s wedding day. I am such a fan of these two and I can’t wait to share this day with all of you!

Mackenzie

“I have always dreamed  of my wedding, who I would marry, what the night would look like. When I was in college I saw pictures from a wedding at the Dixon and I told my mom one day I hope I could get married there. Fast forward to John Michael and I getting engaged, that following week we had lined up several tours to some Memphis venues. We really wanted something in the heart of Memphis that would be easy for people to get to. We toured the Dixon first and fell in love! They had a couple dates open for the fall and October 9th sounded perfect. It truly was the perfect night from the venue, vendors and weather!” – Alli

“I had been going to OrangeTheory Fitness for a couple years and never thought twice about meeting someone there. Until one day I saw John Michael attending the class before mine and I thought he was so cute. Weeks went by and I would always see this cute new boy in classes but we never talked. It wasn’t until a couple weeks later when I was at Railgarten one night with some friends and saw John Michael from a far. I told my friends this was my moment I had to say something to him. We talked for a bit that night and so it began.” – Alli

“After that night at Railgarten, John Michael and I would see each other at OrangeTheory classes and talk between classes. Slowly but surely he started attending the same classes, and we followed one another on Instagram. A month later he slid into my DM’s and invited me to watch the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game with him and some friends. I couldn’t make it that night, but he ended up asking for my number and later asked me on our first date to Las Delcias (one of our favorites). We talked all night, literally closing the restaurant down. It was the perfect first date!” – Alli

“I knew I wanted to ask Alli to marry me before the end of the year in 2020 and had started the process of ring shopping early that fall. I finally pulled the trigger on a ring and when it arrived I knew it was time to go ask her parents’ blessing. So I reached out to her dad from work one day and asked if I could take him to lunch, and remember saying something along the lines of ‘you may know what this is about’ with a laugh. I ended up picking up Huey’s (which was coincidentally the first meal I ever had with Alli’s parents when we met a couple years before) and spent a few hours with them and got their blessing. A couple days later, Alli was taking me to dinner for my birthday downtown and I knew this was my chance. I reached out to my cousin, Whitney, who is a photographer and and our friends Todd and Stephanie to see if they had plans, as they were the most believable of our couple friends to be downtown and want to meet for drinks at the Peabody after our dinner. We ate at Felicia Suzanne’s and walked to the Peabody after to get a drink and see the Christmas decorations and when Stephanie asked if we wanted a picture by the tree, Whitney’s camera started flashing and I hit and knee and the rest is history. She was surprised and it went off without a hitch.” – John Michael

“All of my vendors truly went above and beyond. I would recommend each and everyone of them to all future brides!

For starters Mackenzie with Taylor Square was amazing. This was something John Michael was not looking forward to, he wasn’t sure he would enjoy taking all the pictures. Mackenzie made him so comfortable from the engagement pictures and it got him excited about all our pictures at the wedding! She orchestrated everyone so effortlessly, from a group of groomsmen watching the Ole Miss game mid pictures, to making sure we had all the perfect shots! 

Victoria Tigrett with Hardin House made wedding planning a breeze! She was so organized and made sure everything went smoothly this entire season. She took such a load off my mom and I thinking through everything little detail.

John Mark made all my floral visions come to life! He is so creative and does such beautiful work I knew everything would turn out amazing regardless. Every floral meeting he knew exactly what was needed and the day turned out beautiful thanks to him! 

McLaine Craig with Halo Salon did far more than she had to. Besides doing incredible makeup for everyone. She touched up makeup all morning, stayed around when pictures started to make sure everything was good to go!   

Last but not least Maggie Louise made dress shopping such a fun and easy process! Molly and her team did such a good job of figuring out my style before my appointment, they knew exactly what dresses to try. It was such an intimate process having the store to myself. After picking out my dress they had several follow up’s that were so helpful, they really know what they’re doing!” – Alli

“I really wanted our wedding day to be timeless and classic, I wanted something we could look back on 50 years from now and love every detail. I feel like every little detail was just perfect for John Michael and I.” – Alli

“One of my favorite things we did at the wedding was honoring our grandparents and parents. We are both very family oriented and really wanted a way to recognize them. At the guest book table we had wedding pictures from each of our parents and grandparents big day. For our grandparents who have passed we had pictures of each of them on my bouquet, it made us feel like we had a little piece of them with us there that day!” – Alli

“One of John Michael’s friend told us we should take a moment to step back and take everything in. It was tough to get a moment, between making our rounds to see everyone and all the dancing. But the few moments we got to step back or step on stage it was so special to just see all of our loved ones celebrating with us!” – Alli

“My advice for future brides would be not to fret the little stuff! At the end of the day it’s about you and your significant other getting married! I’m such a planner, I tried to think of every little thing possible and prepare for anything that may have come up. Half of those things John Michael and I didn’t even get a chance to see and it didn’t even phase us. The day went on without a hitch regardless of the little things!” – Alli

“It was really important to us that we spent the night dancing with our friends. We’ve always loved being front row on the dance floor. At the very beginning of the reception we made our rounds to see everyone. But the last several hours we never left the dance floor! We have loved seeing pictures and videos from that night with all our friends and family tearing it up!” – Alli

“I’ve always had this odd dream of crowd surfing.. I kept telling John Michael it would be so cool if we could crowd surf on our wedding night. For weeks John Michael kept telling me that was a terrible idea, one of us could get hurt knowing our group of friends. Low and behold wedding night with a few drinks in John Michael asked if I wanted to crowd surf and sure enough he made it happen! A dream come true!” – Alli

“Everyone kept telling us the day would fly by, it truly did and we were shocked! I wish we could relive it all over again in slow motion. When the band called final song we were all chanting ‘one more song’ because we didn’t want the night to end!” – Alli

Lead Photographer: Mackenzie Rue | Second Shooter: Lindsay Pace | Dress Store: Maggie Louise | Dress Designer: Rita Vinieris | Bridesmaids Dresses: Bella Bridesmaids- Memphis | Groomsmen Attire: Joseph A. Bank and Oak Hall | Cakes: Miss Muffin | Venue: Dixon Gallery and Gardens | Coordinator: The Hardin House | Flowers: John Mark Sharpe | Invitations: Wild Rabbit Press | Rentals: White Door Events and Mahaffey Tent | Band: Party Planet | Rehearsal Venue: Acre | Videographer: Dear Little Films | Caterer: Hog Wild – A Moveable Feast | Hair: Annie Shackleford Coates | Makeup: McLaine Craig – Halo Salon | Prepartation Accommodations: One Fine Day, Memphis Airbnb | Bride + Bridal Party Earrings: Ashley Woods Designs | Ceremony Music: Simply Strings | Spray Tans: Honey Spray Tan | Bridesmaids Pajamas: Lake Pajamas