Janet Butler 
If you appreciate “roots” — both school and family — then you’ll love this couple’s approach to their wedding day as pictured by Stephen DeVries. Having met at Auburn University where the groom played football, they wed in Jasper, Alabama, and started out their new life in woods around the bride’s childhood home. The bride, clearly at home in more ways than one, is all smiles as she gets her makeup and hair done; meanwhile, a careful caravan brings the wedding gown, a frothy confection of white lace, down the stairs to dress her. In gossamer veiling, the bride clutches a bouquet of pink, orange, and white and smiles in the summer sunshine as she poses for shots outdoors — and indoors, with her favorite “doggie” member of the wedding making sure her train stays in place.
The groom presents a surprise pendant for his bride to wear; he’s a sight in elegant black suit and silvery tie, while the maids look elegant in yellow satin — that is, until they (and the bride) get their “cowgirl” on with colorful boots! They slip into silvery heels for the “real thing,” surrounded by adorable flower girls in white, looking as angelic as the seraphim in the stained-glass dome above them. One peeks around the corner to get the “lay of the land” before they move up the aisle. Once the ceremony is over, the party processes to a reception hall where they share a bridal cake decked with flowers…and a groom’s cake “decked” with an Auburn Tiger. With a few dances, a toast or two, and a bouquet toss, they’re sent off with much love into their new life.
