Tag: wedding

A Glorious Wedding

Your wedding is much like standing on a precipice.

Nacogdoches wedding photographer Greg Patterson at Union Springs venue in Garrison. — Your wedding is much like standing on a precipice.

One of the biggest privileges we have at our studio is photographing weddings. Over the last thirty years, we’ve photographed countless of them and each one different from the others. Some weddings stick out more than others, for instance when we photograph the wedding of people close to us. A couple of months ago, we did just that. Haley has been working at the studio for two years; in fact, you might have read her wonderfully-worded blog about her engagement. Two years in a small business among just a few employees can seem like a long time of relationship-building, because you share each other’s ups and downs and, in this case, life-changing events. We consider those close relationships a perk to running a small business.

Getting Married…

Getting married for most people must seem as if you’re standing on a precipice, at least if it’s your first. Culling through Haley and Kyle’s wedding pictures and seeing the looks of unabashed joy on their faces is enough to bring tears to my eyes. The more you admit to knowing very little about being married, I think the better. Thinking back to my own wedding thirty years ago, Greg and I, both of us twenty, didn’t know much about life except that we loved each other. Had we known more about the hardships that would come or the dreams we’d give up for one another, we might have called the whole thing off! Knowing so little, for us, proved to be a real asset. We learned as we went along, together! At times, the more experienced of the two of us patiently led the other through a trial. Other times, we both went blind with only each other to cling. There’s been more good times than bad. And, looking back, we consider each one a blessing if only for the fact we came away better for it. This wide-eyed optimism has gotten us through thirty wonderful years together. We pray the same for these two.

Thanks, Kyle and Haley, for letting us come along on the beginning of a great adventure!

Tags 2016, anniversary, East Texas, g. patterson studio, greg patterson, love, wedding

Blog Events Family News Portrait Sessions

About being engaged

Moon_236a — Kyle and Haley engaged and loving it!

“Engage in the little moments, you never know which of those will actually be the big moments,”

There is no possible way to convey to you the magic that was August 15, 2015. Engage your attention with me for a moment. I thought, lying there looking up at the stars, I was simply opening my graduation present from my Kyle. Little did I know that at the bottom of that much desired, fox cookie jar, there would be an art deco engagement ring picked out specifically for….me!? I was only expecting cookies! Sneaky boy.

There are very few days that are more important to me than August 15. I woke up, I walked the stage, and I celebrated with family and friends. My folks spoiled me like they do, my brother and sister-in-law came to cheer me on, and my best friends even surprised me by driving all the way from Ft. Worth to celebrate! It was unlike any other day, and that was only the beginning. Moving to Nacogdoches from Houston almost four years ago, I never imagined I’d be marrying a BIN(born-in-Nac, if you will) or building a house on 11 acres of fresh air! I suppose it is still too soon to say, but come April 9, I will be a Compton. I will be a wife!?

This engagement has taught me

This engagement has taught me to “engage.” August 15 Kyle proposed and we found ourselves…engaged in a planning process like no other. Engaged to one another, planning to commit the rest of our forever to being together. It has been an absolute blast. We have engaged in planning our big day, we have engaged in Bible study together, we have engaged in planning not simply a wedding, but a life that will build each of us up and result in two better people. Engagement is much more than a ring and a wedding. Though that may seem obvious, it is easy to make the wedding the big event, and not the life you live after that day.They say the stresses come and go. And sure they have come, but when you have someone so supportive, so silly, and so solid to stand by you, it is a real adventure. To find someone who finds the best in you and cherishes every ounce of your flawed self is something irreplaceable. I never expected to find someone who I adore so much, yet slum around with like a best friend. He is like the 3-in-1 shampoo-conditioner-soap… but obviously better. He makes up the best songs, tells the craziest stories, prays with me and for me, and encourages me on the daily. I am richly blessed.

This season of engagement has taught us a lot about each other, ourselves, and has helped us realize how incredibly blessed we are by a wonderful family, church family and so many supportive friends. The people I have met here have become so special to me and I cannot picture a better group of encouragers to be surrounded by. Engaging in this Nac life has been a small slice of heaven!

…not to mention our incredible photographers! Greg and Cindy hired me almost two years ago. Engaging in their business, their work at SFA, and raising three awesome kids seems to come naturally to them. I know it doesn’t. They work hard and they are two prime examples I have been blessed to know. Our parents have put up with Kyle and myself for, well, our entire lives.. now that is perseverance! If only I can invest myself and engage my best in all I do… I’ll know where and who these great qualities come from!

Moon_200b — Kyle and Haley engaged with having fun!

Tags anniversary, azalea garden, blooms, engagement, G. Patterson, g. patterson studio, Nacogdoches, Photographer, Portrait, Portraits, professional, studio, wedding

Blog Children Events Family Portrait Sessions Rambling Travel Weddings

One great afternoon in Nacogdoches

Post author By cpatterson
Post date April 29, 2015
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HALPIN FAMILY-This weekend we met with two families we hadn’t seen for a few years. They’d each been a part of Nacogdoches for different reasons. The Halpins came, as many do, to SFA to further their studies. In fact, both Michael and April were students of Greg’s in the Communications Dept. They asked Greg to photograph their wedding here in Nacogdoches fifteen years ago.

Conditt Family-A portrait session in the Ruby Mize Azalea Garden brought Becky’s family together this weekend. Though Becky and her daughter have lived away from Nacogdoches for awhile, Clint calls it home, for now. We reminisced about how Sabina, during her portrait session when just 4 years old, was happier to pull the flowers than pose for the camera. When Greg finally got her attention, she looked up angelically still with fists full of flowers.

Later, as I reflect on all of this, I’m happy to have shared some important moments with them, and for the opportunity to reconnect. I think about other people and families who we’ve built relationships along the way, and how this small town brings us together at different times and for all kinds of reasons. It seems that we’ve changed so much more than has the town. Sure, many businesses and restaurants have come and gone, and many of the people who were once here have moved on. But, much of it is still the same, and that’s comforting especially to those who’ve been away for awhile.

Many, many years ago, a college town became our home away from home when we came from Dallas to attend SFA. Although we didn’t intend it, Nacogdoches became home when we started our family. Now, as our kids are turning into adults and moving away, I can’t imagine living elsewhere. Sure, we talk about all the fun and exciting locations where we might move upon retirement, but this will always be the spot to which we come back. After all, what better place to spend an afternoon with friends and family.

Tags 2015, anniversary, children, East Texas, family, flowers, fun, G. Patterson, g. patterson studio, garden, greg patterson, Nacogdoches, Photographer, Portraits, professional, wedding

Blog Family Portrait Sessions Rambling Weddings

Photographer Needed

When people find out that our oldest, Jessica, is getting married, invariably one of the questions they ask is, “Who’s going to be the photographer?” Her father will be walking her down the aisle, after all. But, before we ever get to that point, Greg’s been able to do for her what he’s done for so many other brides over the past twenty five years. Because, what many brides want nowadays is the whole experience caught on camera, not just the wedding.

Jessica is fortunate to have a wonderful fiancee who recognizes the importance of capturing life’s moments on camera, big and little. So, they have pictures of the moment he proposed atop a mountain in Utah. Since then, we’ve taken many more of their story together. Some for the “Save the Date” cards, some more of their engagement, and a few in between. There will undoubtedly be many taken on the actual wedding day. Most of these Greg will take, but we’re not sure who’ll be taking pictures during the actual ceremony. The album we layout for a newly married couple is very appropriately called a “Storybook.” Here’s a small montage of Jessica and Grant’s story so far.

Tags 2014, beautiful, bridal, engagement, family, first glance, G. Patterson, g. patterson studio, save the date, wedding

Blog Weddings

How will you tell your love story?

Post author By Greg Patterson
Post date August 4, 2014
No Comments on How will you tell your love story?

Wedding storybook album spread of bride and groom by G. Patterson Studio.

Summertime is wedding season! We’ve had so many walk-ins and phone calls from brides and mother’s of the bride during the past few months, it seems like everyone is in love and getting married.

There are love stories to unfold… and then be told… and retold.

The photographer’s story is not so much a love story as… well… a story of anxiety, excitement, fatigue, joy, nostalgia, hope, and stress. As a photographer, a wedding brings with it a mixture of emotions for sure. We’re genuinely thrilled for the happy couple, but we simultaneously realize the gravity of the situation. When photographing a wedding, emotions and stress levels are already red-lining. Add to that the daunting task of getting the shot right the first time…. because the first time is often the only chance you will have. The day of the wedding, we put our game faces on, and pray that a thousand different people running around doing a thousand different things miraculously comes together at just the right moment in just the right way… and we are there to capture it all.

But enough about the photographer. It’s the bride and groom’s love story that is the one worth telling.

A few weeks ago, Greg Patterson and his wife Cindy photographed my baby brother’s wedding. The day included the usual happy tears, nervous hand wringing, goofy characters, loving reunions, and friendly fair wells. The bride was beautiful and my brother was beaming with joy. Rings and vows were exchanged without incident. It was a beautiful day. And then, somehow, the day that took months to plan was over in the blink of an eye.

“I thought you were going to tell me a love story,” you say. Well, this love story will be told the same way we tell all our other love stories… Photographs delicately arranged in a stunning “Storybook Album” that tells of nervous anticipation, hopeful expectations, overflowing hearts, divine union, thoughtful commitment and the details that connect one moment with the next. The compilation of my brother’s wedding love story is not yet complete, but is well on its way. I’ve included a glimpse of some of his story’s pages.