Evida and Frankie are the real deal. Getting to photograph their wedding has been one of the highlights of 2019 for BANG Images! The overall positive energy of the entire wedding party and the love between Evida and Frankie is what made it so wonderful. I asked Evida to tell me a little about their relationship. She and Frankie met in early 2015 while in grad school at UAB. Soon after they met, he got a job offer he couldn’t refuse as a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard. They decided to embark on a long distance relationship and have been traveling back and forth between Boston and Birmingham once a month to see each other ever since. He proposed in August of 2017. Evida graduated from medical school the day before her wedding! She’ll be starting a Pediatric Residency program at Boston Children’s hospital and is finally able to join Frankie in Boston!
Oh, the diagonal stream of light coming in through the windows at Iron City was such a gift to this photographer! The next image of Evida is one of my favorites from the day. I love the contrast of her dark lashes against the white veil too.
Their excitement over getting married was evident with this awesome victory dance down the aisle after being announced “Husband and Wife.”
Sixth Avenue Baptist Church has a gorgeous, large magnolia tree in front of the building. It was perfect for our afternoon portraits.
Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham is a beautiful church with rich honey toned wooden doors in the front and lovely brickwork. The richness of the warm tones in these couple’s portraits makes me so happy! It’s hard to believe these images aren’t from a styled shoot and are really from an actual wedding!
The wedding party traveled to and from the church in a Hummer Limo, which provided plenty of room and was quite comfortable. I joined them to capture a few photos on our way to the reception at Iron City Birmingham.
I’ve been photographing weddings since 2000 and I’ve never cried at the announcement of the bride and groom. They’re usually short and sweet, and pretty happy entrances with many people clapping and some cheering; but this one was different. A crowd swarmed around Evida and Frankie as dancing and clapping erupted. It was a moving display of celebration and one of the biggest surprises of the day. I’m an emotional person by nature and music heightens that, but when you add family and friends and the excitement of an unexpected dance party, well, that produced some tears. You could literally feel the positive energy in the room!
The groom and groomsmen planned a choreographed dance for Evida that they performed toward the beginning of the reception. What a cool idea!
Just before sunset, the videographer asked Evida and Frankie if they’d like to go outside and they agreed. Man, am I glad they did!
The night was a wonderful fusion of traditional African dances and songs and contemporary music. It was so much fun taking it all in as an observer. It was even more fun getting to document it all as a photographer.
I think they really enjoyed their wedding day as did their guests and vendors! What a beautiful union and solid couple! Just look at how happy they are! Congratulations Heywards!
Second Shooter: Andi Rice https://www.instagram.com/riceandi/
Vendors:
- Wedding Dress- Bella Couture https://www.bellacouture.com/
- Bridesmaids’ Dresses- Bella Bridesmaids https://bellabridesmaids.com/
- Groom and Groomsmen’s Attire- Classic Tuxedo of Boston http://classictuxedo.com/#
- Engagement Ring- Diamonds Direct https://diamondsdirect.com/
- Bride’s Wedding Ring- Zales https://www.zales.com/
- Groom’s Wedding Ring- Zales https://www.zales.com/
- Florist Jacki Fontunato – Stylish Stems https://www.stylishstems.com/
- Ceremony Venue- Sixth Avenue Baptist Church http://www.sixthavebaptist.com/
- Reception Venue- Iron City https://www.ironcitybham.com/
- Wedding Planner or Day of Coordinator Planner- Yvonne Williams
- Day of Coordinator- Michelle Langdon https://www.ironcitybham.com/iron-citys-magic-maker/
- Hair- Brittney Moreland Official_hairby_b_ https://www.instagram.com/Official_hairby_b_/
- Makeup Joy Krystal- DangShawtyBeat https://www.dangshawtybeat.com/
- DJ- Lemac Tubman a.k.a. DJLyrical https://www.facebook.com/djlyrical1
- Videographer- https://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/rogm-films-birmingham/8a239be6021764e5.html
- Cake- Magic Muffins https://www.magicmuffinsonline.com/
- Catering- Iron City https://www.ironcitybham.com/
- Invitations- Pro Wedding Invites https://www.facebook.com/proweddinginvits/
These are stunning my friend!
Thank you! It’s one of my favs! Such a fun day!