Emily and Marco met in Denmark. I went to University of North Texas with Emily and our mutual group of friends. Most of them were the bridesmaids at the wedding here. In college, we all resided in the same dorm hall known as "Legends Hall". Emily was majoring in Fashion Designing Industry. She went to Europe one summer for study abroad. During her visit in Denmark, Emily met Marco. This was in 2011, I believe. Emily and Marco have been dating since then. They decided to get married last July in Denmark and then have a second wedding here in September of 2017. I offered to film their wedding and Emily was more than excited to have me capture her day. The wedding day was very reminiscing. It was at Hickory Street Annex (pictured above) in Dallas, TX, just east of Deep Ellum. The complex was initially a distribution center for Gulf Oil Corporation.
Hickory Street Annex - Dallas, Texas
It was built in 1921 and now serves a place for many small business owners. I have personally never been to this venue before Emily's wedding but after filming at this location, Hickory Street Annex is one of my favorite industrial wedding venues in Dallas, It can accommodate up to 200 guests. Another thing I really like is that they are a green venue.
I arrived at Hickory Street Annex around 1 pm to start filming the bridal prep. We always book weddings where we schedule our start time around prep because it helps us achieve shot that we need to make our film stories. We like to meet everyone in the bridal party and slowly build up to shots as everyone is getting ready. For this wedding, I knew most of the people in the bridal party because I went to college with them. It was wonderful seeing them again. They asked if I will be joining the party with them and I said, "indeed", when the dance floor opens later in the night. Brad, the photographer, was already there taking pictures and I really enjoyed working with him. I took the shoes and the dress in the cocktail area to start getting some footage. The wedding dressed hanged nicely by the mirror while I placed the shoes symmetrically around the window. Filming in the bridal suite was great. It had great light coming through the large, glass windows illuminating every make-up station.
Some back story of how Emily and Marco met...
Six years ago, on a sunny day in Amsterdam, Emily and Marco met in the living room of Emily's cousins in a quaint village outside Amsterdam. Emily had been traveling in England with her parents for 10 days, and then continued on to Amsterdam with her mom to visit family. Later that afternoon, after catching up with family, Emily and her cousin Steven were walking around the village when Steven remembered he had plans to go running that evening with a friend. Emily asked if she could come along.
Later that afternoon, when Emily and Steven were walking back to the house, Emily noticed a tall guy standing in the living room through the window, which happened to be Marco. They bonded over running over the next few days, and by the end of the week Marco asked if she and Steven would like to go out dancing in the city. After dancing the night away, Emily and Marco shared their first kiss and their first date a few days later.
A couple of days after their first date, Emily and her mom had to fly back to London as Emily had plans to study abroad that semester in London. 3 weeks after arriving in London, Marco traveled to see her. Over the next few months, they traveled through Europe together, getting to know each other. Once the semester ended, Emily had to return to Texas to finish her bachelor's degree. Marco and Emily traveled back and forth between Amsterdam and Texas over the next year. After a long year and a half of long distance, Emily moved to Amsterdam and they started their life together. 3 years later, Marco proposed in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower, one of the first cities they traveled to together. The wedding took a year and a half to plan, and came together beautifully. Marco and Emily had a blast partying the night away with their friends and family.
Running around as the bridal party was finishing up the prep was Emily's dog, Elodi. She was the cutest dog and a big part of the wedding. After prep the photographer and I took Marco outside to get him set for the first look. This was around the block from Hickory Annex. In this area, there were a lot of solid backgrounds and graffiti art where the couple was captured. We had a nice couple and family shoot during this period right before the ceremony too.
The ceremony took place on the same floor as the reception but just on the other side of the elevators. There was a beautiful floral arrangement in the background with the back lit windows behind where the couple and their friends stood. Emily and Marco entered into the covenant to the marriage by saying "I do". Emily walked down the aisle with her dad and to the soundtrack " A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. "Love is a response to power. Love is powerless. It is holy." These were some of the things that were said by the officiant to the couple. The couple did walk out of the aisle with their cute dog.
One of the great things I saw at the reception was this donuts board. It had all types of toppings and colors that made them so appetizing. We all had one and it was a very neat, unique thing in the reception I indulged myself into one as well and it was delicious.
Emily's mom recited a beautiful poem she found online during her speech. It spoke perfect about their relationship and it was very emotional moment of the night between them. This poem was found on Pinterest for mothers to daughters-
"How fast the year have flown since I brought my baby girl home
Memories made from pure gold I still remember the baby I used to hold
And it seems like only yesterday I used to smile as I watched you play
Dressing up having a ball you really were no trouble at all
Through teenage years you set the trend and my little girl became my best friend
We shop all day and have a world
My little one has become a gorgeous girl
And today I will brush away a few small tears
Those memories I will treasure for all my years
My love for you is plain to see and you will always mean the world to me
But today you will become a wife and so I wish you luck in your brand new life."
After the first dances and toasts, everyone in the wedding danced the night away with some great music by DJ and libations. We all danced the night out including myself as being a college friend of Emily's. It was definitely a wedding where we were all connected via our Alma Mater "Mean Green." You can see me enjoying myself at the party below.
We also had a chance, as the night was getting closer to the end, to take a group photo in remembrance of good old time at University of North Texas, with the Mean Green claw.
