How much did I love this wedding? Start with a stellar venue for prep time– Rachel got ready at the lovely Swann’s Nest bed and breakfast located just a mile beyond Keeneland on the way out towards Versailles.

She and John had their first meeting that day on the grounds there and it was a superb place for portraits.

Her Vera Wang dress was stunning– easily one of the top 5 dresses I’ve seen on any bride in my career, New York or Kentucky or anywhere else– more importantly, the way she just started bursting with a mix of joy and confidence when she stepped into it… simply breathtaking.

Combine that with an Orthodox Christian wedding, with its own sense of mystery in its rituals, the crowns, the incense, the room full of traditional iconography… you end up with a wedding that really stands out in its uniqueness here in the Bluegrass.

I’m so in love with this wedding that this look at it will be a two-parter, so that you can focus on the beauty of the first half of the day before diving into the fun of the reception next week! Click through for more images from this one after the jump…

In ancient Rome, they used to have a calendar of 355 days in a year, and if the High Pontiff of their state religion didn’t add an extra month of 20 days every two years, eventually, the calendar would get out of whack and you’d have the seasons get matched up to the wrong months.

On a day as beautiful as it is today in Lexington, I think we’ve gone back to that system.

I went down to Keeneland today. One of my recent brides, Heather, is down at the sales, and I wanted to give her the new copy of Jacki Allen’s Premier Bride Lexington, because one of the stories in the magazine (pages 192-193) features Heather’s wedding. Heather loved the story, and her friends were oohing and aahing over the pictures! Her folks also mentioned that the Christmas cards I designed and the custom gift albums I did for her flower girls’ Christmas gifts were a big hit.

After we finished over there, I went down to the sales pavilion to see some of her horses being auctioned off. I tell you, I’m listening to the auctioneer’s rat-a-tat-tat delivery, and I’m thinking, “I wonder if he gets enough oxygen in between words to not get light-headed?”

Anyway, it was great to see Heather and her family again. Like I always say, my brides and their families become my friends as we go through this process.