Memorial Day 2017 will go down as one Johnathon and Aliah will not forget for as long as they live. The same may be true for me… here’s the story:

Johnathon and Aliah met in their small group at church. Aliah had just moved to Florida and he was the first person she met… needless to say, they instantly clicked! On their 2-year anniversary, Johnathon, who serves in the US Army, both graduated from Basic Training AND proposed to Aliah! It took about 0.2 seconds with these two to know that (1) they are crazy about each other, (2) they love Jesus, and (3) these 2 are big time family people!

As their wedding day wound to a close, we found out that Johnathon and Aliah were not going to be able to go on a traditional honeymoon, instead spending a night or two in Fort Worth before Johnathon had to report back. This got our wheels turning: we’d edited an entire wedding in 72 hours before… could we pull one off in just 24 hours to surprise our happy couple before they headed home?

YES.

YES WE COULD.

AND WE DID.

(How did the bride and groom react? Keep scrolling to find out!)

I called Aliah around lunchtime the next day to let her know her photos would be ready that night. We scheduled their Reveal (where we show a client all their magical photos from their Big Day) for 7pm. What I DIDN’T tell her was that I’d also managed to print a canvas for them to take home featuring one of our favorite images from the day. But as they got ready to head home, I had one more surprise for our bride and groom…

​(The happy couple with their canvas… less than 24 hours after their wedding!)

When I told another of our Square 8 Artists, Jacob, who shot Johnathon and Aliah’s wedding film, what I was doing, he didn’t want me to get to have all the fun… so he had edited together a 1-minute teaser/trailer for their Wedding Film within 24 hours as well. There were laughs, tears, and lots of “how is this possible?!” exclamations from the bride and groom, their 2 dads, and Ali’s sister, who had all come to share in the Reveal.

“We could not believe how quickly and gorgeously our images and video were!” they shared with us. “The photos and video teaser we received LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER OUR WEDDING, were stunning!” A few more tears, laughs, and a family hug later, and our happy couple was driving off into the sunset once again!

A great leader who has influenced my life often says that we should “do for one what you WISH you could do for all.” While 24-hour turnarounds are not our norm (it’s exhausting ensuring start-to-finish quality on a wedding gallery in such a short time!), it is always an honor in these special moments to provide a magical delivery like this. Johnathon and Aliah, we love you guys! Thanks for letting us capture your Big Day!

Check out more images from Johnathon and Aliah’s beautiful day below. Or, to view their full gallery, CLICK HERE

The Square 8 Team

Photography: Rob, Jordann

Cinematography: Jacob

The Vendor Team

Coordinator: Beth Bream

Venue: Dove Ridge Vineyard

Florals: The Flower Market on 7th Street

Band: The Wonders Band

Hair: Ashley Anderson

Makeup: Kaylee Patterson

Linens/Decor: Pam’s Catering Company

Dinner: Buddy’s Texas BBQ

Bar: Professional Bartending of DFW