Hawkily Ever After: Family Formals

Once the excitement died down, many of our guests headed to cocktail hour while we took our formals. Our photographer, Valerie, suggested against doing photos at the altar. She advised that in her experience, they tend to appear overly stiff. We went back to Wren's courtyard area, which was the perfect backdrop.

We started with our adorable niece and flower girl, who now thinks I'm a princess because of the wedding. Isn't that sweet? Our next photo was with my new in-laws...

... and then Mr. Hawk's immediate family.

 Momma and Daddy Hawk were up next...

...and Sissy Hawk jumped in.

I am so glad that we chose to do our formals outside because the light streaming through the trees was just lovely for our newly combined Hawk family photo.

Although we chose not to take individual shots with each family in attendance, we did a giant group shot of my side family...

 ...as well as Mr. Hawk's.

This kept our formals short and sweet, and allowed us to head straight to cocktail hour! But before we did, I asked Valerie to take one last photo: a shot of new rings!

Are you planning on doing a lot of formals? Or would you like to keep it short and sweet?

All photos by Valerie Demo Photography

Miss a Hawk recap? Don't fret! Catch up here:

We review our planning journey
We rehearse and welcome our guests
The girls get pretty
I share my bridal details
Mr. Hawk becomes a groom
Our first look
We take photos at Crim Dell Bridge
We explore campus for more photography
The groomsmen ham it up
The bridal party channels their inner model
The entire wedding party regroups
My last moments as a Miss
Welcome to our wedding ceremony
The bridal party procession
Miss Hawk's walk down the aisle 
We're married!

We were surrounded by love during our impromptu receiving line