Shelley & Portugal are wife-and-husband documentary wedding photographers serving Kentucky and beyond.

Weddings

THE REFINERY LOUISVILLE WEDDING | LAUREN AND ISAAC

September 4, 2021

He fidgeted with his shirt sleeves while facing the wall. A tap on his shoulder, and there she was – Isaac turned to face his bride, and they beheld each other with wide-open smiles and stars in their eyes. Their first look together on their wedding day gave them a private reprieve from the bustling activity inside the venue. As we watched Lauren twirl her dress to show Isaac all the angles (before he pulled her in for the fifth hug in a row), we couldn’t help but smile as we fully witnessed their hearts in that moment.

Lauren & Isaac’s wedding day was everything they wanted it to be and nothing they didn’t. Planning a wedding in 2021 was almost as hard as planning one in 2020, but, always the silver-lining-seeker, Lauren remained grounded and grateful through every twist the year threw at them. And I firmly believe that’s why in almost every photo we snapped of Lauren that day, she has a smile on her face – present, grateful, joyful that the day she got to marry her love had finally come. And Isaac (ever the stoic) couldn’t seem to keep the smile off of his face either – not when he was with Lauren, at least!

Enjoy some of our favorites from this intentional, thoughtful (peep the hand-written notes to every single guest, in lieu of reception placecards), joyful day at The Refinery North in Louisville.

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  1. Lauren says:

    Thank you for being oh so wonderful 🙂 This blog is amazing I’m so grateful to you both for working magic on our wedding day!!

  2. Barb says:

    Such a beautiful, wonderful wedding! And the pictures are as special to look at today as they were in 2021!!
    Thank you Shelley and Portugal for capturing Lauren and Isaac’s love so perfectly ❤️

    • Barb thank you so much – we are so grateful to have been part of this incredibly special day! We hope you love looking back at the photos for many many more years to come!!

about us

we're shelley AND portugal

Before we were wedding photographers, we were just two kids in love. We met on Instagram and fell in love over FaceTime. A shared interest in roadkill portraiture is what brought us together (it’s a funny story), but what ultimately compelled us to take a chance on long-distance is the fact that we weren’t looking for surface-level. We craved a shared life full of connection, vulnerability, and the kind of love that changes you. Now we bring that same energy to your wedding day to capture the real story, not a performance.