Adrian Etheridge Photography

Posts in Destination Wedding

Intimate Sunset Ceremony at Grove Park Inn on October 8, 2020 || Asheville, NC

Intimate Sunset Ceremony at Grove Park Inn on October 8, 2020 || Asheville, NC

When Cassie and Charles cancelled their wedding back in the spring, concerned that COVID-19 wouldn’t allow for a safe and enjoyable wedding, Emmaleigh and I knew we wanted to do everything we could to ensure they still had a beautiful day together, even if it wasn’t what they originally planned. And boy were we rewarded; this was such a reminder that everything happens for a reason. As I write this on October 10th, the day they had originally planned to wed, it has been pouring nonstop all day long. But on Thursday, two days ago, Cassie and Charles got to read their vows to each other on a quiet hill under a vibrant sunset. And then the four of us shared an incredible cake and a bottle of champagne (purchased by sweet strangers!) by the fireplace after dark.

January 3, 2020 Traditional Wedding in Charlotte, NC

January 3, 2020 Traditional Wedding in Charlotte, NC

Bethany and Raul, their friends and family, and my photography team got to start the new decade in the best way possible: with an outpouring of love and faith. The love part is obvious, but seeing Bethany and Raul’s faith manifest in more subtle ways was equally beautiful.

What’s more, as it was a rainy, chilly January day, they had to have a lot of faith in us to make sure that their photos were beautiful, while still enjoying the experience! Not always can you convince a bride to get her train wet (post-ceremony, of course!) so that she can have a few romantic outdoor photos in the rain, but Bethany was game for anything, trusting that we knew what we were doing and that we’d take good care of her gown. Luckily, she had her new husband to keep her warm, and then the two of them danced the night away within the excellent architecture of Waterfront Hall.

September 28, 2019 Mountain Wedding in Downtown Asheville, NC

September 28, 2019 Mountain Wedding in Downtown Asheville, NC

For the very last photos of their Charlotte engagement session, Laura and Chris (per Chris’s half joking idea) ran through a fountain. We finished our photoshoot all laughing; them completely drenched, Emmaleigh’s shoes and pants soaked through from holding a flash, me nicely dry but nonetheless ecstatic about our photos.

A few weeks later, Emmaleigh and I stood on the balcony of the penthouse suite of the Indigo Hotel watching an enormous rain cloud roll over West Asheville towards us, this time quite a bit less excited about the impending drenching.

August 3, 2019 Magical Garden Wedding at Haiku I Do || Asheville, NC

August 3, 2019 Magical Garden Wedding at Haiku I Do || Asheville, NC

Fal and Richard had quite the week leading up to their wedding: medical boards on Tuesday, moving on Wednesday and driving to Asheville on Thursday. So, come Saturday, it seemed almost surreal that they’d been able to pull everything off. As they were sitting on the floral sofa under the twinkle lights taking their couple’s photos, in the middle of gazing lovingly at each other Richard suddenly gasped and threw up his hands, “We really did it!”

June 8, 2019 Wedding at The Laurel Room at High Vista || Asheville, NC

June 8, 2019 Wedding at The Laurel Room at High Vista || Asheville, NC

My absolute favorite thing about being a wedding photographer is getting to see families work together to make their bride and groom’s day the most special possible. For Lauren and Alex, while the weather wasn’t what we’d hoped and several plans had to change, we got to see just how loved and appreciated these two are by all their family and friends. Even better, the rain stopped just enough for us to run outside for photos against the perfectly misty mountains. It was such an honor getting to spend the day capturing the new Mr. and Mrs. Wall’s love for each other.

May 18, 2019 Mountainview Wedding at the Crest Center || Asheville, NC

May 18, 2019 Mountainview Wedding at the Crest Center || Asheville, NC

Wedding days are often a great metaphor for life: you can plan for months or years to have that “perfect day,” but no matter how foolproof your strategy, things will never happen quite that way in real time. The beauty of wedding photography is that when things go off course (and timelines go out the window!) we’re there to document families, friends and our fantastic wedding industry colleagues working together to help make each couple’s day, as Emmaleigh says, “perfectly imperfect.”

May 11, 2019 Garden Wedding at Ijams Nature Center | Knoxville, TN

May 11, 2019 Garden Wedding at Ijams Nature Center | Knoxville, TN

Getting to go home, photograph a wedding for someone I’ve known through running for a decade, sing every verse of “Rocky Top” and capture the pure joy of two people and their families coming together to celebrate love, was everything I needed. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who came together amidst stressful circumstances to pull off an absolutely gorgeous wedding last weekend!

Amber + Chris's Elopement at the St. Jude's Chapel of Hope in Asheville, NC

Amber + Chris's Elopement at the St. Jude's Chapel of Hope in Asheville, NC

Susan Marlan of Beloved Ceremony officiated the simple ceremony, and because this was a “true elopement” I also got to serve as a witness. Just after the bride and groom exchanged rings, and just before their first kiss, Chris leaned forward and rested his forehead against Amber’s, where they simply stood breathing each other in for a few moments. It’s these moments, the quiet and intimate scenes, that impact me the most - both as a photographer capturing the emotions before me and a human who feels everything deeply.

Parent Photo Albums || Nicole + Chris's Highland Brewing Company Wedding in Asheville, NC

Parent Photo Albums || Nicole + Chris's Highland Brewing Company Wedding in Asheville, NC

I loved giving people gifts. I love even more getting to make said gifts. From age 5 onward, whenever I could, I handmade all family Christmas gifts, starting as early as June to ensure that everyone’s was completed on time.

So, to be able to incorporate gift giving into my business has been a real pleasure. My favorite product that I started offering last year was a parent album, a smaller version of each couple’s photo album showcasing almost exclusively the images that the couple, the parents and siblings are in. This way, each parent gets their own commemorative album tailored to them, highlighting the moments that they were a part of.

Ireland Day 1 (and Only): Leave it to the Universe

Ireland Day 1 (and Only): Leave it to the Universe

We didn’t talk much on our walk. The single track trail commands visitors’ silence both because of the treacherous footing and the single-file necessity. This seemed nature’s design as I became much more aware of my surroundings as I simultaneously became lost in my own daydreams. Something about Ireland (and Scotland, too) send my already active imagination into fantasy hyperdrive.

Photo Album || Keya + Eric's Engagement + Elopement Weekend

Photo Album || Keya + Eric's Engagement + Elopement Weekend

My goal was to make the two separate photoshoots blend together into one cohesive story about their lovely weekend, although we only spend about 5 hours total with them. As we ended our engagement shoot (see the full post here) with the most beautiful summer sunset leaving our couple in awe, I decided to set the scene with this opening photo of our Blue Ridge Mountains bathed in color. Photos-wise, from there I moved forward chronologically, ending our first day’s image showing Keya and Eric walking into the distance, alluding to their walk towards their future as husband and wife.

Couples Photography, Destination Engagement, Destination Wedding, Elopement Photography, Engagement Photography, Landscape Photography, love, Photo Albums, Stylist, Travel Photography, Wedding Photography, Wedding VendorsAdrian EtheridgeMarch 6, 2019Pisgah Innelopement, elopement photography, mountains, blue ridge mountains, mountain view, mountain elopement, pisgah inn, devil's courthouse, just bloom together, photography, photo album, photo products, engagement, engagement photography, destination weddings, destination wedding, destination engagement, destination photography, destination photoshoot, asheville nc, asheville photographer, blue ridge parkway, north carolina, north carolina elopement, elopement vendors, wedding vendor, wedding vendors, wedding coach, wedding planning, wedding photography, wedding photo album, elopement photographer, elopement planningComment

Spain Day 3: New Horizons

Spain Day 3: New Horizons

To me, the idea wasn’t complete without a little “danger” so my plan was to throw off my dress as I was running towards the water and sprint in just in my underwear. Mind you, the water was probably only 50 degrees and there were still people walking at either end of the beach as well as along the boardwalk. But it was dark, I didn’t know anyone else there, and I was ready to practice being bold. So, I took a deep breath, tossed my dress to Erin and dove under the waves. I came up breathless, shocked from the cold even though I knew it was coming. I ran back in, ready to get warm. But somehow, I still wasn’t satisfied. I hadn’t fully reveled in the feelings of discomfort and uncertainty. So, I ran back in and this time held my breath under water for a few seconds, coming up to stand in the waist deep waves while I gazed into the vast, dark expanse.

Spain Day 2: The Road to San Sebastian

Spain Day 2: The Road to San Sebastian

Over the last year or so that I’ve dedicated my film practice to improving my street photography, I’ve had to work a lot on my shyness. Sometimes, I’ll see the perfect shot yet will be too nervous of what this stranger will think of me capturing the moment: will they be uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy, will they get mad, will they say something to me? No one has ever actually approached me so, as of yet, these fears are unfounded. In fact, one of my very favorite photographic moments from the day came about as we walked through the quiet, cobbled streets of Parte Vieja (Old Town.) At the other end of the alley we were walking through, I saw a group of men congregating, which always immediately sets me on my guard. However, when we got close and they saw my camera, they grinned and made a clicking motion while pointing to themselves. They must have heard us speaking English because they didn’t try to make conversation, yet “can you take our photo?” seems to be universally understood. Looking back, I wish I’d taken even more photos of them, perhaps a close-up portrait of each, but I’m still happy with the experience which will hopefully embolden me further.

Wedding Photo Album || Katie + Mario's Raspberry Plain Manor Wedding

Wedding Photo Album || Katie + Mario's Raspberry Plain Manor Wedding

I love Katie and Mario’s approach to their album: while we had over 1,000 photos to choose from they managed to narrow it all the way down to 100 (an impressive feat!) so that they could have as many large full-spread images as possible. They wanted to keep it simple, to let the emotional photos to speak for themselves, so we kept the text to a minimum as well, only including one Bible verse layered perfectly over a silhouette I made during their ceremony. I certainly keep the album in mind while photographing each wedding (in fact, I specifically shoot with the flower & layout of each album in my head) but sometimes things work out even better than I’d planned. Being able to pair the quotation “this is a profound mystery” with a silhouette is one of those moments!

Boho Chic Styled Elopement at Ridgeview Venue || Asheville, NC

Boho Chic Styled Elopement at Ridgeview Venue || Asheville, NC

One of the reasons I love participating in styled shoots is getting to see the amazing creativity that comes out of vendors directly working together to create a concept. For instance, not only did Emmaleigh help me to style the provided attire for detail shots, but she even brought in her own crystals and antiques to add character and depth to the photos!

Santander, Spain Day 1: Going with the Flow

Santander, Spain Day 1: Going with the Flow

We didn’t plan too much for this trip. We knew we wanted to have one day to just bum around Santander, one day to see the sunrise and enjoy a beach picnic, and one day trip to somewhere else close by. As it was pouring rain on our first morning there, we decided to take the cue from the weather and enjoy a quiet first day. In planning, Erin was in charge of the activities and I the restaurants, particularly as I spoke the better Spanish of the two of us. When I ordered our breakfast, I hadn’t quite plucked up the courage to engage in a full on Spanish conversation, so I was feeling a little embarrassed about my speaking skills as we waited for our food. But just at that moment, a small, scarf-clad and white haired woman walked by our table, said something to us conspiratorially, winked, and walked out the door. After that, I knew that the act of at least trying to speak the language might make up for my errors.

Sultry Black and Gold Styled Wedding || Asheville Social Hall

Sultry Black and Gold Styled Wedding || Asheville Social Hall

Melissa of Cakes by Gray reached out to me to photograph a new cake flavor for her - grapefruit and black pepper (it was delicious!) - as we decided that instead of simply sticking with the original in-studio photos that we’d first planned, we would also put together a little styled shoot. Why not, right? To coordinate with the sensual flavors, Melissa created this stunning black pastry masterpiece accented with gold and thus we had our theme. Design inspiration can come from anywhere, even the wedding cake. To round out our design team, Melissa brought in vendors all local to Asheville to help us create this moody styled elopement in the brand new Asheville Social Hall Space.

Phoenix, Arizona: Friends All Around the World

Phoenix, Arizona: Friends All Around the World

I spent the majority of my second day in Arizona hanging out with amazing women. That’s really my biggest takeaway from this trip - just how many incredible women there are out there and how lucky I am to be building my own community of them all across the country. Particularly as all of these women are themselves traveling around the world, creating our own global tribe.