After 11 years together, Nicole and Chris made their vows to each other surrounded by friends and family who had traveled hundreds of miles to attend their destination wedding. Atop the roof of Highland Brewing, the warmth of everyone's love for the happy couple overwhelmed anything the summer heat could bring. Then, at the end of the night, these newlyweds cleared out their venue so that they could share one last dance together, just the two of them.
Read MoreWhen Keya found me on Instagram last year, she and Eric were planning a small family ceremony at Pisgah Inn with 20 or so people. Fate and some family health issues intervened, but their parents didn't want the two lovebirds to wait any longer. So, as planned, Emmaleigh, Erin and I met Keya and Eric at Pisgah on the most perfect blue sky afternoon where they committed their lives to each other. Including the other inn visitors watching from their balconies, there was not a dry eye in the field! I can't wait to share more from this beautiful day!
Read MoreIt's funny traveling to a city that's at once all the way across the country and yet so familiar. Now on my third trip to Portland, while the city doesn't feel like "home" precisely, I've found it easy to jump right into the rhythm of life here without even thinking about it.
One of the best part of traveling from East coast to West is the time change: the only way I function decently after getting up at 7:30am is when it actually feels like 10:30! I walked the girls to the bus stop as usual, then quickly got ready and headed off to my first meeting of the day, a wedding consult for a couple whose engagement photos I shot last year.
Read MoreAmong many other reasons, one of my favorite things about elopements is the amount of time I get to spend with each couple taking photos of simply the two of them. As we had over an hour of time for just couple's portraits at the North Carolina Arboretum, Allie and Eric's photo album is a beautiful showcase of their joy in becoming one!
Read MoreY'all know I love weddings, but I adore the romance of a couple so in love, they only want to focus on their commitment to each other. Allie and Eric were two such sweethearts! They made things legal at the courthouse that morning, then got all dressed up and met me at the North Carolina Arboretum for vows and portraits.
Read MoreI mentioned in Ashli and Dustin's wedding day blog post that I loved working with them because they were so down to earth, well this translated into the creation of their beautiful heirloom photo album, too. They went my personal favorite route and chose just enough photos to tell their full story, but few enough that their album displayed more than a few full-spread images spanning a breathtaking 24 inches wide.
Read MoreIt's not every day that you get to photograph in a manor built in the 1920's that happens to look like a European castle! But that's exactly what I got to do for Ashli and Dustin's wedding! From her intricately-beaded gown to their floral exit to the warm, golden sun: start to finish, the whole affair seemed straight out of a fairytale.
Read MoreEach year, right around Christmas, I evaluate my goals from the ending year and then write out my goals for the coming year. I them let them sit for a few weeks while I evaluate other metrics - making sure that these are the goals that really resonate - and eventually come back to them during the first week of the new year to write this blog post. This year I've been so busy that I'm just now getting to it!
Nonetheless, I'm more than a little excited about this coming year. While each of the past 6 years has brought be a step closer to my ultimate career goals, this coming year is the first one where I feel like I'm really on the right track towards doing exactly what I want to be doing. It took me a while to figure out that exact intersection where my skills, enthusiasm for the work and ability to help people all coincide to create my "calling", but I'm only 24 so it's hard to complain. So, without further ado, here are my intended plans for 2018!
Read MoreI got to start 2018 off in the best way possible: documenting the wedding day of a my cousin as she married her prince charming. It was an honor to get to tell the love story of Katie and Mario through their engagement and wedding photos and to get to know them deeper both as individuals and as a couple while I captured their personalities.
Read MoreWhat better way to close out the year than to celebrate love! We got to travel over the mountain to capture Kristie and Ethan's December vows and though it never got above freezing, the warmth of this couple's happiness was almost enough to forget the chill.
Read MoreNew Year's Eve has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not for the parties or the food (okay, maybe the food) but because it's a collective time of reflection and refocusing. I've always been a very goal-oriented person (which is both a blessing and a curse) so for my business, this gives me a very specific deadline to analyze not only the growth and financial status of my business, but also gauge my passion for the work I've been doing and decide what I want to pursue further. I'll discuss in my next post what my goals are for the year, but as it's still 2017 for a couple hours, I want to look back at the goals I set for myself this time last year and reflect on just how beautiful this year was for me.
So here, in the same order as I wrote them last year, are my 2017 goals and how well they played out:
Read MoreAs the theme of the day had been "Just say yes," from Snow Patrol's same-titled song - and their first dance song - we began the storybook album with their phrase. From there, as they'd focused on enjoying time with their friends and family, I dedicated a majority of the spreads to group photos, both the few formals and the wide array of candid shots.
Read MoreWe began our day at a little cottage in West Asheville where the ladies were getting ready. It was fantastic having the entire house to work with, particularly for detail shots as I got to incorporate the gorgeous door frames, wood floors and vibrant colors. Even in the midst of the prepping stress, the whole group was loose and goofy; dancing, laughing and even joking (in Cassady's case) with the coordinator. Well, that might have been a bit of the stress talking as the joke was about taking off to Mexico. Nonetheless, we had fun, even creating a few simple portraits of the bride (in the laundry room!) before heading off to the venue.
Read MoreI've worked with quite a few crafty couples, but Alexis and James may just take the cake for the most personalized elements in their wedding. Not only did James and Alexis's parents create all of the beautiful bottle decor and her niece make the cute little owl cupcakes, but the bride herself was adorned in family heirlooms with a handmade dress crafted by her mother to take the cake! But, as beautiful as all of these things were, it was the amount of time behind them, the amount of effort that the families put into Alexis and James' big day, that truly showed how special the pair is.
Read MoreLauren and Eric's special day was no different; in fact, is was quite possible one of my favorite weddings I've ever shot because I got to see such an honest and wholehearted outpouring of love on all sides for the entire day (and a different side of Lauren than I saw capturing her on the tennis court!) From sweet mother and daughter moments while getting ready to the ladies-only trolley ride singing "Goin' to the Chapel", the devout Catholic ceremony to the celebratory kisses in front of the church, the tearful toasts to the energetic dancing - the whole day flew by as we soaked up every moment. Thank you to Lauren and Eric for letting me capture your big day and thank you to everyone who made their wedding so special!
Read MoreAs if something from a fairy tale, Ashli and Dustin celebrated their love for each other in a gorgeous restored 1920s manor; making their forever vows in front of the stone fireplace and sharing their first dance as husband and wife under a beautiful wrought iron chandelier. But while the location was magical, the food was delectable and the couple looked incredible, it was their pure joy in beginning their new journey together that really made the day exceptional. Thank you to everyone who made Ashli and Dustin's day so special; I can't wait to share more photos!
Read MoreI love the details and all the personal touches that couples infuse into their weddings, but when it all comes down to it, my very favorite thing about wedding photography is getting to capture the beginning of each couple's lifelong journey as they're surrounded by their loved ones. Meadow and Theo made their vows to each other in a beautiful sunlit field as the bride's dad presided, giving his own sound advice for a long and happy marriage: don't settle for the wedding being the best day of your life, make each day better than the last.
Read MoreIn putting together this album, my focus was to tell Morgan and Mike's story of excitement (particularly in their first look), personality (especially through the personal touches in their decor) and pure happiness at saying their forever vows surrounded by friends and family, even family from across the ocean. Because they did a first look (one of my favorite parts of the day!) we spent the first hour relaxing and taking couples portraits and group shots with their maid-of-honor and best man.
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