Before you click on the “More” link to view this entire blog post, I want you to take a moment to enjoy the details.  The flowers and shoes, the gazebo and the raindrops, the dress – Every bit of it tells part of the story of this wedding day and it’s important.  Color and design, so many different “small” decisions that go in to a wedding day that speak to the way the bride and groom want their guests to experience their wedding.

But I want you to forget about that for the time being and focus on what comes next.  With the sheer volume of information about weddings available online, on television, in print, it’s very easy to get caught up in the details and stop there.  It’s also easy to get caught up in beautiful, sun-drenched portraits of couples in sweet afternoon sunlight.  With a few exceptions due to weather or time of day, I can make you look like you were photographed in a wild-flower filled valley north of Santa Barbara.  That’s certainly one advantage of hiring an experienced photographer.

But it’s not the point of it all, is it?  No.  Not to me.

If you remember the weekend of October 8th, you’ll recall that Hurricane Matthew was dousing Richmond with rain and there was no end in sight, at least not for any weekend plans.  Every wedding with some sort of outdoor theme or event was being quickly moved to Plan B.  And what bride who has decided to have an outdoor wedding has not cringed at the thought of the very scenario we were faced with on this wedding day.  

So what do we do?  It’s simple.  We all go have a wedding.  We celebrate the start of a marriage.  If rain is the only problem, you still have absolutely every other wonderful thing.  And as a photographer who thinks your wedding story should be YOUR wedding story and not my idealized version of it, I’m going to find every little moment, every great angle, and make a collection of images that will make my couples smile every time they pull out their album or stop to stare at their galleries.  Rain is part of the story.  Wet shoes, and mad dashes from car to tent is part of your story.

So here we introduce Christine and Joey.  Once you skip past those lovely colorful details I created an entire story to reflect the power of their day, them as a couple, and each as lovely and happy individuals.  I went back to my roots of black and white to make everything about expressions, and emotions – distilling the moments down to their best essence.  What you’ll see are two people very much in love with their soggy, gray sky day and with each other.  You’ll see a whole host of family and friends who simply want to enjoy these newlyweds, their hours-old marriage, and a fantastic party.

What you have, is the essence of a wedding, and the real reason you want us there.

Enjoy.

Ceremony and Reception Venue:  Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

Event Planning and Design:  CCS Events

Rentals:  Party Perfect

Florist:  Photosynthesis Floral Design

Cake Artist:  The Mixing Bowl Bakery

Entertainment:  Dance Candy

Lighting Design:  Lighting Professors

Hair and Make-up:  Avenue 42 Style Studio

Paper:  Minted

Dress Salon:  Tiffany’s Bridal

Bridemaid’s attire:  BHLDN

Groom’s Attire:  Suitsupply