1. Emily and Michael

Emily is the nicest, sweetest, most soft-spoken bride ever and she has the most AMAZING big hazel eyes! She also has a smile that can melt people and I just cannot get enough photographs of her! Michael is the cool, laid-back type… the kind that you never see them sweat. You know what I mean? He was calm, cool and collected all day even though it was the biggest day of his life! The only thing I love more than Emily and Michael separately is how much I love them together! Their personalities are the perfect compliment to each other and their relationship together is so sweet and tender. You will see it in a couple photos later on…

2. WinMock at Kinderton

This is the first time Dave and I have worked at WinMock at Kinderton! It was such a cool venue! It is actually a very new venue that opened after North Carolina’s oldest dairy farm was renovated into a wedding and event venue. The main hall when you enter which is now gorgeous and houses getting ready rooms and conference rooms, used to house all of the cow stalls. It was SUPER cool!

3. Rebecca Rose Events

This was also our first time working with Becca of Rebecca Rose Events! I cannot tell you how much smoother a wedding day runs if you hire a wedding planner/coordinator! Becca and her team of lovely ladies kept the day running on track and were super helpful to Dave and I. Emily and Michael did not have to worry about a thing, because Becca had everything under control and was amazing!

On with the pictures….

It always makes me laugh when I see the pictures of what the guys were doing while the girls were getting all prettied up! It must be nice to be so relaxed on a wedding day! Emily, you were STUNNING! Absolutely stunning!You couldn’t help but smile when you watched the three sisters giggle together! It was so sweet! I bet you that Emily’s mom has pictures of them giggling just like this when they were little girls!
We did not do bridal portraits of Emily before the wedding day so we made sure that we saved ten minutes before she got tucked away to take a few portraits of her! I have to admit that I was watching the weather radar on my iPhone the during the hours leading up to the ceremony. I was so glad to learn that they decided to hold the ceremony outside but I watched the radar anxiously hoping that we could get through the ceremony and portraits before the rain came. Luckily enough, the skies held out and the ceremony was gorgeous outside of the WinMock. Emily waiting out of sight for the processional to begin…I LOVE THIS PICTURE! Emily is so excited right before she walks down the eye but her dad looks as though he is not quite sure if he is ready to give his youngest daughter away.This is the first time I have seen the father of the bride hold the bouquet! The new Mr. and Mrs. Perkins!!The picture on the left is a picture that Dave grabbed unbeknownst to them immediately after the ceremony before anyone had joined Emily and Michael for pictures. It was such a sweet and tender moment captured between the two of them right after they said their “I Do’s”.How cool is this venue??

It was an amazing day, Emily and Michael! We were so honored that you chose us as your wedding photographers to document your big day! We wish you a lifetime of happiness together and we hope to work with you again in the future!!

The amazing vendors…

Ceremony + Reception: Winmock at Kinderton

Event Design + Coordination: Rebecca Rose Events

Catering: Visions Catering

DJ: Z Brothers DJs

Floral Design: Green Bee Floral Design

Hair + Makeup: Colleen Kelly

We met up with the bridal party at the beginning of the day where they were getting ready at Embassy Suites at Brier Creek.

All of the groomsmen had their own personalized belt buckle with their names on it. What a cool keepsake from a day that no one is soon to forget!

Ashleigh and Lawrence had the most unique floral pieces and arrangements that I have seen as a wedding photographer. They were actually made of all dried flowers and the big white flowers were made of balsa wood! They were gorgeous!!! I loved the cotton added to the bouquets as well!Ashleigh had the most gorgeous ruffly wedding dress! It reminded me of a modern version of the ruffly, fancy dresses that the women would have worn in old cowboy movies! It was amazing and suited Ashleigh perfectly! I bet that Lawrence would agree! I love these next two pictures because when I look at them, I can hear the sound of Ashleigh’s excited laughter as she bounced around the bridal room after she was finally in her dress! It was awesome! Nothing like having a pre-game toast in the bathroom! Ha!Seriously, Asheigh?!? You were STUNNING!!!Ashleigh and Lawrence opted to do a first look… WHICH I LOVE!!! It is so nice for couples to be able to have a few quiet moments together before the ceremony. It is also a nice time to do some relaxed portraits before the day takes off! I positively LOVED Ashleigh’s dad’s reaction when he saw her for the first time in her wedding dress! Those are the types of reactions that a photographer waits and waits for! It was classic! And her dad rocking his own belt buckle was classic as well!!

Unfortunately, Lawrence’s dad passed away a few months ago. Ashleigh described Lawrence’s dad as the “last REAL cowboy” and I loved seeing the pictures that they had displayed at the wedding. They also had Lawrence’s dad’s cowboy hat sitting on the chair where he would have been seated and I think that everyone would agree, that Lawrence’s dad was present there with them on their big day. I know that he would have been extraordinarily proud of Lawrence!Seriously?! Aren’t those flowers amazing!?!? I am in love with the wooden ones!These two pictures of the ring bearer crack me up! The first one he smiled so nicely for Dave but then the second one, he looked at Dave like, “Ok, I smiled for one of them, what more do you want from me?!” Haha! Dave got the official cowboy “Stank-Eye”! But he is still awfully cute with those little cowboy boots! Ashleigh and Lawrence filled an hourglass with a different twist on the traditional sand ceremony but it was so funny because the sand did not fill the hourglass quite as quickly as they were anticipating! Haha! There were a few moments filled with just the sounds of laughter as they waited patiently for the sand to drop so they could finish filling it. 

Because they were married on St. Patrick’s Day, Ashleigh and Lawrence hired a leprechaun to take pictures with their guests at the photo booth (which we are now offering to our wedding couples) and it made for some hilarious photo ops! I love his face on the second image where they are stealing his gold coins!

After we took a few more serious portraits of Ashleigh and Lawrence together, I could tell that they were itching to do something more goofy so I took a couple goofy shots of them both together and then gave them each about 15 seconds to fire off as many goofy faces as they could manage. I had the following collage in mind when I had them do this and it turned out even more hilarious than I had envisioned! They crack me up!!Thank you to Teresa Porter for this gorgeous wide angle shot of the Pavilion all dressed up for Ashleigh and Lawrence’s wedding! Teresa also ran our first photo booth (AKA The Cackle Box)! We GREATLY appreciated the help and were so thankful she was there! She did a GREAT job! I loved that Ashleigh and Lawrence chose to use mustaches and lips on a stick as their place cards for seating at the reception! I also love the awesome stand that Lawrence made himself to display them all for the guests! I also love the old bathtub that the Angus Barn provides to collect the wedding gifts!When the bridal party was announced, the ring bearer can in “guns blazing”… I think he was on the hunt for Dave!
I have always loved images with light flare. There is always something that reminds me of heaven or something angelic and I can’t help but think of Lawrence’s dad being with him in this picture.

We were so extremely glad and honored to be a part of your big day, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia! We are sad it is all over! We wish you the most happiness as you start your lives together!

Wedding and Reception: Angus Barn Pavilion

Angus Barn Coordinator: Ashley Whittington

Flowers: Faye Zierer

Cake: Tartlette Treats

Officiant: Perri

Leprechaun: Seasound Studio Entertainment (Paedre O’Leary)

Band/ Ceremony Musicians: Sam Hill Entertainments: Drivetrain

Brad and I did not go to the same college, but I would often make the trek to Raleigh to visit “The Boys” to see what shenanigans they were getting into. I had some rough years when I was in college, and I could always count on Brad and the other boys when things were rough and I hope that they knew that they could always count on me when things were rough for them too. I am not sure that any of them will ever know how much our friendship has meant to me over the years and I am so grateful that we are still all friends after we have  started our “grown up” lives!

My husband, Dave, loves to say how much he hates Brad! Haha! He doesn’t really hate him, but he wishes he could hate him. Dave doesn’t feel that it is fair that Brad is so intelligent, successful, good looking, has a great personality AND he also gets to be such an incredibly nice guy!  I guess you would say that Brad is a catch! Given the catch that he is, there wasn’t a girl that came along that was able to catch him… until Ashley. I was fortunate enough to be there the first time that Ashley and Brad went out. I knew the first time that I met Ashley, that she would be a perfect match for Brad. She, too, is successful, intelligent, beautiful and INCREDIBLY sweet! She is exactly the sweet, and southern lady that Brad always needed. Brad and Ashley dated for a long time, and we all wondered if the engagement was ever going to happen, but Brad FINALLY got smart and asked Ashley to spend the rest of her life with him and she was smart and said YES! When I heard the news of their engagement, I couldn’t have been more thrilled for my oldest friend!

Dave and I met Brad and Ashley (and their wonder dog, Bella), down in our hometown, Wilmington, for their engagement session. Brad has always LIVED for boating, fishing, and really anything water related so I thought it would only be fitting to start the session at the marina before we traveled down to Fort Fisher to finish up the session. Dave and I had a blast spending the afternoon with Brad and Ashley and it was an honor to capture this moment in their relationship as they start their lives together! Congratulations, Brad and Ashley! We can’t wait for the wedding!!