Posts Tagged: creative engagement photography nc
christine & adam’s loray mill engagement photos | pixels on paper nc wedding photographers
Adam, Christine and a cozy Kensie – their “child.”
We met Christine at the wedding of her friends, Lauren and Patrick in 2014. This girl is a referral machine. We’ve not only booked more weddings because of her recommendations, but when she got engaged herself, she called us. We chatted with the pair at yet another wedding (no, they are not professional wedding goers!) and they were musing about potential engagement photos spots. We told them what we always tell couples: choose a location that’s meaningful to you so that in years to come you can look back at the photos and recognize the setting for its significance. That was when a lightbulb appeared over Adam’s head.
We took advantage of as many angles and options as possible and loved doing so with the couple and their sweet dog Kensie. These 2 will make it official (if you didn’t look closely at the photo above), October 22 of this year in Charlotte and we’ll be there to capture the next set of family memories and history. Counting the days!
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brides, and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
katie & tim’s twickenham house wedding
“We were so happy to see cousins we hadn’t seen in a long time, friends from Hawaii, Seattle, Colorado, all hanging out, chattering and later playing music for the ceremony. We loved our DJ, photographers and how much love we felt surrounded with. If we were to give a couple advice about their wedding, we’d tell them to get married in the mountains and make the wedding a full weekend, an inclusive event.” 
We photographed their engagement portraits at The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC so clearly these two adore the mountains. Even their sweetheart of a dog is named Saluda (google it). The wedding was small, intimate and personal. It focused on marriage, family and friends, the most important aspects. The day was an intersection of both elegance and personal touches: Katie’s Mom made the cakes, using recipes passed down through generations. A close friend of Katie’s “did” everyone’s hair and makeup. The same friend undercut her own hair with the couple’s initials surrounded by a heart.
Tim & Katie wrote the table assignments on their snowboards and a canvas candid photo of the pair with an I Love You message was used as the guest book. Finally, an artist friend drew and designed their can cozies to include Saluda’s profile. Those were only a few of the thoughtful details, gang. Katie plied her trade, big time.
The sunset could not have been better if we’d ordered back drops from Cecille B. DeMille. Watching friends gather after we’d photographed the couple, was one of the sweeter and more beautiful moments of a day filled with beauty and love.
We’d be nuts not to mention the other vendors who contributed to this amazingly cool wedding.
Katie’s gown: Jean’s Bridal – Charleston, SC
Wedding and reception venue reception: Twickenham House and Hall
Flowers: Flowers by Desi
Music/DJ: Dan with On Target
Caterers: Gadabouts
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
engagement portraits in Charleston, SC
Bonnie Hostetler and Amanda Walling met at their local neighborhood hangout one “beautiful fall day” and before long were in love.
Ain’t it the way?
One minute you’re hanging out with friends and the next you’re planning to spend the rest of your life – build a life, in fact – with someone who’s upended the cart you were peddling and made you crazy happy. They told us that they knew they were going to be an us “over Dim Sum brunch and mimosas.”
Bonnie & Amanda are one of those couples we want to hang out with on a regular basis. In fact Ryan and I have tried and we’re still trying. They love rambling around in the mountains and great outdoors in the camper they’ve nick-named the “Wallabago.” They’re adventuresome, athletic and they’re foodies. We met them to discuss their wedding and knew immediately that we’d all be friends and that we definitely wanted to shoot their wedding this fall.
The pair told us that not only are they excited about seeing all of their friends and family in one place for the weekend but jazzed about the celebration itself. While they aren’t writing their own vows, they’ve found a saying that fits their relationship perfectly and close friends are transporting an arbor that they built and used for their own wedding and are loaning to Amanda and Bonnie for their day. The details are coming together.
Theirs is a relationship completely grounded in trust and we find it more than a little sweet that the song they said would describe them is “You’re the reason I come home” by Ron Pope. Their favorite place to be together is their “Wallabago” – a home on wheels.
During a recent trip to Charleston to celebrate Misty’s birthday, we caught up with Amanda & Bonnie and photographed these engagement portraits on their own turf. The only requirement they had was for us to capture a picture of them with Amanda’s “mountain,” the Cooper River Bridge, in the background. The entire session was filled with fun and laughter which continued long after the sun set and our cameras were put away. We spent several more hours all together on a roof top bar eating Ritz crackers (another story for another time). 
In October, they will be married at On the Windfall in Lansing, NC among friends and family. On the Windfall has cabins where everyone can hang out and enjoy the scenery and the occasion for the weekend and then return for anniversaries and parties for many years to come.
From the shores of SC to the mountains of NC……… bring it, ladies. We can’t wait.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
engagement photos …. outdoors, after the wedding (not kidding) and utterly magical
Elisabeth and Isaac, so far at least, enjoy taking a timeline and then completely turning it on its ear if not hitting the Jettison Button altogether. Let’s recap. They moved their wedding up by more than a year because they wanted to buy a house. None of this first apartment, “ramen noodle days” stuff for them. No time for bridal portraits, engagement photos or anything before their June wedding, which was a stunner, by the way. It was at Tanglewood Park, and the bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome and they were surrounded by joyous friends and family. (Oh! And killer shoes/booties on the bride…..). So, we took the engagement and bridal portraits after the wedding. We’re starting with the engagement photos!
We ended their wedding blog with “your wedding was magic” and honestly, so was the engagement portrait session. We met up with them on a trail in Blowing Rock. Isaac is outdoorsy and Elisabeth went to Appalachian State University, so this was a perfect spot. It was a cold but clear day when we got there, I turned to Ryan and said, “I have a vision, but it’s going to take more light.” He said, “lead the way.” When the couple arrived (and I should say, they feel like old friends now, having bonded with them while shooting their wedding), I said “I know it looks dead, but trust me,” and they said “we already do.” And just like that it was magical. I actually posted about this on Facebook because I was so completely jazzed.
The fact that I can describe what I see as the final product to Ryan and together we can make it happen is still the most amazing feeling. We’re a team in so many ways and without the other this just wouldn’t be possible. PLUS, we have clients like Elisabeth and Isaac who will happily step into the middle of a bunch of dead trees that look drab and dull without any hesitation. WOW!
There was another incredibly tender and magic moment during this shoot that we didn’t anticipate at all. Elisabeth and Isaac told us that they had hoped to write their own wedding vows, but with the wedding sped up it just didn’t happen. All the other planning and details of the wedding ate up their time, so they ended up going with traditional vows. In preparing for their after engagement session, they decided to write their wedding vows and asked us to photograph them as they read them to each other for the first time. This was an enormous “whoa!” How beautiful to think of doing this and what a blessing for us to be there not only to take pictures but to bear witness! We found a picturesque setting that was private and romantic, set up a light, put on a zoom lens and then stepped way back, even out of ear shot. As they had their private moment we snapped away. I teared up during those minutes realizing how incredibly special this time was to them and honestly, I’m tearing up again thinking about it. Because of this and so many other reasons we can’t help but feel a special connection with this couple.
