Before even stepping foot where the bride, bridesmaids and others were gathered, I heard Adrian’s infectious laugh and knew it was going to be a great day and all was ok. She was back. What a joy it was to watch and photograph all that excitement rolled into one tiny, beautiful bride. Throughout the ceremony she literally bounced with joy, giddy and eager to say her vows.
During the days leading up to her wedding day, when I spoke to Adrian she didn’t sound like her usual bubbly self. The typical wedding stress had gotten even to her. I was worried she had lost sight of what the day was all about and was letting the details and responsibility of pulling everything together take over her thoughts. Fortunately, the good juju won the day.
Not even one month ago, Adrian Bridges and Banks Church married each other at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, in Wilkesboro, NC. It was the southern, summer wedding some brides dream about and between the tender moments at the ceremony, the beautiful views at Camp Harrison at Herring Ridge where they had their reception, it was pretty sweet all around.
The groom is someone we’ve known for years and he’s way more comfortable in small groups than in crowds. In intimate settings, he’ll share stories of his farm, about his childhood and friends and latest adventures. Having all eyes on him on his wedding day was not optimal, to say the least. The shift in his posture and mood was remarkable though when he saw Adrian. No one else was there once she was by his side.
When asked about the best moments from their wedding, they told us that one was when everyone surrounded them and prayed for their marriage. Honestly, it was pretty amazing to watch. Both families and the entire wedding party joined at the altar, laid hands on Adrian and Banks and prayed for them. The entire congregation held hands and crossed the aisles to join in prayer as well. It’s something we don’t see often and was humbling and powerful and incredibly moving. We talk about corporate prayer, when whole communities come together. The couple’s “community” came together to pray just for them.
Mountain weddings are beautiful and so are mountain receptions. God bless gorgeous scenery and perfect weather. Pixels “does” rain, but it’s pretty fab when we can send our couple in any direction and get something memorable and lovely in our lenses.
Adrian and Banks told us that their favorite moments from the reception were the dancing and chatter with friends and family, the beautiful views at Herring Ridge and the ribbon wands everyone waved when they left for their honeymoon. It’s hard to describe other than to say there was just so much joy that day.
We hope all brides and grooms can have this kind of love for each other, have those who support them want nothing but cohesion, a Christ-centered marriage and success as a couple. They’ve started out well. Here’s to the next 50 years.
For those of you interested in details from the Bridges-Church wedding, the flowers were from Eden House, Adrian’s dress was from Did Someone Say Party; makeup was provided by Sharla Bance and the videography was captured by Hill City Productions.
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.
… and the house sold almost as soon as it listed.We had the privilege and fun of shooting photos for a couple who were planning to put their gorgeous home on the market. Talk about forethought. This amazing mid-century modern house deserved to be treated with the right lighting, time of year and staging. We mean no offense to real estate agents who take photos of the homes they’ve been asked to sell, but this couple wanted to capture their home at its best and contacted us to make it happen.
The shoots took place on two occasions. We photographed the exterior in April when the grounds were a knockout and everything was in bloom. We then returned in June to take the interior photos. Between the landscaping, the furnishings, the staging and the times of year, we and they were so pleased with the results.
This home in Wilkesboro is unique in that it is a true sprawling, original mid-century modern home with spectacular landscape design and a guest cottage. 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 3 dens and an indoor pool, totaling over 4000 sq ft. The clients forwarded our photos to their agent and the house was sold very quickly and the now former owners credit the photography for helping expedite the offer and sell.
Incorporating nature, architectural structures and details into our photographs is not something new for us. We’re looking forward to many more of this type of photo shoot for families who want to sell their homes or celebrate a completed renovation or remodel. You’ll never be sorry if you hire a professional.
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.
The globe gets flatter and smaller (just ask Thomas Friedman) and that is a pretty exciting thing. Now, more than ever, we know more about our neighbors. Not just the “my grocery cart hit yours and OH, HEY! our kids go to the same school.” We know about our neighbors in other countries, our neighbors from different cultural backgrounds. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a biggee, no matter where you live or whether you call it a bar or bat mitzvah, a debutante or coming out party or a Quinceañera.
Vanessa Chaquea will celebrate her 15th birthday in September, and 15 is THE AGE when a young Latina celebrates the beginning of her entry into adulthood. We captured some of Vanessa’s portraits at and near our Wilkesboro studio for her to use on invitations and at her celebration in the fall. These sessions were all about showing her youth and beauty, her spirit and sweet personality.
Vanessa is the most adorable 14 year old we’ve ever met. She is bubbly, beautiful and bi-lingual. She is an athlete and a self-taught musician. She is a big fan of America’s Next Top Model and she rocked our photo shoot as if she was a pro model herself. We’re already dreaming up ways we can have Vanessa model for us in styled photo shoots. We’re looking forward to September and photographing all the traditional customs of a Quinceanera – a new thing for us.
It was refreshing to be around this season of youth …. the beginning of the next thing. We just recently blogged about 2 week old baby Sawyer who is at the very beginning of life. We photograph engagements and weddings, with couples at the beginning of marriage. Vanessa is in the full, cool, wild, tender, scary, heartening, thrilling, anxiety-producing BEGINNING of adulthood. Remember that time? Well, hers arrives in just a few months and we cannot wait to be there for this great young woman.
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.
Robert Frost wrote that “anything more than the truth would be too much.” So how do you describe what you hope for when you tie your life to someone else’s? When we asked couple Jessica Reinhardt and Jason Clinton about what they were looking forward to on their wedding day, they told us, “That everything will change and nothing will change. We just want to be married. As long as we both are there, that is all that matters.”
These two were so much fun to work with because that “truth” of who they are elbowed to the front of the line no matter what we were talking about or doing during their engagement photo shoot in late spring of this year. While they love to hike regularly in Newland, NC, we wanted to capture their portraits in a spot that is as expansive and honest in its beauty as they are in their own skins. Speaking of hiking, Jessica can rock a pair of 3″ heels while he’s just fine in Wranglers and boots. A little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll??? Check! They told us that they didn’t want to look back at their photos and think, “this ISN’T who WE are.”
The views in this special spot went for miles, with a gorge beneath, rock outcroppings scattered here and there and a lush forest with stone paths and stairs to climb. We had so much fun watching them together. When they get married this month in Rock Hill, we know that their wedding is going to be amazing and a showcase of that simple authenticity and cool that they brought with them during our day capturing them in the mountains.
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.
This wedding, between Jamie Goforth and Daniel Harrison, was windy and gorgeous. The two can coexist, and if you check out their portraits from the day, you’ll see. As part of our series where we ask the bride and groom for feedback to share for future nuptials, here are some insights from Jamie.
“I wish that I had used more flowers in my ceremony and reception, but both locations had lots of natural beauty.
We were married at an outside chapel in Glade Valley, NC. It was windy and cold on the day of the wedding. My bridesmaids wore leggings under their dresses (LOL). I would tell those planning a wedding to remember to think about how the weather will be on the day of your wedding.”
Number in the wedding party and number of guests — any thoughts or changes? “We had 6 bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen, 1 flower girl and 1 ring bearer. This was a large party but I knew that I wanted and needed them all by my side the day of the wedding. We had around 150 guests and I think that was a nice number, but more than we really wanted. I personally think the smaller the better with the amount of guests.” [As a couple who’ve photographed more weddings than we care to count, we loved the honesty in that answer. It’s important to know who you want and need with you on your wedding day. It will matter later more than you can imagine. Just saying…]
Time of year? Time of day? “We had a fall wedding in the mountains, 4PM and the leaves were beautiful on the trees that time of day. It was a little chilly, as I mentioned, though.”
DJ vs. a band? “I preferred a live band, but they were much more expensive, so I went with a DJ and the reception was great… a LOT of participation on the dance floor!”
Wedding planner or “family-and-friends-all-hands-on-deck” approach to planning? “I think that having a wedding planner is better than all hands on deck. This is so there is only one person to go to for everything. That one person will know what you want in your wedding and if others want to assist they can. Just have the wedding planner approve it.”
Name 3 things you would do differently, if, by some strange wrinkle in the universe, you could do it all again (to the same person of course). “I would have had a cocktail hour while taking our pictures after the ceremony. I feel like the whole day was a blur, I would try to slow down and take it all in. I would have eaten, instead of just taking a few bites, but of course I wanted to talk with all of our guests.”Most important piece of advice: “Tailor the ceremony to who you are as a couple. Daniel and I love camp fires and s’mores so we had a fire in the fireplace at the reception with a s’mores bar for our guests.
Make the day about what you envision and not what other people want or think it should be. It was honestly the best day of my life and I got to enjoy it with all my family and friends.”
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.