Wedding clients tend to search for locations that will do two handfuls of things really well, AND be easy to get to AND have great views, catering options, a Plan B space and all sorts of other amenities and accommodations. Take a thoughtful look at the Holiday Inn City Center Charlotte. This may be exactly what you’re casting for.
We want to see the sky, but be cool inside for our August wedding. Is that possible? Does the venue have rooms for everyone and places to gather between events? Can we be inside for the ceremony and then walk a short distance and be outside? Are there things to do around the venue? Can we dance underneath the stars at our reception?
Yes – to all of those. Charlotte is a big place, but you can gather those you love in one single spot and celebrate. The Holiday Inn has everything in terms of help with planning, catering, rooms, of course, a gorgeous open patio to say vows beneath and outside its walls is a city ready to be discovered and roamed and played in.
We’ve photographed lots of weddings there and the number of indoor and outdoor options for amazing photos, regardless of the time of year, is noteworthy. The windows and reflections, lighting and skyline are all perfect for weddings and parties of all kinds.
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.
Something very freeing has happened during this past month behind the camera. We’ve always been focused on capturing moments, of course, but for some reason and maybe it’s the winter break, it feels like this is a fresh start. The moments seem more real, vivid and convey such emotion. Is it just me? Anyone else out there feeling a rebirth this spring?
We have loved Meghan and Jeremy Arnold from “Go.” In fact, we’ve featured them on social media quite a bit and if things continue as they have been, you haven’t seen the last of this sweet, loving and exuberant family. It started with one of the best weddings – Charlotte, 2012 and then daughter Berklee came along. They’ve traveled from Virginia to have us shoot photos of them and we’re so flattered and grateful. We wrote in a blog about their growing family that we were in for whatever was next. From her newborn photos laying in tulle with her mom’s celtic wedding headpiece, to her bright-eyed “WHAT’S UP?!” expression at 6 months (seriously, you owe it to yourself to have a look at both sets) Berklee has been a delight to photograph. Her face is so expressive and she is so smiley and wide-eyed and appears so joyous. She’s hard not to grab and nibble on.
We sometimes ask parents of kids this young and this insanely adorable how they haven’t just eaten them and they all look at us with these helpless expressions, as if to say, “it’s touch and go” or “we’re doing ALL we can do.” Meghan and Jeremy are no different.
From the bagpipes that played at their wedding to the Catholic ceremony to the Celtic details and finally to the little ginger Berklee, the Arnolds are Irish all the way. It’s been wonderful seeing them grow and as we consider spring portraits and the weddings to come we hope that this feeling of rebirth continues not just for us but for all those we’re going to photograph. To everyone: Sláinte!
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.
We are so excited to announce that Amy & Tom’s Chetola Resort wedding in Blowing Rock, NC is going to be featured in the latest issue of High Country Wedding Guide! The magazine which is in the final stages of design now will be available by late December. If you or someone you know is planning a NC mountain destination wedding or a wedding in the NC High Country you definitely want to get your hands on this helpful resource that’s filled with beautiful real weddings.
Learn more about our wedding photography packages in the NC Mountains, Asheville, Blowing Rock NC, Boone NC, and the NC High Country and packages for NC Mountain destination weddings by calling our studio at 336-990-0080, visit our website www.pixelsonpaper.net or send us and email at mail@pixelsonpaper.net.