Posts Tagged: carolina wedding
Pixels On Paper | NC Wedding Photographers | October Wedding Anniversaries
October is one of the more beautiful months for weddings in our area. It’s a month of seasonal transition which means you take a chance with weather – as with April and May. We cannot recall an October wedding that wasn’t amazing. Sometimes, the weather drives us indoors, but when the temperature and setting are on your side, it can be golden, … pardon the pun.
Here’s a toast to all of our October Anniversaries. And to many more! We love you all!
Kristin & Jason – 5 years on October 1st
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of all three.”
– Stanley Horowitz
Donna & Andrew – 4 years on October 4th
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
– George Eliot
Mickey & Ben – 3 years on October 4th
“It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.” – B. C. Forbes
LeighAnn & Jason – 2 years on October 4th
“Autumn’s the mellow time.” – William Allingham
Amanda & Rich – 7 years on October 10th
Melissa & Bob – 6 years on October 10th
Katie & Josh 1 year October 10th
“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”
― Rainbow Rowell
Mary & Gilbert – 8 years on October 11
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” – Lauren DeStefano
Megan & Jeff – 3 years on October 12th
“In autumn, don’t go to jewelers to seek old, go to parks.” – Mehmet Maret Ildan
Lucy & Glen – 4 years on October 13th
“I know the lands are lit, with all the autumn blaze of Goldenrod.” – Helen Hunt Jackson
Addie & Matt – 6 years 0n October 16th
“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burroughs
Amy & Bobby – 7 years on October 17th
“Autumn came, with wind and gold.” – Unknown
Jamie & Daniel – 1 year on October 17th
“But these are days that we dream about when the sunlight paints us gold.” – Martha Schuster
Annette & Omudhome – 8 years on October 18th
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” – Emily Bronte
Laura & Chumah – 5 years on October 22nd
“Autumn. The year’s last, loveliest smile.” – William Cullen Bryan
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.
pixels’ vendor spotlight: edenhouse floral & events
Deanna Reid, owner of Edenhouse Floral & Events, has been a collaborator and co-conspirator of ours since 2013. In a word: talented.
Creative.
Inspiring. That’s 3 and we’re stopping there, but suffice it to say, she and her team do amazing work.
She’s created floral arrangements for weddings and events we’ve photographed, flower crowns for our portrait clients, and arrangements for our own personal needs. Ryan is wearing one of her flower crowns right now.
Kidding. But the truth is, Deanna brings the juice. Check out the below.
I think, on some level, we all believe that we can sort of “do our best” and get similar results to those of the professionals. Occasionally, this is true, but it’s rare. Deanna uses uses a huge array of flowers, and combines textures and objects in all of her designs. And she has a feel for clients and adds that spark that completes a vision.
We’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from our clients who’ve worked with Deanna, be it on price, service, communication or finished products. She is our go-to recommendation for floral needs. Deanna and her team also now offer wedding planning and coordination, applying their same organization, creative efforts and visions to an entire event.
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.
wedding redux #5 ~ hire a planner, avoid stress and dance more!
Did you hear that bell? Well, you know what that means!!! It’s time for another Wedding Redux, where we ask couples whose weddings we photographed to talk candidly (and helpfully) about things they loved and things they would change. It’s in the form of a Q&A, complete with friendly advice and feedback. Today’s couple – Elizabeth & Kyle Bishop – are faves of ours. We shot their engagement and bridal photos and then their amazing March wedding. Pay attention brides and grooms – their input is thoughtful and detailed!
YOU’RE MARRIED. You’ve done it! Now… IF you could plan and execute your wedding day all over again, what would you do more of?
Kyle: “Dancing. I wish we had been able to invite more people that would have danced with us. I think it would have made the reception more festive.”
Elizabeth: “Eating! Even though we tried to make sure ahead of time that we would get something to eat, we still only managed a few bites of the appetizers. We chose such yummy food for our guests and then didn’t get to enjoy any of it.” [PIXELS NOTE: Look for Kyle’s funny addition at the end of this blog about food. And sadly, we see this all the time. Great intentions to eat the food and then it never happens.]
What would you do less of?
Kyle: “Prep work. Hiring a wedding planner would have helped with that.”
Elizabeth: “A wedding planner definitely would have been nice to have, especially with all the other things we had going on while we were planning our wedding.”
This came up a couple of other times during the Q&A with these two. The wedding planner vs. friends and family debate. The Bishops told us how they wish they’d hired a planner to take the stress off of themselves and their many family and friends who stepped in and stepped up to help from the planning all the way through the day. It’s a tough call, when you have a budget, and Ryan and I certainly don’t get a kick-back if a couple decides to hire a planner. We just want happy couples. We’ve seen weddings planned with family and friends that were flawless and relatively stress-free but you never know. The key word is stress. So figure out ways to eliminate as much of it as possible.
What do you wish you’d done, but were afraid to do?
Kyle: “Learn a couples dance to break into for our first dance. That would have been pretty neat.”
Elizabeth: “A choreographed couples dance would have been a lot of fun, but neither of us is very confident in our dancing skills. Our friends and family probably would have loved it though!”
Positive and negative feedback (or advice) on any or all of the following:
Attire?
Elizabeth: “LET YOUR DRESS SHOPPING BE FUN! Going into shopping, I think a lot of brides stress about finding “the one” but we shouldn’t. The right dress at the right price IS out there and you will find it. It may not be at the first or second shop and that’s okay. It also might be at the first shop and that’s okay too. My gown was the third one I tried on and I insisted on trying several others because I thought “‘It can’t be this easy.'”
Food?
Kyle: “We liked the choice of food but the delivery was lackluster. Many people had to wait longer that we would have liked to eat.
Elizabeth: “Food was… a bit of an issue for us. Everything was delicious, but there seemed to be a lot of confusion between what we expected, what we were told we would have, and what we ended up with. Most of our guests didn’t realize there was any issue, but it was a source of stress for us leading up to the event and on the day of. Be sure that you know exactly what you’re getting, how it will be served, and what the kitchen’s plan for timing is.”
Flowers?
Elizabeth: “We were lucky enough to have my sister and maid-of-honor offer to make all of our flowers from various craft paper and book pages. It was a lot of work for her, but it was the prefect addition to our day and not having to worry about picking up flowers on the actual day was a big load off our minds. We did have a live flower bouquet to toss though. I was not about to throw one of my sister’s creations.”
Location?
Kyle: “We had our dream wedding. Boone was the best place for that.”
Elizabeth: “Where do you want to get married? Go there! We knew that no matter where we had our wedding, most of our family was going to have to travel several hours, so we chose somewhere WE wanted to get married. If you do have a wedding away from home, I would suggest providing your guests with a list of favorite restaurants and local activities. Many of our guests arrived the day before and spent time shopping or sight-seeing before our ceremony started.”
Elements of the ceremony?
Kyle: “The chapel was the right place. Again, somewhere special that we always wanted to get married.”
Elizabeth: “Your officiant can really make a big difference. We were lucky enough to have a family member that is also an amazing minister. Find someone that makes the two of you feel comfortable and who can speak to you as a couple.”
Number in the wedding party?
Elizabeth: “I always imagined a small wedding party, maybe three. At most four. I am, however, lucky for have a husband with a lot of friends and a desire to include them all. I admit, it stressed me out a few times along the way, trying to coordinate that many people, but in the end everything worked out well. Kyle’s guys were wonderful about helping with setup and all of my girls were perfect. My biggest piece of advice would be not to worry about tradition too much when it comes to your bridal party. I had a bridesman, who stood on my side and our grandmothers were our flower girls. Everyone loved them!”
Time of year? Time of day?
Kyle: “It was a perfect time of the year. We got snow and sun. What more could we ask for?”
Elizabeth: “I think these things are really personal to each couple. We knew we wanted a big party of a reception and that we wanted it at night, so that dictated our ceremony time. We also knew that we didn’t want our anniversary too close to either of our birthdays or any particularly important holidays. I would advise finding out when the peak wedding season is in your desired area, and then choosing a date a couple of weeks before or after that. Doing that helped us really stretch our budget.”
DJ vs. a band?
Kyle: “Our DJ was the best decision. We were able to pick out the songs that we wanted and direct the flow of the evening to our liking.
Elizabeth: “We wanted so many different kinds of music that a DJ was really the only way for us to go. Ours had a great song selection and managed everything really well. The only thing I would mention here is to make sure ahead of time that your DJ is comfortable announcing things during the reception. We assumed that was part of being a DJ and we were wrong.”
Vows?
Kyle: “Write your own and it will allow you to show how much you care about each other.”
Elizabeth: “We wrote our own and I loved it. I admit, I was nervous to read my own words in front of everyone, but it was ultimately more important to me that Kyle know exactly how I felt. My biggest advice here would be to speak up! I was so nervous and emotional that I wasn’t able to project very well and as a result, not all of our guests heard what I was saying.”
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):
1. Lock down the schedule of events for the reception so that everything is on time.
2. Hire a wedding planner to lower overall stress.
3. Have a pizza from Capone’s pizza for my grooms cake.
Name 3 things you would not change / would do the same:
1. Location and Time. I feel like our wedding was perfect.
2. Our photographers. They were the best vendor decision of the wedding. [THANKS, GUYS!]
3. The oldest couples dance got some people on the floor dancing that didn’t dance the entire night.
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.
a perfect ending to a perfect romance ~ and a wedding
This is where it began. Two book lovers. Two romantics. Elizabeth and Kyle met working at a game store in college, realized they were both nuts for Dr. Who, books and each other. These two feel like family already to us and in fact their extended families do as well. We photographed their engagement portraits (a BLAST) and Elizabeth’s bridal portraits (gorgeous and romantic) and now, finally, the big day – just one month ago. It’s one for the books, for sure.
Everyone was emotional, naturally, but what we noticed most was how much unbridled love they all have for each other. Seeing Elizabeth with her parents was priceless.
Expectant groom Kyle was nervous and serene, fun with his groomsmen as was Elizabeth with her bridesmaids and bridesman. If you haven’t revisited their engagement session or her bridal portraits, there is a very cool detail in the bouquets and boutonnieres. They were all HAND-MADE with pages from each person’s favorite book. The color in the bouquets, groomsmen’s vests and elsewhere? Dr. Who “blue.”
Elizabeth and Kyle’s wedding took place at the First Baptist Church in Boone, NC and the reception was held at The Green Park Inn in Blowing Rock, NC. Family members played major roles. Sometimes this is the case, but not always. Elizabeth and Kyle included many friends from childhood and college as well.
Some memorable moments for us: Kyle saved a voice message from his recently deceased grandfather congratulating Kyle on his engagement to Elizabeth and it was played during the unity portion of their ceremony. Everyone wept, including us. A recording of Elizabeth’s deceased Godfather singing was also played. We loved their thought and attention to detail.
Another fave….. Kyle and Elizabeth’s four grandmothers were the flower girls! It was seriously one of the best ideas that I’ve seen at a wedding and the Grandmothers loved it.
When we asked about most memorable moments Kyle and Elizabeth were in lock step.
Kyle: “I cried when I first saw Elizabeth walking down the aisle. She had the biggest smile you could imagine on her face while silently mouthing to me ‘do you like it?’ in reference to the dress. It’s an image that is burned into my memory.“
Elizabeth: “My favorite moment of the ceremony was seeing Kyle waiting at the end of the aisle and watching him watching me. He never stopped looking at me and I could tell in that moment that he was sure of every decision that led us to that moment.”
Like the wedding, with tears and laughter – the pastor kept things light in all the right places – the reception was filled with levity, tears, toasts, passion, family, crazy friends and DANCING. The speeches in particular were heart-felt, fun and meant so much to the bride and groom. Elizabeth told us that she snagged one given to save in their memory book.
Kyle: “The cherry on top was having over forty people form a circle during the last song and all sing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It summed up the immense energy that surrounded the entirety of the event. I’m still trying to track down a video of everyone singing at the top of their lungs.”
Elizabeth: “I think my favorite moment of the reception was our first dance. We were in front of everyone, but we were really only there for each other in those few minutes. I also really enjoyed our last dance. Out of nowhere, everyone still there got in a huge circle with arms all around each other and we sang Bohemian Rhapsody together while people danced in the middle, laughed, and cried a little!!”
Elizabeth: “SNOW! Kyle had been telling everyone that he wanted it to snow, but I was keeping pretty quiet about that. I wanted it, but I was afraid to say it out loud and then be disappointed. God decided to give us our wish and I was so happy to see it in our home-away-from-home in those gorgeous mountains. So many people traveled so far to be with us! We had family that has known us all our lives, friends we just made in the past year, former teachers, friends of our parents … so many people celebrating with us … and our friend, Oscar, made it back from his year in China less than a week before. It was a wonderful surprise.”
Notice the TARDIS on her garter strap.
Dr. Who used a tardis (time machine) to get where he needed to go. Elizabeth and Kyle are well on their way, with or without one. Best wishes! We love you guys!
Kyle: “I can’t believe that we actually pulled off what we consider to be our dream wedding.”
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.