Mountain Wedding combines rustic, stylish, Jewish and traditional elements
The only minor thing about Katie and Josh’s October wedding was their now-shared surname. Katie Muskal wore her mother’s wedding gown when she walked down the aisle to marry her groom, Josh Minor. The gown was reworked and tailored to suit her style, but kept the elements that reminded her of her mom and bonded them that day. And that’s only the beginning….
The bride told us that she, “wanted to create a casual, rustic but chic, festive atmosphere where everyone could be comfortable and have a good time. And of course, we wanted it to be in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains!”
Katie is a native of Pennsylvania, but as an Appalachian State alum, she got the mountain bug and fell in love with our Blue Ridge …… and fell even further for a NC boy – Josh. “After dating a few months, we spent an amazing weekend deep in the mountains while attending a football game. I can honestly say that the beautiful scenery helped us fall in love more and more each day. For our wedding, I wanted to recreate that feeling of love we experienced on that trip.”
There is something about an outdoor wedding that is both challenging and adventurous and so deeply cool. Everyone is surrounded by mother nature, we’re all under the sky, there is tender ambient noise, and the trees and flowers and the rest of nature become attendees.
A little shout out: this couple worked with the amazing talent of Buddy Fore and his efforts tend to result in the most beautiful and well-organized weddings. Just look at his table arrangements!! Also, look for him in the 2016 issue of High Country Wedding Guide.
There was no shortage of details that spoke to autumn and tradition. The bride’s Jewish upbringing was celebrated with a “chuppah” made of antique cloth from both the bride’s and groom’s grandmothers. They celebrated with a “breaking of the glass” ceremony, and later the “hora” chair dance at the reception. Finally, the centerpieces and decorations on the head table were from the bride’s grandmother, who passed away last year.
We love the Blue Ridge Mountain Club! It couldn’t be more picturesque and it, along with the fog and rain in the morning followed by a starry night, allowed us to get gorgeous photos of this glorious couple and the many people people who came from hither and yon to be there to celebrate with them.
This reception had the highest energy we’ve seen and photographed all year. The dance floor never cleared thanks to DJ Erok, whom we would highly recommend. Ages young and old partied well into the night. We loved that when they did need a break, the outdoor fire-pit was close by and the stars were out.
Katie asked if it might be possible for us to thank her parents – David and Tracy Muskal, for giving them an amazing wedding and to thank everyone else who came to celebrate with them. Of course we can: THANK YOU SO MUCH!
From Ryan and myself, we’d like to thank Katie & Josh for allowing us to be a witness to their special day. Good Luck, you two! We love you!
Merry Christmas ~ with our deepest gratitude and love
We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and give you our heartfelt thanks.
2015 has been an amazing year for Pixels On Paper and it wouldn’t have been that way were it not for our awesome clients, supportive friends, partners and families. Thank you to those who put your faith in us and invested in our talents. An additional & HUGE THANK YOU to those who have referred us to friends and family. We hope and pray that you will continue to do the same, as ultimately this is what keeps us in the business of fulfilling our crazy dream.
This year, we served new clients, for whom we fell in love – new babies, newly engaged couples, brides & grooms, parents who adopted and families who wanted to create memories and heirlooms. And there were recurring clients (many have become our lifelong friends) who we loved to plan with and serve for those milestones that are worthy of more than pics taken by a smart phone. In August, Pixels celebrated its 10 year anniversary with a big party surrounded by many of you and believe us, our hearts were full – and still are.
It’s also been our busiest year ever for graphic design. A special thanks to those business owners who have trusted us to help them build their brand identities and design marketing materials that will help their businesses grow. We hope for continued success in all of your endeavors.
As we enter into the season of proposals and engagements, if you or somebody you know is getting engaged, please keep us in mind for engagement and wedding photography. We are currently booking 2016 and 2017 dates!
To all of you out there, THANK YOU. Our wish for everyone in 2016 is health, happiness, peace, love and big dreams!
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.
whitney & preston ~ a wedding of place, people, horses and special details
We are people people.
We love our clients and if you read these blogs, know us, hang out with us with any regularity, have hired us, then you already know this. There is NO WAY we’d be successful if we were not relational by nature.
But we also love the details and the wedding of Whitney Pegg and Preston Parsons was a perfect combination of personal details and character that reflected their personalities.
Williams Farm is a beautiful spot and gave us almost too many options and gorgeous views – ALMOST. If you can consider that much perfect landscape “a detail” – then it was one of the better ones and Whitney and Preston had dozens of perfect details.
Preston is in law enforcement and is an officer. When they asked us to integrate patrol cars and artillery into their photos, wellllllll, it was a fun challenge. We looked for and found creative ways to do this and they turned out to be some of their favorite images in addition to the classic ones we took.
Brides-to-be: TAKE NOTE. If you want an outdoor wedding – country or otherwise – these two nailed it. Check out the barn (OLD barn), the horses and the set up for both the ceremony and reception. The details around each aspect of their day were amazing and so much fun to shoot.
Both Whitney and Preston seemed nervous before the wedding and we always expect this. Once they laid eyes on the other however it was as if no one else was there and you could see that this was the moment they had been waiting for. You could see them completely relax. They even told us afterward that this moment was one of their favorites of the ceremony and day.
Whitney told us that she had “a photo to go with every aspect of the wedding” that they’d asked for and said “and you even did last minute shots” that they wanted to add.
They’ve requested more photos of them in the future and we can’t wait!
Wanna see their engagement photos? Have a look!
Isaiah’s first birthday portraits & he’s still rocking the ties
Not much has changed with Mr. Isaiah. You’ll recall that when last we saw him, he was handling cases for the law firm of Cute, Bright and Smoochable. He’s transitioned to bow ties from his usual Windsor knotted silks, but his focus has not changed: he will seek justice for you and is nearly perfect in his ability to be delicious.
Gazing into the future! Ready to fight crime and change lives… maybe.
Now, with that PSA out of the way, let’s get closer to the truth. We love this family.
We captured their engagement and wedding photos, Isaiah’s six month pics and now his first birthday. This kid rocks the ties and he should keep wearing them. 
We had a bunch of balloons in the studio left over from another session, and when I saw what he was wearing and that we were celebrating his first birthday, I thought they would make a perfect addition to the scene. Little did I know, Isiah had never gotten to hold a balloon before.
The look on his face when he was squeezing it was hilarious. It makes you wonder if the next moment it would POP and leave him scared and in fury of tears. Fortunately that was not the case. Instead he just grunted and laughed.