Posts Tagged: charlotte wedding photographers
Happy Anniversary | February’s One Couple
Lauren & Joshua – Five years on February 11th
I’m going to let my fellow North Carolinian, the late and oh-so-amazing Nina Simone take this one. Enjoy it here.
And Happy Anniversary to Lauren & Joshua Holley – our only February anniversary.
A certain kind of light
I want my whole life to be
To live it with you
Live it with you
Everybody says
Do each and every little thing
What good does it bring
If I ain’t got you, if I ain’t got you
I ain’t got you, I ain’t got you
What it’s like
Baby you don’t
What it’s like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you
Ryan and I say: Amen to that.
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.
weddings: it’s time to bake, er…. book YOURS!
I love to cook. If you know me, know about our house and garden, or if you read the blog from summer 2016, you’re aware that I enjoy growing things, cooking the produce and herbs I’ve grown, trying new recipes, canning veggies, etc. Ryan and I are foodies. And we love craft beer as well.
Before you head down the rabbit holes those hyperlinks can lead you down, let me say: I was thinking while reading through a cookbook recently, how very much cooking and especially baking is like planning a wedding. You need the right ingredients, the right environmental elements, good timing and all sorts of other factors in place in order to end up with something you want to devour and share and photograph. The rub is that you get one shot at a wedding vs. a cookbook author or home cook who can test and test recipes until triumph is inevitable.
Amy Adams as Julie from “Julie & Julia” – Sony Pictures
Really good recipes begin with a story. The “why” of what’s being prepared. So do relationships. How’d you meet? Who said I love you first? What made you decide that being apart was not an option? Most stories behind recipes have to do with how amazing the combination of ingredients is and why so many generations of cooks or family members have made this or that item.
Eggs are eggs. Flour is flour. But combine them and STAND BACK!!!
When we book engagements, one of the first things we do is learn your story. Yes, we ask about locations for the shoot, but we also want to know you and I am confident that we get the photos we get of our clients and we become friends with so many of them because we take learning about you seriously – and discovering the elements and ingredients that make you special as a couple.
Bride, groom, landscape, sky …. all of the elements are there.
Bride and bride, Spanish moss, water, Charleston: DONE.
Our couple at Asheville’s Biltmore Estate in autumn.
No sooner do you mix up the ingredients for an engagement session than it’s time to plan the wedding. As photographers, ours is only one part – albeit an important one.
Who asked for sprinkles??
There is weather to consider when cooking up your wedding day plan; the guest list, the gown purchase and alterations, the suits or tuxes to rent, the choices of chocolate or strawberry, sit down or buffet, band or DJ, mountains or coast, outdoors or church and on it goes. A vanilla cake is a blank canvas and once you’ve chosen your actual wedding date and location – it feels sort of limitless. To my mind, it should be fun. “Please let it be fun – and meaningful” – we pray for our clients. We so hope that it is. Even the elements that don’t come together are rarely noticed by guests. They see the environment, listen to the vows, hear the music, enjoy the experience. Guests don’t worry about the eggs when they’re enjoying the cake, you know?
Sunlight, outdoors, surrounded by family.
Throwback Renaissance gown, bride and perfect weather.
A farm and an intimate hug.
The outcome is most often lovely and delicious and our job is to capture it. What has been fun these 11+ years is seeing the same elements combined with a variety of results. Church weddings, outdoor weddings, small gatherings, casts of thousands, at the end of the day it’s still a cake, or for my purposes it’s still 2 people who enter that day single and leave it as someone’s spouse.
It’s the end of January and we aren’t the pressuring type, but if you’re planning your wedding for 2017 and haven’t booked your photographer, we hope you will do so and choose us. We are proud to be recognized for our wedding photography by friends and fans and by WeddingWire, among others.
Next week! ONION RINGS….kidding. Contact us with questions. For those of you who know us…. we love you!
the party of a lifetime ~ your wedding
When was the last time you threw a party?
How many people were there? What was the occasion?
Unless you are a rock star party thrower or professional event planner (and we know plenty of both), the biggest party of your life is probably going to be your wedding.
When in your life do so many people who love you gather to celebrate you? Seriously. Think about it. And they don’t all know each other. YOU ARE THE REASON they’re there: relatives, coworkers, college buddies, favorite teachers, high school teammates, childhood besties, neighbors, your parents’ friends and new friends you’re inheriting because you’re getting married all show up to celebrate you ………… and party.
We notice unexpected meetings and connections at every single wedding we photograph. It never fails. Two or more people are seated together at the ceremony or the reception and the only context they have to connect them is you. And then stories are swapped, jokes are told and there are moments of “oh, so you are THAT Jennifer!” or “you’re the gramma who sent the box of banana bread during exams.” Your childhood babysitter sits next to your college roommate and sparks fly! Just kidding. Well,…. maybe… But the point is, this is not a rally with a cast of thousands and it’s not your retirement party 40 years from now. It’s a blow-out love fest for you and your beloved.
We’re not going to throw shade at amateurs. Your friends and family are going to take their own photos anyway. But we’ve heard the stories of regret from those who’ve let their friends “take pictures” and there’s no do-over. For the party of your life you need photographers who are experienced; who know what to look for when people cluster and when they separate; photographers who can tell which moment is going to be epic; who understand lighting regardless of location or setting; who’ve done this long enough to anticipate every single photo that you’re going to share on social media, frame and return to 25 years later.
Couples who hire us have spent time with us and we’ve focused on them, understand the vibe and theme of the wedding, know what to capture and are ready. We are getting the photos you want from your wedding, but we’re also eagle-eyed during the reception because we know what to look for and what will matter to you when you view the photos later.
There are all sorts of parties, but those with a purpose have a unique magic. Your wedding celebrates the beginning of your lives together and those who love you want to be there. Get ready, start your list and give us a call. We’d love to capture the party of a lifetime.
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.
One January Anniversary ~ celebrate!
Bethany & Kevin McCoy 7 years January 23rd
Happy Anniversary to a couple we watched (and photographed!) marry 7 years ago. A winter wedding filled with warmth and love. Sounds trite but it’s true. And if you don’t believe me, here’s 16th century poet Thomas Campion.
Now winter nights enlarge
This number of their hours;
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze
And cups o’erflow with wine,
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine…
This time doth well dispense
With lovers’ long discourse;
Much speech hath some defense,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well:
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys,
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys
They shorten tedious nights.
Happy Anniversary, Bethany and Kevin!
If you’re planning your wedding and are looking for engagement portraits and wedding photographers, please contact us. We’d love to hear your story and capture your big day.
A Country Club Wedding with Smiles, Dancing & Cigars
We ask our brides and grooms about best and favorite moments, among other things, after their wedding day. Responses range from couple to couple, but with Christine Whitford & Adam Kessell, it was about firsts.
First look at each other during the ceremony.
First kiss after the I Dos.
First moments of greeting and chatting with their guests.
Christine and Adam were married on October 22nd at Firethorne Country Club in Marvin, NC and moment to moment they were present with their friends and family and enjoying each bit.
There were tearful moments for all the girls while they were getting ready. Both of Christine’s grandmothers gave her precious family heirlooms, one of which was a bracelet that her late grandfather had given her grandmother.
Christine’s dad cried when he first saw her before walking her down the aisle.
Christine was a very enthusiastic bride and lots of fun to work with. Because we photographed a previous wedding where she was a bridesmaid, and shot their unconventional but historically significant engagement photos, she already knew our style and how we work. We already had a great relationship with her and Adam, so we knew it was going to be a blast.
Christine’s cathedral length veil was epic. We did have a few “all hands on deck” moments when the wind picked up though.
Firethorne provided an absolutely gorgeous outdoor setting for the wedding. The weather was perfect, there were smiles all around and lots of tender moments, joy and laughter (Christine: “we like to think our friends and family are pretty funny!”).
The reception was a party, as it should be. The DJs from Split Second Sound delivered the goods and kept the dance floor hot and all of Christine and Adam’s friends showed off some serious dance moves. The dancing was Christine’s favorite part of the reception she told us and Adam’s was the cigar bar. Ryan enjoyed spending time photographing at the cigar bar as well. There was just FUN in every direction.
Christine: “When we talk about our wedding day, we talk about how great it was to see everyone and just dance and have a good time. It was so nice to see our families blend so well together. It made my heart smile.”
Christine and Adam not only had a beautiful ceremony and killer reception, they are class acts. In lieu of favors, the couple made a donation in everyone’s honor to the animal shelter where they had recently rescued their own pup. Congratulations, you two and nothing but love for you both on the journey ahead!
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.