Everything about this story, this couple, and this day makes me happy. Joanne and Doug Morris found each other again after decades apart and eloped to Elkin Creek Vineyard to say their I Dos. I’ll say more about the reconnection in a moment, but first I need to express how honored we were to be their photographers. And those who want a private wedding, especially spur of the moment, to begin their lives together, go for it. Joanne and Doug made a wonderful choice in Elkin Creek Vineyard, and this is a favorite venue of ours as photographers and as a couple.

• 

• 

Joanne only saw the place on their wedding day – April 23rd – and she just wanted portraits after she and Doug said their vows. After they finished their ceremony near the property’s windmill, we photographed them in various spots around the venue. Their natural affection for each other was evident. They were so sweet together.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We fell in love with these two, and their sweet dog Bailee. Their story is a lovely one: dramatic and dreamy. Joanne and Doug met in St. Louis while in college and, along with their brothers, made their way through chiropractor school. They dated and the tribe remained close, but after graduation, they all parted ways, and both Joanne and Doug married others, had children and began separate lives.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Flash forward many years and Joann was having a recurring dream that Doug’s brother would come to her and ask her to contact Doug. She brushed it off as a weird blast from her subconscious mind, but the dream was relentless. Finally after 4 nights in a row of this dream of Doug’s brother insisting that she find Doug, she got on social media and they reconnected. The timing was perfect as each was single. A few months later, they started dating again and got engaged.

• 

• 

• 

During this afternoon in April, we loved watching them together as we asked them to pose.

Days later, when Joanne called to ask if we’d gotten “just one good one” I laughed, because so many of them were fantastic. Their love jumped through the lens.

• 

• 

• 

I’m so excited for these two to start their lives together near Durham with their sweet dog. Love can happen at any age and through lots of life’s ups and downs. We’re so incredibly happy for them!

---

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 newborns and families, 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 work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.