Christopher and Alina | Evergreen Country Club Wedding

Susannah and I have been so blessed by some of the traveling opportunities weddings have given us that I forget I would often sit around wondering how on earth I would ever get destination weddings. I would follow amazing photographers who seemed like they were going to Mexico, Hawaii, or Italy every other weekend. WHAT!? I want to do that, I would think to myself. But where does one start, how do you get destination weddings? Getting married to Susannah was a good start. ;). She was a big deal in the blogging world “back in the day,” and a lot of those people have continued to follow Susannah and I and our work. Two years ago, one such couple, Ryan and Christine, got married in Virginia at Blooming Hill Lavender Farm. Well, they know lots of people, so when they posted their wedding photos, that’s how Alina and Christopher found us.

It's always thrilling when we get the inquiries, "My friend Ryan had you guys photograph his wedding. I gushed over the photos! We're getting married in Warrenton, Virginia, June 2018." They booked us and we were so excited! But they booked us well over a year ago, and as God would have it, Susannah ended up being due with our second son too close to their wedding date to be able to go. Then in a scramble, we were trying to figure out who our second shooter might be. Let's ask someone local, we thought. And that's when we remembered Christine, whose wedding we shot just two years prior, also shoots weddings. It was perfect! She's also an awesome person and has tons of energy (which you need on wedding days) and you should think about booking her for your next wedding or engagement! 

As for the actual wedding of Christopher and Alina? It's always amazing when friends and family come together to throw the party. There is always more buy-in and truly amazing joy and celebration that happens at the wedding. They got married at the Evergreen Country Club and it was NOTHING like any Oregon Golf course we have ever seen. It has all the amazing old classic east coast charm you would hope for.

Flowers: www.thepinkpoppy.org

Dress: Anomalie

Tyler and Melissa | Reserve Vineyards Golf Club Wedding

We strive to capture the joy of wedding days. Sure, there are all kinds of emotions going on, but we believe a wedding should be a party with friends and family--that stressful stuff really doesn't have to be all that stressful. Tyler and Melissa nailed three things that we think make a wedding really fun! See below:

1. A day of coordinator is a huge help to take on most of the stressful details, so you, the bride, don't have to keep track of everyone. An amazing coordinator is always happy and will put you right at ease and make you feel like a movie star. They seem to take on everything and think of everything including making sure you get a HUGE plate of food and a glass of your favorite beverage in your hand at all times. A huge shoutout to the Reserve Vineyard Golf Club coordinator, Yelena, no joke, one of the best coordinator we have worked with to date! That is saying a lot because we have worked with a lot. Thank you so much for making the day all that more enjoyable for the couple and us! You can contact her here: yelena.king@reservegolf.com

2. Have your friends with you to help and to hangout with all day. When we showed up, Tyler was out with all his groomsmen setting up the entire reception site! It was a ton of work and a lot of times it might seem like it would be better to pay someone to take on that job, however from our experience, having friends and family band together to put on a party makes everyone have all that much more buy-in. There was no short supply of buy-in and the wedding party and guests letting loose and having an amazing time. See more photos as proof! 

3. Hire your "friend" to be the photographer. I know I know, I'm a photographer and I'm basically plugging myself? However I am also shooting myself in the foot a little on this one. It's a big deal to hire a photographer that you're not only comfortable with, but who you two can have a great time with. When I say hire your friend, I don't mean your friend that just happens to take photos. I mean invest time when looking for a photographer to meet up with them. Do an engagement session if you can and ask them lots of questions. We are honestly not right for everyone, because not everyone is going to think my awkward/inappropriate sense of humor is appealing. Or the fact I might make you make farting noises with your mouth. (Okay, I don't do that with everyone). We first met Tyler & Melissa at her sister's wedding a couple years back, and we fell in love with them. We clicked with them for sure and it was such an honor and joy to photograph our friends' wedding! 

Wedding photography is always changing. But parties are not. Have great food, great friends, lots of good drinks, and you're all set for a good time. I know everything should be perfect, but we think if two people find each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together that's pretty perfect enough. Rain or shine, hot or cold, if you have your loved ones with you when you say I do, you're all set! We love shooting weddings so dang much and it's weddings like Tyler and Melissa's that make it all the more enjoyable. Thank you for letting us come along for such a great celebration!