S. Carter Studios

What a day indeed. You may remember Emily’s bridal portraits and how we were battling rain, the same was true on her wedding day! Off and on we were showered putting her outdoor Winridge Manor wedding & reception in jeopardy. It worked out in the end and yes, we were all a little damp but I think everyone there would agree that it was worth it. I’ve never been to a wedding that was so obviously crafted by the bride and her family. Emily’s mother made the bridesmaid dresses, Emily handcrafted Michael’s tie. From peacock feathers to hydrangeas Emily’s stamp was all over her wedding. It was a delightful combination of sweet & sassy! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!

My, oh, my, how I was LOVING this vehicle!

See the picture below: a groom tearing up as he waits for his bride. Well, it was beyond welling, for both of them! Full on tears from start to finish. Emily’s started before the wedding when she accepted a phone call from him and through a tear smile relayed to her bridesmaids, “He’s just so good to me.”

The mist turned into a drizzle but I really don’t think Emily or Michael had a clue. They were pretty wrapped up in each other. It was just lovely.

It was beautiful and brief and then just like that they were husband and wife!

There weren’t many tears after that, just big joyful smiles.

Props to my intern Julie who lined this shot up!

Just a few horses in a pasture with mist rising up off of it, no big deal!

Loved their moms who held hands several times and celebrated God’s goodness together.

a sparkling exit

in the classic car

so classy. Thanks for letting me be a part of your celebration Emily & Michael It was such a pleasure to be there!

One of the questions I got most when I was engaged was, “So, who is taking YOUR pictures?” The simple answer was Kristen! Over the process of my engagement & wedding planning Kristen became a friend as well as a trust photographer. Seriously, she rocked our socks off with a soaking wet engagement session. So fast forward two years and her boyfriend John popped the question (on a beach in St. Croix while singing a song he’d written for her, his future wife!) I was more than thrilled to snap a few photos of her and her husband-to-be and now I’m happy to share them with you!

(this one is Josh’s)

Oh, love. How wonderful. I’ll finish it off with a brief story: after the session we attended their couples shower thrown by Kristen’s aunt. It was really sweet. They played a game where they were both answering the same question. The final question was: In one word, describe your sweetheart. His answer: Mine.

They began dating while he was on tour with his band. She’s got two addy awards to her name almost graduated name. I’m not going to lie, I was a little intimidated at the idea of taking pictures of a couple of rock stars. As it turns out, rock stars are just like people! Daniel and Emily were casual, friendly and more than happy to hold hands and do anything for a great shot! We shared cupcakes and it was instant friendship. I can’t wait to see what they’ve got up their sleeves for their end of July wedding!

Sometimes photographers have dreams, like a client saying they have an original polaroid camera with just one picture left in it that they are willing to trust you with. Dreams like this come true sometimes…

I cannot wait for their wedding, just learned yesterday to expect five classic muscle cars at the wedding. H-yes, I’m excited! Here’s to July 31st!

Oh how I love to look at our wedding photos, it was just perfect! One of the things that made it so perfect was being able to land beautiful, thrifty venues. That brings us to this week’s Take A Look, wihch I should add was suggested by my wonderful intern Jenny. This unique and vintage venue is perfect for the Central Virginia Bride on a budget. The Aviary is located at Miller Park in Lynchburg, VA, which is run by Lynchburg Parks and Recreation. Unfortnately they haven’t created a website, to my knowledge, that really showcases this incredible building so I’m glad to provide some info and pictures on here! One of the things that makes this the best value is that renting it (which when we rented in March of 09 was $400 total for 8:00 am to 10:00 pm) includes tables and chairs! It also has a full fridge, oven & storage as well as bathrooms. It can house up to 300 people. We paid to rent it the night before which allowed us to begin setting up and have our rehearsal dinner there.

I loved the many sided building in a beautiful sage green with almost bulgarian looking white details! The natural light is absolutely gorgeous pouring the the windows! We barely had to decorate the interior at all. I’ve done three other weddings at this location and it’s just as beautiful each time. The park around the Aviary is lush and a great place for photos of the bridal party or family!

I love these two photos which the very talented folks at Brooke CourtneyPhotography took at our mutal friend David’s wedding.I loved how David and Rachel really customized the space to showcase their personality in a way I hadn’t seen!

It looks like a building from a fairytale at night and I remember driving away from it so thankful to have found a great venue. I hope that some of you will be able to take advantage of this diamond in the rough!

Well, I suppose Angi really doesn’t need an introduction. If you’re a regular then you’ve seen her engagement caught on film &  slideshow, a slideshow from her shower’s photobooth, and a Hand Picked project created for the shower. I thought it was about time for me to share other shower details! I’ve been dreaming of being a bridesmaid for a few years now, I know it sounds silly, people don’t usually look forward to spending upwards of $400 or more to be involved with a wedding but I just think a bridesmaid is a very special person there for the bride to depend on and to help her accomplish the wedding of her dreams! So, I loved that part of my bridesmaid responsibilities included planning and executing a bridal shower! The theme was spring time, especially since it was primarily planned during a particularly cold and snow winter, and we were able to have 4 of the 9 bridesmaids in attendance! That’s a pretty impressive feat seeing as how we’re spread out over the world, literally!

Jimmy Cakes created the perfect cake! Funfetti & strawberry, her very favorites.

She loved it!

and cut it with a big scary knife.

Thanks to Jenna for grabbing some pictures of me, evidence that I was really there!

Angi & Solomon are moving to Thailand shortly after their wedding so we had a Create A Date themed shower where guests brought creative date ideas and the funds to make them happen! Here are some details!

We stored the ideas in the little album and she read through them all during the shower.

We also created a bouquet made of advice for her!

and tried to make things a little easier on her by filling out names and addresses on envelopes for thank you cards!

I really truly enjoyed pulling it together, with the help of some lovely ladies! I can’t believe how fast her wedding is coming up. Oh, and a heads up that some of her engagement photos will be posted on the blog soon! Here’s a sneak peak.

You may remember this adventurous couple who braved the rain with us in October. We finished the rest of their engagement session in early April! Some things had changed, Alisha’s hair is longer, Kent’s closer to graduation, and now instead of 9 months until their wedding, we’re at just under 4! A lot of things hadn’t changed like their ease and joy at being together and their sincerity in asking about me and Josh! It was great to see them again and hear even more about the great wedding they have panned in July. I love that they can look forward to living in the same state some time soon. Enjoy your last few months guys!

Birthdays are a big deal to me. Really, one day a year where everyone you care about celebrates your existence! Sign me up, lol. I’ve had a few birthdays, 24 to be exact, but today, though not my birthday, was very special because I got to take photos of a very precious little girl on her 6th birthday. I feel six is an important one and I’m sure Elise does too. My gift for her (and her parents) was just a few photos of a beautiful girl on her one and only 6th birthday! It’s a little past midnight in our time zone but I know she has people in Michigan who wished they could have been there so I’m going to still count this as being posted on her birthday. Happy birthday Elise, I’m so glad I could come to your party! As if one little blue eyed blonde haired beauty isn’t enough, there’s another! trust me, I know it’s out of control how pretty they are! I’m sure their dad is pretty aware and is already preparing to fend off the boys! A shot of the whole family! Thanks for letting me “crash” the party guys! And Erin, I agree, the frosting was AMAZING.

One thing I truly love about weddings is the food, namely the Cake! My sweet tooth cannot be denied and on days when I do weddings I don’t have to think about what I eat because I need all the fuel I can get. So I’m happy today to get to share about my great friend Jim’s business, Jimmy Cakes! Jim whom you’ve seen before, with his beautiful wife Alisha, is one of the most creative people that I know! I have benefited from his creativity several times and encourage you to do the same! He makes homemade cakes, cupcakes and pies. It’s 100% from scratch and he’ll even go organic for you. Recently he let me help by letting me make the icing for some cupcakes! INCREDIBLE. I think anyone who has had a Jimmy Cake would be happy to attest to the sheer tastiness involved in the experience! I encourage you to follow his blog so you can see even more wonderful creations and read a little about the process he goes through to make them!  Now, please be impressed by photos of some of his work. Be sure to read through the bottom if you’re a Lynchburg resident because there may be a special treat in store for you if you comment on this post!

Jimmy Cakes will provide goodies for all types of events: birthdays, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, holidays and even if you just really want some incredible cake.

A Potterific cupcake cake.

This cake was made for my Josh’s 25th birthday! Go Dawgs!

Homemade peppermint mocha cupcakes!

The texas cake from Stephen & Leslie’s wedding!

The newest and my personal fav: The Grenadenhaver cake (happy-you-had-a-baby-it’s-a-boy-and-also-your-birthday-cake)

This is just the tip of the flavorful iceberg my friends! I love to hook my friends up so it’s time for a little give-a-way. Please comment on this post explaining which of these cakes is your favorite and why. Your name will be entered into a drawing for a dozen free Jimmy Cake cupcakes of the flavor of your choice! You must be a Lynchburg local to be eligible to win this giveaway! The winner will be announced with next Thursday’s take a look post!

When Tim and Samantha contacted me about their session which we scheduled for the beginning of December I knew the perfect place to take them. They mentioned loving the outdoors and animals and really wanted greenery incorporated in their photos. If you’re familiar with my blog you know this isn’t generally a problem, however, at the beginning of December it was a no brainer. The only place with greenery that I could think of was Green Needles Christmas Tree Farm. It’s owned by some very wonderful friends of ours who were more than happy to host us as we tromped around in the freezing cold weather. Tim and Samantha were flexible and excited, it helps that they are very much in love and comfortable around each other. Enjoy some shots from their engagement session as they look forward to their wedding tihs May!

I couldn’t get over how natural and simply beautiful Samantha was. She wasn’t aware of it but I think Tim is!

Evidence that Tim was…

It’s very clear that she’s fond of him too.

What a special opportunity I had to take family portraits for my friends the Beverlys! Ron, Leslie, John Chase and Noah were really fun. I will admit that Leslie’s parents being there to dance around behind me in order to keep the boys’ attention made things twice as fun! It was wonderful to meet Mr. and Mrs. Lanata who we have been praying for over the past few years. Kelly, Leslie’s sister, was there as well. What a family experience. I loved it!

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