S. Carter Studios

I’d been looking forward to their wedding since Kimberly and I first began discussing it in the Fall of 2008! We took their engagement photos over Valentine’s Weekend in 2009 and they were wed in mid January 2010! Their wedding was a true joy to be involved with. It reminded me of mine in many ways which made it that much more fun! And the weather, who could ask for 50 degree weather on January 15th with the bluest skies you’ve ever seen and just snuggled between two of the worst snow storms to ever hit the East Coast! God has been watching out for them over their long engagement and had this day planned especially for them. Enjoy a few of their photos!

PS. Our workflow is different now and there are some who caught a glimpse of these photos RIGHT after the wedding (within three days actually, lol) those lucky people are the Facebook fans of S. Carter Studios. If you’d like to be alerted to the newest content then join up!

I won’t lie, I have a little bit of lash envy!

They opted for a first look after having seen the great photos from Gavin & Kelsey’s and I’m so glad they did!

It gave us lots of time for photos of just the two of them and their really fun bridal party!

I wasn’t kidding about the day!

They were married at a lovely church just a block away from my house!

and after all that waiting, they became husband and wife.

We headed over to the lovely West Manor to celebrate! There were loads of great details, food and dancing.

Kimberly and I joked that she was my first Friday bride, my first red cake and several other firsts. Not too shabby to plan a wedding with such impact!

These were absolutely delicious as were the toppings located just to the left! Gotta love a make your own mashed potatoes bar.

We’ll finish this post with the best garter retrieval of 2010.

So, remember that weekend when we got 20+ inches of snow? Well, right at about an inch and a half, Josh and I took off for our great winter migration to the South. We drove through snow and ice for 6 hours and stopped just short of the turn off the highway for Ryan and Kristina’s wedding. The craziest part of the whole thing was that when we got to their ceremony site, 20 minutes form our hotel, you couldn’t even tell there had been a storm! Don’t get me wrong it was FREEEEZING but their awesome bridal party hardly whimpered as we took them outside for photos. I think Ryan and Kristina would tell you that it was all worth it! Enjoy photos from the last wedding of 2009!

PS. I must take a moment and brag on my seriously handsome and talented husband: Josh Deal. A lot of these photos came from him as my second shooter. I really did hit the jackpot with this one! Just to prove it to you I’m going to post a J.D. after each image in this post that belongs to him.

Yes, I’ve mentioned it before but I’m in love with Kristina’s big, beautiful eyes and lashes. I mean really, look at them!

their flower girls were JUST adorable.

Here’s part of the J.D. love fest

J.D.

J.D.

J.D.

J.D. {It is good to note that I had gotten the “talkin to” by the church lady and was dutifully hiding behind a large column no further forward than the first row of guests and not encroaching on the stage AT ALL. So Josh got the job of getting these fun shots}

J.D.

J.D.

J.D.

A brief pause in this tribute to show an image of mine!

and back to the action

J.D.

J.D.

The chapel had beautiful natural lighting flowing through the windows.

Just trying something new.

Absolutely classic as we took picture outside, Josh turned around and got THIS.

J.D.

Gotta say this is a favorite from and old S. Carter Studios standard.

and back inside to warm up again.

I’m convinced their kids will have great eyelashes too, lol.

aaaand back out.

They had their reception in the lobby of the pharmacy school Ryan graduated from at Campbell University. They even brought in a gorgeous Christmas tree for guests to put gifts under. It was covered in ornaments which served as favors!

Reasons to get a 2nd shooter. I get this while Josh gets the one below

I love the way he sees things!

They had stations around their reception with their favorite desserts and the stories behind them. Everything was soo tasty.

Beautiful Christmas themed decorations made it a cozy holiday celebration.

As quicky as it started, their celebration was over and they headed off. But not without some mischief first.

J.D.

J.D.

I had no idea but was thankful for this shot!

A note: Many of these photos from Ryan and Kristina’s wedding were available on Facebook shortly after the event. I wait to blog them until after I’ve completed editing so the blog readers can get a full selection but if you’re itching to see the work as soon as it’s available then by all means, join 843 of my closest friends and become a Fan on facebook. New content and updates as soon as it’s loaded as well as special Facebook contests and prizes to be announced! Just for the heck of it you should follow me on twitter too!

Well, go ahead and lean back, because this post is going to be a long one. You’ve seen Gavin & Kelsey before, the infamous paint couple! We took their engagement photos on a warm, beautiful summer day and they were married on 12-12-09 a very VERY cold winter day. They didn’t let the chilly weather keep them from having a perfect celebration! There was joy and excitement and awesome facial expressions from Kelsey without pause from the first few minutes I was with them until they left for their honeymoon. I’ll interject a few happy thoughts throughout the post but for the most part I think they speak for themselves!

Kelsey was the only bride I was able to give her ornament to in person. She had such a fun reaction!

She was an absolutely stunning bride!

Gavin and Kelsey chose to do a first look. This gave us lots of time to take photos of them and their wedding party. This was Gavin’s face as he saw his bride for the first time.

and Kelsey’s as she walked toward her groom. PS. First glimpse as those perfect little blue shoes!

You may remember, it was really, really cold this day in Lynchburg so we let Kelsey defrost a little and took pictures of the guys first. They were great!

West Manor was a great location for the photos and their reception!These ladies were amazing, not complaining one bit and looking good while sticking it out!

I could have taken pictures of  just these two all day long. Really.

My very favorite from the whole day!

Kelsey, wow, just WOW.

BLING, bling.

I may, have had a crush on her shoes, maybe.

Oh, yeah, there was a ceremony too!

I just can’t get enough of brides on the arms of their fathers! So much significance in this one little moment.

Two noteworthy things about this image: these candles are the same ones that Gavin used the night he proposed to Kelsey, there were over a hundred of them that night! The second is explained by the photo below it.

This is how I know i have the best brides. Kelsey was so chill about this! Oops, oh well.

A brief pause to share some of their great details!

It never gets old

seeing my work at receptions!

Alex, Angi and I with the bride, me reaching toward Solomon who had rapid fired a few shots by this point. Thought it would be a funny addition to the post

This mother son dance had the whole room misty-eyed. Gavin and his mother took turns letting tears slip between laughs and hugs. It was absolutely precious.

Love this photo of Gavin’s mom showing Kelsey’s dad the little birthday cake they gave her after the first dance. So sweet of her to share her birthday with the newlyweds.

there was dancing, lots of really, fun, dancing.

The newlyweds left in a flash of sparklers to their honeymoon in the mountains of TN.

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.

As some of you know, I was married nine days ago. [VERY enthusiastic posts about this coming soon]. I was the bride! It was crazy but it also helped me to be a better photographer. Let me explain, It was four days until I saw a professional photo of my wedding and I thought I was going to go crazy! It was 7 days before I saw any from my second shooter. I’ve seen a total of 20 photos from my wedding and it’s been nine days. Some of my couples have had to wait much longer to see as many. So, as a bride I now understand the excitement involved in being to show all the friends and family photos from the wedding and just being able to glory in the fact that you were the princess for the day and there is beautiful proof! What does this mean for my blog? Well, it means the blogging is going to be longer, more extensive and take place at a different part of the work flow. Translation: more photos, more content, faster coverage of weddings! I know, it’s a win, win, win situation! So, sorry for the wait Waters but here is your big meaty post!!

When I came back from Robert and Amanda’s wedding, I probably told everyone I knew to please try and go to a wedding in New Jersey before they die. I know, but its THAT serious. I was so happy to share the experience with my friend and the amazing photographer of my wedding, Kristen Dillow. We had a great time and that’s certainly another post of some of those photos, lol. Amanda looked like a wedding barbie that morning and I loved the awesome spunk she had through the whole day, despite the snow which threatened to put a damper on things [pun intended].

We made it in the 20 seat limo down the only mountain in New Jersey [yeah, I didn't know either] in about an inch of slush an snow. We pulled up right on time and it was a beautiful, special ceremony. I was very thankful to be there with you guys!

Amanda had some special visitors from her classroom there. I couldn’t help but put this photo in here.

So, I know it’s a tad blurry but I just can’t get enough of the exit shots.

Another wonderful thing about Robert and Amanda’s wedding was their ridiculous [in the best way] and crazy bridal party. You can’t even imagine!

This is Amanda’s brother Chris who sang a song at the wedding that even made me cry and I had only known him about a day.

It was freezing, I’m serious, FREEZING on their wedding day but that didn’t stop this couple. They braved it like champs and I hope they find the photos worth it.

I honestly can’t tell you how amazing the reception site was. Nanina’s in the Park was incredible. The staff was great and the food, oh man, seriously, the food. There literally aren’t words. I could have shown about fifteen pictures of the food but instead I chose just one because it was awesome.

Here are just a few reception highlights. Daddy daughter dance.

The beautiful girls in the Photo Booth manned by friendly area photographer Josh Lynn.

The DJ’s from Legendery Entertainment were awesome. They were just as excited as the guests to be there and it certainly showed in their enthusiasm. There were no shortage of great photo opportunities including this one where the men sang Amanda “My Girl.”

Something similar for Robert, and no that’s NOT the bride! I posted this with their enthusiastic response to it at the reception, lol.

This is what happens at weddings in New Jersey, LIVE bananas foster [one of honestly 20 choices for dessert].

It was a perfect wedding and a fantastic party! Thanks guys!

When Patsy and I were emailing back and forth setting up their engagement photos we could not have predicted the weather. I called a few days before the shoot just to check in with them and make sure they were still interested in taking photographs in what 15 degree weather and they were more than excited! Never have I seen such a CHAMPION of getting it done! Patsy didn’t even flinch and half the time she wasn’t wearing a coat. Jake is from the Great Lakes area and he wasn’t too phased but both Josh and I were in awe of Patsy as she braved it AND managed to look breathtaking. What a fun afternoon. I really can’t wait until their wedding in May!

Can you ask for anything better than a dip kiss in front of a frozen waterfall? I think not.

He designed the ring himself!

We found a random lacrosse goal and then talked about an appreciation of Premier League Soccer which turned into this photo where I asked them for their best “GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL” face. Just Priceless!