Stephanie + Matt tied the knot on April 2, 2016 at The Great Aunt Stella Center and partied through the night at Roof With a View in Charlotte, NC.
I photographed Stephanie’s sister’s wedding in 2010, so it was a special treat to celebrate another family milestone with them this year! Read the Q&A with this spunky couple, featured below, to learn more about their wedding inspiration and photography experience! To view all of the photos from their wedding and order prints, please visit their gallery on my online print shop!
1. What are some of your favorite things about your partner? How were these attributes expressed using or leading up to your wedding?
Stephanie: Some of my favorite things about Matt is how caring, protective, and generous he is. He’s also the goofiest, most laid back guy I know. Matt was definitely my calming voice when I was stressing out over wedding planning. He had a way of putting everything into perspective for me during my weekly (or sometimes daily) freak outs.
Matt: I love Steph’s personality, which was shown throughout the entire day of the wedding. From how personable the ceremony was having her brother-in-law marry us to drinking a bottle of champagne out on the dance floor with family and friends. It showed how caring and loving she can be as well as how much fun she really is to be around. I also love her style. Not too flashy but she still grabs your attention with detail and beauty. I saw her style with the locations of the ceremony and reception, her beautiful dress, makeup and hair. The affection between Steph and her friends (including me) really showed on our wedding day. I love how great of a friend she is. I could tell how happy her friends were for us and how they were genuinely excited for her future. You can only get emotions like I saw from being a tremendous friend.
2. What was most important to you in planning your wedding?
The most important thing while planning our wedding was to make the ceremony meaningful for us. Also to have a fun and relaxed atmosphere for all of our guests. Since most of our guests were traveling from out of town I wanted to make sure everyone had an awesome time.
3. Are there any details or moments from your wedding that are particularly special to you? (E.g., you wore your momma’s dress, your partner unexpectedly serenaded you, there was a double rainbow all across the sky…)
Stephanie: I loved everything about our wedding ceremony. Walking down the aisle to my grandparents wedding song and seeing Matt for the first time that day is a moment I’ll always remember. Also having my brother in law marry us made the ceremony even more special because he’s someone I’ve always looked up to. He was able to make the ceremony personal for both of us. And I’ll definitely always remember that Matt had a black eye for our wedding day and the scar he now has from it will make sure he remembers it too!
Matt: One moment that is particularly special to me is when I got a chance to look at my ring. It was my grandfather’s ring, which is very special to my family and I. Then she showed me the Songs of Solomon 3:4 verse engraved on the inside. This verse makes the ring unique to our relationship as well as preserve the 51 years of marriage my grandparents had. Another moment that was special to me was when Steph and her family made light of my wedding day black-eye instead of being mad at me. To have your new family overlook something that worried me all day was a special feeling I will never forget. The groomsmen and I getting “Iced” by the bride and bridesmaids was another moment that was special to me. It is a weird moment to stand out but with a night filled with so many memories, this just reminds me how great our friends are.
4. Now that you have tied the knot (and survived!), what advice do you have for other couples taking the plunge?
The best advice we will pass on is what Steph’s sister told us: “Even if it doesn’t go as planned at the end of the day you’ll still be married.” Because that’s all that really matters, right?!
5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?
The first thing we want to do with our wedding pictures is to create a gallery wall in our family room!
6. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?
Our whole relationship has been long distance , so we are loving actually seeing each other everyday! It’s been so fun just hanging out and being a “normal” couple.
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Stephanie + Matt, thank you so much for inviting me to document your wedding day! I had so much fun during your engagement session last fall and knew this wedding would be one to remember. Thanks for being such a cool couple and rolling with the punches (quite literally in Matt’s case!). 🙂 I hope you cherish these photos for many happy years to come!
