Whitney + Brian tied the knot on top of a mountain in West Jefferson, NC on September 5, 2015. This outdoorsy couple wanted a scenic wedding in one of their favorite spots, and their day couldn’t have been any more beautiful or fun!

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 during or leading up to your wedding?

Whitney: He always knows how to make me laugh and calm my spirit. Throughout planning and even the day of the wedding he took time to hug and kiss me and express how excited he was to be my husband. He also shares a love for the outdoors and that is one of the reasons we choose to have the wedding on top of Mount Jefferson. It is a special place for both of us.

Brian: I personally enjoy everything about Whitney. Our wedding was perfect. She was beautiful and I wouldn’t change anything about her, our ceremony, or the reception site. The ease of which she handled all decisions was also refreshing. We had heard horror stories of making decisions, yet the entire process was smooth and rather painless.

2. What was most important to you in planning your wedding?

I’m sure most people say this but we wanted people to have fun and experience the beauty of the town we call home. Almost 90% of our guest traveled to our wedding from the east to west coast, as far as Hawaii, so we tried to allow people to see the joys of a small North Carolina town.

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…).  

Our first communion meant a lot to me, as well as our vows. Things were so crazy leading up to the wedding so we didn’t get to write them until the night before, but they really came from our hearts. All the details of the decorations and the cake were also really special because they were all handmade from Brian’s Mom. OHHH the last thing that was really special to me was my bouquet, because I grew my own sunflowers to add to it, and I arranged it myself. It was so much fun watching the flowers grow and I couldn’t wait to add that subtle touch to my flowers.

4. Now that you’ve tied the knot (and survived!), what advice would you give to other folks planning their wedding?

Breathe and surround yourself with people to tell you it’s going to be great and everything looks amazing! Also, plan to spend time with family the day before and the day after. The actual wedding day goes by so fast and it was really nice to know we didn’t have to see and talk to everyone that day.

5. Your wedding photography package included a bridal session. What was it like to work with me for this session? How did it help shape your expectations for working together throughout your wedding day?

It was great, and it helped me relax and know your style with shooting. It also gave me a lot of confidence and comfort for the day of the wedding.

6. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?

Print a few to hang on the wall, and make a few photo books. Most likely wallpaper the ceiling. Its always fun to lay on bed and see all the pretty pictures. (this is a joke lol…Brian’s stealthy work).

7. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?

Our plan is to settle into life and work. We have had a big year and are ready to get a little bit of a routine going. We are also planning a few running races since all our time will not be consumed with wedding planning.

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Whitney + Brian, thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience the beauty of your home! I was completely charmed by West Jefferson and am excited about returning for an adventure in the  near future. You and your bridal party and families were a blast to work with- thank you for being so adventurous and collaborative! I hope you love your pictures and am excited to share everything with you now!

A shout-out to all our fab vendors for making this day possible:

Coordinator: Angel Brewer

Officiant: Scott Day

Bride’s Dress: Mori Lee from Pretty n’ Pearls Boutique

Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff

Groomsmen Clothing: Jim’s Formalwear

Florist: Sam’s Club with DIY arrangement

Desert: Christian Ulrich (Groom’s mom)

Catering: Boondocks Brewing Tap Room and Restaurant

The post Whitney + Brian | West Jefferson Mountain Wedding | Western NC Wedding Photographer appeared first on Courtney Potter Studio.

This creative couple spent months preparing their yard and home for this wedding, and the care and precision that went into their DIY decor blew me away (just take a look at the paper bouquets Katie hand-made and you’ll see why!)

Read more about this creative couple’s non-traditional intimate backyard wedding in their Q&A below!

1.  What was your favorite moment from the day?

After everyone had left, we walked back into the woods to the spot where the ceremony was held, hugged it out, and laughed about all of the crazy things which had happened that day.  Don’t get us wrong, the wedding was amazing too, but it was nice to have some relaxing quiet time after 15+ hours of setup and wedding duties that day.  Also, the moment when we discovered that the caterer left an entire tray of mac and cheese in our fridge was pretty sweet too.

2.  What factors led to your decision in having a backyard wedding? What advice do you have for other couples planning an intimate backyard wedding?

We decided very quickly that we wanted an intimate backyard wedding, maybe even within the first 12 hours after getting engaged.

Our house has always been a meaningful part of our relationship, and we pretty much knew that we wouldn’t find another location which could top it in sentimental value  We did a lot of growing up together between saving up for a down payment, going through the home buying process, dealing with unexpected home maintenance, and figuring out what mattered to us with renovations and upgrades.  We also wanted an excuse to fix up our backyard – before we got engaged, we had no fence, a tiny patio, a terrible lawn, and a ton of dead trees.

Our engagement was 50% wedding planning and 50% home improvement projects.  One day, I’d be trying on dresses at a bridal store, the next day we’d be chainsawing dead trees to haul to the dump.  It was definitely not a traditional wedding planning experience.

Our advice to other backyard couples is to remember that your “venue” is a backyard first and a wedding venue second.  There were a lot of landscaping projects we wanted to do which would have been great for the wedding, but would not have made sense for us to keep in the yard long-term.  We found a good middle ground on many of these details and still loved the end result.

3.  What factors other than photos went into your decision on a wedding photographer? Why did you decide to pick me?

What ultimately got us to book was when you took the time to find photos from previous weddings with similar venues and themes to share with us (even a couple of backyard weddings I think).  Photography can be scary to commit to because you don’t know exactly what the result will be until after the event is over.  It was especially tough for us because we chose a setting which had never been used for a wedding before.  Out of all of the photographers we looked at, you gave us the most accurate idea possible of what we’d be getting.  It was easy to envision you shooting our wedding.

4.  From booking to delivery of images and seeing the results, what in your mind made it the right choice for us to collaborate? Did anything surprise you?

Every step of the way, you were very easy to work with too.  I work in client support, so I placed a lot of weight on service and professionalism when searching for wedding vendors.  You always responded quickly and answered our questions completely.  There was never any doubt in our minds that you could deliver a great result in a professional manner.  Seeing the photos from our engagement session sealed the deal for us.  We were blown away by the quality and variety of shots you delivered.

5.  What’s next for you as a couple?

We are looking forward to our honeymoon in December – a road trip through Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas.

We’ve also been getting into homebrewing since the wedding, although our friends who gave us a brew kettle as a wedding gift may have had a hand in that.  Our first batch of beer (a brown ale) is ready to drink, and we have our second batch (a smoked molasses porter) going through fermentation as we speak.  For years, Erik has nicknamed our home bar “The Thirsty Bison”.  At the wedding, we even gave out beer mugs with a Thirsty Bison logo as favors.  We’ll likely carry over the Thirsty Bison name into whatever homebrew recipes we create as well.

Going back to the backyard, we really want to put in a shed next year.  That was one project which we couldn’t make happen before the wedding.  For now, we’re just enjoying not having to do any landscaping or home improvement stuff on a deadline.

6.  Anything else you’d like to add about your intimate backyard wedding?

We made many non-traditional decisions for the wedding.  We spent our engagement doing yard work, we chose a non-traditional setting, I made paper flowers for the bouquets and centerpieces, our dog was at the ceremony and reception, and we hired a food truck to cater our buffet.  For all of the extra thought and work that we had to put in to make our vision happen, it was completely worth it.  Everything felt very “us”.

Are you planning your own unconventional backyard wedding? I love photographing DIY weddings and would love to help you better envision your day. Shoot me a message, and I’ll send you my wedding photography brochure!

A shout-out to all our fab vendors for making this day possible:

Photography Assistant: Kasha Mammone

Bride’s Dress & Shoes: Elegant Bridal

Bridesmaid Dresses: Little Borrowed Dress

Flower Girl Dresses: David’s Bridal

Groom’s Clothing: Jos A Bank

Cake: Sweet Cheeks Bakery

Catering: Porchetta

Invitations: Vistaprint

Tent & Rentals: American Party Rentals

The post Katie + Erik | Intimate Backyard Wedding in Holly Springs | Raleigh Wedding Photographer appeared first on Courtney Potter Studio.

Jo + Jonny tied the knot on July 5, 2014 at Rock Quarry Farm in Chapel Hill, NC. This quaint outdoor venue created an intimate “backyard wedding” ambience for the day, which fit Jo and Jonny’s personalities perfectly. Read more about their wedding experience in the Q&A below!

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1. How did you and Jonny meet and fall in love? I’d love to hear a little bit more of your story.

We met at a mutual friend’s house party. I (Jo here) remember he really captured my attention, I thought he was so handsome and completely insane and he made me laugh. Jonny was immediately attracted to me, he thought I was cute, and he liked my confidence and outgoingness. The first few times we interacted were at house parties and there was rampant flirtation, but I always seemed to be seeing someone else. : ) When I started going to the same church as Jonny a couple months later he didn’t know I was single until we started spending more time together. As soon as he confirmed my single status he decided it was time to make his move. Jonny officially asked me out after a Christmas party on December 21st (2013). Sitting in the car on the way to our first date I had to verbally verify with him that we were indeed on a date, and it turned out that we were. Well we kept going on dates after that, and in about a week we had become absolutely inseparable (and still are). A year later on December 21st, 2014, he went down on one knee in the middle of waltzing at a winter solstice party, and asked me to marry him. : )

2. You planned a fairly non-traditional wedding with square dancing, pizelles, and even a few traditional Filipino elements. What led you to these decisions? 

All the “non-traditional” choices we made were really a no-brainer. I’ve just always thought a wedding should be a reflection of the tastes and interests of the couple getting married. The process was “Okay, we’re throwing a huge party to celebrate with our friends and family, what do we want to include?” rather than “What is our idea of what a wedding should be like?” Dancing has been a huge part of Jonny and my relationship, and what better way to share that than through square dancing where everyone can join in?! : )  My dad’s side of the family is Sicilian, so wedding cookies were a must. Jonny and I LOVE to eat, so it was especially important to us that the food be killer. Jonny’s family hails from Hawaii so we incorporated elements of that here and there like with the hibiscus flower table runners and the chill island music dinner play list. His family also brought a crown and lei made out of folded dollar bills which were so fun to wear! The wedding was sort of our perfect party, with some life-long vows in the mix.

3. What was the favorite part of your wedding day?

For me (Jo here), pretty much the entire wedding/reception was amazing. I’m not kidding, I loved every moment!!  Jonny says the most thrilling part for him was when we were waiting in the house while the guests were arriving, the most surreal part was the ceremony, and he liked dinner time the best.

4. Did you foresee any part of your wedding day being difficult logistically or emotionally? Did I make it easier? If so, how? 

Honestly we had done so much planning ahead of time, and my sister Arielle was coordinating everything, that I knew as soon as things started I would no longer have to deal so much with logistics if there did happen to be any problems. What I totally didn’t foresee was that I would cry like a baby during almost the entire ceremony. Good Lord. But anyways, I loved how much you (Courtney) planned ahead, coordinated with us, and let us know what to expect. The photography was completely stress free for us. I knew exactly when and which photos were happening. It was really clear that you knew what you were doing and knew your way around a wedding.

5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? 

Probably get a few prints for us and for family – with everything we have going on right now I haven’t had a chance to think about it! So excited!!

6. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?

Yes indeed. Jonny just graduated from UNC with his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics, and he’s secured a post-doc position at UCSF in San Francisco. We’re moving out September 4th. It’s been a crazy summer – even after Jonny’s thesis defense and the wedding were over, we still had a lot of planning to do! 

7. Anything else you’d like to add about your wedding, your photography experience, or anything else?

If I had really known how much went into planning a wedding we might have just eloped. : D Fortunately I did not know this, because it was totally worth it! The photography experience exceeded my expectations. Picture times fit in really seamlessly with everything else.

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Jo and Jonny, thanks for being so collaborative every step of the way with the wedding photography process! I loved how true to yourselves your wedding was. Thanks for giving me a great first time photographing a wedding with Sicilian & Hawaiian traditions, not to mention a fabulous square dance! I hope you enjoy these pictures for years to come!

To view all of the photos from Jo + Jonny’s wedding and order prints, please visit their gallery on my online print service.

The post Jo + Jonny | Rock Quarry Farm Wedding | Chapel Hill Wedding Photographer appeared first on Courtney Potter Studio.

Since photographing Kristen + Mike’s wedding has been such a collaborative process, I wanted to highlight that in their blogpost by collaborating with them in a Q&A. Kristen took the time to graciously answer my questions, and I love what advice she has for other nontraditional couples here!

1. You and Mike are both creative people and had lots of wonderful ideas for your wedding. What was the planning process like? What resources did you use to help bring your ideas to fruition?

We started planning years out (thanks to nursing school) and I just used Pinterest to collect a lot of ideas. We also followed offbeatbride.com and greenweddingshoes.com to get some inspiration. Off-Beat Bride was a great resource because they had a ton of creative alternative ideas for a wedding. They gave us the inspriation to do a wedding the way we wanted, not just the way that they are done typically. Green Wedding Shoes had such pretty weddings – so I used them for a lot of the decoration inspiration.

When we started, neither of us had any experience putting together a wedding so we just did what we thought would sound fun and meaningful to us. We loved the idea of playing games with our friends and families and spending as much time with them that we could. Other weddings we had gone to, we barely spent any time with the bride and groom and we really wanted everyone to feel like their treck to come see us get married meant that we really got to spend quality time together. Having a potluck style dinner allowed us to share the food we love with our families and made people feel like they were really a part of our wedding day.

When we were planning this, a lot of our ideas came way ahead of our realization that we actually had to execute things – so as the wedding got closer we realized that having a day-of wedding planner would be essential so that we could enjoy and relax and not stress about how it was all going to come together.

2. You and Mike structured your wedding day a little bit differently than most couples. Can you describe the schedule and speak to what led you to make this decision?

Having done photography in my undergraduate degree, I knew how awesome the lighting would be if we did it at “golden hour”, so I made the ceremony (and consequently the invitations) with that time. I wanted the ceremony pictures to be in the best lighting out of all, especially because we were planning on having the ceremony outside. Then, I realized, looking at the rest of the time we had we’d be rushed for dinner and dancing – my two favorite parts! So we ended up deciding that since we were doing a potluck anyway and had limited ways of keeping food warm, we’d just have dinner before the ceremony. It was awesome, we had plenty of time for poker, lawn games, dinner, the ceremony, and just celebrating and dancing after! And we still managed to be out of the venue and to the bonfire at midnight!

3. What did you enjoy most about your wedding day?

The most awesome thing was having every single person we knew and loved there in one place!! Everyone was able to meet each other, friends from different times and places in our lives ended up bonding and creating their own friendships! It was so amazing to just be with every one we loved for a full weekend in one place just to celebrate something awesome! At the end of everything, this was all we ended up caring about the moment that the wedding day started – I couldn’t care less at that time about the decorations or the small details (also thanks in a large part to our amazing Wedding Planner Sonya with It’s a Bridal Thing, Too – her team made our ideas come to life!!)

4. After working with me and seeing the results, what in your mind made it the right choice for us to collaborate?

Your sense of humor first! We have a bunch of crazy awesome people in our family who love to have a great time and just be silly. Having someone who is able to document that kind of fun was important. Also your sense of light in photographs was outstanding as was your use of color. Having done documentary style photography in college, you had the eye that I had for images. You weren’t afraid of getting up close to get the shots, and documenting what actually unfolded. We didn’t want a whole bunch of beautiful photos that had little meaning, we wanted to look back at the photos and really re-live the day. And you were also experienced with weddings and able to direct us in order to get the shots we wanted for the wedding.

5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? 

As our Thank You cards, we are making a cook book with everyone’s potluck recipes they sent in with their RSVP. The photos are going in to that as well – so we’re stoked for that! Then? Putting them up on the wall and making a book out of whatever else we can’t fit. I love prints and having a physical photograph is just so satisfying.

6.. For couples out there who aren’t interested in having a traditional wedding in a church, what advice do you have for them?

Do it exactly how you want it – don’t do things because you’re told they are necessary to have a wedding. Know that the day is going to be amazing because the people around you, not because of the decorations. Don’t get caught up in making it so detailed that you miss the experience. Find a place that lets you do what you want – and that everything you want to do takes at least 1 1/2 times longer to do than you expect. Sixty people is a LOT of people, surprisingly. Stop looking at Pintrest for new ideas about six months away from the wedding. DIY projects take so much longer to complete than anticipated and you can get a little burned out. Ask your friends and families to help, and be specific with what you need them to do. So many people love to help and having people put their part in makes the day that much more awesome for everyone! Oh, and if you have an outdoor wedding, plan on renting a tent – you can cancel it days before (we still had to pay some money) but not be worried about the one thing you really can’t control – the weather!

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Kristen and Mike, thank you so much for being so great to work with every step of the process! Your wedding was unique to you, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A shout-out to all our fab vendors for making this day possible:

Venue: Spruce Pine Lodge

Dress: Pronovias (Designer), Lana Addison Bridal (store)

Shoes: Vintage Gucci

Bridesmaid dresses: Sofitdress (etsy)

Groom’s Clothing: Jos. A. Bank

Florist: Renee at Wild Scallions Farm

Cake: Miel Bons Bons

Coordinator: Sonya Fogle- It’s a Bridal Thing, Too

Photography Assistant: Layson Peters

The post Kristen + Mike | Spruce Pine Lodge Wedding | Durham Wedding Photographer appeared first on Courtney Potter Studio.

Lisette and Steven’s barn wedding turned out to be really beautiful.  Family and friends helped out with all aspects of the set-up, stringing Christmas lights around the perimeter of the inside and baking pies for their potluck-style dessert bar.  In an age when the wedding industry tries to convince couples to drop ridiculous amounts of money on mere table settings, it was really refreshing to experience an intimate, beautiful DIY wedding.

Lisette and Steven are both down-to-earth people with a wonderful sense of humor, and their wedding reflected that nicely. I kept cracking up during the reception when Lisette would announce the next activity. For the bouquet toss, she simply declared, “Okay it’s time to throw things!”  For their exit, she told everyone “Now it’s time for our fake exit!”  I loved how relaxed the atmosphere was, as the lack of contrived entertainment allowed for authentic conversation, laughter, and dancing.  Several of my former wedding clients and friends were at this wedding, and I enjoyed getting a chance to briefly catch up.

Lisette and Steven, thank you so much for allowing me and Maria to be a part of your day.  Your wedding was truly beautiful, and it was so fun to realize how many mutual friends we had!  The day was a genuine reflection of not just your love for each other, but your family and friend’s love for and support of you. It was an honor to be a part of it, and I hope that these photos make you smile in the months and years to come.

Enjoy!

The post Lisette + Steven | South Carolina wedding in a barn appeared first on Courtney Potter Studio.