Tag: DYI wedding

Amy + Jason’s colorful backyard wedding exuded love and creativity.  A DIY bride, Amy created so many amazing details for her wedding—bright
quilted signs that exclaimed “Celebrate,” colorful place settings,
purple and green lanterns, and she even thrifted to find vintage china
for their reception. One thing I appreciated about this effervescent Carrboro couple is that they specifically
requested I bring a student shooter with me to cover their wedding.  Both scholars and professors, Amy and Jason wanted their
wedding day to be an extension of their love for teaching. So I brought
my fabulous UNC student intern, Maria Van Aalst,
with me to shoot their wedding.  This was Maria’s second wedding, and
she told me afterwards that the bar had been set high for her.  “Are all
couples this creative and fun?” she asked. This wedding will stand out in both of our minds because of this couple’s fabulous personality.

This wedding turned out to be one of my absolute favorites of the
year, and not just because I returned to my home state of Missouri or reconnected with my best friends from high school.

Alex and Harrison got hitched at Alex’s grandmother’s house—a fascinating home filled with all
sorts of artwork, trinkets and treasures.  (Can I borrow it?)  Their
outdoor ceremony was beautiful, sacred, and intimate.  They gave me
ample time to frolic on the campus of Mizzou and photograph them in
magic light, which I always love.
And their getaway vehicle, a convertible Ford Mustang, was sweeeeet!
(This lucky photog actually got a chance to drive it down country roads
the next day).  Oh, and the funfetti cake had to be my favorite food
item—such a smart idea!

What made this wedding special for me was I was truly surrounded by family.  I was sick as a dog the weeks leading up to it (African parasites!  Yay!), but it didn’t matter because my childhood friends took care of me all day. I couldn’t
drive because of my medication, so one of the groomsmen kindly drove me
from St. Louis to Columbia and became my personal escort for the wedding
day.  Emily and her sisters bought me all sorts of food (that they
deemed “my special diet”) for the wedding and days after; the mother of
groom (who used to be a nurse) expertly counseled me on my steps towards
recovery; and guests jokingly called me “the parasite girl,” which was
absolutely hilarious to me, and somewhat endearing.  It’s because of this love that I shot so well!