Joe + June | Vandiver Inn Wedding

Today I’m so excited to share my last wedding of 2013, the wedding of June and Joe. They’ve already been on the blog twice- once for their engagement session and once for their pre-wedding mini session. I often tell my clients that I think making sure you get along with your photographer is as important as making sure you like their work. I remember skyping with June and Joe after I had met June in person (Joe was back home in North Carolina when June and I originally met) and thinking how much I loved them and wanted to work with them. Then Joe said that as long as the other photographer they were meeting with wasn’t his “Soul Twin” I’d be working with them the weekend after Christmas. This proved to me that in fact, they were even moreso my kind of couple, for using the terminology soul twin – which is what I call my best friend Lindsey :)

June and Joe are amazing people and I’m so happy to have met them and to have been able to be a part of their wedding day. Their love is truly a special kind of love. The kind of love that you know just from spending five minutes with them that their love will only grow stronger and their marriage will last forever. I’ve mentioned a few times on my blog that I’ve gotten emotionally involved and found myself tearing up at my client’s weddings (and sometimes even downright bawling) and their wedding was definitely one of the teariest of the year. From their first look, to the first time June saw her dad, to them both crying when she walked down the aisle, and the touching speeches, their wedding was filled with so much love and emotion.

Without further ado- what you’re all here for – the photos!

The Vandiver Inn is such an amazing wedding location! I had been there once before for my step-sister-in-law’s wedding (Gosh that’s a mouthful! Love her regardless of the long title :)) as a guest and it was so fun being there as a photographer! I can’t wait to go back there again in just over a week for my first wedding of 2014! It’s such an adorable inn – even if you aren’t getting married, I highly recommend it for a staycation! Such a beautiful place with great rooms and amazing food.

I arrived and saw June’s stunning wedding dress hung up with the bridesmaid dresses and her mother’s hanbok hung up in a line. Gorgeous!

All of the details were already out and ready for me to photograph. Did I mention that I love them? So prepared!

The amazing amazing florals were perfect for their Christmas weekend winter wedding! June’s bridesmaids are so fun- they had both me and the makeup artist wishing we were a part of their group of friends!I was pretty excited about this shot- everyone in the room is in it – except me of course :)Beautiful!Meanwhile, Jen was with Joe and the guys for their getting ready portion of the day… then it was off to the lighthouse for their first look!Originally we were just going to have him turn around, but Sarah from the Vandiver Inn offered a blindfold- and I love how this turned out! He liked what he saw! After several minutes of just taking in how stunning she was he decided he needed to walk around and take the dress in, since all he had focused on so far was her beautiful face. And my heart melted.This whole series of portraits was just stunning. I’m obsessed with all of these! We had mid-afternoon direct sunlight and yet found a way to make it work. With such a beautiful couple, it’s not that hard. Beautiful!While we were waiting for their friends and family to arrive for the rest of the formals we split up for a minute, and I got some portraits of June and Jen took some of Joe. Jen and Joe finished a little early, and she caught him attempting to photobomb us… well I guess it wasn’t an attempt, he definitely succeeded.We had some more time to kill so we went out to the docks, yet another gorgeous series! I had to grab a few more portraits of June once she put on the wrap. It completed the look of the perfect winter bride.So gorgeous!How beautiful is this group of ladies!? They were as fun as they are beautiful. I love the dresses and the bouquets. Even Mama Suk was perfectly coordinated!June has the most beautiful relationship with her parents. Her and her momma are best friends and her dad couldn’t have radiated more pride. The groomsmen were quite dapper as well!Check out this good looking group!The ceremony site was perfectly decorated already for the holiday – making it such a magical location to be wed. Even though they had chosen to see each other before the ceremony, Joe still had tears welling up when June walked down the aisle. They chose to write their own vows, which were both heartfelt and fun. I love nothing more than these two photos Jen caught before “the kiss” – just look at June’s face! After the ceremony we did a few more family and bridal party portraits before focusing on the bride and groom a little longer. Yep. Love the florals. I love that the gazebo had Christmas lights on it- I made the mental note to head back after dark, and I’m so so glad we did- but those photos come later. Love love love love LOVE! We let our bride and groom head back in to relax a bit before the reception and it was time to photograph the reception set up! What is really interesting about the Vandiver Inn is that they use the same space for the ceremony and the reception, so they only have about 40 minutes to set the entire room up – and boy did they do an amazing job! Joe and June had taken dance lessons prior to the wedding and had a really fun choreographed first dance! Both the best man and maid of honor speeches brought tears to my eyes, but it was Jim, June’s dad, who stole the show.After dinner we kicked off the party with the parent dances… I love these photos! So much love. We headed out for some night shots shortly after the cake cutting and I love how these all turned out- I’m so glad my couples trust me to be creative and give them a variety of beautiful images throughout their day!

June and Joe, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness and I hope that this is only the beginning of our friendship. Love you guys, Congratulations!

Vendors
Venue: Vandiver Inn
Photography: Photography by Brea
Second Photographer: Jennifer Smutek
Florist: Amanda’s Florist
Bakery: Desserts by Rita
DJ: Frank Marsden
Dress: K&B Bridal
Makeup: Nicole Palermo
Hair: Crystal Addink