Charity and Scott

Charity and Scott were married at Freedom Park in Charlotte on June 29th, 2008. I met Charity in September of 2007 when she was a bridesmaid in a wedding I was shooting. She told me that night that she wanted me to be her photographer, and I was so excited when she did hire me to shoot her wedding a few months later!

The girls got ready at the Blake Hotel in downtown Charlotte. The wedding colors were red, black, and white and so was the lobby of the hotel, so I really wanted to do some cool, fashion-y type shots in the lobby, but there wasn't any time. The girls made it down to the lobby at 3:25 and the ceremony was at 3:30, so we took one shot and ran!







The ceremony was held outdoors near the bridge over the pond and it was beautiful! I love outdoor ceremonies, although I was a bit concerned I was going to make all the ducks start quacking when I was trying to get to one side to get a shot through the willow trees. I decided Scott and Charity would rather I forego the cool willow tree shot so that their ceremony wasn't interrupted by duck-quacking.






As always, it was a bit crazy after the ceremony, and I usually shoot the bride with her bridesmaids and the groom with the groomsmen beforehand, but there wasn't time at this wedding. I did manage to get the family shots, wedding party shots, and the guys alone in 20 minutes and had the girls out of there in another 10 minutes. I try to have fun with the wedding party and let them do what they want and then go from there, to create more natural group shots. I loved when the best man sat down in Scott's lap, so I made him stay there.




On to the reception, which was held at the Mahlon Adams Pavilion. The inside was decorated very elegantly with black and white details and the food was really, really good. This was actually the first time I've eaten at a wedding I was shooting, and I'm glad I did!

Scott and Charity's first dance was so sweet.





The bouquet and garter toss were a lot of fun - the bouquet hit a light and the garter hit the floor, but the intended people still ended up with them! I expect to be shooting Frank and Cristin's wedding next year!




It was a great party and I know everyone had a fabulous time! I'm so glad I got to be a part of this day. Oh, and there was a lot of this:



And I can't leave without a few details.




Wow, this is a huge post! This is what happens when I drink coffee.

Special thanks go to Heather Garland for second shooting with me. She was fabulous to work with and made a hectic day a bit easier on me.