Back in March, I had the opportunity to photograph Cassie and Oby’s engagement session, and I have been SO excited about photographing their wedding ever since then. They were so much fun to be around, and SO easy to photograph… plus they are both adorable! I never had a chance to blog their engagement pictures, so I’ll share just a couple here :)

Needless to say… I was very excited when their wedding day finally arrived.

The morning began with the beautification process :)

Not that Cassie needs much beautification :)

Oby and his boys came over so that I could grab a few quick shots of them while the girls finished getting ready…

Then we sent the boys away, and the girls had their turn in front of the camera.

I love these girls :)

I was lucky enough to have my friend Amber along for the day… and I LOVE this shot that she grabbed of the guys celebrating before the ceremony :)

The final hour before the ceremony began flew by in a blur… the next thing I knew, Cassie and her dad were walking down the aisle!

The ceremony was beautiful.

They’re so beautiful together!

Can’t you just feel the excitement coming out of this new couple?!

We had some amazing light for our quick portrait session…

I was so excited about this location. Isn’t this the perfect place for a ceremony and reception?

The very excited new couple were introduced into their reception…

Their first dance was beautiful.

Amber caught the dip at the end, perfectly!

Then the party started! These people know how to have fun :)

I mean, have you ever seen the limbo at a wedding? :)

The location seemed to get even more beautiful as the evening went on. Love.

This was one of the scariest moments of my wedding photography career thus far… fire, water, and alcohol. I feel very thankful that I survived :)

Cassie and Oby… Congratulations. I had a blast with you guys on your wedding day, and am really thankful that you chose me to document your day. I hope you enjoy your slideshow!

Okay… if you’re just tuning in, take a quick second to jump back and read Daniel & Tiffany…married, part 1 prior to continuing on. Don’t worry… I’ll wait.

All caught up? Great… now where were we?

Oh, that’s right… the main event!

The setting was spectacular as Daniel waited for Tiffany to arrive…

And Tiffany’s entrance was spectacular.

So excited!

Quite possibly the quietest flowergirls in the history of weddings…

Lots of laughter…

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Groves :)

Right after the ceremony ended, as congratulations were being showered on the bride and groom, I happened to see Daniel’s grandparents standing down by the water. I asked Nathan to grab a shot with his camera (he had the perfect lens on) and I made my way to where they were, in hopes of grabbing a closer shot. When I got to the water’s edge, I overheard someone saying that this was Grandma’s first time ever seeing the ocean… and that she was trying to muster the courage to put her feet in the water for the first time.

This was one of the most emotional things I have ever photographed… Such an exciting moment.

A few quickie informal portraits…

Daniel’s brother, JC, his wife Kym, and their adorable son Kaden…

Daniel’s sister, Laura, her boyfriend John, and her daughter Adaley…

And Daniel’s adopted brother and sister and their kids… Nathan, Amber, Austen, and Addy :) (Thanks to Kathy for this picture… she saw us taking pictures of everyone else, and decided that we needed a family picture, too:))

We were so excited to sneak Daniel and Tiffany back down to the beach to do a few portraits of just the two of them. We had gotten the “formals” out of the way prior to the ceremony, but we wanted the opportunity to capture Daniel and Tiffany on the beach at sunset…

We were not disappointed. Daniel and Tiffany are amazing in front of the camera, and the light was spectacular… it was the perfect combination!

Hot!

The light was amazing no matter which way we turned.

And then, just as we were wrapping up… the bridal party decided to join Daniel and Tiffany for a quick dip. I have no idea whose idea this was, but Nathan and I were more than happy to go along for the ride :)

And since they were already wet… we had Daniel and Tiffany hang out in the water for a few extra minutes… just long enough to capture these:

The sun went down… and the reception began!

The reception began with Daniel and Tiffany’s first dance…

And then, the parent dances…

And finally, a completely impromptu “brother dance” :) I had just been crying through the parent dances, and now I was laughing hysterically at Daniel and JC as they took over the dance floor :)

The next event was the cake cutting… isn’t this cake beautiful?

I loved watching these girls…

And they loved watching Daniel and Tiff :)

The bouquet was tossed…

And Addy was SO excited when she caught it :)

The garter was thrown…

And then there was dancing :)

And sooner than I thought was possible… it was time for Daniel and Tiffany to make their grand exit.

What a perfect day.

Daniel and Tiffany… Nathan and I love you guys so much. Tiffany… welcome to the family :) We’re a little bit crazy, but we love each other a lot, so it all balances out :) Thank you both so much for letting us share in this part of your life…it was an honor! I  hope you guys enjoy your (really really long) slideshow!

much love,

-amber

This blog has been sorely neglected for the past few months… I am about to remedy that with an onslaught of posts :) Let’s get started with part one of Daniel and Tiffany’s wedding weekend!

Daniel isn’t my brother, but he might as well be. I have considered his family to be my family for over a decade, and I love them all so much. Nathan and I are so thankful for John and Kathy and their kids. They’ve been lifesavers for us countless times… I’m not sure how we would’ve survived without them :)

It’s funny… Tiffany certainly hasn’t been around for the entire decade+ that I’ve known the Groves family, but when I try to think of what it was like before she came around, I can’t really picture it. She just belongs. Daniel’s my family, but Tiffany has become one of my dearest friends. I adore her.

Needless to say, when we found out that Daniel and Tiff were planning a destination wedding in Destin, FL, there was never a question as to whether Nathan and I would be there to photograph. We took the kids, and headed to the beach to celebrate.

It was love at first site for me and the White House… we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, and it was a beautiful location for a wedding!

Friday morning, Daniel and the rest of the guys (including Nathan and Austen) headed off to spend the morning doing a bit of deep sea fishing. While they were doing that, Tiffany and her girls (and me and Addy) spent our time soaking in a bit of sun. (A bit too much sun for me, it turns out… I ended up getting an intense case of sun poisoning, which made the rest of the weekend interesting… but the beach was so amazing that day, that it might’ve been worth it!).

My Addy is beautiful… I have to share this image of her, even though this is a wedding blog:)

Perfect way to spend a morning.

After a day spent enjoying the ocean, everyone headed back to the house to clean up for the rehearsal. We weren’t actually working that night, but I did grab a couple of pictures (before heading back to my room to try to figure out how to survive the crazy sun poisoning).

Daniel was looking hot…

and Tiff was as beautiful as she always is.

Adaley (Daniel’s adorable niece) was perfectly attired in her new hot pink hula skirt. Soooo cute :)

The happy couple on their last day of single-ness!

Preparation time on a wedding day is always one of my favorites, and it’s even more fun when the bride is someone I adore. Tiffany made me feel super special by having a super cute shirt made for me to match the shirts she had made for herself and her bridesmaids. Best. Bride. Ever.

The girls went all out with the pampering. They started with mani/pedis…

Stopped by the mall to enjoy the MAC makeover experience…

Then (after a brief stop at Panera for the most amazing macaroni and cheese ever) we headed back to the White House so that Laura (Daniel’s sister) could work her amazing hair magic.

Tiffany’s expression when she saw her hair for the first time was amazing… I’m thinking she liked it :)

Typical Tiffany.

Of course, Tiffany wasn’t the only person who had to get ready… Nathan hung out with Daniel as he prepared for the wedding, and I love the images that he captured.

Two of my favs from the day… I just LOVE the casual feeling in these.

After the were both beautified and ready to go, it was time for their First Look. Looks like they were pretty excited to see one another, eh?

I love when perfect portraits “just happen”. This one captures Tiffany so beautifully.

Little girls love watching love stories happen…

And Daniel’s nephew Kaden loves stealing the show :)

I grabbed a quick portrait of the bride…

While Nathan grabbed a few portraits of the groom… (again some of my favorites!)

A few final moments prior to the main event…

Okay… this is as good of a place as I can think of to break off this post… Check back in to see Daniel and Tiffany’s amazing ceremony and reception!

-amber

Ok… So you’ve been introduced to Clay and Rachael at their Charlotte engagement session… now it’s time for me to share their super fun wedding weekend! I’ll start with the day we arrived in gorgeous Highlands, NC… and I hope you are prepared for a couple of really long blog posts while I share all of the fun moments from the weekend!

Nathan and I dropped the kids off with my parents outside of Asheville, NC, and made our way up the winding mountain roads that led us to our destination wedding location. We might’ve gotten lost for a minute or two, but we finally found ourselves at our first destination. I was dropping Nathan off to photograph the guys as they spent the afternoon golfing at the Old Edwards Club. I dropped him off, and left… with more than a few twangs of jealousy about the gorgeous location he was going to get photograph all day.

I love these fun images of Clay relaxing on the golf course. (Lots more in the slideshow!)

While Nathan was on the golf course, I was checking into our hotel, and capturing a few local details on my way to meet the girls at The Lodge at Old Edwards Inn.

Rachel has an absolutely amazing group of girlfriends. They made me feel so welcome. It’s been a long time since I laughed that hard with a group of wedding guests.

The Lodge has a ton of amazing amenities… but I think all of the girls will agree with me when I say that I think the free ice cream (Dove Bars!) was the most exciting one :)

A little preview of the next day’s ceremony… this is the lawn where Clay and Rachael were going to get married. Gorgeous!

After hanging out with the girls for a bit, I headed back to the room to meet up with Nathan, and prepare for the evening’s rehearsal dinner festivities. I met Rachael at the Spa, and was SO excited to see Clay’s mom (who we had met at Brooke’s wedding last year). I seriously love Joanie… I want to keep her :)

And then back to Rachael’s room… How gorgeous is she??! I LOVED her rehearsal dinner dress! (At this point, I started to get to know Rachael’s mom, CeeCee, and completely fell in love with her, too… These two have amazing families!)

While waiting for the shuttle to take us back over to the Old Edwards Club for the rehearsal dinner, we had to grab a quick shot of this year’s bride and groom, along with last year’s bride and groom in the amazing evening light.

Brooke and Harrison… celebrating their one year anniversary.

Clay and Rachael… celebrating their last day of engagement :)

A few rehearsal dinner details… (sadly, I didn’t grab a picture for the blog of the amazing fried macaroni and cheese, but I’ll just tell you… it was AMAZING)

After every one had finished their dinner, the toasts began. I’m not even going to try to begin explaining how amazing and emotional these toasts were… Hopefully the emotion in the images will speak for themselves.

Clay’s dad kicked it all off…

I seriously love this image of Joanie looking at her son. So much feeling.

CeeCee made us all laugh…and cry. It was wonderful to hear her and Rachael’s story.

An amazing toast by Clay’s mom… Joanie.

And an equally amazing toast by Clay’s stepmom… or Bonus Mom… Gina. Seriously, this family knows something about love, and these toasts proved it to me all over again. Good stuff.

Lots of hugs…

Everyone headed back to their various “homes” for the evening… but Clay and Rachael weren’t quite ready to turn it. We took a quick walk over to a local pub for a bit of late night socializing :)

It was a super fun day… but Nathan and I were exhausted. We grabbed a few images of our new friends partying, and headed back to our hotel for a spectacular night’s sleep :)

If these images weren’t enough for you… make sure you check out the slideshow!

xoxo

-amber

Everything has been so busy in real life and my lifestyle baby photography business that this blog has been sorely neglected. Almost two months ago, Nathan and I had the awesome opportunity to photography a gorgeous destination wedding in Highlands, NC. I grew up in Asheville, NC, which isn’t very far from Highlands… yet somehow I had never had the chance to experience the beauty of this particular part of the NC mountains. I feel blessed that I have now had that opportunity!

I’m so far behind, that I haven’t even shared with you the fun Charlotte engagement session that I did with Clay and Rachael this past summer… So before we delve into their amazing wedding weekend… Let me introduce them to you through their engagement pictures!

Nathan had originally been scheduled to photograph this engagement session, but due to a knee injury, I had to step in and photograph it. To be honest, I was really excited about the opportunity…I knew we were going to have a blast :) I had been able to spend time with Clay and Rachael last year, when Nathan and I photographed Clay’s sister’s wedding weekend in Key West. We immediately fell in love with the entire family, and were so excited when Clay called us soon after his engagement. We knew we were in for another amazing wedding.

I love this image that Nathan captured of Clay and Rachael during Brooke and Harrison’s reception.

For the engagement session, we started off at Clay’s apartment…which I immediately fell completely in love with! I just loved the urban vibe of the place. It suited Clay perfectly.

After a quick couple of shots on their balcony, we headed out for a walk… Clay and Rachael had a destination or two in mind, and I just stopped them whenever I saw something I liked!

We didn’t make it very far before I stopped them and made them hang out on this little bench…

We walked a bit further and arrived at the bar where Clay and Rachael met. I was SO excited that they had put this place on the list of places to see… So fun to take pictures at places that have strong memories for the people I have photographing!

I loved this reflective wall… It’s crazy how the most unassuming locations can become awesome spots for photographing…

Rachael is so pretty… I adore her smile.

One of my favorite locations that we used was the public transport station… I took about 23 million different images here, and I loved way too many of them :)

Loved the subtle light here…

One of my favorite shots of the day!

We thought this whole park was so random… We found the signs from the photo above, these giant fish, and some really cool benches. Something fun to photograph around every corner :)

We were trying to make our way back to Clay’s apartment, but I kept getting distracted by fun locations… like this really cool textured wall :)

And this spot, with the apartment building in the background. LOVE!

We headed up to the apartment, but detoured on the clubhouse floor… I’m SO glad we did. I love the resulting images.

It was almost dark… so we headed back up to the apartment to satisfy my need to grab “just one more quick shot” (or 22 quick shots, whatever ;)) before I headed back home…

It was a super fun evening that just increased my excitement about their upcoming wedding… I’ve got all those images ready, and will hopefully have time to post them very soon!

xoxo,

-amber