Meredith and Brian and I had the hardest time getting an engagement session scheduled last fall… We scheduled a date, and it rained, we scheduled another date, and it rained, and on and on and on… We truly thought Mother Nature had a serious grudge against us for some reason.

We finally decided to move forward with our session on a day that looked pretty horrible, but was predicted by our handy dandy weather apps to get better as the day went on. The weather apps were wrong.

It was only a little bit drizzly when we began…although it was crazy dark and gloomy out.

But then it started pouring on us. The only way you can really tell is by watching Meredith’s hair get wet… Meredith and Brian really composed themselves well, even in the pouring rain!

We finally admitted defeat…and I told them that we would try again. We were getting closer and closer to their wedding date, but we were determined to make it happen. And then the cycle began again. We would schedule a session, and it would rain… over and over and over again. Finally, we selected a date and refused to look at the weather. We hoped to trick Mother Nature into forgetting what we were doing. It worked :) We met for another session, and I had the opportunity to capture some of my favorite engagement images ever.

Meredith and Brian are crazy about each other, and that always makes a session easier.

And they make quite the attractive couple, so it was almost hard to take a bad picture of them!

Isn’t Meredith a stunner?

And on top of all of that… we had PERFECT light to work with! It was completely worth the wait to get these sun-kissed shots.

Finally, I’ll leave you with my favorite shot of the session… and one of my favorite images I’ve ever captured. This belongs on their wall somewhere… huge. I just love it when everything comes together perfectly.

I’ll be back with images from their wedding sometime soon… I swear I’m going to try to be nicer to this blog. It has to have been lonely.

xoxo

-amber

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