I was trying to sneak a shot of Kelly putting on her eyeliner, but she caught me -- and I like this result better anyway.

My favorite type of bridal portrait is what we photogs call 3/4-length. A face this gorgeous and a smile so radiant should be seen up close, but with a 3/4 length, we also get to see details like the beading on her gown and her gorgeous bouquet.

Meanwhile, Chase gets some help with his tie from his best man, Gary. They were teammates on NC State's Men's Golf Team.  Chase is a volunteer coach for the team now and is a golf pro -- so if you need lessons, call me and I'll put you in touch!

Whenever a couple chooses to see each other before the wedding, we insist that it be a private affair. That means no family, no wedding party -- just the bride and groom (and me and Frank, of course). We use long lenses so that we can be somewhat at a distance to give couples privacy when they see each other for the first time on their wedding day. We've done this many times and it never fails to move me to tears. It's a great moment and in my opinion, more powerful than seeing each other in front of 200+ guests. Plus, sometimes it's the only time you have alone together on your wedding day until it's all over.

Here, Kelly waits for the word that Chase is in position and she can head out to see him for the first time. In her hands is his wedding gift: an album of images from our boudoir session. I think I was almost as excited to see his reaction as she was! Look at this beautiful light on Kelly in this image. So gorgeous.

When we set up the First Look session, Frank and I get to the venue ahead of time (either earlier in the day or the week) and find a private place for our couple to meet. It was pretty challenging at Prestonwood on a gorgeous Fall Saturday, but we managed to scope out a path that was out of the way of both golfers and curious guests! I also like for the groom to have the bride's flowers with him so that he can present them to his bride. That's also a tradition, but oddly, one that didn't survive as strongly as the old "bad luck to see the bride before the wedding" superstition.

Here's Chase, with Kelly's bouquet. (Plus, don't you just love the unexpectedness of a shot of the groom holding the bouquet?)

Those raised eyebrows say it all! I think he likes his gift.

Did I mention Chase is a golf pro? Maybe Kelly is his secret weapon.

Kelly's beautiful bouquet and all the flowers for the wedding were created by A Ming Rose.

I love how the reds, golds and oranges in the bridesmaids' bouquets pop off their black gowns.

Many of the groomsmen and ushers were golfers, so of course, we had to make use of the props to be found naturally on a golf course.

Golf cart shot -- check.

Love the light pouring in through the windows as Kelly and the bridesmaids head to the ballroom for the ceremony.

Getting married in a ballroom with huge windows? Sign me up!

Love these happy expressions!

Prestonwood at night.

First dance.

A different perspective on a heart-felt toast by the best man.

The scrumptious three-tier chocolate mousse cake was made by the very talented pastry chef at Prestonwood.

With all the formalities complete, it was time to begin the party. Here, Kelly dances with her niece and flower-girl, Maya.  DJ Billy Ezzell with Complete Music had everyone on their feet and having a great time.

A huge group hug to end the night!

Chase's mom lovingly hand-applied the customized labels to the champagne bubble bottles.

Bubble send-offs are so much fun to photograph! I love the way the bubbles show up at night.

Off to Happily Ever After!

I loved Meghan's dress. I don't know how to describe the color but it was gorgeous and suited her perfectly.

I just love a pick-up skirt! It photographs so nicely. Here's another view of the dress that shows the embroidery on the bodice:

Meghan's mom and dad once owned a florist shop. Naturally, they created the beautiful flowers for the wedding. The flowers themselves came from the Flower Cupboard, then the bride's mom worked her magic.

St. Michael's has recently been renovated and the interior is lovely. It was refreshing to shoot in a church with yellow walls and blue carpet! Plus, it was obvious that someone had put a lot of thought into the lighting inside the church. It was perfect.  I love how the light is on Meghan's face as she listens to the words of the priest. He was one cool dude.

Mission accomplished! I love the feel of forward motion in this image.

We didn't have long inside the church, so after a few quick formals, the wedding party and immediate family headed over to Duke Gardens for photographs before the reception.  Here's a shot of the groom, his new wedding ring shining.

Preston with his mom. Moments like these are why I feel so lucky to have the job that I have.

One of my favorite things about Duke Gardens is the stone used throughout.  Here's a shot of Meghan by one of the two little stone houses on either side of the main terraces.  The gold and blue tones in the stone are so unusual, but so lovely and warm.  Frank will tell you that I drive him crazy at home insisting on symmetry in the way I hang pictures on the wall and arrange items on the mantel, but when it comes to photographs, I really love asymmetry, for things to be off-center.  I use the rule of thirds a lot, visually dividing an image into thirds using two horizontal lines and two vertical lines then placing the subject of the image at or near the intersection of any of the four resulting points.   I really like having the bride's face off-center in this image. Not only does it allow the beauty of the stone to shine, but her lovely features seem to pop right out of the image. I think Meghan made an absolutely stunning bride. By the way, her make-up was done by MAC in Nordstrom's at Southpoint.

A sweet moment between the newlyweds under the most perfect trees...

After pictures, we all headed over to Maggiano's  in Durham for the reception. What a fun place for a reception and a great place to photograph!

There was some incredibly enthusiastic dancing at Meghan and Preston's reception and I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear while I was working. How many people can say that they come home from their job and their face hurts from smiling so much? We are so lucky. Here's a shot of Preston getting in to the great music provided by Tracy Telenko fromBowtie Mobile DJ and Sound.  

Guess which song is playing in this shot.  "YMCA", maybe?

There were so many great moments from Meghan and Preston's reception that I could go on and on. Here's the slide show so you can check them out for yourself. Look for the shot of the guys standing around looking at the garter on the floor. They must think it's infected with smallpox...nobody is picking that thing up!

Meghan and Preston, we had such a blast photographing your wedding.  We wish you great love and happiness in future!

Whitney and TJ were married on December 22, 2007 at 111 Place  in Cary, NC.  I met Whitney and her mom Jan (my first VIP: Jan's the mayor of Morrisville) at the Bridal Show  back in August. Whitney is so adorable and has such a great personality, I knew I was going to just love working with her. Whitney was working on finishing her degree in Math at NC State and planning a wedding, all while being apart from TJ, who was stationed in the Air Force in California. He wasn't able to make it back to NC over Thanksgiving, which was when we hoped to do their engagement shoot, so I didn't get to meet him until the rehearsal dinner. I have a soft spot for servicemen and it ain't just the uniform...I think it's cause my nephew served in Iraq last year.  Here's TJ at the rehearsal.

On the morning of her wedding, I met Whitney, her sister and maid-of-honor Wynter and mom Jan at Salon Kroma  in Cary for her hair and make-up time.  It's so worthwhile to have a professional do your make-up for your wedding -- the pros know you need more make-up than you would usually wear to look great in photos and know how to apply it so you still look naturally beautiful.

After the salon and lunch, the ladies headed to 111 Place to get ready for the wedding. Whitney loves Chik-fil-A, so of course, there was a big ol' nugget tray in the room where she dressed. I should have gotten a shot of that, but I didn't, so Whitney's bridal shoes will have to do...one day I am going to do an album of just brides' shoes! Love the reflection of the shoes in the granite.

Even though it was late December and not much was in bloom, we were still able to get some beautiful images of Whitney in her dress out on the terrace of 111 Place. Give me some green trees in the background and I can make it work! Whitney's the third bride I've had in a row who chose red roses for her bouquet.  I never get tired of photographing roses. Whitney looked amazing!

Funny thing about the roses...Whitney and her mom ordered them from an on-line wholesaler. The week before the wedding, they still had not received confirmation of their order even after calling, emailing, faxing...you name it, anything to find out if the roses were actually being shipped in time.  Panicking a little, they began scouring the area with the help of her amazing wedding coordinator and aunt, Diane Cowan, for substitutes in case the others never materialized. The same day (Thursday before the wedding) they found a florist who could get the roses they needed for the wedding and reception decorating, guess what arrived...the roses from the Internet. So the whole place was just filled with red roses and absolutely gorgeous! Here's another shot of Whitney and her roses.

Whitney and TJ were great about giving me a list of specific photos they wanted. Here's one of their ceremony program.

I really love shooting in non-traditional venues. The freedom to move around and not be relegated to the back  is so gratifying. It also helps when the couple is so enthusiastic about their pictures that they say you can be "this close" (imagine Whitney miming holding a camera right beside her cheek). I try really hard not to be a distraction when I'm working. I find most guests are pretty familiar with the role of the photographer and quickly forget about me. I wish more churches realized that. Now I will get off my soapbox and continue on with the post. To illustrate, here's a shot of the kiss from the back of the venue:

and the same shot from the front. Which do you like better?

That's TJ's dad Steve beaming in the background. That's another cool thing about being up front: reaction shots of family and friends! Whitney told Wynter, Jan and Diane that she thought it would be so cool if the couple's first kiss could be under mistletoe, but couldn't figure out how to make it work. So, unbeknownst to the bride, the three put their heads together and came up with a plan to suspend a kissing ball of mistletoe on a rod and have Wynter bring it out at the last minute once the minister pronounced them husband and wife. How awesome is that?

The reception was held at 111 Place too, so we had a little more time to shoot couple photos since the bride and groom wouldn't have to travel to get to their party.  Here are two of my favorites.

One of my favorite area DJs, Ron K. Smith , did a great job with music for the reception. Here, Whitney and TJ kick off the festivities with their first dance.

The father/daughter dance was sweet and emotional. The day after Christmas, Whitney would be heading cross-country to make a home with TJ in California.  She's really close to her mom and sister, so needless to say, the tears were flowing. Although Jan does look a little happy...and she's looking at Wynter like, "You're next, kid and then I'm free -- free I tell you!" (Maybe that's just what I might be thinking after raising two daughters -- one might get the best of me yet.)

After a very spirited cake-cutting, the party really got started. And boy, what a party. When I got home that night, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Whitney's dad did a great James "Kiss Myself - Huh!" Brown impression on the dance floor. Or maybe he just got caterer Greg Lewis's  bill! (It was worth it -- the food was fantastic.)

I love meeting the families of my clients. There were three sets of grandparents in attendance and all of them were so fun. Here's one grandmother, burning up the dance floor to "Come On (Ride the Train)!

TJ and friends in a less rowdy moment...

This post is getting really long, so I'll wrap it up with a few more shots. If you read this blog regularly, you know how I feel about the sparklers...oy vey, the sparklers! (I'll admit it is hard to beat them for drama.)

After the send-off, I followed the couple over to the The Umstead , this area's newest chi-chi hotel. I love this last shot made right before I called it a night...a very fun night!

Whitney and TJ, we enjoyed every minute of your wedding day. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of it!

View the slide show here.