Cake Cutting at Hinnant Family Vineyard :: from the sweet life archives
Ashley and Matthew were married in the fall of 2007 and planned a terrific party at the Hinnant Family Vineyards. This image of them cutting the cake really reflects the fun and joy that everyone was experiencing that evening. They had these huge smiles on their faces the entire day.
Ashley and Matt’s Engagement Session
I met up with Ashley and Matt on a cool Sunday morning at Duke Gardens for their engagement session. The couple enjoy going on picnics together, so we decided to work that into our shoot. They brought a blanket and wine from Hinnant Family Vineyards, a local winery in Pine Level, NC where they will hold their reception; I supplied the sunflowers and strawberries. (You may notice Matt's holding a bottle of Tar Heel Red in the slideshow, yet it's obvious they're not drinking red wine. We decided to substitute apple juice due to the garden's strict policy against open alcohol containers on the grounds. Plus, tipsy couples are hard to photograph and tend to wander off!)
Ashley's engagement ring is so gorgeous, I really wanted to try to capture it in a unique way. A lot of love and care (not to mention that whole "two months' salary" thing) goes into selecting just the right ring and I think it deserves to be shown off in a cool way. The bowl of strawberries and the single sunflower became natural props for highlighting the ring Matt gave to Ashley.
A little web surfing led me to this factoid about the history of engagement rings in America: in Colonial times, any kind of jewelery was prohibited because of its apparent moral worthlessness. Instead, a more practical thimble was given as a token of love and devotion. Most women, however, after they were married, removed the bottom of their "engagement thimble" to form a type of ring. Even when it's outlawed, we ladies do love our bling. (An engagement thimble...can you imagine showing that off to your girlfriends??)
Here's what Ashley's mom wrote in a sweet email about the photographs:
"The engagement photos are ABSOLUTELY AWESOME - I can hardly wait to see the photos from the wedding and that is still 3 weeks away!! You really were able to capture their love for each other and to show their emotions instead of just having a picture. You created a situation where they were having fun instead of just doing a stiff photo shoot. We are blessed to have you doing her wedding. It means a lot to me to see her "absolutely beaming" during such an important event such as her engagement and wedding. Thank you."
Matt and Ashley are getting married on October 27th, so check back in November for their wedding slide show. In the meantime, they've graciously allowed me to post their engagement slide show here.
