A hot, but blue sky day brought Mark & Allison together at the Christ United Methodist Church in Greensboro for both a beautiful ceremony and intimate reception. Allison and I spent some time a few months ago taking some great bridal portraits at UNC and I was looking forward to spending time getting to know Mark as well. (Keep an eye out for her upcoming bridal blog; she made some beautiful photos!).

The majority of getting ready photos I’m showing here are in B&W. I found that given the location, and the lighting, B&W was working out perfectly. In photos 1 & 2, the room adds some interesting variety to the photos. The combination of the wallpaper and the mirrors add some extra dimension which really add to the photos. In addition, by keeping the photos in B&W, the wallpaper becomes more of an interesting pattern than a distraction.

Sometimes with limited space it can prove to be challenging finding nice locations for detail photos. Shoes are, of course, the most important and sexiest  items to photograph. In this case, I used the least sexiest location I could find, which was a small hallway leading to the kitchen of the church. Placing the shoes in the little bit of light and keeping the room dark allows the focus to remain on the shoes, while the spotlight in the back gives a nice sense of space and depth. In addition, I find it a great representation of Allison’s great personality.

The next few photos jump over to the guys getting ready. A unique high placed window offered the only light in the room. Perfect, just the way I like it. The play on light and shadow speaks for itself. Photo 7 has Mark in the right corner fixing his collar and is one of my new favorite photos of a groom getting ready. You have no idea he is in a church lecture room, with a painting of Noah’s Ark and kids’ artwork on the wall behind him. You can see highlights of the Ark painting behind the group photos of the guys, but it’s dark enough and out of focus enough that it simply adds depth to the photo. Without that, the guys would be swimming in a sea of black, which would not work for this photo.

Photo 19 is a nice moment as well. Mark & Allison had planned to come up to the balcony after the recessional to watch the other guests leave the ceremony. It reminds me of a very similar moment from last year’s wedding with Bud & Emily in Southern Pines.

We did brave the 100+ degree heat and spend about 6 or 7 minutes outside with the bridal party and Mark & Allison alone before heading back inside for the first dance and reception.

The lit-up cross and colored spot lights in the reception hall offered a really cool and unique backdrop for the first dance. Adding some contrast to the photo, we come away with a slightly stylized image, framed with the lights, the cross, dropping down to the bridal party paralleling the lights and leading to Mark & Allison’s great smile between one another.

Moving behind the bridal party offers us a great voyeuristic perspective to the first dance. The second shot is tighter, with more of the bridal party framing Mark & Allison, naturally leaning us in to them as they share a kiss.

Final comments: note the two photos with Mark and his mother during their dance. Photo 27 has great lines from the light bar directly above the dancers, while 28 offers luck that Mark and his mother were in perfect position with the lights above when she leaned in to kiss him. Keeping the photo dark was crucial to keeping their faces from being too bright and unrecognizable. Of course, it is also crucial to keeping the focus of the photo on them and the mood just right.

Cheers to the newlyweds Mark & Allison, and thank you for having me part of your big day!

Vendors from the wedding:

Cake – Ellen Allen
Hair – Chakras Salon
Makeup – Heather Woodard
DJ – Showtime Productions
Flowers – Botanica
Catering – Mark Ledford
Ceremony Musicians:
Organ – John Benton
Trumpet Soloist – Jordan Webb
Soloist – Robert Taube
Invitations – AZ Invitations