Who made it happen?  My much appreciated group of supporters, followers, fans, friends and family.  I truly appreciate all the votes.  It’s always fun to win something, even if you don’t know what it’s worth.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the thrill.

I can’t remember which happened first.  Beth and I scheduled our engagement sitting.  Abby booked me to photograph her wedding.  All I know is that they found me independently of one another and they independently decided to hire me, which I think is pretty neato.

Firstly, this is not a story about Beth and Abby.  This is a story about Beth and Chip.

Also, this is not a story about me, my childhood or my father.  However, I’ll just mention *for a second* that my dad went to Wake Forest.  I spent my childhood at (what seemed at the time) every single basketball and football game with my best friend, the basketball coach’s daughter.

And as it turns out, Chip played football at Wake Forest.

Beth and Chip live in Charlotte.  It seemed a natural choice to meet up in Winston-Salem for their engagement sitting.  We went to Old Salem followed by their alma mater’s beautiful Wake Chapel.

I got these icecream parlor Sweetheart Chairs from stylists Maura and Tara of The Darling Bee.  Aren’t they sweet?

Isn’t this ceremony lovely?  Everything about Kathryn and Doug’s wedding was so romantic.

I usually include only shots taken by me on my blog, but this one is by my second photographer Camilla Calnan of Kathryn’s father shaking Doug’s hand.  A beautiful moment:

I know I said I’d turn this into a two part posting.  But I think I’ll spread it on a bit thicker.  How about three or four posts?

This one is all about the amazing ride in the horse-drawn carriage Kathryn took to her wedding to Doug.  And meeting up with her father on the way!

Kathryn’s smile when she see’s her dad.

I just gracefully floated and landed in this spot.  No bounding in the woods like a hefalump did this require…

Kathryn and Doug’s wedding story will be told in two parts.  Welcome to Part One!

Kathryn’s beautiful dress was found at The White Room in Birmingham, Alabama.  She wore her mother’s veil.

Kathryn’s great-great grandmother’s brooch:

Kathryn’s Grandmother’s wedding dress sleeve around the bouquet:

Scott and Kathryn:

Such a beautiful laugh…

Gardenias in her hair and bouquet to honor her grandparents…

Kathryn and Doug have a special moment when they see each other for the first time.

On the shuttle:

The Biltmore House and the wedding party:

Come back later for the ceremony and the reception at the Diana!

Here is just one shot, a reminder of that gorgeous day in the North Carolina mountains just about this same time last year…

Natalie and Brian “seeing” each other for the first time on their wedding day, with their hands:

Visit the Pretty Little Weddings blog for more or find the entire wedding here on my blog.

I’ll be returning to Bangkok in February for a week of portrait sittings.  Look for more Bangkok trip updates and write me to get on the list.  I’m only there once a year now! :)

My shot here, bottom half of page:

I didn’t send my headshot for this last page.  It was asked for at the last minute while I was out of town working.  So no picture of me here… sorry, for all of you dying to see me…

Valerie had these images printed by me to display at their reception at the Crest Center in Asheville.

I met Zach at a wedding I photographed of an old friend of Valerie, whose beautiful engagement portraits and wedding I’ll share eventually as well (as you can tell I don’t blog every day!).  After our intoductions, Zach showed me the following first image of Valerie that he had been allowed to see from our bridal portrait session - it doesn’t show the dress…and it made great i-phone wallpaper.

So beautiful!

All the details of Ann and Ben’s wedding were perfect, from the dress to the flowers to the table settings…  it was a great festival for the eyes.  Ann had lots of wonderful ideas which paired well with the creativity of the vendors she chose, who were able to collaboratively see her vision through.

As a photographer shooting a wedding at the Biltmore, it’s very helpful to know your way around the estate because it is so large and spread out.  I’m so grateful I do.  I live only minutes away from the Biltmore and as a passholder member of it I spend a lot of time exploring and scouting for new angles and places to shoot.  I love photographing weddings at the Biltmore.

Ann and Ben are a couple who are truly generous of the heart.  I enjoyed getting to know Ann over the planning stages and I was grateful to Ben on the wedding day when he so graciously faced the intense summer heat as I escorted them all over the estate for photos.  It was his wedding day, so what else was he supposed to do?  But he had the sweetest smile on his face the entire time.  I loved witnessing how happy Ann and Ben were.

Since the wedding day I’ve gotten to hang out with Ann a little bit (we went to a wine tasting together) and I really appreciate her calming, up-lifting spirit.  It’s totally palpable in her smile - you can see it everywhere in the photographs below.  I can’t wait to hang out more.  It’s really nice to know I’ve made a friend.

Something that I enjoy about weddings is the feeling of working as a team.  For the most part I work “alone” as a photographer but I like being part of a group effort when it’s supportive of each individual’s creative efforts and strengths.  I bring this up because there was a nice synergy I felt at this wedding.  And… I think both Ann and Ben’s sweet personalities are infectious, so that even when we had to play a little “catch up” with the schedule (as it goes with many weddings) we were all just gushing with cheerfulness and truly enjoying being a part of a real celebration.

Bravo to the team of amazing vendors:

Maura of Honey Darling Events

Florist: The Bloom Room

Makeup: Scott Thompson

Hair: Lola

Ceremony Site, Reception Site, Venue, Catering, Cake:  Biltmore Estate

Congratulations, Ann and Ben!!  I’ll shoot your wedding any day!

Give a wink to the shuttle… and an ahhhhhhh for air-conditioning.

The Conservatory:

I don’t always blog post so many table settings and centerpieces, but I couldn’t leave these out.  A complete table setting is so elegant.