Watson-Studios Photography Blog

It’s Tuesday evening — I had a margarita and some yummy Mexican for dinner, the baby is fast asleep, and all is well in my little world :)… especially since tonight we’re pulling out the 4th and final post on Paige & John’s fabulous wedding at Blackberry Farm! It’s been so fun blogging this wedding in multiple posts. It’s one of our favorite ever and it’s nice to be able to show so many more images than we normally do. So if you haven’t seen the others be sure to check out Parts 1, 2 and 3!

For those of you who have been following us through these last few postings, you know we’re stuck on this wedding because it has all the essential components. Great couple, location, details AND they put a lot of thought into every aspect of the day….. like even a speech given by the groom at the reception (amazing, still thinking about it) AND they did a ‘real’ dance at the reception, like something rehearsed and I triple scoop with cherries on top looooooooove when a couple does that! It’s such a nice touch.

So without further adieu, this is it! The last and final post from Paige and John’s wedding. Enjoy and hope all is well in your little worlds as well :)

For those of you who know what I like, you can probably guess I love this next picture. It’s the same reason I love this one.

A few of our favorites of Paige and John after the ceremony.

I love these shots Ashley took during cocktail hour.

Paige & John arrived to the cocktail hour by a horse drawn carriage. It was so fun.

Imagine beautiful weather and great music.  Everyone was having a great time!

Guests enjoyed dinner in The Barn.

And then cake and dancing under the tent outside!

The End! There were so many talented wedding professionals who came from literally all over the country to make this wedding a huge success so I want to be sure and give them all credit. Here goes:

Wedding Coordinator: Grace Beason, Grace Leisure Events, Raleigh, NC

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Ashley Moss, Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN

Florist: Julio Jimenez, New York, NY

Music: Bobby Yang, Bobby Yang and his Unrivaled Players, New York, NY

Wedding Cake: Greg Bingham, The Art of Cake, Raleigh, NC

Hair & Makeup: Rebecca & Stephanie, Sonia Roselli, Chicago, IL

Ceremony Officiant: Dr. Charles De Sieyes

Rentals: Jason McClure, All Occasions Party Rentals, Knoxville, TN

Huge thanks to Paige & John!! Y’all are amazing!!! XOXO

Without further adieu —– (and believe me I’m fearing of another power outage any second because we’ve not had power for seven out of the last ten days due to the recent storms) —- here is the third, but not final, installment of Paige & John’s drop dead gorgeous, jaw dropping wedding at Blackberry Farm:)… Picture this:

But this is not really what this post is about. Scroll down…

This is :).

The heart and soul of every wedding is the ceremony…

In planning my own wedding I didn’t think to much about the ceremony. I thought it was going to be pretty standard and put way more thought and effort into every other aspect of the day. That was foolish because it turned out to be the best part of the whole day. I will never, ever forget the way Dan was looking at me when we were standing up there together. It was like we were the only two people on earth and just remembering his face during those moments could seriously make me smile for a lifetime. Ahh…

So, no matter how good and potentially publishable the venue/scenery/details/flowers are, Dan and I are most importantly there to capture those amazing moments leading up to, during, and after those intense moments when a couple is making those sacred commitments. These little slices of life are gone in the blink of an eye… and my advice to any bride is to not be too busy to have them.

This post is all about, as we call them, ‘the candid moments.’ And I happen to usually like these moments in black and white. To me, looking back on these moments should feel nostalgic, classic. These moments are void of any trend, or style…. or color.  They are about the moment – about real life as it happens, on the most important day of a couple’s life together.

One of the things I most love about our business is that Dan and I get to work together.  Of course, we love that we get to be together every day.  But, it is also a HUGE plus from a photography standpoint to have two photographers covering a wedding ceremony.  So much is happening at any wedding, it is impossible for one person to capture it all.  By having two principal photographers shooting all day, we are able to do so much more and do it so much better than we ever could on our own.  And hopefully the result is tons of candid moments captured forever.

So here we go, a post all about the candid moments :) Enjoy!

Below Paige and her Dad are just moments away from the ceremony, watching everyone coming in, waiting for everyone to be seated, peaking through the curtains and talking about what they see…getting excited.

Spontaneous kiss.

A bridesmaid makes her way down the aisle.

More peeking, a little nervousness… Seeing John.

A father looks a man in his eyes.

A hug.

>

A tear and a smile.

Vows.

A laugh and applause.

More smiles, a kiss, and celebration.

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that watching the couple walk the aisle together after the ceremony is one of our absolute favorite parts of the day (and favorite photos of the day). PS – I love Paige’s dad looking at her mom in the background ;)

Shortly after the ceremony we walked down the hill to this swing with the wedding party — I think these are so fun!

I love the look on her face in this one — so fun!!

The end for today!