No, this was not a real wedding. Yes, this is a real couple!

There's a funny story behind this shoot: initially I was supposed to be the one modeling, but we all know how much I *love* being in front of the camera. About a month ago, I attended my first Asheville Wedding Professionals meeting to meet other vendors, this meeting at the new local venue at Olivette. After a fabulous tour and meet-and-greet with the other attendees, I was talking to the events and venue coordinator about Olivette weddings when she explained that she really wanted brides and potential brides to know that the fire ring was not only a great place to hang out at the end of the night, but would be perfect for a small ceremony. She asked if I knew anyone who needed to do a bridal session so that she could get some images to use for promotion and as I haven't done mine yet, I volunteered! But, on my drive home I thought and thought about it and realized that I would much rather be behind the lens directing the shoot. 

Thanks to my two fantastic volunteers, Jen and Patrick, I quickly found a bride and groom, and brought on Swannanoa Flower Shop, viola player Anastasia Yarbrough and Azalea Bindery to the mock wedding team to create a truly memorable event. 

One really fun part of this shoot was getting to try out my new off-camera light system in a wedding setting, practicing a bit before my first real wedding of the season. The cool thing about the lights (other than that they look cool) is that I was able to much better capture sunset and late-night shots as well as completely change the atmosphere of each scene by employing multiple lighting set-ups as well as natural light. As this shoot was for Olivette promotion, I wanted to show each "ceremony" scene in the late afternoon light, early evening light, and dusk to show the beautiful venue's versatility and get brides' planning gears going. 

But really, the best part of this shoot was getting to capture Jen and Patrick's genuine love for each other. The two got married only 2 months ago, so they (or at least Jen) were very excited to relive the fun - and re-wear the dress! From promising their vows again to dancing in the meditation circle to toasting their love to eating s'mores; in everything they did their adoration was evident in how they looked at each other. They looked so in love that I felt like I was photographing a real wedding!

This shoot got me excited for so many reasons - excited for this year's wedding season, excited to shoot at Olivette again, and excited for all that Jen and Patrick's marriage has in store for them!