I had been looking forward to this session for quite some time because I was too excited to meet Emily in person and give her a big ole hug. Emily had reached out to me months ago about her and Nick’s 2020 wedding. She had found me through my podcast – Heart + Sole (did you know I have a podcast? Cause I do and you should check it out every Wednesday…shameless plug.) But when I have potential brides reach out to me who are also podcast listeners, it hits a really sweet spot for me. Because Kathryn (my co-host) and I sit down and record each week we talk all about our everyday lives, struggles, triumphs, and everything in between. We very well know that we are putting ourselves out there for the world to hear, but sometimes it does feel very vulnerable and a little scary. So when brides like Emily reach out about having me as a part of their wedding day, they feel like they already know SO much about me! It means the world to me that my words resonate with them as well as my actual work and images! I know for sure that these are my brides and grooms and that we will have the absolute best time together. And as soon as I met Emily & Nick in person for their engagement session, that was 100% confirmed!
Emily had a few things in mind for their session — including using a coffee shop and the AMAZING dress she wanted to order. As soon as I got a look at this sparkly gown, I knew it was going to be a total DREAM to photograph. And it definitely was! We chose to start at The Morning Times coffee shop, because coffee is Emily & Nick’s “thing” that they love to do together wherever they go. If you know me, you know I am always on board for this because I am a coffee FIEND. We also snagged a few adorable shots of them around downtown Raleigh before heading to Dorothea Dix Park!
You will also spot a couple of shots of Emily & Nick in red and black. And this is because these two cuties met in college where Emily was a cheerleader and Nick played football. Yep, just like something out of an adorable movie. 🙂 So they wanted to sport the colors of their alma mater for a few, too.
Just before we got into the car to head to Dorothea Dix park…the heavens opened like crazy. Like, it almost seemed like a hurricane was blowing through downtown Raleigh. Since it was summer in NC, we knew it would pass over in a little while. So we waited it out for about 20 minutes and sure enough, the skies cleared and a huge rainbow showed up over the skyline. Pretty stinkin’ cool if you ask me! However, the rain definitely threw a wrench into our original plans to use the sunflower fields at the park. Not only were they extremely crowded when we got there, but the rain made a wholeeeee lotta mud. So we deviated and used an open field beside the sunflowers instead. And although you would probably never know it from the pictures, it was actually a small CEMETARY! Not gonna lie, we did feel a little weird about that. But we wanted to avoid getting muddy and the open field and skies were just too pretty to pass up. I may have had to edit out a head stone or two, but the result was 100% worth it. 🙂
I absolutely loved hanging out with these two for the evening and I cannot wait to be a part of their wedding at Walnut Hill in June 2020! Thank you, Emily & Nick for choosing me to be a part of your wedding day! You two are so special and I cannot wait to celebrate you next Spring!
