It’s officially wedding season in North Carolina! We’re in the middle of a long string of back-to-back wedding weekends and LOVING it. Our hearts are so full of love! (and uh-MAZING wedding food) On Saturday we had the privilege of celebrating the union of this beautiful couple in Benson.

Something awesome about working with this couple? We also got to be their engagement photographer last year! We love getting to know a couple with an engagement photo session well in advance of their wedding day. That’s why we include one in most of our wedding packages!

Wedding day finally arrived for these lovebirds in March 2022 and we headed out to Benson, North Carolina. Benson is about 30 minutes outside of downtown Raleigh. A short trip to Johnston county was a great opportunity to get out of the city, drive through some gorgeous Carolina countryside, and, when the sun went down, see the stars!

The Barn at Broadslab is such a beautiful, peaceful venue! The lawn (and that dazzling dress!) made for gorgeous wedding portraits.

The Barn at Broadslab is a lovely Southern wedding venue in Johnston County. It’s rustic and rural, but elegant at the same time. Broadslab Distillery is right on site, which is super cool!

Look at the size of that rock! The ladies’ bouquets were drop dead GORGEOUS. Combine that with my magnifying glass lens and you get one of the most beautiful ring shots I have ever taken.

As a wedding photographer, my job before the wedding is SO MUCH easier when the venue architect put thought and care into designing the getting ready spaces.

The bridal suite at the Barn at Broadslab is gorgeous! It is huge with beautiful woodwork and this nook full of natural light. There was even a hook dedicated to hanging the wedding dress. Also really cool: it is upstairs, with a balcony overlooking the main event space. I snapped SO MANY great shots of the ladies getting ready, but this artsy black and white bridal portrait is the one that I could not wait to share with the bride!

We know how valuable it is to have two photographers on your wedding day. That’s why my husband and I photograph weddings together! This is great for catching candid moments or picking up extra camera angles. But it also makes the impossible possible! While I was with the girls when they were getting ready, Schuyler was with the boys!

First Look

Oh the first look… always a precious moment. More and more couples are choosing to do a first look. The First Look comes on the wedding day after getting ready, but before the ceremony. It’s when the Bride and Groom plan to see each other, decked out in their wedding attire, for the first time. The First Look allows couples to share a special, private moment together in a more intimate setting. Oh yeah, and it also makes for touching photographs!

On your wedding day the dress, the decorations, the food, and the venue all make for a beautiful day (and pretty pictures!)

BUT, what you’ll remember for the rest of your life is being surrounded by your best friends and closest family members. This couple had a lovely and hilarious group of friends in their wedding party. They had us laughing all day! Our job was just to capture the energy the wedding party naturally brought to the day.

Ceremony

The Barn at Broadslab is the definition of rustic, but elegant! This was an undeniably classic wedding ceremony made even more charming by the rustic, southern decor of the venue. The ceremony was gorgeous. Even though the bride and groom had done a First Look, it was a beautiful moment when he saw her coming down the aisle.

Portraits

Wedding portraits after the ceremony were an absolute joy to shoot with this couple. Her STUNNING, long dress and dreamy veil combined with his classic black suit made for an elegant, timeless look. They are going to enjoy looking back on their wedding photos for a lifetime.

Reception

After the ceremony and portraits, it was time to party! The staff did an amazing job transforming the barn from wedding chapel to dinner hall while the guests were outside enjoying cocktail hour.

The couple’s first dance was a magical moment that they will remember forever. The father-daughter and mother-son dances were beautiful.

Cut the Cake

After dinner things got even sweeter with the cake cutting. Brides and Grooms can’t help but reveal their personality while cutting into their wedding cake. How do they hold the knife? Do they feed each other carefully or smear the frosting? These two only kept it together for a few seconds before the cake was flying. Multiple angles for moments like the cake cutting are why a second photographer is such a good investment!

Sparkler Exit

We love it when couples go big with a sparkler exit to conclude their wedding. Sparklers are dazzling. It’s impossible to describe the magic of a sparkler exit: dozens of your friends and family waving bright bursts of crackling fire. You just have to experience it!

We hope that we make it look easy, but wedding sparkler send offs are notoriously difficult to photograph! If you’re planning a sparkler exit and are wedding photographer shopping, it’s is essential to hire an experienced photographer that knows how to capture a sparkler exit.