Stephanie & Dave

Stephanie and Dave were married March 15, 2008 in Mount Olive, NC. (I jokingly refer to this as our first "destination wedding" of '08.)  I'm convinced some of the finest people you will ever meet live in Mount Olive. By the end of the night on Saturday I felt like one of the family. The festivities began Friday in the old sanctuary of Stephanie's church with a casual meal. Besides Stephanie, the other great love in Dave's life is his Jeep, so Stephanie paid tribute to it by having this awesome cake made for him.

I just loved working with Stephanie. She is so much fun and has a great sense of humor. She was not your typical bride: her satin gown featured a stunning red embroidered train that I'm sure the older folks in the church will not forget anytime soon! She joked that Dave, who's a mild-mannered (but very loveable) minister's son who wants to be a minister himself, was marrying his Delilah. Here's a shot of her applying her make-up on the big day.

I love this moment Frank caught of Dave and his mom before the ceremony.

What's a wedding without an adorable flower-girl and ring-bearer? These two are sister and brother -- can you tell? Only a sister could get away with this. I love her little hand on his chin!

Stephanie and Dave agreed to see each other before the ceremony so that we could do all the photos beforehand, allowing them to go straight to their reception immediately after the ceremony. When we photograph a bride and groom seeing each other for the first time before the ceremony, we send everyone else away so they can experience that moment in private -- well, as private as you can be with two photographers firing away. We couldn't go outside for these shots as much of the grounds were still under construction -- the church was so new you could practically smell the paint drying! Luckily, the building committee checked with Stephanie before they installed the carpet and pew cushions -- everything matched her red and black theme! :) This is my favorite of the shots we got of them seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day. I adore the look in Stephanie's eyes.

My favorite from the ceremony, which was performed by Dave's dad -- that's his hand covering theirs. So sweet.

A wedding party close-up that Frank grabbed while I had their attention. I de-saturated the reds a bit to focus on their expressions. Red can sometimes overwhelm an image. The red and black in the wedding was so modern -- and so Stephanie!

The wedding party had barely arrived at the reception before a torrential rain began. It continued on through a very fun night, preventing the newlyweds from having their bubble-send-off -- outside, anyway. When it was time to leave, everyone just pulled out their bubble wands while Stephanie and Dave danced the last dance of the evening. All the bubbles in the air made for really gorgeous images. This one is my favorite.

 
To see more of the wedding, you can view the slide show here. Stephanie and Dave, it was such a privilege to photograph your wedding. We'll come back to Mount Olive anytime, especially if you promise to feed us so well again!