charlotte, north carolina.

June 18, 2014

back at the beginning of this year, me and my friends at the bunch collective teamed up and gave away a free session to a special couple who entered our contest. in the midst of all those emails, i received one from a sweet girl named taylor who professed her love for her boyfriend (at the time) and told me all about their story and growth as a couple and caught my attention immediately with her beautiful words: "we have seen first-hand that ALL things are redeemable through Christ. we have seen the beautiful and amazing things that come out of broken lives, our broken lives. the more we fall in love with Christ, the more we fall in love with each other."

as hard as it was to decide, we didn't end up picking the two of them for a feature, but i knew based on our limited interactions that i wanted to make pictures with her someday. after that, we we emailed back and forth a couple of times because she needed some photography advice (she's a beautiful photographer, go check out her work here), added each other on facebook, instagram.. the usual mutual-stalking occurred and that was that.

fast forward a couple of months and i get a facebook message from her boyfriend, jarred, asking me to be a part of their proposal story by shooting their engagement pictures the day after he proposed! he said that she always mentioned to him that when that day came, she wanted to do engagements soon after so the emotions were running high. i love that he listened.

taylor and jarred, you two are so amazing together. i love your love for each other, for the Lord, for your friends&family. i'm so thankful we were able to spend some time together and can't wait to spend more together in the future!

(photographers side note: i normally don't shoot in the early, early morning but it was so interesting to see how different and bright the light is after the sun rises! loved this challenge.)

reception // amanda & jeff // charleston, south carolina

June 9, 2014

(if you haven't seen part one of their elopement, check it out here!)

jeff and amanda eloped on a wednesday and had an intimate celebration reception where they played their elopement video for their friends and family at the amazing mixson bath & racquet club on a saturday. it was full on confetti (which doesn't taste good, promise), drinks, dancing, and a lot of love.

we had so much fun just talking around in the gorgeous charleston weather, exploring the space and spending time taking their bride & groom portraits for probably almost fourty-five minutes. these two are the kind of loves that just melt into each other without me even prompting them to. I love it so much.

anyway, enjoy their part two!

eloped // amanda & jeff // charleston, south carolina.

June 4, 2014

my entire experience of meeting, making pictures with, and becoming friends with jeff and amanda has been indescribably wonderful. the love that they have for each other and the love they share with their friends and family is steadfast and deep. they are both kind, gentle-hearted, imaginative and wildly passionate people who couldn't be more perfect for each other. to say i like them is putting it lightly.

amanda and i crossed paths via facebook! we have one mutual friend that posted their engagement video (they're an awesome videography team that go by dreampop media - click to check out their site!) - where i (creepily) commented that i wanted to be friends with them. then a little later, amanda saw a facebook ad for my business page that i put up and voila! we instantly connected over our love of ryan gosling, music, photography, and all things happy and love.

i didn't meet them until i shot their engagement pictures a couple of months ago when i showed up at their house and instantly made myself at home. we had japanese food, played mario kart and just talked about our industry's up and downs. instant friendship. then i drove back down to charleston for their elopement and hung out with them for another 4 days. they must be so sick of me by now!

anyway, we've known each-other since august and i'm so incredibly thankful for that. when amanda initially emailed me, she spoke of a wedding that would be for their families, instead of truly celebrating the two of them and their unique, passion-filled love. as time went on, those plans changed one or twice (or a thousand) times, until they stumbled upon their perfect plan to meld both tradition and their desires together. the solution? get married in a park, where they had their first date (swoon), and a couple of days later, join their family and friends in a celebration at an awesome swim club to party. amanda put it best when she snuck an elopement picture onto facebook:

"In this crazy world of social media, where everyone is constantly connected and every moment is shared instantly, there is something really wonderful about disconnecting yourselves to take in the important moments. Sharing isn't mandatory and traditions can be broken. It's so wonderful to feel like you've had a real moment to share with a single person. Eloping was the best decision we have ever made. Joyful hearts throughout this house today."

eloping is not for everyone. i completely respect the desires to appease friends and family and have them there to celebrate with you on your big day. but for jeff and amanda, it just felt right. and it felt right to me, too. there's something absolutely amazing about being a part of such an intimate ceremony with only 5 other people involved. under the tree where they had their first date. where a breeze was blowing, light was shifting, golden and beautiful and i couldn't help but cry alongside them. watching amanda's chin quiver (which jeff loves), hearing how many deep breaths jeff had to take in order to just get through his vows (which amanda loved).. seeing the way they look at each other like there's nobody else in the room... it was absolutely priceless.

if anything, our time together has reinforced why i do what i do and why i'm so intentional about it. so i owe YOU two a huge thank you for reminding me of that. you have reminded me that it's possible to be truly happy, without expectation.

and thank you to their friends: chris, austin, melissa, ben jack- you guys were so awesome and accepting and i can't thank you enough for letting me be a part of your awesome family for a couple of days.

so without further ado, enjoy jeff & amanda's first part of their elopement!