wed // caitlin & eric // lake norman, charlotte, north carolina

"here's to all the places we went.
and here's to all the places we'll go.
and here's to me, whispering again and again and again and again:
i love you."

i've said this time and time again, i love it with my couples become dear friends of mine. that's the whole reason i shoot weddings, aside from making sweet moments permanent memories. that human connection, that community and relationship is beyond important to me. that's why i take on less weddings a year and am "picky" about the ones i do take on. i want to make sure i'm the best possible match for you and your fiancee. it just makes for a beautiful wedding day. 

i knew the moment i got caitlin's FIRST email a year ago, i knew i'd love this girl. who couldn't love her when she opened an email with this, 

"anyway, she had commented on one of your blog posts and I had just spent a solid hour (don’t tell my boss) searching for photographers. it was like the Red Sea of wedding photogs parted and there you were! seriously though, i had a moment sitting at my desk pouring through your posts. i wanted someone to capture the little moments as well as the big ones, and i could see how much you cared about each couple you worked with. i loved your work instantly."

since then, we've spent hours upon hours texting about everything from the walking dead to ridiculously awful books and characters and everything. she's my soul sister. and eric has the sweetest love for caitlin, amazing taste in music (and thankfully), also had a bunch of awesome, happy groomsmen by his side. walking into their wedding day, it truly felt like i was just heading to go hang out with friends all day. which, a lot of my days have felt like this year, and i'll never take that for granted. 

they were married at his parent's lake house, so everything felt so intimate. plus, the two of (with some help from their families) did everything. eric cut all the wood centerpieces, caitlin set up EVERYTHING and wrote the chalkboards. they took DIY to a super pretty level. okay,  to be honest, caitlin and eric's day was beautiful, start to finish.  from her amazing bridesmaids helping me with whatever i needed, to her and eric's super sweet first look, to their pup murry walking around all day, loving on guests, to their gorgeous ceremony by the water to the thunderstorms that interrupted the reception and left us with two huge, pretty rainbows, to all of their friends dancing away under cafe lights. 

alright, alright. enough of me talking. enjoy these images. love you two!! 

-- 

hair & makeup for bride and bridesmaids by jennifer abercrombie beauty! 

wed // emily & joe // saint simon's island, georgia.

i know i say this often, but i really don't know where to begin with this blog post! 

i guess the easiest thing to start with is how emily and i met. 

back in 2013, i decided to go to the parson's "don't give up" workshop. little did i know that i would walk away with so many incredible friends for life, and a totally rewritten story, both in terms of my personal life and business attitude. emily was also there! we were paired together a bunch as "the emily's" and immediately clicked. we sat on the floor of a meadow in colorado and poured our hearts out to each other, made some images together, and started an amazing friendship. 

all of our group has kept in touch through social media (thank goodness), so i wasn't surprised to see emily announce her engagement to her sweet boyfriend of FOREVER - but i *was* surprised when she emailed me and asked me to be her photographer! emily knows so many amazing people in the industry and i'm beyond honored that i was her pick. then, she told me her wedding was going to be small, intimate, and in a gorgeous place her and her family have visited since she was a child! it's a second home for her and her loved ones, and also where her amazing mother was laid to rest. emily loves going down to SSI to visit her mom's grave and her grandmother, who is the most important person in her life. i noticed that right off the bat :)

emily has the best smile, the most contagious laugh and the happiest spirit. she's also an incredible photographer (click here!) and joe is a perfect pairing for her energy. these two have an obvious chemistry and love for each other that i know will be a beautiful and long-lasting story. 

i was the happiest girl in the world to be able to have my sweet intern, katherine (click here!) alongside me as a second shooter. she kicks some serious ass.  - we had so much fun exploring the area on our time off with the ever incredible videographer that is david fiser (click here!) - seriously, guys. if you don't know his work, you need to block off about an hour and go through his website. he is absolutely incredible at what he does and i can only hope to work with him again! needless to say, the three of us had so much fun. huge thank you to emily and joe for treating us all like members of the family! 

anyway, ENJOY our images and his video from our wonderful time in georgia! 

wed // taylor & dan // charlotte, north carolina

where do i even begin with taylor and dan? 

two people who have become my among my favorite friends to spend time with (and don't make me feel like a third wheel).  i mean, hell. they're basically the godparents to murphy! two people who get me and my weirdness and totally share their own quirks. two people who are absolutely, hands down some of the funniest people i've ever met. two people who are loved immensely by everyone whose lives they touch. 

two people who are madly, on the soul-mate-level in love.

there were so many moments that stand out in my mind about their beautiful wedding day. meeting taylor at the home her and dan share together to get her into her dress. the moment taylor's best friend sarah called her from around the globe, checking in to tell her she loved her and wishing her happiness for her beautiful day. when dan saw taylor for the first time and they both had gigantic smiles across their faces, along with some tears on dan's cheeks. taylor's sister's amazing speech, quoting something she wrote on valentine's day for liberty college, before even met dan. (pictured below!)

"although i may be spending this valentines day by myself, I'm OK with it. my prayer is that one day the Lord will bless me with the lifetime of love and happiness that my grandparents had. until then, i will patiently wait for my darling."

i'm just sitting here, trying to write up this blog post.. but nothing right is coming out.
so, instead, i'll share the images and hope they can speak for me.

mentor session // carrie

one of the many things i love about what i do is the fact that i have a chance to connect with amazing people.

enter carrie.

this mama (of two!?) is now one of my favorite people. we clicked, immediately, over email and instagram and then in person, there was no awkardness, no lapse in talking.. it was like we've known each other forever. 

after a lot of back and forth, we finally settled on doing a session in charlotte, so carrie met me there from charleston and we spent the day together, shooting in some of my favorite little spots in my neighborhood, then finally settling down for a dinner to share our hearts (actually, to yell at each other over super loud mexican music, but that's a different story) and got to know each other. and now we're planning her vow renewal and i'm so excited to shoot that because this mamacita has incredible style and i know it'll be nothing short of beautiful.

she's hilarious. she's beautiful. she's sweet and sassy and just my kind of person. she's also in love with my dog as i am. she's alsoooooo a photographer with the same passion i have for intentional, lifestyle photography. [go follow her on instagram, @carrielizgabbert and see her adorable babes and snapshots of her life!]

as some of you know, mentorships are something that has been on my heart for awhile, and i'm pleased to say that i'm going to start offering them as a result of carrie's session! we'll sit down for an hour and a half for a total of $275. price will be increased if you desire to add on a mini-session by $125!) and discuss anything you want my help addressing in that one hour and a half, beit editing, perspective, business, branding, etc. 

if you're interested, shoot me an email - hello (at) emilychidester (dot) com with the subject line of "mentorship, yay!"