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Kelley + Tom : Biltmore Estate Wedding in Asheville, North Carolina Part II

July 30, 2013 by Jensey 1 Comment

Continued from Kelley and Tom’s Biltmore Estate Wedding Part I.

Kelley and Tom’s wedding was a long time in coming- They started dating in the 10th grade and Tom proposed on their 10th year of being together.

Wedding Deerpark Restaurant At the Biltmore Estate Asheville, NC

We had even more time with Kelley and Tom for photos after their ceremony since we did all their family and bridal party photos at the Biltmore house. Since the ceremony and reception took place at the Deerpark Restaurant on the Biltmore Estate, that meant one thing- Fancy Biltmore cow photos!

Biltmore Estate Fancy Cows Deerpark Restaurant At the Biltmore Estate Wedding Asheville, NC

First dance to Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up.”

Deerpark Restaurant At the Biltmore Estate Wedding Asheville, NC

Because now you’re not officially married until you change that Facebook status! ;)

Deerpark Restaurant At the Biltmore Estate Wedding Asheville, NC

Kelley and Tom’s wedding was the day before my birthday, and Nate and I decided to make the drive home to Nashville that night. We photographed Kelley and Tom’s exit and we weren’t even 5 minutes down the road when Kelley texted us from their hotel that we forgot to get a photo together! We hauled it to the Inn, took a photo in the carport, and made sure to give Aulani suggestions before heading home. :)

Kelley and Tom, we can’t thank y’all enough for granting one of our wedding photography wishes! Please keep in touch and let us know if you’re ever in Nashville! Now… Anyone wanna bring us along to their Tokyo Disneyland wedding?! ;)

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Kelley + Tom : Biltmore Estate Wedding in Asheville, North Carolina

July 29, 2013 by Jensey 3 Comments

I think every wedding photographer has an unspoken wish list of venues we’d love to photograph, and for me, a wedding the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina was on my top five for sure! Nate and I have wanted to make a visit to the Biltmore for years- Back in the day when we were planning our wedding, our Christmas honeymoon was going to be going there and seeing the house for the first time all decorated. When we decided to elope, the honeymoon was canceled and we just never got around to making that trip.

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer

Enter Kelley and Tom. :) Kelley found us the way many of our brides find us, through the fabulous Carrie and Patrick. Kelley and Tom are big Disney fans, but her family takes trips to the Biltmore Estate all the time, so they ended up with the best of both worlds: A wedding at the Biltmore, and honeymoon at Disney’s Aulani in Hawaii! :)

The day before their wedding, Kelley, Tom, and all of their wedding guests (us too!) were treated to a private tour of the Biltmore. We all broke off into small groups and felt incredibly VIP being shown the house after it closed to the public. No photos are allowed in the house at all, so you’ll just have to use your imagination if you haven’t been, but basically it’s a ginormous house with 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms. I was embarrassed how many times I told Nate that various parts of the house were “just like on Downton Abbey!” and I enjoyed walking around the estate picturing a white-haired toddler Anderson Cooper frolicking in the grass and sitting on the pool tables, though I’m 99% sure that’s not even close to being historically accurate.

Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

After the fancy private tours, we headed over to Antler Hill Village and Winery for their candlelight rehearsal dinner. I love their reaction to their cake being brought in after dinner!! :)

Biltmore Estate Rehearsal Dinner Rita's Ice Cream Groom's Cake

Love this shot Nate grabbed of the Inn on Biltmore Estate at night. :)

The Inn on Biltmore Estate at Night, Asheville, NC The Inn on Biltmore Estate Bride Getting Ready The Inn on Biltmore Estate Something Blue Shoes

One of my favorite getting ready photos. :)

The Inn on Biltmore Estate Bride Getting Dressed

First look time is my favorite. Ps- If we ever do another wedding at the Biltmore Estate, first looks are required. We loved having soooooooooo much wonderful photo time around an amazing property!

First Look at the Inn on Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer Asheville, NC

Kelley, you’re gorgeous. :)

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer Asheville, NC

Is it just me or does she look a little like Kimberly Williams Paisley, a la Father of the Bride?

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer Asheville, NC

That photo on the right? Another favorite. :)

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer Asheville, NC

Gotta check back tomorrow for part two! :)

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer Asheville, NC Wedding Rings

Shannon + J.W. : Trinity Lutheran Church Wedding and Winter Park Farmers’ Market Reception

July 22, 2013 by Jensey 4 Comments

Shannon has been a blog reader for ages, and she is my favorite kind- I heard from multiple bridesmaids that she often forwards our posts to them! :) Shannon is sweet and hilarious and the sort of person you meet and you automatically feel like you could reach out and braid her hair and it wouldn’t be weird. My favorite Shannon and J.W. story comes from their proposal, which I’m just gonna copy and paste from their wedding website, because it’s just perfect as it is :

On their one year anniversary they went to Bern’s Steakhouse to celebrate. He was acting odd all day and she thought something was up (I mean he was out running errands until 30 min before we had to leave!) while driving to Bern’s she noticed the GPS had already taken this route, which was odd because neither of them had been to Bern’s before. So logically that meant that he had driven to Bern’s beforehand to drop off the ring for the surprise engagement. Fast forward to the Dessert room, she’s sitting there waiting for this proposal, when the piano man starts playing her wedding song, Cannon in D, and at the same time their server is bringing out a special anniversary dessert. While trying to hold back tears due to overwhelming joy that the day has finally come, she’s also thinking ‘he didn’t seriously put the ring in the dessert did he? Seriously? How am I supposed to wash this off at the table?!’. The dessert is set on the table and nothing happens. So she takes her spoon and destroys the dessert looking for the ring. After about 60 seconds of watching her, he asks her what she’s doing. And at the same time that she realizes he’s not proposing, he realizes she thinks he’s proposing. Embarrassing for her then, funny for them now.

Don’t shed any tears for Shannon- A perfect proposal eventually made its way to her on 11.11.11, in the form of a trip to the Magic Kingdom with her parents. J.W. popped the question in front of Cinderella Castle as her mom took a photo. My favorite though was what happened right after she said yes… Again, yanked from their wedding website :) “Then forgot which hand the ring goes on, apologized profusely for being a snotty birthday brat, cried some more, hugged, kissed, figured out which hand the ring goes on and then stated, in true Shannon fashion, ‘we have to get married next year because I won’t get married on an odd year’. Her dad did a happy dance all the way out of Disney, partially because he was rid of his daughter, who upon arrival into the world peed all over him and couldn’t believe someone actually decided to marry her.”

So- Blog people, meet Shannon! :)

Mirror Shot!

Shannon and J.W. got ready at the gorgeous Grand Bohemian Hotel in downtown Orlando.

Grand Bohemian Wedding Details

I loved Shannon’s “something old,” – A Peter Pan handkerchief made by her mom out of her mom’s childhood bed sheets.

RootWeddings_051 Wedding Wire Name Hanger Flower Girl Bride Getting Ready - Grand Bohemian Orlando

Shannon may be a teensy tiny bit of a Cowboys fan. Just a smidgen. ;)

Grand Bohemian Orlando - Dallas Cowboys Garter Grand Bohemian Orlando - Ring Bearer Pillow First Look - Grand Bohemian Orlando Grand Bohemian Orlando Wedding Downtown