So I had a rather daunting (+ exciting) task ahead of me over the holidays – shooting my first wedding.

The exciting part – Shooting for the Coleman family, who I’ve known for almost half of my lifetime. Seeing and catching up with wonderful people I haven’t seen in years. Seeing the bride, Molly, for the first time since I was fourteen. Taking pictures of beautiful people + fun times.

The daunting part – If you miss a shot, you can’t go back and retake it. If you miss lots of shots/ don’t present a set of incredible, beautiful photos, you are liable for an eternity of resentment for failing to capture the pinnacle of epic photo days. No pressure.

Solution – I decided to chill out and shoot it like I’m there hanging out and just happen to be taking pictures to accompany a story for my blog.

I flew down to New Bern, NC, my hometown, to shoot the wedding at the church in which I grew up, then the reception at The Chelsea, a whopping block from my mom’s house. It was great to see so many faces from my adolescence. Half of folks didn’t recognize me at first. I guess it really has been a while… 8 years or so for some of them.

Ben + Molly were beautiful, and it was amazing to see multiple generations of married children + parents + grandparents, all still completely happy and totally in love. It certainly gives me hope for humanity.

Here are some of my personal faves from the day.

END!