Oh my goodness, get ready.  There are a lot of photos in this post.  I’d apologize, but it’s a photography blog, and that’s the whole point of them, right?

Every beach wedding has its share of calamities.  Usually it’s weather related, especially down here… especially in the spring.  There’s almost always the threat of cataclysmic weather… and the threat almost always subsides by the time the ceremony’s starting.  All the white-knuckled, crossed-fingers, glued-to-the-weather-channel waiting and hoping and praying… I’ve seen this more than a few times.

Such was the case on April 16th for Cat and David’s wedding.  On Friday, they were not only calling for rain; they were calling for tornadoes.  Hail.  45+ mph winds.  Destruction.  Devastation.  Armageddon.

It was looking pretty grim.  There wasn’t much of a Plan B in place, and every single plan they had was based on getting married ON THE BEACH.  So, what does any sane couple do?  Why, they call all their vendors and every last guest and tell them to show up early!

I honestly don’t know how they coordinated it so well.  They had to move mountains to make it happen – but it was well worth it.  This wedding was awesome.  The weather, the location, the details, the vendors – everything worked perfectly.

Before I get to the pictures, let me share with you this incredible collection of vendors from the day.  Cat and David did an amazing job selecting some of the finest local vendors.  The food was fantastic, the wedding cake (wait till you see it) was *phenomenal*, and as always, Life Stage Films was professional, fun, and completely wonderful to work with.  I have had a really great year so far, working with some of the best of the best, and from what I can tell this is going to continue throughout 2011.  That makes me a happy photographer.

Reception Venue: Lumina Hall [website] [facebook]
Catering: Middle of the Island [website]
Videographer: Life Stage Films [website] [blog] [facebook]
Reception Music: Brian Hood, Active DJ Entertainment [website] [facebook]
Ceremony Music: Kent Knorr, Ukulele Academy [website] [facebook]
Stuey Cake: Imaginary Friends Bakery [website] [facebook]
Bridal Bouquet: Moxie Floral Design Studio [website] [facebook]
Cupcakes: Eat Dessert First [website]

Moxie did Cat’s bouquet (on the left), and Cat’s mom did all the rest of the flowers.

Pre-ceremony formals:

Little ones featured pretty prominently at this wedding – which is a-okay with me, I love photographing these characters!!

Cat’s dad designed and installed the ceremony pillars. They stood, intact, no damage at all, in 30+ mph winds on the beach. Also, check out Kent Knorr of our local Ukulele Academy performing the ceremony music! He rocks. In a laid-back, island way

The ridiculously fun and supportive wedding party!

Lumina Hall is right next door to Lighthouse Beer & Wine, one of my favorite local shops for getting unique and limited edition craft beers (aside from Cape Fear Wine & Beer downtown, of course!). They were a little taken aback when I asked if we could do portraits inside the store, but they were super chill about it anyway. They’re always chill at Lighthouse. I would be, too, with all that delicious beer around.

Inside Lumina Hall. Cat’s mom did ALL of the decor. The only things that outside vendors supplied were the cupcakes and the wedding cake. Cat’s mom should be a wedding planner.

The pièce de résistance: the Stuey Cake (story follows)

This is a life-sized, near-perfect replica of Cat and David’s dog, Stuey. He wasn’t allowed at the wedding (building codes and Wrightsville Beach’s new, dumb, no-dogs-on-beaches law). Which sucked a lot, because he’s part of the family. David was really bummed about it… so Cat decided to surprise him by getting a Stuey cake – so that he would be “there” even though he couldn’t actually BE there. Only, she thought she was going to get a caricature – a cartoon version of Stuey. Imaginary Friends Bakery decided to go with something a little more challenging and a LOT more fun for the guests – and built one of the most lifelike edible creatures I have ever seen. No, THE most lifelike.

Here’s Life Stage’s video clip from the cake cutting, and here is Imaginary Friends Bakery’s photo album and story about building Stuey. Quite probably one of the most memorable wedding moments ever.

Told you there were a lot of pictures. I’m exhausted just posting this!

I’m not done with the image-heavy posts, either. Next up is Part II of Jaya and Avi’s wedding collection, and another flashback post. Whew!

I happened across this image from an amazing wedding I photographed in 2003, and it sparked an idea: flashback Sundays! It’s not as catchy as Flashback Fridays, but it’s Sunday, and I didn’t want to wait five days to post this. In the future, I’ll be posting more weddings from way back, but maybe not only on Sundays. We’ll see how it goes

When Joy asked me to shoot her wedding, I was stoked. First, it was on my 30th birthday, which felt like kismet. Second, it was on Kiawah Island, SC (at the Sandcastle Community Center). Third, and most importantly, she was an artist – a true creative, a marketing and advertising genius from NYC, whose wedding plans were right off the pages of a magazine that hadn’t been published yet. I felt so lucky to be included in this event, and I remember just about every detail, even eight years later.

I was still using mostly film in 2003, so all of the b&w images are either Ilford HP5/FP4, or Kodak’s HIE (high speed infrared). The color images are digital, from my very first digital SLR.

Their ceremony was right on the beach, but as atypical as it gets… her friends and family painstakingly built the ceremony stage out of sand; friends and family stepped up to the mic to not only give readings, but also talk a bit about their own experiences with the couple; it was a group event, with guests getting involved in the ceremony – lots of laughter, interjection, and stories all around. Really, one of the most unique ceremonies I’ve witnessed, even so many years later.

Joy didn’t want traditional group photos – she couldn’t figure out a way to separate her friends and family into small, tight groupings that made any sense to her – so instead, she requested huge group shots of everyone who was there.

We didn’t spend a lot of time on the “couples” portraits, because Joy and Josh really desired something out of the norm, nothing posed, nothing too traditional. She wanted most of their photos to be completely candid, as those meant a lot more to her.

All in all, one of my favorite weddings of all time. I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed making them!

Next week I’ll be sharing the next in this series, a Wilmington NC wedding at the Grace Methodist Church and the City Club from 2004!

So I knew nothing going in. Cape Hatteras is a bazillion miles from Wilmington, and this would be my first trip there. I had no idea how long that little isolated island highway is! I drove forEVER getting to the beach house! It’s actually pretty spooky at night, by the way. The highway, not the beach house.

So, I get to the house, and Ashley is almost unreasonably cool. And so is Mikey. So cool that you’re instantly comfortable around them. They laugh easily, enjoy every moment of everything, eat without fear… just yay.

So. Windi and Dave were married on the beach in Corolla, through the dunes from the big beach house they rented for the reception. Which was only accessible by four wheel drive. They had a really sweet, charming little ceremony, followed by a wonderful reception with really great food and music hand-picked by the Dave. Everything about the day was incredible. This was easily one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph. And they’re great people, which is always a bonus!

I loved this wedding so much, it’s one of my featured portfolio weddings! (click that link to see the full slideshow, or just scroll down to see a few highlight images)

Amy and Collin got married on an Oak Island beach on one of the prettiest days ever. It was the perfect mix of sun and clouds, beautiful weather all day long.

The trolley transported the wedding party back to Saint James Plantation, where they danced and partied all night. It was such a fun reception, with great music, wonderful food, and a terrifically fun crowd. Congratulations, Amy and Collin!

This was maybe the hottest day in the history of my photography career. I’m not entirely sure how Stephanie and Anthony made it through their wedding day without melting into a puddle on the ground.

The day started like any other day. I drove from Wilmington to the Outer Banks early that morning, stopping at a gas station on the way and misplacing my wallet, then frantically calling every gas station between Manteo and Duck to see if they’d found it… only to find it on my passenger seat. Such is the life of someone like me… I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached; you know the drill. Anyway, I arrived at the beach house a little early, in time to hear the buzzing about the weather. A storm was headed our way, and it looked pretty bad.

Stephanie was in good spirits… I’ve found over the years that all the planning and all the hopes and dreams aside, brides just go with the flow on their wedding day. After all, in the end you’re still getting married, right? Because of the impending cataclysmic weather, the ceremony was pushed back a bit, giving Stephanie more time to get ready and watch her guests arriving. Once the storm passed and the skies cleared, they got married and danced the night away. In sweltering weather. The kind of heat that melts plastic cups. I’m not even kidding about the cups.

Despite the heat, this was a fantastic party. Fun people, loving families, and great music all night long.

Really really bad storm.

I told you the cups melted.

Gorgeous day, gorgeous couple, gorgeous location, and families that made you feel right at home, right away. did a magnificent job with the food, as usual, and created another textbook perfect Sweet T’s cake. Everything was ideal, and completely casual and laid back – my kind of event. Thank you guys so much for having me and there for your day! We really enjoyed every minute of working with you, and loved being part of your families for a few hours!

Tamera was such a cute bride. She never stopped smiling! When she saw Jay for the first time, I thought she would explode with happiness. Just so, so cute!!! Their ceremony was on the beach at North Topsail, and the reception was at the Topsail Assembly Building (Missile Museum). Surf City Florist provided the floral arrangements, and Jay’s mom did the catering. Jay’s mom… you rock. That was some of the best wedding food I have ever had!

I’ve had a lot of jumping wedding parties lately, and I’m not totally sure why… but it makes for fun pictures!

There’s nothing like working with people who become a part of your family, just by their warmness and their similarities to you and your own real-life family. Angela, Mike, and their families felt so much like home! Aside from the sore feet and the travel-weary exhaustion, it really didn’t even feel like working. It felt like hanging out with some of your closest friends.

Angela and Mike were married on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina. I usually book about one wedding every year there, and it’s probably one of my very favorite locations to shoot. It’s just got this charm that I haven’t found anywhere else up and down the southeastern coast.

So, they chose Daufuskie because of the charm and the extremely relaxed feeling you get when you’re there. It matched their personalities to a tee; the only way it could possibly have been any better is if they had an all-night bar with a selection of 100+ beers from around the world, and a jukebox.

So, the day of the wedding was so beautiful – it had been raining, POURING, the days leading up to the wedding day, and everyone was pretty sure it would be a rain-out. It wasn’t looking good, even that morning. But seriously, hours before the ceremony time, the clouds almost literally parted. They had the most picture-perfect day I’ve probably ever seen at Daufuskie.

The reception was a lot of fun, most of their guests were on the dance floor the whole night, there were lots of kids roaming around and being cute, and despite it being pitch black in that reception room, it was a lot of fun to shoot. Hard. Hard to shoot, but fun.

The day after the wedding, we all got back together to do some casual family portraits and to eat lunch at her parents’ cottage. It was a little more low-key, like a family barbecue, and it was a really great way to round out the weekend. I left Daufuskie Island tired, but feeling like I’d just been invited into a new, wonderful, amazing family. What a great feeling. What a great job I have.

What IS this? We found it on the beach, and at first we thought it was some organic matter, but at closer inspection Mike decided it was a floater that had somehow… I dunno, turned into a BRAIN. So freaky. If you know what this thing is, please let me know!

When we were walking around on the beach at the day after session, we saw these little translucent tubey things sticking up out of the sand. They would move almost imperceptibly… and once in a while one of them would spit water out! They were TINY little tubes, and they were everywhere. We were FASCINATED. Thinking I’d discovered something really cool, I drove the 5 hours home thinking about how fun it would be to get internet access and start looking these little exotic creatures up!

Clams. They were CLAMS.

Talk about disappointing!!!!