I had never been to the Outer Banks before this wedding. Genelle told me that it was beautiful up there – I had no idea. Driving up to Corolla (at the northern tip of the Outer Banks, almost in Virginia) is like driving to the edge of the world. It’s so remote and wild, untouched… I haven’t been so taken aback by an area’s natural beauty since I went back home to Maui to shoot Cat and Shawn’s elopement. I *definitely* recommend a vacation to the northern Outer Banks… and, bonus, Genelle is a realtor and can hook you up with a beach house for your trip!

I don’t know how to adequately describe this day in words. You almost had to be there. For Michael and me, the day started way too early in the morning, when we headed up the coast from Wilmington. Along the way, we stopped at a NAPA so Michael could change my brakes in the parking lot (they were grinding something awful, and it was making me nervous)! Thirty minutes after changing my brakes, Michael was dressed in his wedding clothes looking all spiffy. I don’t know if I looked spiffy, but probably not. Anyway, we got to the Corolla Chapel and it was just chaos. Bridesmaids running around in heels and towels, unity candle holders breaking and being superglued back together, curling irons and mascara… just chaos. In the middle of it all was Genelle, just as calm and collected as she could be.

So, they got married in the quaint chapel (that my GPS didn’t *actually* know was down a dirt road, so I’m amazed I got there on time!), and they had a FOUR WHEEL DRIVE BEACH BUS waiting to take them to the beach for pictures. Dude, it was a Monster Bus. We got on the monster bus and drove down to the beach. Which is also a state highway. Not kidding – the beach “road” we were on is a state highway, it’s the only way to get to a housing development at the northern tip of the island. I can’t really explain how awesome it was to be on this bus, driving between these enormous dunes and the ocean, wondering what we would see next.

The dunes up there are massive. They go on as far as you can see, it’s nothing like the dunes we have down here in Wilmington. I could have stayed on that beach forever, if the tide wasn’t coming in and if the wedding party didn’t want to get to the reception.

After the portraits, we headed back to the reception which was at the Currituck Country Club. It was as fun as you would imagine – lots of dancing and drinking and picture taking, great food, great band, great weather – everything was perfect. I think it was exactly the wedding Genelle and Forrest had in mind, and I’m so glad that we could be a part of that!

Do you remember Lesley and Jon from their engagement session earlier this year? They got married!!!

Lesley first contacted me about a hundred years ago or so, when she was just starting to look for the perfect venue. We got really close by email, talking about dozens of different possible wedding locations up and down the coast, from the Georgia Coastline up to the Outer Banks. I had recommended a couple of my very favorite locations (Daufuskie Island and Debordieu Colony, SC), and she followed up on both of these – and fell in love with Debordieu. I was so excited… first of all, it’s a great place to shoot. But second, she totally credited me with finding her wedding location! Yay me!

The wedding day was *gorgeous*. It was a bit overcast, since 2008 was apparently the Year of Rain, but that was the worst of it! The only thing that went “wrong” that day was Lesley’s injury. She tried to pin her mom’s corsage on, and the pin sort of went through her thumb. It sounds worse than it was (picture below). :-\ I think the rest of us were more freaked out about it than Lesley… nothing really bothers her, anyway!

Michael and I loved working with you guys! Stay in touch, and call me if you’re ever in Wilmington so we can get a beer!!!

the corsage injury

I try so hard to stay out of pictures, but Michael caught me in this one… and I don’t hate it. So, this is what I look like!

I hope we can do this again sometime soon… the beaches in Wisconsin just aren’t the same!

Leigh and Cliff. Oh my gosh. Back when I shot their wedding, I didn’t know what a blog was. But I do have their album design online, so you can see how absolutely wonderful their wedding was. Truly one of my most memorable of ALL time, and that’s really saying a lot. Leigh and Cliff have been awesome clients through the years. I’ve gotten so many great referrals from them, always incredible couples with wonderful weddings. Anyway, yeah, these guys are so great.

They had a baby boy, Grier, and I’d been dying to shoot a family session with them (but they live on the other side of the state, so getting together when all our schedules meshed wasn’t easy). We finally had a shot at it when Cliff’s family rented a beach house at Emerald Isle this summer. I got to see everyone again, and we spent a couple hours together on the beach trying to get Grier happy . The trick was water balloons, so they feature in a few of the pictures.

Hopefully I’ll get to see these folks every year, and watch Grier (and his cousin who should be arriving in the next few months!) grow up. Grier is only going to get cuter and more devilish, and I can’t wait to see what the upcoming arrival is like! Anyway, if it isn’t already clear: great family, great memories. The best part of my job is this.