Lumina Hall Wedding in Wrightsville Beach | Catherine + David

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!