Rachel and Dane have an incredible amount of personal style and they're not afraid to share it with the world. I think I'm allowed to call this a gamer wedding - they rolled for advantage in saying their vows, after all. They live in Lynchburg but have friends and family from all over, so it was quite the meeting of worlds down there in Virginia (does NOVA realllly count as Virginia? Probably not.) Rachel and Dane:
We started the day at
Fusion salon, which is an incredibly cool place. It was fun playing with the art and funky colors everywhere. Also, seems to me that if you work at a funky salon, there's mad pressure to have weird hair. I wonder if that's a burden or not.
Then we scooted across town to
Tresca on 8th, the ridiculously atmospheric historic ballroom right in downtown Lynchburg. We don't really have places like this in DC, so it was pretty neat. The upstairs was very rustic and charming.
They had one of the sweetest first looks ever.
After formal family pictures, we scooted around just one block of downtown Lynchburg. Fortunately, we were in a great industrial / old / pretty / graffitied area.
You may remember this mural from their
engagement session.
They
made this backdrop.
Snidow Chapel actually has some natural light going on, a boon for wedding photographers.
They rolled for advantage in saying their vows. And I have no idea, honestly, what the post-apocalyptic reading was about (and maybe I don't remember things very well when I'm trying to take photos so it could have been totally not post-apocalyptic) but it was quite a diversion from the usual wedding readings!
We took a spin around Lynchburg College after the ceremony to soak up some of the fall colors (which are late this year!).
Apparently Tresca on 8th doesn't always have these sparkly lights up. I think they were a great addition.
This image and the one up top were taken within seconds of each other. Yay for my key light not firing.
Check out Dane's engagement ring - the top and bottom rings rotate and the gears move! It's one of the coolest pieces of jewelry I've ever seen.
We broke to head outside and light wish lanterns. I'd never photographed that before (though I have seen it on Pinterest, of course). They're neat.
A special shout-out to Liz, who came to help me with this wedding.
Congratulations, you guys!
Rachel and Dane's vendor team:
Ceremony venue:
Snidow Chapel
Reception venue:
Tresca on 8th
Caterer:
Avenue Foods
Florist:
Leo Wood
DJ: Dave,
Official Entertainment
Cake:
Coffey Cakes
Hair & Makeup:
Fusion salon
Rachel's beautiful dress: Justin Alexander from
Sealed with a Kiss Bridal in Charlottesville, Va.
Dane's dashing suit: Jos. A. Bank
Photobooth:
Grinnin' Booth
Lighting:
Castle Event Lighting
Centerpieces & paper goods: DIY
Etsy finds:
Custom atlas and cake topper:
WTFCharms
Companion cube card box:
PayPahChasa
Companion cube ring tray:
Silver Ivy Designs
I met John a few years ago at a photo conference in Charlottesville, and turned out we lived just a few blocks from each other. He's since gone to live up in the Great White North. You'll note I've taken my soapbox of a website here to post embarrassing pictures of the people I knew at the wedding. Enjoy!
We started the day at Hotel Metro in downtown London with some of Melissa's closest and one canine friend.
Meanwhile, Lisa my local second (thanks Lisa!) was with the gentlemen.
We scooted over to Windermere on the Mount for the ceremony.
Special Canadian-only part: signing the registry!
Maybe because I know John and Melissa and a handful of other folks at the wedding, but there were lots of great street-style scenes to capture. I hope John will be pleased with them, as he happens to be a street photographer himself.
And look - he managed to marry a total babe.
Party time at Museum London! Unfortunately they didn't let us do anything in the galleries, but I still enjoyed the big windows and the fact that I was shooting in Canada!
More "street" action.
Dude on the right here danced with every single lady at the wedding, including me. He insisted and for probably the first time ever at a wedding (because who doesn't want to cajole the photographer into dancing?) I couldn't say no. He's a really good dancer!
I don't think I've ever seen a teenager who actually liked her parents as much as this girl likes her parents. This family was so freakin' cute.
The aforementioned photos of people I know looking goofy. Hi Katy!
So many congratulations, my friends!
Melissa and John's vendor team:
Ceremony venue: Windermere on the Mount
Reception venue: Museum London
Getting-ready venue: Hotel Metro
Catering: North Moore
Hair & Makeup: Selah Vie
Their tiny little dog Julia followed them around all day.
Big thank-you to Chris who came along for the ride. The image below is his and I threw a couple others in here.
They walked to the chuppah simultaneously.
Apparently the trees with all the knobs and things on them are diseased or injured or some other tree malady. I was sad to learn this because they are so awesome-looking. It seems wrong to be jazzed about a tree being sick.
Can we take a second to admire Brooke's dress? Because really.
This turtle (tortoise?) has been living in the lake for something like 50 years.
I love this photo from Chris. I was above taking the everybody-at-the-wedding photo and he snagged this awesome through-the-faces one.
Duelling cameras, with iPad!
The pavilion at Kutz Camp juts over the lake, so you're surrounded on three sides by water. It's ridiculously pretty.
For the record, I was asked to take this photo.
Congratulations guys!
Brooke and Dan's short but sweet vendor team:
Getting ready, ceremony and reception venue: