Nathan and Madison- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wedding Photographer

I think its safe to say that this is officially my most requested blog post ever; I hadn’t even left the wedding when people were asking me when Nathan and Madison’s blog post would be up, and anytime I saw friends this week they were asking whyyyyyy the post wasn’t up yet!! ! I can’t say I blame them though, Nathan and Madison are just one of those couples that everyone adores and all of their friends and family are so happy for them to finally be married! Nathan and Madison are good friends of mine from church, and it is always so different (in a wonderful way!) when you get to photograph friends, so I was right there counting down until July 21st along with everyone else!  Every time I would talk to Madison or Nathan leading up to the wedding all they would say was how excited they were; none of the minor details mattered, they were just so ready and excited to finally be husband & wife. Don’t you wish all couples had that perspective?! :)

It has been so sweet to see the Lords plan for Madison and Nathan unfold over the past few months; they are getting ready to move to South Carolina in just a couple weeks and while they will be SO incredibly missed at Community Church, I think everyone is in agreement that God has even bigger and better plans for them now as a married couple in SC. Nathan and Madison, I hope you two are ready for LOTS of visitors :) I can’t tell you how much it means that you asked me to document your day, it was gorgeous from start to finish, and your joy was contagious to everyone around you. I hope you guys are having the best time in Jamaica!!

A HUGE thank you to my amazing friend Jill of Jillian Michelle Photography for sticking with me for the day and grabbing so many great shots! Jill, I had SO many people at the wedding tell me how wonderful you were and all I could say back was “i know! isn’t she the best?!” :) make sure you check out her site and keep an eye out for some of her shots in this post! :) bling bling!! Nathan surprised Madison right before the ceremony with a sweet note and gorgeous necklace! meanwhile Jill spent some time with the guys! these next two shots are both Jills :) lookin sharp, gentlemen!! Nathan and Madison opted for a first look.. i love how excited Nathan was to see his bride! another one of Jill’s: yep, she looked SO good :) thank you Jill for grabbing these next two:
dear Dave Cooley, you are awesome. thanks for making this shot 100x more epic :) while I was taking this: Jill was getting THIS: one of my new favorite wedding party photos :) love these next three shots of Madison and her dad right before he walked her down the aisle:
Due to some stinky photography restrictions imposed by the church, Jill and I were only allowed to shoot from the balcony throughout the entire ceremony. Thankfully (really, ‘thank you’ doesn’t even begin to cover it!) my friend Joseph didn’t question me when I ran up to him in a minor panic 5 minutes before it started, threw my backup camera into his hands, and asked him to pretty pleeeeease help photograph their ceremony. Joseph grabbed these next two shots and they are hands down two of my favorite photos from the entire day :) 
then we headed over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for the reception! The building has so many cool architectural features to it and some gorgeous gardens around it, so Madison and Nathan made sure to build in a little bit more time for some additional portraits around the grounds! At this point it had started to rain a little, so we moved quick to say the least! I’m so thankful that I get to work with couples who value photography and trust me and my vision so much that they stay out in the rain just to grab a few extra portraits! :) love the lines in this next shot: some gorgeous reception details: love. Love. LOVE. this might be my favorite reception shot i’ve taken. EVER. i love absolutely everything about it, and no I don’t believe Madison did follow through with that left hook she’s getting ready to throw at Nathan ;) they left to everyone waving either a VA flag or a SC flag! such a fun idea! :) Here’s your slideshow! :)

Happy Friday!! Have a great weekend!