SURPRISED RING BEARER!

I mentioned earlier in the week, I would take us back to The Hawkesdene House in Andrews, North Carolina. Here is why!

We loved this ring bearer. This little guy was such a character during the entire day. But the ceremony was the best. Before the ceremony, the Bride Alissa, gave the ring bearer a little pep talk. She said all you need to do, is take this box with the rings and bring it down the aisle. Sounds simple! He did a great job! Both of the ring bearers did a great job!

During the ceremony, the little guys started to get a bit restless. They were standing up the whole time (it was a quick ceremony though) and it was chilly out. I was focused on Alissa and Kyle (Bride and Groom) and Neal was documenting the guests. I took a quick look to see where he was, and noticed his camera focused on the little ring bearer. He was starting to open the ring box. His look is priceless in this sequence. Of course the real rings, were not in it. The Best Man had those. But there were 2 rings in the box for him. You can see him peaking in, almost like he knew he wasn't supposed to open the box. It was so cute. It was during the vows, so Alissa and Kyle didn't see what was going on. But all of the guests noticed and started to laugh. This caught the attention of the Bride and Groom and they joined in the laughter. You can also see in the image, his brother had the job of holding Alissa's bouquet. He was swinging it around like it was a toy!

This is another case where having two photographers is a bonus. One of us focusing on the action and the other the reaction. 

-Danielle

North Carolina Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Hawkesdene House Ceremony/Photo Session/Reception - The Hawkesdene House, Andrews, North Carolina

Raleigh NC, Videography - Heartstone Films

WEDDING REFLECTIONS AT HAWKESDENE HOUSE

We love working with reflections. They can add such beauty to a photo. So, why not see it in double!

We traveled to the Hawkesdene House in Andrews, North Carlolina for this wedding. What an amazing private mountain estate, located near the Nantahala National Forest. They can accommodate small weddings and guests can stay right on the grounds in either the main building, or small cottages. 

This image was taken in one of the suites. There were huge doors that lead to a balcony off the room. We originally weren't paying attention to the giant mirror on the wall when we started. We wanted to take advantage of the doorway and drapery with the light coming through. Our first thought, was it could be a great silhouette shot. As Neal was taking those shots, I was looking for another angle and noticed the Bride and Groom in the mirror. I told Neal to stand where I was and see if we could do something with the reflection. He loved it. It is so great to find different shots within the same areas or poses. We could keep the couple exactly in the same pose as we did for the silhouette. We just needed for them to take a few steps over.

Now, the tricky part. We wanted them to stay naturally backlit from the doorway. However, this made the front of them a bit dark. It looked really nice though. We did try to add in some light on their faces, but it was super hard for me to not be in the mirror. We took a quick look in the camera to see the difference between the two. Neal and I both agreed on liking the first image without extra light better. We also loved that in the reflection, you can see light rays coming in behind the Bride! That definitely brought a more magical feel to the image!

When Neal first took this image he knew right away that the final result was going to be in black and white but the purple hue from the curtains gave this image a very unique tint so he thought it was best to leave it in color!

Stay tuned in the next few days for another image from the grounds at the Hawkesdene House! 

-Danielle

Destination North Carolina Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Andrews, NC  Wedding Ceremony & Reception - Hawkesdene House, Andrews, NC

Videography - Heart Stone Films