This stunning Charlottesville Virginia wedding will definitely give you all the feels! As loyal followers will know, I looooove traveling to shoot weddings. I find it so inspirational to shoot in places I’ve never been before, so when Emily & Stefan approached me for a engagement session only because they were getting married in Virginia, I said, wait a minute! I can do that 😉
Emily & Stefan (and their adorable pets) live in Chicago but are from the Charlottesville area, so to make things easier on family, they decided to do a hometown wedding, and I was so there for it! We met up for their engagement session on a lovely fall day in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Next thing I knew I was on the plane to meet them in Virginia in June for their beautiful summer mountain wedding at Lydia Lodge!
We started off the wedding celebrations with their rehearsal dinner party at a nearby restaurant, that was also home to many, many feral cats! The restaurant rescues them and gives them food and lodging, so I was in love with the place from the start (even though the cats wanted NOTHING to do with humans and wouldn’t let me pet them haha). We did a little photoshoot for the two almost newly wed’s- how much do you love Emily’s look?? The Self-Portrait dress and Louboutin’s were everything. Then they had a fun cocktail hour with friends and family for a perfect start to the weekend.
The next day was wedding day! We started out with the always fun & cute getting ready photos for the both of them, and then did their first look on the stunning grounds of the venue. I loved that little tree covered area I found while scouting the grounds beforehand- it was perfect for the super sunny day we had so get some shaded photos that also captured the magic of being in a cabin in the woods. After some fun photos with them and the wedding party, it was time to bring out the animals! They brought their unreal puppy Poppy with them, and I’m still dying over how sweet she was. We also visited the little farm on the venue for some photos with goats and pigs and chickens. There was also the sweetest elder pup on site who rolled over on his back every time he saw us. A dream for an animal lover like myself!
Next up was their stunning ceremony overlooking the mountains, with some of the most beautiful floral installations I’ve ever seen! With the amount of flower photos I took, it’s not hard to tell I was in love with the colors and vibe they picked out for the day. Post I-do’s they had a chill cocktail hour, that lead into a lovely dinner and dance party. We had so many opportunities for photos because it didn’t get dark until 10pm! It was definitely weird leaving the venue before it was fully dark haha but it allowed for us to sneak away multiple times to capture the changing light throughout the night, which was so much fun. These two were just so sweet and so happy to finally be married, and it was an honor to get to travel with them and celebrate their Charlottesville Virginia wedding 🙂
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