magazine monday: southern weddings!

One of the best parts about being a photographer is the ability to travel to several wonderful places throughout the year.  Not only do I get the chance to photograph couples, dogs and children throughout New England, but I am also able to regularly schedule the same types of shoots down in my home state of North Carolina!  In fact, the reason Orvis & I made the road trip down here a few days early, was so that I could be at the beautiful River Landing Club in Wallace, NC to photograph the wedding of Amanda & Chase this past weekend.

Wedding styles, differ almost as much as accents and dialects as you travel from one region of the United States to another.  Both, the weddings I photograph up and down the coast of Maine and the ones I shoot in North Carolina exhibit their own unique styles and traditions.  While the variations tend to be somewhat subtle, they are certainly present.  In a way, these differing styles keep me challenged, as I am always seeking to capture the true spirit and feeling of each wedding I shoot.

While photographing Amanda & Chase’s wedding this past weekend, I noticed that in the planning of their big day, they included quite a few distinct southern qualities.  Given my extreme obsession with Southern Weddings Magazine, I thought I would highlight some of Amanda & Chase’s details that happened to coincide with SW‘s recent article, 60 Ways to Have a Southern Wedding, for this week’s Magazine Monday with Meredith.

Incorporating elements of a Southern wedding came naturally to Chase & Amanda, given that they were both raised in small Southern towns.  There are plenty of other pictures that display the Southern qualities of their wedding, but I wanted to steer clear of posting too many pictures of the bride & groom, since I have yet to officially blog about their wedding.

#9. Stamped and sealed. & #26. Well groomed.
Amanda & Chase chose a traditional Southern invitation of black writing engraved on cream paper with the family crest, and maintained this style for all of their wedding paper needs.  At Friday’s rehearsal dinner, I noticed that Chase and his parents chose two groom’s cakes to serve that night, one of which delightfully highlighted Chase’s career as a Marine navigation pilot.

#42. Reduce, reuse, repurpose.
This table was just one example of something Amanda was able to bring from her house and put to excellent use.  The lace runner that belonged to Amanda’s great grandmother matched perfectly with the next Southern quality…

#52. Beg, borrow, or steal.
Amanda & Chase were able to include several notable family heirlooms in their wedding.  The most prominently displayed, were the wedding dresses that belonged to Amanda’s mother, grandmother & great grandmother, and the appropriate wedding day pictures to accompany them.

Amanda & Chase incorporated several other traditional, Southern characteristics into their wedding.  They chose a beautiful venue (#2), served delicious food via station buffets (#19), incorporated meaningful pieces in a crafty way (#38), changed an outfit (#53),  and were, of course, gracious to their guests (#60).  Check out the latest issue of Southern Weddings to see the complete list of 60 Ways to Have a Southern Wedding.

And be sure to come back soon for more pictures from Amanda & Chase’s beautiful, Southern wedding!