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Hi y’all! This may be one of the Lisa’s Southern Wedding posts I’ve been the most excited to write—today, I’m introducing our photographer! As far as wedding vendors go, photography has been my number one priority since long before I got engaged. I truly believe that having the right photographer—someone whose style you love and who makes the effort to get to know you and your story—makes all the difference in getting the timeless wedding pictures that will become heirlooms for generations to come.

Before Dave and I had a wedding date or a venue, or even a state to get married in, we emailed the photographer we wanted to work with. While I do not recommend this (a time and place are obviously crucial details for booking wedding vendors!), we were too excited to wait, and thankfully, our photographer was very gracious with us! I’ve known for a few years now who I wanted to photograph my wedding, but truly, there are SO many photographers whose work I love. In case you’re looking for a photographer right now, I wanted to share a few other photographers I am a huge fan of—had our photographer not been available on our wedding date (once we chose one :)), I would have been just as thrilled to work with any of these talented people.

I love every picture Ali Harper takes more than the last. She uses light so beautifully and has an incredible editorial eye. Some of my all-time favorite wedding pictures are by Ali (like the photo on the left—swoon!), and she is so sweet—exactly the kind of person you want to have around on your wedding day!

Eric Kelley was one of the first photographers I met when I started working for Southern Weddings, and I must admit, it was a little surreal meeting him after admiring his work for so many years, but he couldn’t have been nicer! Eric is so amazing at capturing details and I especially love the bridal portraits he takes.

I just adore Landon and Jordan of Landon Jacob Photography—they are some of the friendliest people ever, and their work is so dreamy. From working with them on our V6 team shoot, I also learned firsthand that they’re not afraid to step in and “fix you” (out-of-place hair, necklace clasps, etc.), which I think is an essential quality for a great photographer to have!

As you can tell from this list, we were looking for a photographer who shoots film, has a strong editorial eye, and who Dave and I genuinely like as a person–after all, we’ll be spending more time with our photographer than almost anyone else on our wedding day. We are overjoyed that our photographer has all of these qualities in spades. If you haven’t guessed it already, I’m thrilled to announce that the one and only Ryan Ray will be photographing our wedding!!!

Seriously, y’all. Do I even need to say anything else following these beautiful pictures? Ryan is truly gifted at capturing everything from stunning portraits to sweet moments to gorgeous details, and his images just sing to me. I’ve been known to say that I can spot a Ryan Ray picture from a mile away! Plus, he is SO nice. I love working with him for Southern Weddings, and know his personality will be a perfect fit with Dave and I and our families. We are truly, truly honored that he’ll be making the trip to North Carolina to shoot our wedding day!

I’d love to hear, who is photographing your big day? How did you choose them?

In case you missed a post…
I’m Engaged!
The Main Characters
Our Venues

lisa Written with love by Lisa
8 Comments
  1. avatar Janine reply

    Ginny Corbett of Ginny Corbett Photography is photographing our wedding September 14, 2014! She has a heart of gold and her easy going, loving, and hilarious personality made it a piece of cake to choose her to be there to capture our memories! We’ve become GREAT friends and I can talk to her about anything, wedding or unrelated. She uses light in the most beautiful way and is truly interested in the couple’s priorities and captures their love in the moment. My fiancee and I had SUCH a fun time at our engagement shoot and can’t WAIT to share our wedding day with Ginny (as well friends and family, of course!)

  2. avatar Corinna Hoffman reply

    Beautiful pictures! Love the photo with the bride & her floral bridesmaids dresses!

  3. avatar Dana reply

    Ryan Ray is going to make me look soooo beautiful in photos! And of course, you. :D

  4. avatar Emily reply

    I love this post!! Like you said, there are so many talented photographers out there (a perfect fit for every couple), but I definitely believe Ryan will be an amazing addition to your day. Can’t wait!!!

  5. avatar Abby reply

    will you also be doing engagement pictures with him? Just wondering how that works since he is from out of state! I imagine I will be in the same situation someday, so just wanted to hear your thoughts. I know most people shoot with the same person to get comfortable before the big day. Would love to hear your thoughts on that!

    • avatar Lisa reply

      Hi Abby! We will be doing our engagement pictures with him. Ryan is based in Dallas and my family lives in Houston, so Dave and I are going to take a little road trip up to Dallas during a trip home. We’re really excited to meet Ryan in person before our wedding and start to feel comfortable with him photographing us. While it is definitely not necessary, engagement pictures are a great opportunity to get to know your wedding photographer, if you can make it work! One other possibility is trying to coordinate travel plans if your photographer frequently shoots in a location you can get to more easily. Hope that helps! :)

  6. avatar Lisa's Southern Wedding: Bridesmaid Style – Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] love to know! In case you missed a post… I’m Engaged! / The Main Characters / Our Venues / Our Photographer / Our Videographer / Planning Our Engagement Pictures / Our […]

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Fair warning: I put far too many photos in this post. But when they’re as beautiful as these, can you blame me?? Of course, pretty much anything that Ali Harper points her camera toward turns to gold, but we started with a pretty beautiful venue, too…

I adored the paper suite that Ashley Buzzy McHugh put together — each part is actually a custom stamp, making these an easy and inexpensive project you could try at home!

Our gentlemen were looking oh so dapper in goods from Billy Reid. Love those polka dot bow ties!

Of course, the ladies were in fine form, as well (with a little help from Claudia Mejerle!). Lindsay Coletta Designs‘ bouquet was truly stunning, and included one of my favorites — hellebore!

I love this escort card display that Krista from Blue Eyed Yonder and Ashley put together. Washi tape makes a concept like this look so good with so little effort!

Our table was set under a lovely tree, next to the cutest trio of goats! (Nicole would have been happy.)

Ashley specifically handlettered each egg while she was on a trip to Georgia, because she didn’t want to have to ship them from California!

Remember those delicious dishes I talked about? Here they are! So yummy. Thank you, Sun In My Belly!

Krista hand-selected the perfect combination of white and light blue chairs to set around our table.

Love this sweet little guest book station. I adore the idea of having each guest sign their name as a witness to your marriage vows — in fact, that’s what I did at my own wedding!

The hand-wrapped favors came from Many Fold Farm, just down the road from Serenbe.

Chicken friends :)

I could not love this cake from Anne Kathleen more — the coconut flakes remind me of snowy feathers!

Finally, this vintage car from Krista’s collection could NOT have been more perfect for this color story if it had been ordered up special. And yes, y’all, she rents this beauty for weddings!

This gorgeous snippet from Anchor Heart Films puts everything gorgeously into motion — including that beautiful blush skirt from The Sentimentalist!

I would love to hear: What’s your favorite part from this editorial? I have the hardest time deciding, but I love the cake, the bride’s necklace and gown, and her bouquet — possibly equally :)

Ali Harper and Blue Eyed Yonder are delightful members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

emily Written with love by Emily
19 Comments
  1. avatar Madelynne Moulton reply

    AHHH! Love serenbe, love the earthy gothic feel of this shoot, and I REALLY love the bridal attire. The Sentimentalist is THE best new bridal store in Atlanta and I’m so glad to see it represented! OH, and Sun in My Belly is AWESOME. And so is Ali Harper! EEEeee!

  2. avatar Laura reply

    What a feast for the eyes, so beautiful and elegant. I love the dresses, especially the non-traditional wedding dress.

  3. avatar Plum Pretty Sugar reply

    Amazing details and decor, we absolutely love all of it! So very many congratulations to the sweet couple!

    xo

    http://www.PlumPrettySugar.blogspot.com

  4. avatar Marilisa reply

    Good gracious, that video made my heart SWELL. I love how elegantly down-home-chic this shoot is. So much romance! That team of vendors is truly incredible.

  5. avatar Kat reply

    LOVING her bouquet!!! And that escort card display is so fun!

  6. avatar Caitlyn | The Aerialist Press reply

    Let’s see… the venue (who doesn’t love Georgia), the cake, the flowers, custom stamp… okay. Everything!

  7. avatar Haley Sheffield reply

    So in love with every part of this shoot. Every single vendor involved is just beyond talented.

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    […] for chickens is well-documented, so it is probably no surprise that we’re all smitten with Fine Feathered Fete! P.S. A big SW thank you to our sweet friend Kathryn at Snippet and Ink for sharing a preview of […]

  11. avatar christina reply

    where are the dresses from?

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    […] Chicks, photographed by Brumley and Wells // bouquet photographed by Erich McVey // cake via Southern Weddings, photographed by Ali Harper Photography, created by Anne Kathleen Cakes // invitation suite from […]

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  15. avatar Love is Everywhere reply

    I love the wedding gown! No different, simples and nice. The other details are amazing like: escort “cards”, the scenario, the cake! Really elegant and simple!

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Since so much careful prep and hard work goes into producing each editorial feature, one of my very favorite things is giving y’all a peek behind the scenes at how they come together! I hope it offers a taste of why we feel so much satisfaction and joy when we see the final images from shoots, and when we finally hold a magazine in our hands. Today’s peek is especially fun, because it involves CHICKENS! Huge thanks to Blue Ribbon Vendor Anna K. Photography for capturing the day for us!

We had a particularly beautiful day at Serenbe for this shoot, so I can’t complain that it was a little hot. Hair up and (hot pink) sneakers on are always two musts for me on shoot days! Thankfully, our photographer, Ali Harper, lives at Serenbe, so we were able to use her home as a base. It’s always fun to make final wardrobe picks with Molly K. Webb!

Ali’s sweet pup was under foot all day. I fell in love with her :)

Meanwhile, floral prep was also underway at the house!

And across the way, Krista and team were unloading the amazing collection of treasures she had brought for the day.

The table usually comes together slowly, as pieces are held up and considered, then traded out to find the perfect mix…

One of the last things to be done: filling the water and wine glasses! It makes the table look much more authentic :) Once that was out of the way, Ali and our videographer, Teejay, stepped in to document!

Now, get ready for one of the most amazing parts of the shoot, in my opinion. Alison from Sun In My Belly prepared all of the food we were shooting from the back of her car! And it was SO GOOD!! It was mind-blowing to me, and I am eagerly looking forward to the first chance I get to taste her food in her restaurant!

We try to wait for the last minute to bring the models out so their hair, makeup, and outfits stay fresh, but when we do, it sure gets crowded fast!

And then… the chickens arrived!! Or really, just one chicken… and she was NOT happy to be there. But her stay was brief, and then she was quickly returned to her happy home :)

Honestly? I was almost dying of laughter at this point. The whole situation was just so absurd, in the best way possible. Really, though, we were all laughing all day — this was such a great crew to work with! Our last shot of the day was so beautiful — in an open field, at sunset.

Check back in a few hours to see the final result of all this hard work! And BIG thanks again to Anna K. for capturing all of these fabulous images for us!

Ali Harper, Blue Eyed Yonder, and Anna K are delightful members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

emily Written with love by Emily
6 Comments
  1. avatar Published: Southern Weddings Magazine V6 » ali harper photography reply

    […] Serenbe! More of my favorite images to come later this week… in the meantime, Emily posted a behind-the-scenes look into our day together so you can truly see what went into this incredible […]

  2. avatar Andreea reply

    wow! amazing!!..and so many people there with their smiles on their faces. Seems like a lot of work but also much fun :)

  3. avatar Nicole reply

    Sun in My Belly is hands down one of my favorite brunch spots in Atlanta; it has so much character, much like this shoot does. Kudos to the car-cookin’; sounds like a good old fashioned tailgate to me :)

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    […] So much happens behind the scenes on shoot days! We were so happy that BRV member Anna K. Photography was on hand to capture all of the fun and hard work that went into creating Fine Feathered Fete. See it here! […]

  6. avatar Beautiful Rustic Wedding | Tri Wedding Central reply

    […] those delicious dishes I talked about? Here they are! So yummy. Thank you, Sun In My […]

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