Ceremony and Reception Venue- Ballantyne Country ClubBride’s Gown from Anjolique’s Bridal
Bridesmaid’s Gowns from Hope’s Bridal
DJ Entertainment- Split Second Sound
Cake by Cakes by Carol Middleton
Flowers fresh from the farmer’s market

You know that awful feeling when you wake up late, rush to get ready and then the whole day you feel like you are just trying to catch up. It’s rough. It’s exactly why allowing plenty of time for human error in your wedding timeline is important. In almost ten years of photographing weddings, no matter how much time we plan for, I have never had everyone be on time but especially not early for a wedding… ever… until this one. I arrived early – an hour early. I like to get to my locations a little early to check it out, get in the zone and start on detail shots. Well when I arrived to the locker room where Lisa was supposed to get ready, not only was her hair and make up finished, but so was everyone elses. The area was completely clutter free and they had all their dresses hanging in a line with their shoes ready to go whenever I said the word. Wait… that’s not all. They were all having brunch and sipping on mimosas relaxing and reminiscing on all the fun times they’ve had together. I had to pinch myself, I thought I was in a dream. I have never seen such a calm relaxing environment before a wedding. And you know what… the WHOLE day went like this. I think it’s just the exact opposite of waking up late. Because they were early they had time to relax and enjoy themselves and the rest of the day went as smooth a humanly possible. It was perfect. Not one single hitch, nothing went wrong. I often find my clients asking if they REALLY need that much time for photos or other parts of the day. The answer is YES… always. Just because we have an hour planned for a portion of the portraits doesn’t mean that’s how it’s actually going to go down. Realistically if we plan to start portraits at 2:00, most the time it’s actually more like 2:30 / 2:45 by the time we start because anytime there are humans involved there are going to be mistakes. People will run late, will forget something. Things, especially hair and make up almost ALWAYS take longer than expected. Well with one exception, this wedding. I think it reflects in the photos, they had an amazing day, it couldn’t have went any better.

Hope you enjoy Lisa and Michael’s beautiful Ballantyne Country Club wedding below.