They say rain on your wedding day is good luck, so what happens when a hurricane hits on your big day? Well, if you’re Ashleigh and Byron, you embrace the massive amount of luck and roll with it! Truth be told everyone hopes that on the day their wedding finally arrives everything goes perfectly. When you start envisioning what it’s going to look like, the smiles, the love, the florals, the cake, dancing the night away, rain usually isn’t on the list no matter how much good luck we’re talking. When Ashleigh and Byron’s special day finally arrived no one could have predicted that it would be on the same weekend that the Hurricane Florence would hit NC. Although we ask photographers love a light rain for the touch of romance we believe it can add to your photos, having a hurricane/tropical storm moving in can be stressful. When we pulled in, there was a sense of hope as it cleared up temporarily which was a stark contrast to the rain we had just driven through on the way to The Country Club of Asheville. As we walked in, Byron greeted us with a big hug, much like the day we met to discuss the vision for he and Ashleigh’s wedding day! If Byron was at all stressed it definitely didn’t show as he hung out with his groomsmen and family throughout the beginning of the day!
Where the emotion of the day really started to kick in was the first look! After having a few laughs with his groomsmen and sneaking in a few groom’s portraits, it was that time! A lot of previous planning had gone into the location and timing of their first look, but with the weather being so unpredictable with the off and on showers, we decided it would be best to utilize the backside of the country club. In truth we’re now certain we could’ve had these two do their first look just about anywhere and we would have captured something beautiful. Byron was all smiles once he saw Ashleigh. Those smiles were soon accompanied by tears of happiness and an obvious sense of true love to anyone around them. You see, these two met in middle school! Many of the things you experience as you grow, they’ve experienced together. Many of the triumphs, struggles, celebrations, all together. To add even more significance to this special day, their wedding date was also their anniversary. The culmination of all of these experiences, every minute of their love story and all of the emotion came to the surface at this very moment. We didn’t know it at the time but our teammate and assistant Sarah told us afterwards that she was a mess because she couldn’t stop crying either. With all the rain, we probably didn’t notice!
The off and on rain continued throughout the day but nothing terrible! At one point I remember Jenny running them an umbrella during the middle of the ceremony, but eventually it did subside and they sealed their marriage with a kiss! Their wedding reception started off with an excellent rendition of the kiki challenge and definitely helped to set the tone for a fun evening filled with laughs and friends & family cutting a rug all the way until the the sparkler exit!
After a wedding day like this, it really makes us sit back and appreciate what we do as wedding photographers. We enjoy getting to look back over the day, and see the captured moments between the newly married couple and their loved ones. But, what really means the most is the joy that comes with connecting with someone along the way. With Ashleigh and Byron, we truly felt we connected with them from day 1 and we were blessed to make two new friends throughout this process! Big congrats to Ashleigh and Byron on this next step on your already awesome journey and a special thank you to all of the amazing wedding vendors who helped to make this day perfect!
Catering The Country Club of Asheville
Florals: Flora Asheville
Hair & Make up: Della Terra Beauty
Cake/Dessert: 50/Fifty: The Art of Dessert
Video: Scarlette Fox Films
DJ: Sound Extreme
Ceremony Music: Melody Cooper