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Roanoke and its surrounding areas are one the best places in southwestern Virginia for engagement photos. You can find everything – gardens to industrial/urban backdrops to mountain views to waterfalls – all within an hour of the city. Below I’ve listed ten places that would be stunning backdrops for engagement photos near Roanoke. Some will […]
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One of my favorite formats for intimate weddings looks like this: Sunrise first-look in Shenandoah National Park followed by an intimate evening ceremony and reception with your closest friends and family. That was the plan for Ciera and Harrison’s wedding: Shenandoah National Park first-look, then a reception at the Wool Factory in Charlottesville. But the […]
This blog post is for you if you’re interested in having a micro wedding but have nagging worries about things like: Will I offend the friends and family I don’t invite? Am I going to regret not having a big wedding? Will my small wedding be as special as a big wedding? Can I still […]
A micro wedding (or intimate wedding) is a small celebration of about 15-50 people. Most of the ones I photograph have about 20-40.
Generally speaking, a micro wedding guest list includes immediate family (i.e., parents, grandparents and siblings) and sometimes a few close friends. But, for sure, you can and should invite whomever you want.
Experience has given me this little secret when it comes to picking a micro wedding venue. The best venues are often not venues! At least, that’s not their primary role. That’s because dedicated event venues tend to be designed to accommodate large groups of people and can feel overwhelming for a smaller group.
Most of my elopement couples can get away with doing their entire ceremony and post-ceremony celebration – with fewer than 15 participants – in public spaces like Shenandoah National Park. However, if you are hosting an intimate wedding for 15-50 guests, a public spot in a park won’t cut it – you’re going to need […]
Arielle and Mark were originally planning an intimate wedding at Lake Tahoe. But like many 2020 couples, COVID interfered with their plans. So they decided to elope in Shenandoah National Park instead. I don’t often work with a wedding planner for elopements, but for couples who really just want to show up and enjoy the […]
One thing I heard over and over from couples who were forced to shift to an elopement or a micro-wedding in 2020 was a sense of “this celebration is SO much more us.” There’s good reason for that. Big weddings are generally about other people — NOT the bride and groom. Of course, there are […]
January 2020 seems like a different decade. It’s honestly kind of shocking to look back and realize the events that happened over the past year are all…in the same year. Beyond what happened in the wider world, my personal experiences felt extraordinary and overwhelming. The only way to survive it was to keep my head […]
