Ashley and Michael | Wedding at Carver Lake Venue | Prospect Hill, NC

June 12, 2026

Bride and Groom share their first kiss as a married couple in a reverse kiss shot at their ceremony at Carver Lake Venue

Before the Ceremony – Family, Friends, and the Simplicity of a Spring Day

One of the things I love most about documentary wedding photography is what happens before the ceremony officially begins.

Ashley and Michael decided to do a first look with each other along with their new puppy, Penny. Penny was so excited to see them – yet put that excitement to the side and remained very respectful during the ceremony.

Guests arriving. Little details captured. Grandparents being helped to their seats. Old friends spotting each other across the lawn and breaking into wide smiles. Kids who have already abandoned their dress shoes running through the grass. These are the moments that tell the real story of a wedding, not just who got married, but who showed up to witness it and what the day felt like.

At Ashley and Michael’s wedding, the pre-ceremony time felt like a reunion as much as a celebration. They and their favorite people gathered lakeside at Carver Lake Venue on a gorgeous spring afternoon and the entire day was as easy going and down to earth as they are.

The Ceremony – Where Every Moment Matters

When I photograph a ceremony I don’t just photograph the couple. I photograph the flower girl clutching her basket with total concentration that turns into the excited nervousness as all eyes shift to her. The grandmother in the front row pressing a tissue to her eyes before the vows even begin right before clutching the hand of her own daughter. The best man standing just a little straighter than usual. The maid of honor stealing a glance at the bride and trying not to cry. The way the light hits the water behind the altar at exactly the right moment.

A ceremony is not just two people (unless you’re eloping!) It is every single person in that space, all feeling something at the same time. My job is to make sure none of that gets lost.

At Ashley and Michael’s wedding I made it my mission to document the ceremony completely, not every single frame, but every moment. The processional. The expressions on faces in the crowd as Ashley and Michael said their vows. The wedding party, the officiant. The rings and the way their hands held each other’s. The kiss – both reverse and traditionally shot (how did I pull that off by myself?!), and everything in between.

This is what I mean when I talk about documentary wedding photography. This is what I mean when I talk about hiring someone that knows weddings. It isn’t just pretty portraits, though we get those too. It’s the full picture of a day. The scenery. The crowd. The people who showed up and the moments that happened in the background while everyone else was looking somewhere else.

The “Everyone Photo”

After the ceremony, we did something I absolutely love and recommend to every single couple – The Everyone Photo.

Every guest. All at once. In one frame.

It sounds logistically chaotic and honestly, it is a little. But the result is one of the most unique and meaningful images from the entire wedding day. Decades from now, Ashley and Michael will be able to point to faces in that photo, people who are no longer here, people who have moved across the country, people who were just children that day, and remember exactly who was there.

The Reception

I have to talk about the cake. I would be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t.

Ashley and Michael had a beautiful line of Maxie B’s cakes at their reception and if you know, you know. Maxie B’s is based in Greensboro, NC and is one of my absolute favorite bakeries, and it holds a special place in my heart personally. My husband used to visit here all the time when we were dating in college and I got our own wedding cake from Maxie B’s back in 2015. Seeing their gorgeous (and delicious) cakes at the reception felt like a little full-circle moment for me, and I definitely took a piece home.

Ashley and Michael wanted photos by the wooden swing in the field. Warm amber light pouring across the open grass just over the reception space added such an ambient glow that I loved. It was so nice to get away from all of the noise and let them relax on the swing while I stepped back a bit. This is why I always carve out time for sunset portraits. Not just because the light is beautiful, though it is, but because it’s one of the only quiet moments a couple gets on their wedding day. Just the two of them, away from the crowd, actually present with each other.

Despite having mostly overcast that day, by the end of the evening, the sky delivered in a way that genuinely made me stop and just take it in for a moment before raising my camera and having them go over to this little spot by the lake. It was such a perfect way to end a perfect day.