appling georgia

Dakota & Dustie

 

Dustie & Dakota when we first met them back in October of 22, the more we talked, the more we understood and got attached to the beautiful life and story they have unfolding together. We learned about the sunrise proposal on the beach in St. Helena, SC as well as their dogs and enjoyment of golf as well as how they met through their friends. All of this led us to the wedding day at Pine Knoll Farms in Augusta, GA as our last wedding of 2023 and it was an absolute joy of a way to end out our year!

The wedding day itself at Pine Knoll started off with the team arriving and splitting off where the girls stayed with the girls to work on the details while the guys went with the guys and did some venue coverage as on the way. After some time had passed, everyone was pretty much ready and we needed to get the Groom in place for the first look where they shared a nice private moment while their wedding party watched through the windows at a distance. We then split off again into guys and girls to do group portraits and then bring them back together for the entire wedding party before doing couples portraits in other locations. The weather was overcast the entire day which meant that doing mid day portraits was limitless because everywhere had good light so, of course that was a great time and led us into preparing for the ceremony as well. The Chapel was full of beautiful greenery and made a perfect backdrop for their ceremony. During the ceremony they exchanged vows, rings and sealed it all with a kiss and ringing the bell on the way out of the chapel. Afterwards, we did some more of the formal photos and then made our way to the reception.

As they entered into the reception surrounded by the cheering of their friends and family, they prepared to go straight into their first dance, Father and Daughter then Mother and Son dances. They all had such beautiful moments and during the Father and Daughter dance, her sisters also joined in for a cute ending to the dance as well. Not to long after eating dinner, they also had toasts, cake cutting and some photos outside which included opening and shaking a bottle of champagne which was a ton of fun. Throughout the rest of the reception, everyone enjoyed dancing as couples and just in general which eventually led to the sparkler exit ending out an absolutely gorgeous wedding day. We’re so excited for Dustie & Dakota and know that the future has some beautiful things in store for them!

 

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue: Pine Knoll Farms

Bridesmaid dresses: David’s bridal 

Suits: Goldman and Wengrow’s, Lincolnton

Florals: Sweet Magnolias, Liz Spratlin 

Invitations: Zola 

Wedding dress: Elegant Bridals

Planners: Al & Ashley Danner

Caterer: Something so right Events

Cake: Cakes by Diana

DJ: Brandieth Carter

Hair/Makeup: Bombshell Creations

Officiant: Chad McKee

Brandon & Melissa

 

Brandon and Melissa, as we quickly found out, have big hearts and love their people deeply. We met them back in September of 22 and then we got to do their super fun engagement photos at the Columbia county fair! We learned a lot about them and their trips to New Orleans, LA which eventually brought us to their beautiful wedding day at Pine Knoll Farms!

The day started off with details and saying hey to everyone as well as all of the venue coverage for both photo and video and then that led us up to Melissa getting into her dress and then us setting up the first looks with both her Dad and then the Groom who both had big smiles on their faces once they saw her. We also setup a quick first look with the Bride’s siblings near the chapel before doing family photos which shortly after that, it was time for the ceremony. The ceremony had so many adorable moments like the flower Grandmother, a bunch of family crying as well as the tears of joy from Brandon as soon as he saw his soon to be Wife. They also tied the rope of three chords, shared personal vows and once everything was all said and done, kissed and made their way to ring the bell as Husband and Wife. This led straight into some couples portraits as the sun was going down and then we made our way to the reception so they could get the party started.

As the reception was kicked off with their entrance, everyone cheered and they started off with their first dance, the father and daughter then mother and son dances which has become some of our favorite moments here lately as we’ve become parents (it hits differently now). Everyone got to enjoy some delicious dinner and then Brandon and Melissa cut their wedding cake. Throughout the rest of the reception, they made their way around to all of the tables to make sure they got to see everyone, danced a ton, tossed the bouquet and garter, took a bunch of fun 360 photo booth videos, did some night time wedding party photos and a few other family portraits and then ended off the night with the sparkler exit into Brandon’s Jeep which was followed by more dancing since it was a fake exit and they came back.

 

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue: Pine Knoll Farms

Christian Covenant Catering (Pj Newkirk)- Dinner

Hair Essentials Myranda- Makeup

Hair- Tonesha Haymon

Wedding Coordinator- Mary Dant

Drop the Mic- DJ

Black Lotus Catering - Rehearsal Dinner

Jeffrey & Sarah

 

We cannot say enough about how sweet this couple is and how much a fun last wedding for 2022 this was. We left the wedding wanting to be best friends with Jeffrey and Sarah and blessed by the fact that Sarah prayed over us before we left by the fire which is probably the best way to end a year of weddings possible. Besides the couple themselves, the wedding day itself even was beautiful and flowed perfectly with the infamous Pine Knoll Farms as the backdrop which is always great and full of amazing photo opportunities.

The day itself started with saying hey and introducing Bella to Sarah since she was standing in for Morgan and they matched vibes so perfectly and then we quickly made our way downstairs with the details to photograph those and all of the venue photo and video that we needed. At the same time, our third shooter Tom was also with the guys while they were getting ready. As everyone finished getting ready, we were doing group photos with the guys and then I left to setup the first look with Sarah’s Dad. It was such a sweet moment and we could tell that he has a super kind heart as well which passed down into the family but, it seemed like he was even surprised when he lost it a little and cried when he turned so it made for such an authentic and beautiful moment. From here, we made our way to setup everything at the ceremony and mic Jeffrey up.

Once everyone lined up at the ceremony, they all made their way down the aisle and Jeffrey was super nervous but holding it together super well and you could see it all change right when he saw his Bride for the first time. It was a perfect moment of seeing their love for each other breaking through any nerves and how comforting they are for each other. During the ceremony, they exchanged vows and rings as well as lighting a unity candle even though it was a bit windy and then it ended with their kiss to finish the deal. They walked up the aisle as Husband and Wife and rang the bell at the back of the chapel before walking around to the side of the chapel to while we got everyone together for the family photos. Once we did all of the family photos and full wedding party photos, we then walked around with the newly weds a bit and had some fun making jokes as well as getting absolutely gorgeous photos and video before making our way to the reception area as well where we sent for a golf cart and change of shoes for them so they could go straight into the reception ready to go.

At the reception, everyone entered in with pretty funny dances or moves including Jeffrey and Sarah who came running in together and then we started a photo dash (not pictured because I really couldn’t pick one or two so, look for those when we send the full set of photos to the newlyweds). Just in case you’re not aware of what that is, it’s where the DJ gets a song ready and the couple dashes to take a photo with everyone at each table quickly and the goal is for everyone to be ready at the table with a pose or at least a spot for the couple to hop into and it’s somewhat of an interactive game but, also just a great way to be sure you get photos with everyone else quickly before everyone is moving a ton. After the dash, everyone ate and then we did toasts which I believe we ended up with 4 toasts total and some made us cry, some made us laugh from goofy childhood stories and some were sweet and pulled at the heart strings with childhood stories from a Dad’s perspective as well and we loved them all. After the toasts, we then went to cut the cakes (one was nothing bundt cakes and the other was made by the Bride for the Groom). They also read off some different vows to each other which I absolutely cannot wait to see how that works out for the highlight film because the vows were so good in so many ways and then that transitioned later into the dances and opening of the dance floor. The night featured so many good songs with a wide variety of range but pictured in the first few photos, you can see the YMCA and Chicken Dance as some great warm ups. Before long, we were entering party mode and took a small break for the bouquet and garter tosses before hopping right back into party mode where everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for everyone to get ready for the bubble exit and for Jeffrey and Sarah to do their last dance where everyone could see from outside but they had the whole room to themselves (besides us technically). They then did their bubble exit with everyone and it was actually a fake exit so, they made their way back into the reception for a little bit more dancing and food. As I mentioned before, the night actually ended with us being prayed over by Sarah and talking about how happy she was and it really is just one of the best types of moments ever and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our year. Here’s to the Blakely’s and their amazing future as well as an absolutely great 2023 ahead of all of us!

 

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue: Pine Knoll Farms

Dress - Tiffinie Bleu Bridal

Men’s Attire - Generation Tux

Florals - DIY

Cake - Nothing Bundt Cake and DIY cupcakes

Catering - Elizabeth Green

DJ - M & S Mobile Productions

Hunter & Kaitlin

 

Hunter & Kaitlin, as well as their families, first and foremost have such kind souls and we absolutely loved this wedding day as well as the Bridal Session about a month ago which proved to be very fruitful in beautiful images and was also just a lot of fun with her Mom and MOH. That laid some of the groundwork for the wedding day to where everything just clicked felt way better than it would have without a previous session. The wedding day itself took place at the beautiful Pine Knoll Farms in Appling, GA on a mostly beautiful Fall weather day besides just a little bit of rain here and there but nothing interfering with the happenings of the day.

When we showed up, we got to say hey to the girls and gather details as well as introduce Bella as well who is on our team and was standing in place of Morgan since our due date for Levi was coming up soon (it actually ended up being just a few days later so that was a good call). Once we finished photographing all of the details in the newly added area downstairs from the Bridal Sweet that used to just be an open air porch and now has become a closed in room with some beautiful finishings, we did a few photos of the girls in their robes before I split off to go say hey to the guys while Bella stayed with the girls. The guys were a great group with a good sense humor and Hunter is super easy going so we got everything done pretty quickly besides getting the boutonnieres brought on a golf cart so we could get them all pinned. Then Once everyone was pinned, we made our way outside and did all the group photos for the guys as well as a few solo shots of Hunter right as it started to rain a little bit so we split off and I made my way back to the other side with the girls to start setting up first looks with her Dad, Step Dad and Brother which were all so sweet. We may or may not have shed some tears of our own with her little Brother’s reaction. From there, we also did an unexpected first look with her Grandparents which was super sweet and you could see how much they love Kaitlin.

Before long, it was ceremony time so we made our way over to get ready and take photos of the guests coming in as well. Hunter held it together pretty well, there may have been a little bit of eye watering but mostly just super joyful when he saw his Bride coming down the aisle. Once they had said their I do’s led by an Uncle who did a fantastic job, they sealed it with a kiss and made their way up the aisle as the Huttos and rang the bell. Once everyone was out, it was then time to do family photos which we started to do outside but then it rained a little bit so we had to move everyone inside unexpectedly (weather forecast lied) but it worked out well anyways so people could sit some too. We then got did all of the group photos and dismissed everyone to do some couple’s photos and then actually finished ahead of time and made our way to the reception. Bella and I then ran into the reception to get settings and lights setup really quick and they came right into the reception with the cheers of all of their loved ones. Once they were in, they did their first dance, the Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dances and basically a bunch of people cried so it was all super sweet and then the dance floor opened up for a while. Throughout the night they also did some beautiful toasts, the shoe game but with a twist where guests had to guess who they thought before the couple lifted their shoe, cut the cake, threw the bouquet and garter then ended the festivities of the night with a sparkler exit which turned out perfectly. We seriously loved being a part of this couple’s story and big day! They are already doing amazing things but, we’re excited to see what this power couple’s future holds!

 
Augusta Wedding Photographer

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue: Pine Knoll Farms

Dress - David’s Bridal

Men’s Attire - Simon’s Formal Wear

Florals - Into the Fields

HMU - Avail Salon

Catering - Elizabeth Green

DJ - M&S Mobile Productions