azazie — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

We cannot say enough about both David and Drew or their wedding day at one of our all time favorites, Windsor Manor. We met with them back in June of last year and hit it off super quickly and since then, we have hiked up a mountain near Asheville, NC at Max Patch to see some of the first snow of the year for their engagement session which was freezing cold so you can only imagine that it was a great bonding experience as well and we got to laugh about a ton too. Fast forward to their wedding day back in Georgia and it was a gorgeous wedding day that felt like a fun garden party with pops of purple everywhere. Not to mention, these two have hearts of absolute GOLD and their friends and family were all so much fun to get to know and celebrate on the day with.

The wedding day itself started with saying hey as usual and grabbing details to make flat lays as well while I run off to do venue photo and video. Then as Drew slipped into her dress, she did a reveal with her girls before starting to write down her vows into the notebook from what she had typed out on her phone. The guys were also getting ready and David was also copying over his vows around this time and as soon as he finished that, we went outside for their first look. Once he turned around, these two shared such a sweet moment as well as their personal vows in such an intimate setting and it was one of the many highlights of the day for us to be a part of. We then had the wedding party come outside and started doing the wedding party and some of the couples portraits which led us up to getting ready for the ceremony while they were tucked away inside.

During the ceremony, they shared their vows in front of everyone as well as rings and more vows then shared the meaning of a Ukrainian tradition while David’s Brother explained that the first person to step becomes the leader of the household but they both stepped at the same time to show that they actually share that role. They were then announced as Husband and Wife and made their way up the aisle over to the side for family photos while everyone else got to go enjoy cocktail hour. We then finished the family photos, started doing wedding party and couples portraits with a little snack in between as well before bustling the dress for the reception entrances.

As the reception started, there were already fun moments where David’s Babushka was dancing already and having a great time but then the dance floor cleared for the entrances for the wedding party starting off dinner which also led into toasts, first dance, Mother-Daughter and Mother-Son dances followed by their first fight where they brought out swords and had a short fun sword fight. Throughout the rest of the night, the dance floor was full most of the time as well as the cake cutting, shoe game, drinks and bubbles out on the dance floor leading into their big bubble exit. It turned out that some of the wedding party just so happened to have extra bubble guns as well and we had some extra batteries so, there A LOT of bubbles and it was super fun. We know the future will prove to be beautiful for these two and are so excited for the Zhukov family!

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue: Windsor Manor

Dress - Azazie

Bridesmaids Dresses - Azazie

Rings - Manly Bands(Groom), Shane Co, (Wedding and engagement band), Diamonds Direct (Diamond)

Invitations - Zola

Men's Attire - Men's Wearhouse

DJ - DJ Reach

Caterer + Bartender - Creative Moment Catering

Cakes + Dessert - A Piece of Cake Bakery

We had a great chance to meet with Marcus and Lilly a while ago and already having mutual friends through their church family, when we did their engagement session came around (which you can see here), we already had a kinship and it made for an amazing session. That only transferred and made the wedding day even more laid back and fun! This beautiful wedding day took place between two different locations. It was our first time visiting at Warren Baptist Church and then the other location we have been to a lot, the Savannah Rapids Pavillion.

The day started with the girls in Evans where we did details and photographed them getting ready then split where I went to photograph the guys down the road for a little bit of getting ready with them before returning back to the girls to help with the reveal with the bridesmaids. Once the girls turned around and saw Lilly, they screamed with joy and then Lilly hit them with a hands in the hidden dress pockets twirl and they ran in to hug her making for an amazing moment. We then got her Dad and brought him out facing the other way to setup for their first look which turned into a beautiful and emotional moment once they hugged and we could tell he was fighting back tears. They finished their moment and took a few photos together and then we left to meet up with everyone at the Savannah Rapids Pavillion for the Bride and Groom’s first look and some group photos. Once we had Marcus setup, Lilly made her way out to him and tapped him on the shoulder for him to turn around. He had a huge smile on his face and they shared a sweet hug before heading down the stairs to meet up with the rest of the wedding party for group photos. Once we finished the group photos, we also did a few couples photos with Marcus and Lilly followed by us splitting up to meet back up at the church. Once everyone made it inside at Warren, we had a few minutes still of guests arriving and so Morgan and I took our places once the doors started shutting. It was split into the two aisles of the chapel so Morgan and I split up the aisles to get everyone coming down and then once it was Lilly’s turn, Morgan focused on Marcus as I photographed the Bride and her Father coming down the aisle at the same time. From here I went upstairs and Morgan stayed in the back of the chapel and we captured different angles of the ceremony where they prayed, took communion, exchanged rings and vows then finished off with their first kiss as husband and wife. They had so much joy on their face as they went back up the aisle together (they pretty much always have a ton of joy anyways but this was especially joyful). From here, we went to the prayer garden on the other side of the church grounds for the family formals and a few other couples portraits before driving to the reception at the Savannah Rapids Pavillion.

The reception was already full and felt like twice the amount of people than were at the ceremony somehow but we captured the details as everyone lined up to make their entrance and in just a matter of minutes everyone was dancing their way into the reception. Everyone had something funny for their entrance but there’s so many photos that it just didn’t make sense to blog them all here. Once they made it to their table, the food was blessed and in the next photo you see the toasts starting. Everyone’s toasts had such a different vibe and funny stories throughout so it was a lot of fun to hear and set a great tone for the rest of the reception. It was then time to do the dances where they had their first dance and at one point burst into laughter which was hard to not have a huge smile on your face seeing them having so much fun. They also did a Father/Daughter dance and Mother/Son dance before the cake cutting and then the dance floor opening up more. Right after the cake cutting, the first song that started playing had literally everyone singing. By the time the second song came on, I am pretty sure that maybe 8 people tops were still at their table instead of the dance floor which made for probably the most full dance floor we have ever seen, especially at the Rapids. Since everyone was dancing, the DJ setup a couples dance to see who had been married the longest. This is always one of our favorites to see and they even gave the winners a beautiful bouquet of flowers. From this point on was just pure party and fun whether it be forming a line going around the entire building, lifting their hands up and yelling “shout”, throwing the bouquet and even a bunch of fun line dances. They ended off the night with a super fun streamer exit and hopped into their SUV to drive off into the night as Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.