hephzibah wedding photographer — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

This wedding day was absolutely amazing! Cold and windy, but amazing! It took place at their family farm in Waynesboro where we also happened to have photographed the engagement session which you can see here. Nick and Jessica are such a fun and down to earth couple that we feel like we could easily just hang out and kill time with for hours. There’s so much family that lives on the same road right next to the barn and getting to meet everyone on this day in the place that was full of generations worth of family memories was so special.

The wedding day started pretty similar to most where we meet up with the Bride and her bridesmaids while they’re doing hair and makeup and we start on details. We split up here since the girls were getting ready down the road from the venue but some of the details were at the barn. I drove to the barn while Morgan stayed with the girls and then met back up to have the girls pop open a bottle of Champagne and then showing our third shooter where she needed to go as well afterwards. While we were at the Barn, we photographed the guys and then I left to help cover the finishing touches of Jessica’s dress being buttoned. From there, everyone made their way to the barn to do the girls group photos while the guys were hidden away and before we knew it, it was time for guests to start showing up so the Bride snuck away to hide.

Now that it was time for the ceremony, the guys came out to lineup by the doors setup for the entrances to walking down the aisle. The sun was out in full force but so was the wind with a cold front so a lot of people bundled up with blankets which somehow managed to include our third shooter, Kelsey, who had made friends with some family and been invited to get warm with their blanket as well. As everyone made their way down the aisle, it was all smiles and the warmth of family bonds were shining bright. Once the doors opened, Jessica and her Dad made their way down the aisle to where she would be handed off to her now Husband. They shared vows and there were even some funny moments thrown in by the officiant who was Jessica’s Brother. The location was just gorgeous and we couldn’t imagine a better location for them to have said their I do’s. At the end of the Ceremony, they kissed and made their way back up the aisle as husband and wife and hid away just a little bit to the side before everyone that was staying for family photos went to a spot we had picked just behind the ceremony. We quickly went through all of the lists to get everyone inside but not before getting some great photos of the newlyweds together.

It was now time for the ceremony entrance of the newlyweds into the reception at the Barn. They walked in and went straight into their first dance followed by an emotional Father/Daughter dance and then Mother/Son dance that transitioned to Grandmother/Grandson dance half way through. After this, everyone enjoyed some delicious food and conversation. Before too long, a few tables got moved aside to make space for the dance floor so that it could open up and go into all of the other festivities like the anniversary dance and bouquet/garter toss. Just taking a step outside you could see the fire they had going and all of the children running around playing hide and seek. The night was such an intimate reception where everyone knew everyone and were just enjoying being themselves around each other. We did the sparkler exit and then went back into the reception for a while and our night actually came to an end with just having a fun conversation about the bachelor trip before saying goodbye. It was truly an honor to be a part of this wedding day and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for Nick & Jessica!

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Barn Owners - Al & Carlene Nelson

Wedding Coordinator - Jessica Nelson

Wedding Coordinator - Carol Keen

Florist - Hannah Greenway

Finely Seasoned Catering - JJ & Val Jones

Party in a Tent - Robert Benton Royal Restrooms

Bride’s Dress - Elegant Bridals

Seamstress - Charlotte Edmonds

Wedding Cake- Pineland Bakery

United Rentals - Lee Widener

Groom's Cake - Sabrina Owen

Rustic Charm Rentals - Tammy DeLoach

We Bring The Music - Cody Pope

We just recently shared their engagement session and mentioned having met with them a while ago at Starbucks and getting to meet the bride’s parents there as well. If you’d like to see their engagement session, click here.

We started their wedding day with saying hey and photographing some of the getting ready with the girls. It was our first wedding working with Taylor even though we already knew her a little and her salon but it was great to capture their work. The Bridesmaids all had a lot of fun and you could hear the laughter throughout venue and with the walls for the guys dressing room and the girls room being shared, they had some hilarious moments with each other. Later once the guys were dressed and had received their groomsmen gifts, we hopped on the golf cart to go down by the water and pinned the boutonniere’s on them all just before doing the group photos. Once we finished their group photos, the groom and his brother shared a moment to take it all in before heading back up to their room so the bride could come out. Once Cara got in her dress with the held from her mom, we then loaded them all onto the golf cart as well to go back down so there was some uniformity to the group photos. It seemed to be a theme that everyone had a great sense of humor and was having a great time throughout the day and the girls group photos was no exception. Once we finished those, we took a few bridal portraits as well and headed back up the hill to get ready for the ceremony. Everyone was making their way in and JJ (the in house coordinator for the venue) started taking grandparents over on the golf cart from the reception venue where most of the attendees were congregating. They formed the lineup just behind the big white curtain once everyone had made their way into the somewhat newly built ceremony venue on the grounds. Everyone made their way in on their que but we really wanted to highlight the groom’s sister and that she clearly loves her brother and shed some tears on her way down the aisle just after him, it was such a great moment. Fast forward just a little bit and the bride makes her entrance and as soon as Jordan (the groom) saw her, he was smiling from ear to ear and you could tell this was the happiest day of their lives. The ceremony went perfectly and they chose pink and black sand for the unity sand ceremony. Once they kissed to seal the deal, they shared an adorable hug and walked back up the aisle as husband and wife with pure joy on their faces.

They quickly signed the marriage certificate with the officiant and we did family photos just behind the ceremony site by this beautiful arch way they have built out of wood from the property. Once we made sure we got everything on the family photo check list, we took the entire wedding party down to the water and got the full group photos and a few silly ones as well. We then sent the bridal party back up and just took a few moments to take some of the newlyweds together with the stunning fall colors and large pond as an amazing backdrop.

Once they were announced into the reception, they went into the dances and after their beautiful dance, the father daughter and mother son dances, they actually all shared one slow dance as couples which doesn’t happen often but we think is such a beautiful thing to do. Fast forward through all of the fun events of the night like the cake cutting and bouquet toss and the kids were making the best of the smores station and bonfire outside while a lot of the rest were inside dancing. They actually did a fake exit and went back into dancing and smores after which gave them probably the longest sparkler exit line we have had the honor of being a part of which was so perfect with the streamed lights that the venue have outside making for even more beautiful and warm light into the joy filled exit. We left shortly after a little bit more dancing and saying bye to the family and newlyweds and are super excited for their future as Mr. and Mrs. Spinks!