mens wearhouse — 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

It’s not every day that we can talk about one of our couples meeting through ultimate frisbee but, that’s exactly how these two met which is so cool! We got to meet up with Darren and Phoebe for their engagement session a few months ago which you can see here. We talked some about the wedding day and getting to know them a little as well as getting into the swing of posing and having fun taking photos for the wedding day at the Big Red Barn in Aiken, SC.

Once the wedding day arrived, we showed up to Darren putting out a bunch of the decor and then playing a little bit of Cornhole with his Groomsmen. We made our way in to get the details from the Bride’s suite and to say hey. Rachel from the Darling Loft Salon was working her magic doing Phoebe’s makeup as we walked in and we grabbed the small container that the Bride had full of details for us already and went out to photograph it all. She had stamps and extra flower stems that just made the flat lay so cute and easy to put together. Once we finished that, we grabbed the dress to photograph before splitting off for some venue details and then the guys and girls getting ready. The guys were ready pretty quickly so we took them outside to do their group photos and made some jokes before getting them back inside to take the girls out of the other side of the building. With such a small and close group of friends, we were able to do everything super quickly and have them inside waiting as guests arrived for the ceremony. Once everyone made their way down the aisle, Darren got to see his Bride for the first time coming to him and you could tell he was super happy and excited for that moment. Once they exchanged their vows and rings, they sealed it all with a kiss then made their way back up the aisle as husband and wife. Being that it was an intimate wedding, they formed a line to welcome everyone into the reception before making their way back for all of the formal photos. We ended up having such a great sunset to work with for their couples photos and we even finished earlier than expected with a ton of good photos so they sat down for a bit before entering the reception. Once they were being announced into the reception, everyone cheered and went to sit down and eat before getting into their dances, a few toasts and cake cutting. Once it was dark and most of the formalities were finished, the night was full of dancing, drinks and a bouquet toss. Morgan even got out to do the Macarena and a few other dances just for fun and then as our night came to a close, we did just a few more photos with Darren and Phoebe as a close to the night and just used one of our lights to back light them out in the field where the ceremony was. It was such a joy to help tell their story and we’re excited for what is yet to come for this sweet couple.