new wedding venue — 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 met with Kenneth and Kaitlyn back in October of last year via Zoom and got to learn a little about them. We of course love that fact that he is into a lot of techy things that I can relate to as well as how genuinely fun and kind hearted they are. The wedding day took place at a pretty new venue called “Venue at 21 East” which is actually one of the larger venues in the area now with a lot of to offer on their grounds. The plan changed since it was super cold and raining on the wedding day to an indoor wedding which was luckily more than doable. Also, we loved working with Penny at the venue which says a lot of everything the venue has going on.

The wedding day started with us actually being a little lost since Google was confused where the venue actually was with it being new but, once they described the gate and we drove just a second more, we found ourselves arriving to the huge property with fields for days. Once we were inside, we met one of the bridesmaids and also met Penny (the coordinator) to get a feel for the space and quick run down with the change of plans. We then went into the huge bridal suite to gather details and say hey as we always do then dove right into the details and venue coverage. As we were looking around for where we wanted to photograph the dress, we ended up seeing the small changing room where it was hanging and realized that it has a really cool mirror and would be great if we just moved a few things so we did that and then did the photographs of the girls in their custom flannels before making our way to the guys. The guys were playing Contra (this may be one of the only wedding blogs in existence to reference Contra and know what it is) and finishing up getting ready upstairs so we took them into the next room where the pool table is and of course had a blast with them all making jokes and taking some goofier photos together as well. We then ended off our time with them by taking solo portraits of Kenny. As we got back into the girls room it was time to finish up the back of the dress and set up for a father-daughter first look quickly before the guest arrived for the ceremony. Kaitlyn and her father shared a brief but beautiful moment together and everyone managed to hold back tears for the sake of makeup pretty well but then it was officially “go time” for the ceremony as guests were arriving. The space was decorated beautifully and even though in-door weddings can be tough lighting wise, everything turned out beautifully. After the family had been seated and everyone made their way down the aisle, the Bride rounded the corner and Kenny lost it which made for such a great moment. (Morgan almost always covers the groom’s reaction because she loves moments like these so much). As she was handed off and the faced each other hand in hand, they shared in beautiful vows, communion (accompanied by beautiful live music), a prayer and finished off with their kiss. As they made their way back up the aisle officially as husband and wife, Kenny gave a few fist bumps and the joy radiated from the newlyweds.

Switching everything from the ceremony space to reception mode quickly took quite a few hands but it happened quickly so that we could do the family and bridal party photos before they moved that as well. We finished quickly then made our way upstairs for a few photos with the Bride and Groom. This is always a short moment where the couple gets to soak up the fact that they’re officially married and are taking their first photos together before heading to the reception. It’s brief but, it’s always one of our favorite parts of a wedding day. As we made our way downstairs, it was time for Kaitlyn’s wedding dress to get bustled and we normally take advantage of this moment to get setup with lighting and how we want to space out the dance floor coverage wise. Once they were ready, the DJ announced them in and everyone cheered as they went straight into their first dance. All of their dances were some of the most beautiful moments everything from tears to laughs being shared and of course seeing them wipe each others tears had us a little choked up ourselves. At this point it was time for dinner and honestly, this was some of the best country cooking we have ever had at a wedding reception so, hats off to the chef(s). Everyone had eaten and their was something magical happening outside, a beautiful pink sunset and a rainbow somehow all at the same time so we all braved the cold to get some of the sunset as it was disappearing as well as the venue space a little bit. As we made it back in, we went straight for the cake cutting and then shortly after into toasts. The toasts were a rollercoaster of emotional moments and their were a few so we didn’t share as many photos as we wanted but, they were all beautiful and finished off with the Father of the Bride before going into their dance. You could tell from the speeches and this dance that he is one proud Dad and that he loves the woman Kaitlyn has grown up to be so it made for a very special dance. Kenny and his Mom danced next and ever since we have had Logan, the Mother-Son dances hit us a little differently so just assume that we may or may not have cried a little when Kenny leaned down to hug his mom and cried on her shoulder. Everyone then made their way to the dance floor for a little while before doing the fake sparkler exit out front (we ended up doing it a little early while it stopped raining a little bit). It turned out beautifully and actually made for a cool point for the DJ to transition the lights inside to be darker and crank up the music more. Everyone came in the front door and then were just all of the sudden on the dance floor so it worked out perfectly. Besides the bouquet and garter toss, the rest of the night was full of fun dancing, photos with family and then some of the moments where the dance floor was just full of happy couples slow dancing. As our night was coming to an end, we got to say goodbye and congratulate the now Mr. and Mrs. Miles with excitement as they were heading to one of our favorite areas for their honeymoon, Tennessee!