west lake wedding augusta — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

This was the first of what we hope to be many Bulgarian weddings because it was such a beautiful culture to experience. The wedding day was full of a ton of amazing traditions from Bulgarian culture which we will talk about more during this blog but first, a little about meeting with this couple and the location of the wedding day. We met them just a few days before the wedding day via Zoom and got to learn about the culture and what all was most important to the couple and how we could best serve them and their families during the big day. There we learned about how important Kayaking is to them and that they also love gardening. Also, we learned more of their story from meeting in West Virginia in 2017 up to when he proposed in San Diego while they were visiting her Brother. Seeing that all come together in the story on display at the wedding day made it super special where each table at the reception was named by a location that they had kayaked together instead of having table numbers. Even their cake topper was of the two of them in kayaks together. All of this was beautifully displayed at the West Lake Country Club in Martinez, GA with a bunch of amazing vendors listed at the bottom of this blog to help it come together.

Now that we have the location in mind, imagine an absolutely kind hearted and joyful couple who are also laid back and we show up to discover them moving and working some things to be in place before getting dressed and we get to meet them in person then walk around just a little bit to see what all of the space they were using. Being that they were already married, they weren’t too worried about seeing each other beforehand but did want to have a first look once they were fully dressed and done up as well. It was an adorable moment that lead straight into us getting ready for the ceremony as family was showing up to find their seats. Once most of the guests found their seat and they had everyone lined up in the bridal suite, they made their way out to the ceremony. It was an absolutely gorgeous day but, it was also very hot so a large amount of guests were off to the side under the porch as well since there was not much cloud coverage either. Throughout the ceremony, there were a few traditions sprinkled in as well as the couple sharing some beautiful vows but one of our favorites was the part at the end where the Bride kicks over a Pall full of red and white flower petals as well as a few other things and the first color flower petal to come out signified the gender of the first born baby. As they kissed at the top of the aisle with their guests all behind them in the photo, we made our way to a set of stairs where it would be easier to layer all of the guests for a large group photo and all of the other family formals that we had planned. We then made our way down to the green just down the hill behind the ceremony location for a few couples portraits and also road the golf cart around for a few more photo ops before parking and heading back to get ready for the reception entrance. As they prepared to enter, we setup our flashes and lights quickly and were prepared for all of the dancing to come.

Now upon their entrance, they made their way to the sweetheart table and everyone ate before starting some of the traditional dances. One really cool thing to note about the dances besides the music and dances themselves was that the first dance was to the newlyweds, the others were performed for and with the newlyweds to the rest of the guests and there was also someone explaining the traditions via a microphone for the guests that wouldn’t know what the traditions were symbolizing like the grooming ceremony where they traditionally spend the whole day where the groom sits under a shady tree and reflects and then some father figure men shave his face from right to left and it’s all for good luck and coming into being a man/husband which was really funny because the men who did the shaving pulled out a few of the wrong sized blades (aka a machete and knife) first as a little joke. Then the bride was covered with a red veil which is the traditional color for brides which is mean to ward off evil eyes and protect from bad luck/spirits. They also gave her a beautiful flower crown and apron as well as dressing the groom in some more red traditional attire which was so cool to see. From there, they also had a bread breaking ceremony where the bride and groom holds something like monkey bread above them and pulls it apart. Whoever ends up with the biggest piece of the bread is considered to be the bread winner which we just loved that when it was explained. After that, they drank and broke their champagne glasses in a lined basket as well as a few more dances including the first dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances. Before too long, they started some more traditional dances where the bride was holding their flag and dancing in a line then more and more of the Bulgarian people in attendance joined into the line as they passed by the table to make it longer and longer and then there was another dance where the groom was holding the flag as well. Before long, it was time to break out the penguins! There were supposed be a few penguins but something got mixed up in the mail I believe and so there was one penguin and one person wearing a hairy potter cloak but, they still carried everything out for the love of their dear friend Denis where he and his Bride, Maya, eventually joined in with them for fun dance. From here, Maya also presented some birthday cakes to two girls who had a birthday that day and it was such an act of kindness to see the Bride share her day and love with dear friends/family in that way. Besides the cake cutting and a fun sing along song, the rest of the night was full of dancing and fun photos by the photo booth as well as drinks lasting well into the night. It was such a joyful wedding day and that’s exactly the type of day we love being a part of so much. We’re excited for these families and what the future holds for them! Congrats to Denis and Maya!