The Venue at Aberdeen Wedding | Statham, GA

Ashlyn and Matt’s raucously fun wedding at The Venue at Aberdeen is today’s blog highlight! As you can imagine, I have seen quite the range of fun weddings in my career. This one has instantly shot near to the top! How can you not love a wedding that ends with a late night Waffle House food truck?

This was a wedding full of requests and custom touches that just really came together for a chic and timeless day. Ashlyn requested that all the guests wear black. It really made her bridal gown pop against the beautiful outdoors backdrop. Not only were the guests in black and white, but so were all of the decor and the florals. (JL Designs did an amazing job on the florals, by the way!)

Aberdeen has a chapel by the lake and I love how Ashlyn utilized it for a “reverse entry” into the wedding. So often at weddings, the doors open and the bride enters into the venue. Instead, I love that she was entering into the outdoor ceremony location from the indoors. It added a grandiosity to the moment.

At the reception, other custom touches really stood out. Ashlyn and Matt had custom Coca-Cola bottles and trucker hats for their guest. Of course, the Bride Lights sign with their last name allowed us to play around with some really cool pictures as well!

“I don’t want my wedding day to feel like a photo shoot.”

Lately I’ve been hearing this from a lot of my brides and potential clients. Listen, I get it. Your wedding day is about being one hundred percent present and in the moment. Your wedding day is something you want to enjoy and look back on fondly. However, my job is that you have plenty of photos to look back fondly on! There is no greater regret than getting to the end of a major memory and wishing you had more from it. I’ve heard it before and I’ll hear it again in this industry!

When you see “candid” photos on my blogs and across the wedding photography sphere, please no that ninety-five percent of it is staged or posed to some degree. In order to get genuine expressions, people need to feel comfortable in front of the camera, with me, and with their significant other. (Again we shout from the rooftops: this is why engagement sessions are so important!) I have found time and time again that the more time budgeted for portraits and photography on their wedding day, actually get more authentic and candid photos as the time progresses.

Another major factor in this feeling of comfort is the choice of venue. Aberdeen was perfect in this regard! Just check out the poker table for the groomsmen (after they were done fishing, of course) or the bath tub in the bridal suite! These pictures are brimming with personality and joy! I love them!

So, enough of my defense of photography. Here are just a few of my favorites from this absolutely fun day!