Monthly Archives: June 2009

Raleigh Little Theatre Rose Garden Wedding Bridal Portrait (Mary Mac)

Now that Mary Mac has officially walked down the aisle at her beautiful August wedding, I can finally post her bridal portrait photos from the Raleigh Little Theatre and Rose Garden. We were joined by an entire entourage of friends that wanted to enjoy the roses and other flowers that were in bloom as well as see how I photograph my bridal portraits. The lighting was absolutely beautiful that day and yielded some stunning bridal portraits.

The Raleigh Little Theatre dates back to 1936 is one of the oldest community theatres in the country. I encouarge anyone to go see their local shows. They put on about 150 a year with more than 11 productions. The Rose Garden itself is the perfect place to relax. When you walk the grounds you can really smell the perfect mix of ll of the flowers.


raleigh rose garden wedding

A fairly straightforward bridal portrait to show of the small fountain and pond in the rose garden. Just something to get warmed up with…

rose garden wedding
bridal bouquet white roses
bridal portrait white roses

The stone pillars in the rose garden made for some beautiful props to work with,

bridal portrait brick column
woman lifting wedding dress
bridal portrait north carolina

I thought this one under the rose trellis is a great “caught in the moment” shot.

creative bridal portrait pose

I thought this was a nice creative pose to highlight the back of her wedding dress.

wedding photo bridal portrait
bridal portrait raleigh rose garden
outdoor theatre raleigh bridal
bridal portrait black white
wedding veil bridal portrait

I think those are daffodils on the left. I love shooting bridal portraits with bright colors such as yellow. Mary Mac’s veil was gorgeous and had been in their family for quite awhile…

yellow rose bouquet flowers
raleigh little theatre bridal portrait

A few of these were shot right in the main theatre area but time was tight since there was a show later that night.

garden wedding raleigh nc
raleigh rose garden bridal
bridal portrait sepia
bride blowing dandelion

A fun shot of the bride to be blowing on a dandelion.

raleigh little theatre wedding

This was by far my favorite bridal portrait from the rose garden. There is a little stone path that leads through a beutiful patch of flowers and the trees were full of color with a unique texture to the bark. To me this shot looks like it might have been taken outside the country.

fun bridal portrait pose
raleigh theater rose garden

2 comments

Angel - May 31, 2010 - 9:25 pm

Stunning.. she is immaculate and beautiful.. love the softness… very nice.

Elizabeth - August 21, 2009 - 11:46 am

Gorgeous! Beautiful job managing the light. My favorite is number 3!

Tavolla Rossa / Rehearsal Dinner Photography (Thomas + Julia)

Julia and Thomas held their rehearsal dinner for their June wedding at Tavola Rossa Restaurant in Raleigh. Family and friends traveled from all over for the momentous occasion. Probably the most shocking (or lack there of) detail of the night was the fact that the entire restaurant had no electricity for most of the evening. Tavola Rossa is located near the Crabtree Mall and the entire grid was down. Luckily we were outside so it didn’t effect us too much. Besides the fact that the food was awesome, I was impressed with how well the restaurant handled the situation.

There was a rumor that a car had crashed into power station near by. It was funny because at various points in the evening I would overhear “How does someone wreck into a power station?!? Aren’t they secluded with giant fenced barricades surrounding them? How do you even do that?!?”

I’m tagging the photographs below with a few other highlights from the evening but one of my favorites was the fact that Joe and Karen (Julia’s mother and father) were celebrating their 30th year anniversary that exact night! It was really cool to see the torch being passed from one generation to the next. They had brought a few photographs from their wedding day to share with everyone. Congratulations and thank you for letting me be a part of your special rehearsal dinner!

Click here to view photos from the wedding!


engagement pose
happy couple shed
funny face
fun portrait bridesmaids

Julia’s bridesmaids were a blast. We had a lot of fun posing in front of this gritty wall nearby the restaurant.

cute photo boy
boy woman walking
dinner prayer
rehearsal toast wine
italian restaurant lasagna

All of the food tasted amazing… Grazie Tavolla Rossa!

wedding rehearsal
rehearsal dinner wedding portrait

I thought this semi-serious portrait of Thomas’s groomsmen turned out rather nice. I had to do a lot of post processing but I think it was worth it.

vintage photograph
vintage wedding photo
vintage photo

I love this set of photos of Julia’s parents. Thirty years goes by fast! I’m a bit partial but I prefer Joe’s choice of haircut nowadays…

grandma grandmother wedding

The grandmothers listening to a great story from one of their friends.

tavola rossa restaaurant

I spotted an old Tavola Restaurant sign in the back that they were getting rid of and couldn’t resist getting a few unique portraits of Thomas and Julia pretending to walk off with it. I mean… what better souvenir could you possibly take from your rehearsal dinner than a six foot sign of the place! Or at least take a photo of it…

restaurant sign
engagement photo

1 comment

Karen Porter - July 6, 2009 - 1:41 pm

Actually, Joe & Karen Porter were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary that evening!!

Boutonnieres and Bridal Party Flowers

Here is a small collection of boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen.

carolina blue groom wedding tux
groom boutonniere orange fall
boutonniere groom wedding
blue rose boutonniere groom

Here is a collection of some bouquets for bridesmaids and some miscellaneous flower arrangements.

wedding flower petals
bridesmaid bouquet green irish rope
wedding bouquet bridesmaids
blue bridesmaids dresses bouquet
red calla lily bouquet
flower petals hat
bridesmaid bouquet blue flowers

no comments