A few weeks ago I headed out to photograph Vanessa’s bridal portrait at The Grande Maison and Gardens in Mebane, NC. This was my first time at the gardens and I was really excited after seeing some images that they already had posted on their website. We met in Durham at Tre Bella Flowers and Gifts and continued on our way to the gardens. Vanessa’s sister Dana joined us and it was fun chatting with them during the drive. I got to learn a lot more about the wedding and Vanessa’s plans. She’s getting married at Duke Chapel this fall.
It was a day full of fun surprises… INCLUDING a bunch or resident cats that followed us around from start to finish! I was so thankful that Dana was there to help me wrangle the cats ou of the shots. For the most part we embraced it since Vanessa loves animals and has actually been wanting a cat for a wedding present… BUT there were a few shots where i had to shoot around the cats tails.
A special thanks to Erin for getting me into the bed and breakfast on short notice! If you are planning a wedding or event and are looking for a beautiful and unique location you should definitely consider The Grande Maison and Gardens.
And here is cat number one… She was first on the scene and was all over my scene. This one loved to headbutt Vanessa’s bouquet and dress.
I saw this staue in the garden and we positioned Vanessa to look just like the statue. Just a quick fun idea for a photo.
We found a gazebo on the property and thank goodness it had cold water inside! It was a little warm that day.
And here is cat number two… This one was a little more portly but did his best to keep up with Vanessa. At some points (as in this shot) it was if the cat was just going on a walk with her best friend.
We headed off to the woods to explore… Vanessa makes a mad dash to get away from all the cats.
We found this frog statue out in the middle of the woods and I told Vanessa of my last encouter with Audrey and her “frog prince” experience. We thought maybe it would work on a statue instead…
… but alas it did not… Oh well… Vanessa already has a fiance.
These are some of my favorites. She just looks awesome and I love the trellis in the background.
OK… So if you’r ready for this… “And Now for Something Completely Different!”
After we were finished I realized that I had to get gas. While Vanessa and her sister waited in the car I topped off the tank and as we were pulling away I made a side comment about how we could have done the session at the gas station and she could have been pumping the gas instead of posing…
I think sometimes I get myself into these crazy shooting situations because I forget that SOME of my clients will just run with my comments. Vanessa took me up on the idea… as long as we could keep the dress clean… so we took great care to make sure we protected the dress from the ground..
So I told her that “if we were going to do this that we should do it RIGHT!” So… we spotted a diesel truck and roped the driver into helping us out. I even noticed that he had fun smiley faces on his gloves. Classic!
He was totally cool with it and we got some really gritty pretty shots thanks to a setting sun. This of course was an extreme bridal shoot in many ways but it made it that much more enjoyable and memorable!
On the way home Ben called and I discovered that Vanessa’s ringtone is “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey… We all broke out into singing for a moment just for fun… Thanks again Vanessa and Dana for having such awesome personalities. I can’t wait to see what kind of mischief both of you, and Ben and I can get into on your wedding day!
2 comments