asheville
Photography and Video: Studio Misha
Makeup: Beauty by Whitssworld
Hair: Shaylon Tierra Rice
Flowers: Natalie Jones with Mountain Life Services Inc.
Cake: Kay Jones
Catering: Mama Bear's Food Truck
Band: Random Strangers
Rentals- Professional Party Rentals
Another gorgeous wedding at the historic WhiteGate Inn & Cottage in Asheville, NC. Only this time it was outside in the beautiful and lush gardens. The setting just HAD to be amazing to match the beauty of this couple! Katelynn and Kyle were beaming with excitement to get married and finally have the wedding day they have been waiting for. Like so many COVID couples this year, it may not have been their exact plan, but when it’s time, it’s time! So here they were, joining their lives together forever. They had a letter box that they sealed a letter in to be opened on their one year anniversary, and then so on for every anniversary after. I have always loved that tradition.
It was truly a magical day and I was so honored to be there to share in it as their wedding photographer. No matter how many weddings I photograph I will never stop loving them! It’s such a beautiful moment, and I hope that my photographs help bring these precious memories back to you both for decades to come. Best wishes for a long, and joy filled life together. May you always find partnership and compassion in your days with each other, and plenty of laughter and love too. And never stop taking pictures Kyle! I loved that you had your instant camera there also, to snap a few pics to enjoy instantly.
VENDORS TO LOVE
Photography- Studio Misha
Venue- WhiteGate Inn & Cottage
With an amazing venue like The Lodge at Bear River it was easy to be inspired to plan a wedding shoot. Nestled among the mountains and right by the riverside, it is Asheville Style at it’s best.
We actually started the plans with a string quartet from Carolina Music Planner. With this elegant ceremony element we continued to build the rest of the day with classic elements. Kathy at Mitchell’s Tuxedos helped Brandon pick out a deep blue tux with pink accents. And Gee Gee, loving all thing glam, loved the exquisite bead work on the Martina Liana dress from Wedding Inspirations Boutique. Shawnte and Julie, the store owner, are masterful at helping pick out the perfect dress. They knew what accentuated her shape the best and also paired the dress with the style of the day. With the two most important outfits chosen we now knew our color scheme. We picked out a place setting, and spoke with Natalie at Mountain Life Services about flowers. She grows most of her own flowers, which is amazing!! And after we told her about our plans and style choices, she knew exactly what to do. The whole venue was transformed after she affixed buckets and buckets of fresh flowers everywhere; the arbor outside, the fireplace mantle and table settings, and some small decorative vases of flowers to place around. Also, a key to any good wedding day is food! Fresh As Can Be Catering provided us with a few platters for the tables. I love this new trend of “grazing” since hunger doesn’t always wait for the main course at a wedding. It’s always nice to snack! And then of course desert from Gateaux Cakes and Pastries. Lindsay is a genius and her shop smells amazing!! Makes you want to buy like 10 pies. Her experience and expertise with cakes and confections is quite impressive.
On the morning of the big day, Whitley and Lindsey from Hair and MU were magical. It’s so important to have a beauty team that knows their stuff!! Lindsey checked the bride’s makeup outside in the natural light and I was amazed. Our fabulous musicians showed up and we began to get the ceremony site set up. Once Gee Gee and Brandon got dressed we were on. It’s a shame that, only after about 10-15 shots or so, a wall of rain came at a fast clip towards down the mountain headed right for us. Crystal gave a holler and off we ran. It was a cool blessing in disguise though because I loved the shots inside so much more. After that, dancing, table settings, and cake!!
The elements of the day all came together in a magical way and we had a blast doing it. For me the highlight of the day is when Gee Gee and Brandon shared a dance in front of the fireplace, as the music from the string quartet echoed through Lodge and touched the hearts of everyone there. It was truly a beautiful and romantic event.
VENDORS I LOVE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN
Photography- Studio Misha Photography
Venue- The Lodge at Bear River
MUA- Lindsey Rourke, Crafted Beauty Asheville
Hair Stylist- Whitley Hunter, Beauty by Whitssworld
Ceremony Musicians- Carolina Music Planner
Bridal Fashions- Wedding Inspirations Boutique
Groom’s Fashion- Mitchell’s Tuxedos
Flowers- Mountain Life Services
Cake- Gateaux Cakes & Pastries
Catering- Fresh As Can Bee Catering
Bride- Gee Gee Palmore
Groom- Brandon Sconiers
PUBLISHED IN THE 2020 ISSUE OF NORTH CAROLINA BRIDAL MAGAZINE
It all started with a picturesque and gorgeous day in Asheville, NC, perfect for a wedding outdoors. Luckily it wasn’t scheduled for the day before when it was snowing and there were huge gusts of wind making it feel in the negatives! So on this beautiful day, Mackenzie and David joined their lives forever among the company of their closest friends and family. And joy was everywhere!
David showed how much he knew his beautiful wife to be with sparkly glitter paper wrapping his special gift; inside was a blue “I Do” handkerchief which was greatly needed later in the day when the tears were flowing, and a blue hydrangea which was her favorite. And this handkerchief was tucked smartly away in her pockets! Yes, wedding dress trends are bringing pockets into the mix, which can be so versatile and helpful on the big day.
Mackenzie was the epitome of a gorgeous bride. The wedding dress was chic and elegant, with a white and green bouquet with of course, hydrangeas! It was so sweet to see the love and deep connection that she had with her friends and family there while getting ready in the suite.
Her Father First Look was so sweet. This started the never-ending flow of tears between father and daughter. Almost choked me up a few times. He whispered some words of wisdom in her ear and then they were off for their big walk down the aisle (well, the garden path). The small gathering of family and friends were waiting by an eager and emotional David as she approached the ceremony site. Despite the fact that we’re still in winter, this garden was still colorful and lively with greenery and a few budding trees. Mackenzie and David said I Do, exchanged rings, and then we were off to family photos. Thank goodness The Whitegate Inn has such extensive grounds, because were all able to group together on a perfect little patch of green with the sun shining in the background. It lit up her veil like a halo and put the beautiful Inn as the backdrop to all the family photos.
Finally, first dances, a special song from one of her close friends, and cake and champagne to finish off the day. Grandma provided the toasting glasses which she told me were almost 50 years old! If I remember correctly, it was from her own wedding day, so special! AND I got my first piece of wedding cake in over 15 weddings LOL. It was so scrumptious! Almond and vanilla with buttercream icing.
My heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to this amazing couple as they start their first year of married life together. May the joy you felt on this glorious day shine through your countless year together.
VENDORS WHO ROCK!
Venue- Whitegate Inn and Cottage
Hair and Make up- About the Face with Kayce M. Young
Tina and Adam were not my typical wedding couple. When we did their engagement session, it involved a nerdy portrait session, remaking a romance cover novel, and just a slew of silly pics outside in their backyard. Which was soon to be the site of their union, also once the site of the wedding of the previous home owners in the 1960s. So it was laced with tradition and wedding history. They know what they want, and it was all about fun and each other. So of course…I was on board!
The decorations were all made by Tina and her family and friends. The flowers, put together by her mom. All the decorations and accoutrements were put together by loved ones the night before. It was so special how everyone came together to make this happen. This is what weddings are all about.
I love seeing diversity in weddings. Especially here in Asheville. Food trucks at weddings is becoming a fast growing popularity, for so many reasons. Smash Box Mobile Kitchen parked in their driveway and served up hot plates of chicken and waffles, fish tacos, and other crowd favorites. Cakes by Grey supplied amazing cupcakes, which I have to say tasted superb. I haven’t seen cupcakes with filling inside and I’ve been to many a wedding with cupcakes I tell you! I had something with pineapple inside and a whip cream frosting! There was a photo booth in the garage, and a never ending stream of friends wanting to hug and congratulate and have their picture taken with the bride and groom.
Music played into the night from Westsound band and DJ Tommy See played the Bride and Grooms favorites, inspiring them to dance the night away. We ended the night with Dirty Dancing’s Time of My Life, and it was EPIC! Fog machine and laser lights topped it off.
Congratulations to Tina and Adam. Your freak flags can now fly together in this life. I wish you so many years of blissful joy and laughter.
Vendor Love
Photographer- Studio Misha Photography
Makeup and Hair-Ginger with Posh Lash Lounge and Beauty Bar
Cupcakes- Cakes by Melissa Gray- Cakesbygray.com
Catering- Smash Box Mobile Kitchen
Live Band- Westsound
Officiant- Wyman Tannehill
DJ- DJ Mad Sci
Day of Coordinator- Sarah the Extraordinary
Candice and Charlie are some of my favorite clients and people! From head shots, to wedding photography, to maternity photo shoots, and soon....baby photography! I've photographed their lives and watched as it's all progressed. I feel so honored to have been there for these momentous occasions and captured it for them to relive forever.
Candice knew she wanted flowers and ferns. Having pre-hiked Pink Beds in Pisgah and seeing field upon field of wild flowers and sunflowers, we planned to go there the following week. Unfortunately in that time all the flowers got murdered! Actually mowed down, you could see nothing but empty, mowed fields. It was odd! We continued hiking for about an hour finding some ferns and made the best of the natural forest.
Just so happened that it's sunflower season at Biltmore! So when I saw these amazing fields during a run I knew we had to do a whole new shoot just for fun. I just knew she wanted flowers, especially sunflowers for her vision. And so we got our flowers, finally.
The world is about to be + 2 amazing, caring and super loving parents and +1 lucky baby boy. I can't wait to meet him. Congratulations on your amazing next chapter you two!
We finally found a small patch of ferns that was just perfect for this forest mother
