Wedding Ceremony: Sacred Hart Cathedral, Raleigh, NC
Wedding Reception: Second Empire, Raleigh, NC
Cake: Second Empire, Raleigh, NC
Make-Up: Belle Trachenburg, Raleigh, NC
Hair: Alter EGO, Raleigh, NC
Dress: Reverie by Melissa Sweet
One of my favourite places for wedding photography in Raleigh is the beautiful Sacred Heart Cathedral downtown. So I was very much looking forward to finishing up my 2012 wedding season with Kimberly and Mike’s marriage there with the reception to follow at Second Empire, just a block or so down the street.
I met up with Kimberly, her mum, grandma and bridesmaids at the salon, Alter EGO, in the mid-morning and took some time documenting proceedings with the girls before heading over to the church for the ceremony. Sacred Heart is quite small for a cathedral (it is actually the smallest Roman Catholic cathedral in the continental USA), but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in character, and is a place I really enjoy photographing for two main reasons: 1) it has some really nice, interesting architecture and 2) it is challenging to work in and forces me to get creative. With regard to this latter, the rules for wedding photographers are quite strict and we are basically required to remain in the choir loft at all times, which means we really have to work the situation to come up with interesting compositions and angles. The lighting in Sacred Heart is also quite challenging given the variations in intensity and colour from the altar to the back of the nave. The bottom line is that to take interesting pictures, you need to think quite a bit, change lenses and points of view quite a lot, use the features of the church for your composition, etc. I always find that kind of situation fun to contend with.
Following the wedding, we took some quick pictures outside before heading back in for the formals and, from there, on to Second Empire for the reception. After cutting the cake and some speeches, the Second Empire crew served an amazing luncheon. They are definitely a very well-oiled machine when it comes to catering for these events; the service and food really are fantastic. It was the second time I had shot a wedding reception there in the space of a month and I really think they do a fabulous job.
I’m not really a huge fan of table shots or taking photos of people while they are eating, so I invariably spend my time during this part of the day taking macro shots of things like the rings, bouquet, etc. We had some fantastic December light on this day, so I headed outside to make the most of it. During the slower parts of the day, I also look for the interaction between people while they are talking and document that without intruding or making myself obvious, which invariably leads to some great images.
Kimberly and Mike’s big exit came courtesy of a 1960’s Ford Mustang. What a fantastic car to make their getaway in! I was so jealous!
Congrats again to the happy couple and all the best for a long and happy future together!
Here are just a few of my faves from the day…
