Raleigh Wedding Photographer in Asheville: Sarah+Jimmy

This was one of those weddings where you went to sleep afterward feeling like you were at a wedding of a friend. Sarah and Jimmy, our favorite Algebra teacher and rock climbing instructor, and owner of the ever-popular Clive, were married at the end of July in Asheville, NC in a beautiful ceremony in the most ridiculously gorgeous church and reception hall. We were welcomed into their family wholeheartedly for the weekend and enjoyed every minute of it.

Geoff and I hadn’t made it out to Asheville yet since we moved to North Carolina, and it is every bit as awesome as everyone says it is. We had a super time as illustrated by this way too long blog post. We’re so grateful for Sarah and Jimmy for bringing us out there! (Strangely enough, our other Asheville wedding in October is at the same reception venue… and we are totally stoked because the location couldn’t be better). Our lovely couple currently lives in Charlotte, NC, but are originally from Georgia where they went to school at UGA… so this was a mini-destination wedding for all involved. :)

We started out the weekend photographing Sarah and Jimmy’s rehearsal dinner, so a few from that lovely evening and then we’ll dive right into the wedding. I have a hard time leaving all of my wedding comments at the top here… and I realize that spoils the flow of the pictures, but there are some things that need commented on with the picture. ;)

Date: July 30th, 2011

Hotel: The Crowne Resort Plaza // Asheville, NC

Rehearsal Dinner Venue: The Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn // Asheville, NC

Ceremony Venue: Grace Episcopal Church // Asheville, NC

Reception Venue: The Crest Center and Pavilion // Asheville, NC

Officiant: Lee Mason // College pastor of the bride and groom

Band: The Business

Florist: Blossoms at Biltmore Park

Cake: Earthfare

Hair and Makeup: Leau de Vie Salon

Here are some of the pictures from their rehearsal dinner at the Grove Park Inn… a beautiful building on top of the world’s steepest hill ever. I was slightly, slightly concerned about the Mazda’s capabilities climbing it.

After the lovely and intimate rehearsal dinner, we got some beauty sleep and woke the next day to brave downtown Asheville to make our way to the Leau de Vi salon for hair and makeup. Of course, Asheville was holding the Bel Chere festival that weekend, and every street that we needed to get to was blocked off. :)

Our beautiful, beautiful bride Sarah and her adorable little Etsy hair flowers. :)

Sarah got ready at the Sunset Cottage at the Crest Pavilion… a cute little house on the property that the girls stayed in the night before the wedding.

Obviously being really, really ridiculously good-looking was a requirement of this wedding party. Absolutely gorgeous (and so nice!) ladies and super handsome and friendly gentlemen. :)

After the beautiful ceremony presided over by their college pastor, Sarah and Jimmy and crew headed to the Crest Pavilion on top of another really steep hill. It is so pretty up there… and, while we avoided the rain, it was thundering during our newlywed pictures and we could see the rain in the distance. It was pretty awesome. Their decorations for the rehearsal was so cute and beautifully handmade. Their tablecards had quotes about relationships on one side, and the goals for their first year of marriage written on the other. It was really interesting to read them and such a great idea to create newlywed goals like that!

Oh hey, downtown Asheville! Funny seeing you here.

Sarah and Jimmy are such sweet people and just gorgeous, easy to photograph, and super nice and willing and laugh at all my silly nonsense. :)

Raining in the Blue Ridge Mountains…

Let’s just take a moment here and observe the awesome array and selection of sweet bow ties at this wedding, shall we?

The Business, a band local to Asheville, played the reception and they ROCKED! What a great group of guys…super fun, great music, and an excellent show. They are highly recommended if you’re looking for a band in the area. They played all sorts of stuff and the crowd loved them. We love you, the Business. :)

Sarah and Jimmy – thank you so so much for having us and inviting us to be a part of your wedding. We hope we did it justice – you are lovely people and we wish you the best of luck in all your adventures. Please keep in touch with us!

Book a June Session to Benefit a Local Animal Shelter!

pet photography

Carolyn Scott Photography has partnered with Safe Haven for Cats during the month of June to bring a fantastic benefit to the Triangle! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Safe Haven, here is a description of their fantastic work in their own words:

“SAFE Haven For Cats (SHFC) is a no-kill shelter for cats located in the North Raleigh area of North Carolina. We are a unique community-based animal shelter. In addition to providing adoption services for cats and kittens in need of good homes, we also manage a foster program for animals requiring a little extra love and care. We further assist our community in providing feline spay and neuter services in connection with SAFE Care Feline Spay Neuter Clinic.”

Safe Haven for Cats is always in need of donations and support: “Today’s tough economy is having an impact on the cats. The reality finds fewer cats adopted andmore abandoned at our door, or returned when household finances worsen. We are currently caring for over 100 cats daily. The most in the 15 year history of SAFE Haven. And, honestly, we do not have enough funds to keep up with demand.”

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In order to give back to the shelter that’s given so much to the community and, more personally, gave Geoff and I our two adorable furballs two years ago, Carolyn Scott Photography is sponsoring a benefit for Safe Haven for Cats.

From June 1st-June 30th, community members of the Triangle are encouraged to schedule a session with Carolyn Scott Photography to benefit the shelter. Half of the proceeds from all sitting fees and purchased items will go towards Safe Haven. Details:

– This sitting fee can be used towards solely photographing a pet, or photographing family members alongside the pet. The only rule is that the pet will be included in all photographs. After all, he’s a member of the family!

– The photo shoot can be at your house, a park, or any other location of your choosing where your family pet would be comfortable.

– You can book a pet photography session ($100) from now until June 30th. All sessions must take place during the month of June, which is Adopt-A-Cat month.

– 50% of all the proceeds (sitting fees + prints, albums, or DVDs) will go to Safe Haven for Cats to help support the cats, volunteers, and the great community work that they accomplish.

Please consider giving back to a shelter that safely houses cats and kittens looking for a home by booking a photo session of your favorite little animal. This is a great opportunity for cat and dog lovers alike to get fantastic portraits while supporting a great cause at the same time. Book today – sessions will fill up quickly!

Please visit their website at http://www.safehavenforcats.org/ for more information.

To view other pet and people portraits, please visit “the good life” section of the portfolio.

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to mom on her birthday.

happy birthday, mom!!

today is my mom’s birthday (i won’t tell you how old she is or else i’d hear about it later) so it is a MOM BLOG today.

i am so lucky to be so close with my mom. she is a best friend, a confidant, and a constant support. she’s a huge inspiration for so many things and helps guide me on a daily basis. she taught me how to paint, how to draw, how to call people on the phone (i was the most polite 8 year old ever!), how to value and take care of animals, and how to see beauty in everything. my mom taught me everything i know about art and it has been a priceless gift to me. she cared for me when i was sick, when i was well, when i was good, when i was bad, and all the times in between. she also took a lot of priceless childhood pictures which are stock piled in our house in painstaking chronological order:

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carolyn, courtesy of mom, hopefully planting in and not digging up the garden – circa 1985 in that totally rad minnie mouse sweatshirt i wore all the time.

besides teaching me all sorts of lovey mother/daughter things, she’s also totally rockin’. she took me to my first concert (ringo starr and peter frampton baby!) and continued to go with me to all sorts of concerts not to keep an eye on me, but because she totally likes pearl jam just as much as i do. her record collection supports rancid, the get up kids, the red hot chili peppers, the mighty mighty bosstones, and a whole host of other things that you really can’t picture your mom listening to, but she totally does. she is awesome.

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mom supporting the local brewery and my grandmother showing you a can of spam.

now that i live in north carolina i try to still see my parents once a month or two. geoff and i are almost completely conditioned to the 8 hour drive and are total champs about it. we stop at the same taco bell every time and know we’re halfway home. and even though we just drove 8 hours, i’m always so excited to see her when i get there.

happy birthday, mom.

mum