Molly + Wes // a summer garden party wedding at Eastwood Farm and Winery

I’ve been traveling all over the US to photograph weddings for the better part of seven years now, and I wouldn't give up those amazing experiences for anything. But the wedding season of fall ‘22 was crazy, and to be completely honest, one of the best parts was the fact that there is a new gorgeous mountaintop venue eight minutes from our house, and I got to photograph multiple weddings there in just a few short months.

Molly + Wes’s wedding was my first visit to Eastwood Farm and Winery and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful introduction. It was late summer and the weather was perfect. They wanted to keep the documentation of their day very low-key, so we started things with a first look near their ceremony spot instead of getting ready photos. My wedding day schedules always vary quite a bit like this from week to week, and I really appreciate that I’ve never been just re-living the same schedule over and over - it keeps things interesting. :) We also didn’t do engagement photos before their wedding day, so aside from meeting up a few times around Charlottesville in the preceding months (we’re basically neighbors!), I really jumped right into getting to know these two in this moment of them seeing each other in a meadow at Eastwood.

And from that moment through leaving at the end of the night, I think the best way to describe Molly and Wes’s vibe was deep, peaceful joy. They just seemed to be exactly where they were meant to be, and so happy about it. Their celebration was felt similarly effortless and meant to be - they didn’t really have a wedding party but siblings both standing with them and playing ceremony tunes, a friend officiating, and we didn't spend a ton of time taking portraits - just a couple moments around the property appreciating the day and the sunset. Eastwood makes this super easy because the views are beautiful, and looking at the celebration from afar, from the top of the hill really cemented that feeling of a “lovely garden party”. I also felt like their florals seemed pulled directly from the colors of nature on this day.

The rest of the night was equal parts emotional and hilarious. Lots of tears during speeches, and I caught a lot of sweet little moments between Molly and Wes and family members as the evening went on. I loved this day a whole lot.