Kinsey + Mike // a Lovingston Winery wedding in the summer

I get asked so often both whether photographing weddings is stressful, and whether photographing weddings for 10 years is boring. Kinsey + Mike’s wedding was a perfect encapsulation of why no, it’s not stressful, and it’s definitely not boring. Lovingston Winery is less than an hour from me in Charlottesville, but not only have I never photographed a wedding here before, I’d never actually heard of it before Kinsey + Mike told me it was where they were getting married. There’s something special to me about experiencing a place for the first time shortly before a couple says their vows because that place gets so tied to these people in my mind, rather than photographing the same venue over and over. And this particular place was so beautiful, this early June day couldn’t have been prettier.

But there’s also this special thing that happens at my weddings where a lot of what happens isn’t exactly planned per se - we’re kind of just winging it, and not too worried about the specifics because no matter how exactly it goes down, it’ll be part of the story. There were very few posed moments with Kinsey + Mike, but so many personal touches and small ways in which their lives were represented here. So much of my time was spent photographing sweet candid moments with their friends and family. I often wonder when making blog posts if these photos will mean anything to people who don’t know the people in them, but they’re special to me, so I’m including a lot of them here.

It’s really hard to not love getting to be a part of days this special, with people this loving.