I love any chance that I get to be a second shooter for other wedding photographers in the Atlanta area. It’s always a great excuse to get creative and continue building my skills to better serve all of my couples too! I recently photographed Mad and Dan’s wedding for Christine Quarte. She’s one of my favorite photographers and this couple was fantastic!
Getting Ready
On the day of Mad & Dan’s wedding, I was the one hanging with Dan and his side of things – especially earlier in the day. I got to meet him and his three older brothers, which was so fun {I love family dynamics!}. Honestly, it was such a chill morning. The guys played with the pool table at the Air BnB and Dan even broke out his bass to practice because he was going to be joining the band for a song at the reception.
Little Gardens First Look
After everyone was ready, I headed with Dan and his brothers to Little Gardens for his first look with Mad. I absolutely love Little Gardens, so I was stoked to get to spend another wedding day there! It’s always so lush and beautiful – and it’s fun to see this venue change throughout the seasons.
Mad & Dan took a moment before the ceremony to have a signing of their marriage paperwork. I thought it was cool to have a chance to sit down {similar to a Ketubah signing for Jewish couples} for them to document before their official ceremony. Mad & Dan also had live musicians for their ceremony, which is one of my all time favorite things. They also had out custom newspapers for their guests to read before the ceremony filled with fun stories and details {so cute!} and plastic sunglasses in fun shapes. Little things like that really make a wedding day unique and exciting for your guests.
Wedding Reception at Little Gardens
One of the things that Christine mentioned to me about this wedding was reducing the use of flash as much as possible because of the bride’s health. I love a good challenge, so it was a great way to practice getting creative with my lighting! During the reception, good lighting can become a challenge photographers have to face at all sorts of venues – but I think we still captured some incredible moments, including when Dan & Mad left on a tandem bike! Mad & Dan also put a lot of meaningful details into their reception, like their ceremony. They had a donut station featuring banana foster donuts instead of a cake {and you know I’m always down for people doing what they actually want and love!}. I really enjoyed watching Dan perform with the band and Mad’s mom even played keyboard with them for a bit.
Mad & Dan, thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding day! Like I said before, second shooting is a great chance for me to get extra creative and experience beautiful celebrations I might not otherwise get to be a part of. This was definitely one of those incredible wedding days I’ll remember for years to come!
Looking for tips to make the most of your wedding day? Check out my free guide!
Looking for more engagement session inspiration?
See another beautiful springtime wedding at Little Gardens!
