Artistic, Hilarious Wedding | Proximity Hotel | Greensboro, NC

Cody asked Courtney to go to the Batman premier with him several years ago after meeting her at a mutual friend’s house. Courtney said yes. But, as luck or fate or whatever you may believe in had it, the date never happened. Fast forward several years later. Thanks to social media, they began chatting and he asked her out again. This time, it happened…over and over and over again.  Before they knew it, he was taking Courtney on an elaborate scavenger hunt in Cozumel, Mexico to lead her to a marriage proposal. She said yes.

You can tell it’s going to be a good wedding when people start getting naked on the dance floor.  This was a raucous party and it was SO much fun. Everything about it was joy. Courtney’s statement that the most unique thing about their wedding would be her and Cody did not disappoint. Courtney is beautiful with a smile that absolutely lights up a room. Together, she and Cody are phenomenal. AND they have some fun friends too.  When two people are happy, laid back and in love, it’s hard to have anything but a good time at their wedding.

And they meant ANY MOMENT. I had SO much fun photographing this wedding because Courtney and Cody were so excited about getting unique photographs. They are another example of a couple who gave me time and access…very intimate access.

The awesomeness started with the getting ready shots. I asked Courtney’s permission before grabbing a shot of Cody enjoying a drink…..in the shower. Um, can you say total highlight shot for me? I also love the shot of Cody standing by the window with the girl in the pool floating on her back. This was so unexpected but the image has such a wonderful balance and surprise to it.

Then for Courtney. Don’t ask me how I did it, but I actually got in her dress to get the shot of her getting in her dress. LOVE! And this wedding was my first wedding after attending Parker Pfister’s Do the Workshop and I really played a lot with double exposures – I love the earring shot. For the first image, I hung her earring from a dark set of dresser drawers to allow the earring to stand out.  Then, for the second image, I photographed Courtney putting on the earrings. Since she is brighter, she glows against the backdrop of the earring, plus you get to see the details of the earring. I adore the shoe shot because it is so different. And one of my favorite technical shots of the day was Courtney standing in front of the window. I asked a bridesmaid to hold a light on her and another bridesmaid to hold one beside me to light a piece of lace that I shot through. It gave such a unique look to a formal photograph.

Could the rest of the day live up to these one-of-a-kind getting ready shots? Absolutely.

During the ceremony, I held a prism off of a chandelier to capture only Courtney, Cody and the preacher, surrounded by rainbow of bright lights. And for the bouquet shot, I channeled my fine art background for a shot with a distinctly Byzantine art feel. And my favorite, favorite shot of the night was the garter shot. I actually got back under Courtney’s dress with a backlight shining through the gown so you can see the detail of Cody pulling the garter off with his teeth. We got to be VERY good friends.

This ranked up as one of my favorite weddings of the year because everyone was so, so open and excited and happy. It was a big ole love scene. I had time to play and they let me do a ton of art shots. Courtney embraced the idea of photography as art and Cody and his friends adored being photographed…the combination resulted in some pretty amazing access and a lot of experimenting.

Courtney and Cody – your epic wedding was as unique as the two of you are. Thanks for letting me play!