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Upper Shirley Vineyards Wedding : K + T



One of our most memorable weddings from this past year took us pretty far from our home base of Asheville. Meet Kate & Trevor! It’s actually a really cool story how we all connected. Years ago we were shooting an engagement session at The Biltmore for this sweet couple whom we would eventually befriend named Sally and Bryan. Fast forward a little bit, Sally & Bryan were so stoked with their images that they told us they wanted us to photograph their wedding in Bermuda! Kate was actually one of Sally’s bridesmaids, and before we made the trip up to Virginia for her and Trevor’s big day, she actually connected us with her sister Nicole & her fiance (at the time) Matt. Then it was on our way up to PA for their big day. LOL, I swear this isn’t one of those, ‘my sister’s cousin’s uncle’s friend stories’, but we just thought it was so cool how life can go full circle sometimes. After getting to connect with everybody multiple times, it seriously feels like a reunion every time we get together with this crew, especially Kate’s family as they have often made us feel like one of their own. Between the inside jokes, pre wedding parties, and after parties, we are ridiculously grateful to have been a part of so many memories with this amazing group of people.


That’s probably a perfect segue to Kate and Trevor’s wedding. We hit the ground running from the moment we pulled into The Omni in Richmond. It was hugs, catching up, last minute runs to the parking garage and hotel rooms to figure out who was going to hang and where. Off to the bar right down the street! The name didn’t make into the long term memory bank because of the Jack and Jameo, but the good times definitely stuck around! The live punk band playing was hitting seemingly all of the best songs from our college days, and the shepherds pie definitely did not disappoint. We may or may not have been trying to get Trevor a little silly before the big day, but it was all a blur from there (lol).


Their wedding day started off bright and early at the beautiful Upper Shirley Vineyards just outside of Richmond, VA. We picked up right where we left off as laughs & hair spray filled the bridal suite. Everyone sitting around getting ready, telling stories, not really a nervous energy to the day, but tons of excitement! By the time the fellas arrived it was time to dig up the bourbon Trevor and Kate had buried in the weeks prior. If you haven’t heard of this fun tradition, you bury a bottle of bourbon at the sight of where you will have your wedding and the day of the wedding you dig it up for all to enjoy. It’s also supposed to help ward off rain. I can’t speak to the effectiveness of it statistically, but Kate & Trevor had the absolute best weather and light for their wedding, and the bottle definitely provided enjoyment for all. As it oftentimes is, their first look was our favorite part of the day. (For the record, her sister Ally on the dance floor was a close second) Trevor and Kate both prepared letters to read their vows privately to each other before their ceremony. This is one of our absolute favorite trends for our couples and we can’t recommend it enough. They were both emotional, and it gave them a chance to ‘just be’ on their wedding day. The mild temperatures and last remnants of fall color made for the perfect setting as they said their I dos and as you can probably imagine from the stories already shared, the reception was 10 out of 10! We can’t thank Kate and Trevor enough for letting us continue to be a part of their circle and memories. Sending all of our love from NC and we hope everyone enjoy following along!

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