One trend I’m noticing lately, and that I love, is the decision to have a small, intimate, weekday wedding with the people nearest and dearest, while still focusing on stunning details and location! Bailey and Sam knew they wanted a smallish wedding, and they knew they wanted it to be in the mountains near Asheville. Bailey contacted me months in advance to begin planning their Asheville elopement, because photography was of the utmost importance to her and Sam — obviously, I think they have their priorities in the right place!

On a gorgeous Monday in October, I headed to Asheville to the Cambria Hotel right in downtown, where Bailey and Sam were (separately) getting ready for their elopement at Addison Farms Vineyards. I will spare you all the long story, because goodness knows I can ramble, but every detail — from the stunning gold necklace that Bailey’s maternal grandmother bought for all her daughters and grandaughters to wear at their weddings, to the phenomenal food at the post-wedding dinner at Market Place in downtown Asheville — was carefully crafted and planned to perfection. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’m going to let the photos from their elopement take over from here!

This necklace that Bailey wore is one of my favorite details from the day. I asked her to tell me the story of it, so here that is in her own words, “My maternal grandmother bought the medallion before any of her three daughters were born. She wanted them to have something so they would know that they were cherished and loved. All three of her daughters wore it for their weddings, as did more than half of her granddaughters. She also worked multiple jobs to provide for her family, and one of her jobs was as a seamstress. She brought a bolt of lace over with her to California in the 70s when she left Guam, and the lace on my bouquet is from that same bolt of fabric.”

I love stories like these, and it’s partly why detail photos are so important to me as a photographer!

Real quick, please please look at Sam’s reaction when he first sees Bailey! I cannot get enough of these!

After the wedding party all enjoyed a cocktail hour in Addison Farm Vineyard’s tasting room, we all headed back to downtown Asheville for the post-ceremony dinner…but not before we took advantage of having the entire Grove Arcade to ourselves for more portraits!

I just adore working with natural light, but if you’ve followed my work at all, you know that I also really love getting the opportunity to supplement lighting for photos indoors (or after dark), and the epaulettes that Bailey added to her gown were practically made for the art deco vibes inside Asheville’s Grove Arcade!