Stories
Oakland Cemetery for engagement photos? I know, right?! Who would suggest that place? …me! I would! Anyone who has lived inside Atlanta for any amount of time has some familiarity with Oakland Cemetery. The grounds are absolutely stunning. Not only is Oakland Cemetery one of the largest green spaces in Atlanta, it also sits on six acres!
Located in the Historic West End of Atlanta, Monday Night Garage is the newest location for Monday Night Brewing focusing on sours, barrel aged and experimentation! The space is expansive and eclectic making it the perfect backdrop for a wedding day. From the brick, to the barrels, to greenery and let’s talk about all the mismatched chandeliers throughout - it was easy to see why Lenssa and Shelton fell in love with this space for their wedding day.
When Holly asked me if I travel for weddings, of course, my response was Y E S! Because Holly and Adam’s wedding would be in Charleston we racked our brains to come up with an engagement session location that was travel friendly for me and something a little different for them. After much googling, we found Savannah Rapids Pavilion.
The DeKalb History Center is one of my favorite venues to photograph weddings at. From the grand windows, the marble throughout, and just all around vibe of the wedding venue. If you aren’t familiar with the DeKalb History Center you may know it as the Historic DeKalb Courthouse! ..and if you aren’t familiar with either of those names let me give you a little history about the building.
The building use to serve as the old courthouse! Now it houses permanent and temporary exhibits relating to the County’s history along with a lot of wonderful weddings! Alesha and Nick complimented the venue with greenery and blush colors in the florals along with the bridesmaids in sage and the groomsmen in classic grey with sage ties really sets the stage for this summer wedding.
Alesha and Nick were ready when it came to portrait session time. They also booked an engagement session with me, so they knew my mumbo jumbo wording when it comes to posing and the different cues I like to use. This made it so easy to get a lot of different wedding portraits for their wedding day.
During their engagement session we went to Piedmont Park and then we literally just walked around the streets of Atlanta letting the vibe come to us. See more of their engagement session HERE. Exploring the city and letting the city come to us for their photos really allowed us to get to know each other. They really got a chance to see how I photograph in ALL situations and I really got to know them as a couple.
There were so many special little touches this couple did for their wedding day that truly made it their own. Like you saw above, Alesha had each of her bridesmaids along with her mother help her into her dress. As you are going to see below, Nick had a very special ring security as part of his groomsmen.
The desserts! How fun and perfect the brushing on the cake and in the exact colors of Alesha’s color pallet and who doesn’t love a cupcake with sprinkles! Metrotainment Bakery really pulled out the stops here with this amazing display of wedding dessert!
GLOW STICKS! A wedding exit with glow sticks is a great option if you feel your guests aren’t responsible enough to hold a sparkler (yes, some couples do have that fear, ha ha), or if your venue doesn’t allow sparklers or if you are just looking for something different. There is no right or wrong way to exit from your wedding plus the glow sticks make for a fun reception time! Alesha and Nick handed out their glow stick close to their exit time, so their guests got the opportunity to dance with them and allowed me to capture a different type of dancing photos. When it was time to exit all everyone had to do was go outside. Easy Peasy!
Venue: DeKalb History Center
Photographer: Krisandra Evans
Planner: Wedding Belles
Florist: Candler Park Flowers
Beauty: Shadani Beauty
Caterer: Fox Bros
Desserts: Metrotainment Bakery
DJ: SE Events
Arabia Mountain is the northern of two peaks in the nature preserve, in DeKalb County, Georgia and literally down the road from my house. I had never been there before this engagement session with Shea and Cody, but had heard of the mountain many many times before. This location is special to Shea and Cody because they, as a couple, spend a lot of time here. When they asked if I would take their engagement photos there I was beyond excited. It’s always fun for me to get to explore a new location with an amazing couple. So, I left it in their hands to show me around the mountain and I was able to capture just how much they love Arabia mountain and each other.
You can consider where you first met, where you got engaged, your hometown, a place you visit often OR you can consider a place you have never been to before for your engagement photos. You can then get amazing outfits to compliment those locations and plan the perfect time of day and day of the week with your Atlanta wedding photographer and make killer engagement images! All it takes is a little planning and your engagement session can be more than just a trial run in front of the camera before your big day.
Spring has sprung! Welcome to Spring everyone. Welcome to pollen and mosquitos and BBQ’s and late afternoon hangs and bumble bees and all the fun things that come along with longer days. And welcome to the amazing golden light that fills the air!
McDaniel Farm Park is such a diverse space for every season, but there is just something about when the land starts to bloom and start fresh for the year that I had to suggest it to this family for their session. With concrete and natural paths this park is suitable for everyone. The park has so many great options like the pathways, or the fencing, a bridge, a barn, you name it!
Hitting it off instantly, they had their first date after a week of talking and on their second date he knew she was THE one. After 11+ months he recreated their first date down to what he was wearing and even what was on tv that night. He had his guitar wrapped around him and he played a song he had written officially asking for her hand before getting down on one knee, using her full name, and asked her to marry him. SWOON
When I hear “backyard wedding” I start envisioning so many different possiblities. But none of what I was thinking about was enough to prepare me for Lauren and Katherine’s backyard wedding. They set the bar really high when it comes to having a wedding at home. Being an Atlanta Wedding Photographer and well, wedding photographer in general, I have seen a lot of backyard weddings, but this Atlanta wedding was one to write home about.
This wonderful newly engaged couple wanted to do something a little different with their engagement photos, something winter like. After calling around to many different venues near and far and looking at schedules and watching the weather radar literally minute by minute, and 53 emails... we made some engagement beautiful images. Their couple style is so much fun, so loving and just as real as they come.
You know those days where you wake up and you know it's just going to be ah-mazing! Well, that is how this whole wedding weekend was in Hilton Head. As a full time Atlanta Wedding Photographer, I make it a habit not to drive more than 3 hours in a day to a wedding because after photographing for 8-10 hours and driving.. DEAD. So with the travel time of just over 4 hours there, 10 hours photographing, and 4 hours back; I decided to drive in the night before. So glad I did. I had never been to Hilton Head before and it was a much needed change of scenery. You couldn't have ask for a better breeze, whiter sands, perfect blue sky and just the right amount of overcast.
The wedding was held at this great compound on Bradley Beach called 5 Urchin Manor. When I say this was a compound, I mean it was a compound! The total number of people this place can sleep is 21! This place was breathtaking.
At every wedding something.. SOMETHING gets tangled in the wedding dress. On this wedding day it was "sea urchins". Not really sea urchins, but those grass burrs that are super prickly and stick to your shoe laces.. yea those things. But, we all laughed it off including some beach goers.
The wedding reception was intimate and beautifully set with peaches in the center pieces and the most delicious BBQ for dinner under a tent in the middle of the compound. The guests signed a globe and left bucket list ideas for the couple. Their first dance was adorable and they actually tricked me! If you have been to as many weddings as I have you see couples choreograph their first dance where they start out slow dancing and the DJ back spins a song or makes it seem like the song messed up.. well that happened here and I actually thought the song messed up - BUT it didn't. They did this fun high energy dance together and had everyone on their feet.
OH MY GOSH and let me tell you about the dueling pianos they had for the reception.. SO FUN! I was literally laughing all night. There wasn't a song they couldn't play. If you ever get a chance to see dueling pianos, you totally should. It was a unique idea for this wedding day and I was so excited to see the performance leading up to the wedding day. The show did not disappoint. Between the pianos and the guests reacting to the pianos, the reception was one for the books.
Not all wedding days have a formal exit and that is OK! I always try to make an "ending" photograph just because I feel it completes the album in my weird way. Since this couple was staying at the compound they did not "exit", but the groom sure did end the night by singing Tom Jones to his bride! And let me add, he sang extremely well.
Personalized touches is what helps me get to know the couple I photograph. Most times I don't get a lot of time to get to know the couple that brings me along on their wedding journey due to time or distance or what ever reason. Spending over 8 hours with someone on the wedding day, you should most definitely feel comfortable with each other and you should be able to have fun!
Venue: 5 Urchin Manor
Photographer: Krisandra Evans Photography
Coordinator: Cindy Brown
Florist: Tracy Inglesby
Caterer: Bess Soper
Salon: LUSH
OCALA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
There isn't a bad location at the Georgian Terrace hotel. Trust me. I've literally been all over that place. It is just stunning - EVEN THE ELEVATORS! Then you add an amazing bride, beautiful flowers, good vibes and you are setup for a fantastic day. And that is just what Kelly and Chris got! They were good sports too! I have them alllll over that hotel and the Georgian Terrace is no small space. I even had them on the roof top. Given the proper amount of time, we will hit all the portrait locations at your venue. I shoot fast for a wedding photographer, test me (haha).
Seriously, do you see what I mean? Just stunning. This is a dream location for any Atlanta Wedding Photographer. Having a wedding in a location like this means you can pretty much have free range of the venue to take portraits (I even got roof top access for the wedding party photos! See a few photos below). If you give me 25 minutes for your portrait session, I will take 26. If you give me 45 minutes for your portrait session I will take 46. I will use every minute you give me.
ROOF TOP ACCESS! yessssssssss. Did I mention I was afraid of heights? Well, lets just say the elevator ride up was interesting to say the least. Like it was high enough to make my ear pop. And all of us in one elevator, ah! Usually, if I keep photographing I am able to block out the scary things like height or bugs or tight spaces.... I have to because you hired me as your wedding photographer and I can't come with a list of things I won't do. I have been part of an helicopter exit. So imagine me on the roof top with no safety rails and a helicopter and a bride and a groom plus the wedding party! Now a helicopter exit, let me tell you how scared I was that I was going to be so busy photographing and not paying attention and get my head chopped off (LOL) - seriously. But, I'm getting off task here. Lets focus! OH, but not before I tell you what happened at my most recent wedding where I sat my camera bag on the ground and somewhere in the ground was a nest of baby spiders, so my bag got covered with hundreds of baby spiders DURING the ceremony. Talk about professional... no one even knew ;-)
Georgian Terrace Wedding Photographer, right?! Ok.
I have to give a shout out to all the amazing vendors this day. Not only did they work with my crazy timeline of wanting to hit all these great locations, but they made sure I had access to each location. And of course to Kelly and Chris for having me along on their wedding day journey. It was truly a pleasure to work with you both and your families. Thank you for trusting my vision. Best wishes for the future!
Wedding Planner: Peachy Keen Planners
Florist and Decor: Peachy Keen Decor
Venue: The Georgian Terrace Hotel
Photographer: Krisandra Evans Photography
OCALA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Alright, so real talk - I am the worst for showing the sessions I photograph. Its not because they aren't awesome, because they are really. Its because, well, I'm busy shooting all these amazing sessions and talking with you! But, with baseball opening weekend just passing I had to come back to this baseball engagement session because it's that good.
So, let's go back to early 2016. March to be exact. This is Pam and Thomas. They needed some engagement photos since they were having a destination wedding (no, I was not the wedding photographer, sadly). Sometimes this happens! Sometimes couple will hire a local photographer to do their engagement session and hire a local (their destination) photographer to photograph their wedding like me who is an Atlanta wedding photographer.
But yes, they wanted some engagement photographs and came to me with the best ideas. First they wanted to start on a baseball field and ending at a private lake just on the other side and a small climb behind the field. Me to them, "OMG, yes!! Let's do all of that". I had been dying to photograph a baseball engagement session being a huge Atlanta Braves fans and living no further than 6 miles from former Turner Field at any given time over the last 7 years.
Now of course this amazing location isn't located inside Atlanta and I do no mind driving for these amazing locations. I really like to create images for my couples that are special and important to them otherwise you might as well go to JC Penny or Picture People and have standard portraits done. Right? RIGHT!
Just before sunset we had climbed down this little hill and then down a small trail to where they like to bring their dogs. Now when they described this lake to me, I imagined this magical place, but you really never know what you are going to get on any given day. Overcast, dry spell that has the lake level low, someone could have mowed the grass... but this area - holy moly! OH and there was champagne which makes everything better.
Being a wedding photographer in Atlanta allows me to get to visit all these great places. There are SO many place I have yet to photograph in and yet SO many places I have photographed in. Every couple has their own idea of what they want from their engagement session and even if its the same location that has been used before, it hasn't been used before with that particular couple. So, when you book your engagement session with me I will ask you your ideas on location and we will come up with something unique that you are excited about! Good chances are that if you are not excited, I won't be excited either. Then it really just becomes a formality at that point and if that is the case... I am not the photographer for you. Because let's be honest, you will get better results at Walmart.
My couples are important to me, so important in fact that I forget the other side of wedding photography. The other side which is showing YOU ALL the weddings I photograph. Well, it's time to change that. I have so many amazing wedding days to show! So let's start here, with Katie and Ryan in North Carolina at Camp Pinnacle!
Yep, I travel for weddings. My couples are so awesome, how could I not?! (Have current passport, will travel- just putting that out there in case anyone wants to elope to some random amazing place) Camp Pinnacle is one of those locations that is close enough to Atlanta that I can do it in a day. Drive up, shoot, drive back. That is the great thing about being an Atlanta Wedding Photographer is that so many amazing venues are really within driving distance to each side! You can get to Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and all over Georgia!
So yea, Camp Pinnacle is a pretty awesome venue, very similar to some that I have photographed here in Georgia. It's exactly what the name suggests, A CAMP! So there is all sorts of open space, amazing tree lines, loads of cabins, an amphitheater with seating, covered picnic area, and of course in the middle of the mountains on a lake. These types of venues are a lot of fun because you rent them out and then your wedding party and/or family can stay in the cabins and you get full access to all the camp has to offer! Not only is it a wedding, but a mini vacation for everyone else. Not that your wedding day is about anyone else, but some people may travel far or some of them may work harder than others for your wedding day. It's nice to able to offer something like this to those people.
And hey - sometimes its even the bride and groom who travel too! This actually was that type of wedding. The bride and groom use to live in Georgia, but not anymore. We actually did their engagement session (which I still haven't blogged well because yea I am behind) when they were in town checking on the wedding planning part of things! I really need to blog that engagement session. It was a good one. We literally just walked around Cabbagetown and hung out. I should blog that one soon.
What I really loved about this wedding day though is that they made it like it was at a camp! From the custom camp sign, using all the property (for ceremony, getting ready, photos), bbq for dinner, and just a really relaxed vibe throughout the night. They didn't try to make it something it wasn't like making all the bridesmaids wear stay in heels at camp, haha, which I have seen before. And that says a lot for your wedding day and how your reception will go. If you make your guests feel at home comfortable you can almost guarantee that you will have to kick people out at the end of the night.
CAMP PINNACLE WEDDING CEREMONY
ATLANTA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER KRISANDRA EVANS
