Jaclyn + Matt - Wedding Photography at the Foundation Event Facility in Bristol Tennessee
Jaclyn & Matt got married at the Foundation Event Facility in Bristol, Tennessee - right on the border to Virginia. Literally - the Photos we took of them in the road are on the state line and just a couple of steps away from the Ceremony! A Wedding Photographer in Raleigh, North Carolina took to the road and travelled to photograph their wedding - something I love to do! Traveling is one of my favorite things to do & combining it with a beautiful Wedding is just perfect! The two vowed their love for each other in a gorgeous Loft like Location in Downtown. All the decorations were handmade by Jaclyn & her mother - she put a lot of thought into it and I absolutely love how it came out!
"My mother and I are both very crafty people. As soon as Matt and I were engaged I knew that I wanted to do something that fit with our likes and hobbies. We love going to gardens, drinking tea, and especially reading together. While we had some other ideas those were ultimately the ones that stuck for the garden party themed wedding. Pinterest and wedding planning sites like weddingwire were immensely helpful. Down the road from my parents house there is a non-profit used items store that really benefits the community. Most everything is a few dollars or less. I wanted it to be eclectic, organic, and elegant so we got a bunch of different clear glassware and different types of paint in order to do mercury glass and frosted finishes and then of course silver glitter to tie it all together. The books we painted to match the wedding colors and I painted phrases from our relationship, books, movies, songs, etc that we share together. I dug up the moss from the yard and a local river the day before the wedding. Some of the stuff probably would have been easier and probably just as cost effective to buy but I loved all the little personal touches we were able to do by doing it ourselves. For a predominantly DIY wedding though, time is your friend! We were able to pace ourselves over the 11 month engagement, otherwise it would not have been too stressful. I really loved how it all turned out and came together- definitely worth the effort and the cost savings." Jaclyn says.
All of us have heard the phrase "You will find the right one when you aren't looking" - little did the two know that it rang oh so true for them. The two met on the dating site "OK Cupid" completely by chance - and it almost didn't work out because Matt thought Jaclyn was just trying to catfish him! "I was on there because a friend wanted me to activate my old account to check out a guy she was dating. Matt was on there just to change cities since he was going to be moving. Neither of us were actively looking for dates on the site at the time. I had already de-activated my account when I got an email and clicking a link in the email automatically logged me back in. I had to wait 2 weeks to deactivate it again. The day I logged on to delete the profile I got a "like" from Matt. I was interested and sent him a message. He thought I was a fake profile trying to scam him because it was "too good to be true" and tried to disengage from our conversations. I didn't know this though and kept asking him questions. Luckily he's too polite to not answer and so we kept talking. I told him about my 3 years working on crafting the carousel and he googled my name and the Kingsport carousel and a photo came up of me painting or carving. He used the caption to find me on facebook and then realized that I was a legit person! A month later he came to town for a date and 2 months from the day we started talking we became official."
The two are the most adorable couple! So of course I wanted to hear how he proposed to his future bride! "We were hiking at Pine Mountain State Park, and I had been carrying the ring with me waiting for the right moment. On the 3rd day we hiked to a place called Meditation Point. It was sort of a cliff surrounded by much higher cliffs which looked out on a valley. We sat down by a stream pool and I said, “I propose…” which had been a running gag for us, to which she replied “I do, I will." Then I went on one knee and said, “No, I propose. Will you marry me?” And the rest is history."
Congratulations to the happy couple, Jaclyn & Matt Brady! I am so happy that I got to be your Wedding Photographer and to meet two such sweet people!
