This week’s Atlanta wedding photography blog is Jessie and Matt. They had been planning their wedding for over a year. Jessie and Matt are great planners and so the big day went smoothly.
The wedding venue is Wild Flower 301 in Greensboro, Georgia. The historic venue was built on property purchased by the University of Georgia in 1803 in the hopes of making it a UGA campus, however the towns folk had other ideas and the property was sold to a mill owner who built the southern mansion that is there today. The 5,000 sq. foot estate sits on 2 acres of English style gardens offering on-site accommodations, alongside an additional 7,000 sq. foot wedding venue includes bourbon gardens, first look platform, a private 2 story Newlywed’s Cottage, and Magnolia Terrace. This makes for an ideal backdrop for wedding photos.
I arrived early to survey the property since I had never been there before. The wedding planner was there and gave me a brief tour of the Wild Flower Estate.
Tara, the second photographer, arrived and started working with the ladies. They were getting their makeup done by Bombshell Creations upstairs in the main house. I started on the detail shots of the flowers from Best Life Designs, the in house florist at Wild Flower. Also at the same time the Dj from Dj Connection was setting up for the ceremony and reception.
Once Jessie was ready I got Matt and got him ready for the first look in the garden on the right of the house. I oriented him so he would be facing away from the front entrance. Matt anxiously stood there while Jessie came to meet him for the first time in her wedding dress. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder and turned around. He was in awe of his beautiful bride. They then shared letters that they had written each other for the wedding day. Once they composed themselves we started on the other photos.
We did a few posed photos with individuals and family. One of the photos the couple shared with me had a bottle of champagne in it so I brought a bottle of champagne for a fun group photo. I took the group to the ceremony area and gave the bottle to Matt then told everyone to line up behind him. He opened the bottle of champagne and shook it, spraying the champagne at the camera. It was a joyous start to a wonderful day.
When we finished the bridal party went inside the mansion and the guests started to arrive. They entered through the side garden entrance by the road. They were greeted with a polaroid camera to take photos with and some cool drinks to take with them to the ceremony area. Once everyone was in place the bridal party lined up and entered. Then Jessie’s father escorted her down to Matt who was already on the stage next to Jessie’s brother who performed the ceremony. It was very sweet with vows written by the couple. Within a few minutes they were pronounced husband and wife.
Everyone went to the reception hall, located in front of the mansion. Inside there was Melissa Munger a wedding artist who paints your wedding the day that it happens. Everyone strolled around her canvas and was impressed with the work of art that captured the couple.
While the guests were in the reception area the bride and groom went to the Bourbon Garden. In the garden Jessie and Matt buried a bottle of bourbon a year before when they visited the venue. Burying a bottle of bourbon at your wedding location is a southern tradition that is supposed to bring you good luck and great weather on your wedding day. I must say that they could not have had better weather on the day of their wedding. They recovered the bottle of bourbon and took a toast to celebrate.
The reception was unique just like the couple. They had doughnuts and baklava for the dessert table. For their first dance Jessie changed to a fun spring outfit with custom bridal Air Jordans. Friends and family celebrated their love by dancing and toasting to the newlyweds. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.
Thanks for checking out this Atlanta wedding photographers blog! I hope you enjoyed the read and found it interesting! Make sure you keep coming back to our blog to see what the Atlanta wedding photographers at Atlanta Artistic Weddings get up to! If you’d like to contact me go to the contact page and drop me a line at https://www.atlantaartisticweddings.com/contact-atlanta-wedding-photographer. I would love to hear from you!
Thanks again!