I’m not sure if there’s a record for how far in advance anyone’s ever booked me but I’m pretty sure Matt and Chelsey had me locked down for their wedding for a good five years LOL!
Way back in the day I first met Matt and Chelsey when I photographed Matt’s senior photos. I’m not even going to say how many years ago that is because that will show how much older I am than them ha ha.
I also did their engagement photos which you can see in another blog post. Those photos absolutely belong in some sort of country music magazine if that’s such a thing.
Jake helped me photograph this wedding and it turned out just beautifully. This was the first time that Jake got to meet everyone in this friend group. Crazy part is that Matt and Chelsea were BFFs of one of my exes and I still was chosen as their wedding photographer. So yeah. We must be pretty good at our job ;) ;)
This was our first wedding ever photographed at Little Acre Farm venue in Athens West Virginia. I actually went to college just up the road from there at Concorde University so I was pretty familiar with the area. This venue is so stunning and I completely understand why they called it little acre farm. Everything is centrally located and it’s all really close to each location. The ceremony parking reception everything is all within walking distance.
When we first got there walked into the reception area I started to cry. It was emotional knowing that these two kids I’ve known since they were in high school were grownups now and they were about to get married.
We did all the fancy getting ready photos and first look with dad. Matt and Chelsea shared a cute little moment at the corner of the wall where they couldn’t see each other before the ceremony.
The ceremony was beautiful out by the pond. I knew half of the people there so it was nice to see some of them. The ceremony was officiated by Jesse, Matt’s grandpa. He did such a great job.
After the ceremony we did our formal photos and then headed back to the reception.
Their reception was one for the books. It gave me PTSD flashbacks from all the weekends I’d spent with these two LOL 😆
We headed back out for some more photos and oh my gosh I love these photos!!! We had to work some special angles for some. Y’all I am such a team player but we did have a videographer who kept getting in our shots. And when I say kept getting in our shots I mean he was in like every single photo LOL 😆 but he was so nice we couldn’t even say anything to him. We just made it work 👏🙌🏻
I’m all for having friends who encourage you. Matt and Chelsey however have friends who encourage them to be alcoholics 😆 if you’re reading this and you don’t know me or Matt and Chelsea you know that I roast them (mostly Matt) all the time so this is nothing new haha.
The sparkler exit at the end of this wedding day is one that I will never forget. The photos are great yes but that’s not why I won’t forget it. There were several sparklers left over (and I mean like 30) and somebody told Chelsea she should hold all of them and light them all at once.
This is when Matt just about became a widow on the same day he said I do. At the time it scared the crap out of me but now the photos are hilarious (she was fine. Everything is fine.)
So yes if you’re looking for a small venue that is easy access for everyone, little acre farm is a perfect fit. If you’re wanting to have a ton of guests it might not be the right choice. But for a wedding with close friends and family it is a gorgeous spot!