Charming historic touches helped to make Annemarie and Ethan’s wedding unique. Beginning with Annemarie’s wedding dress, which was worn by her mother and is an incredible example of how a unique dress can still feel so timeless! The pair had their wedding at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, which is a little historic church just outside Fredericksburg, Virginia. This church is TINY, which means I was a little restricted in what angles I could use but I could quickly navigate the church throughout the ceremony as the solo photographer for the day (something that larger churches can make more difficult). I’m just grateful there were aisles along the side walls of this church, unlike the historic St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church when I photographed Kayla and Isaac’s Catholic wedding in Fairfax Virginia, or the historic Chapel of the Immaculate Conception when I photographed Katherine and Alexander’s Catholic wedding in Leesburg, Virginia. As a Catholic wedding photographer in Northern Virginia, I’ve seen churches of all sizes!

After their sweet and reverent ceremony, the wedding party gathered for portraits over at the reception venue, Stevenson Ridge. Because this was a summer wedding in Northern Virginia, it was swelteringly hot outside so we tried to make the most of a short period of time for wedding party portraits. Thankfully, Stevenson Ridge has a great little cabin on property where the wedding party could gather in cool air before taking photos in the shade out front to get out of the midday sun. The cabin added to the historic, rustic charm of the wedding day and the whole wedding party were good sports about the tough weather situation!

I love a Stevenson Ridge wedding, and this was actually my first time photographing here (if you follow my blog, you may notice I posted Sarah and Max’s wedding at Stevenson Ridge a few weeks ago which actually took place after Annemarie and Ethan’s wedding). I love the timeless, rustic-yet-updated aesthetic inside the venue, complete with two fireplaces and exposed wood beams. Annemarie and Ethan decorated the space with pops of purple florals and table runners and I loved the embracing of color in such an otherwise neutral space!

During the main events of the wedding reception, the large windows in the venue revealed a sudden yet intense rainstorm that made me very nervous about our planned golden hour portraits. We got lucky that it ended up being a pretty quick storm, however, and we were able to still go outside and grab a few minutes of bride and groom portraits before the sun disappeared. The hot air mixed with the intense rain created one of the most humid evenings I’ve ever experienced, though – so much so that one of my camera lenses fogged up completely when I stepped out of the air conditioned venue into the muggy outdoors! Thankfully, I almost always use two cameras with two different lenses to photograph portraits and my camera with my favorite portrait lens did not fog up nearly as much, so we were able to get beautiful photos by the pond.

Back inside, Annemarie and Ethan enjoyed a social reception with their friends and family as they danced to their live band. It was a fun and romantic evening and I am so grateful that Annemarie and Ethan hired me for their wedding reception at Stevenson Ridge, and trusted me as their Catholic wedding photographer.

Florist: Thompson’s Westwood Florist

Engagement Ring: Lisa Lyddon with Tivol

Ceremony Venue: Immaculate Conception

Reception Venue: Stevenson Ridge

Band: Josh Grigsby & County Line

Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes