This was my first wedding back from maternity leave and it was surprisingly refreshing to shoot again.  Jaymi and Jeremy were married at Mechanicsville Advent Christian Church with a reception at the Hanover Arts & Activities Center in Ashland on October 11th.  They added their own signature to their ceremony by playing a slideshow just as the ceremony began and a video as Jeremy waited for Jaymi’s father to bring her down the aisle.

We took a few photos on the campus of Randolph Macon and around downtown Ashland before the reception.  Train tracks go right through town and we took advantage of a passing train.  Much to our surprise it was hauling some rather fragrant garbage through town, I promised the couple I would mention that here so you know how adventurous they were to have posed in front of it!

Jaymi and Jeremy’s reception celebrated a passion that we share with them: beer!  The groomsmen received engraved beer mugs as gifts and the favors were pint glasses reading, “I stole this glass from Jaymi and Jeremy’s Wedding”… we were pretty excited to add that pint glass to our collection.  One fond memory from our own wedding was when the wedding coordinator grabbed the bottled microbrew I was drinking at the reception right out of my hand exclaiming, “ladies don’t drink out of bottles!”  I quickly snatched it back and growled that I was no lady.  Sam put his arm around me and beamed with pride: that’s my beer loving bride, he thought.  Had I known you could get a beer coozie that said “Bride” like Jaymi had, I may have been drinking from a glass and that awkward exchange may never have happened.

Check out the fallish spin Jaymi put on baby blue by pairing it with deep browns, I loved her bouquet that included soft hydrangea, fragrant eucalyptus, and what looked like wheat (a nod to brewing, perhaps?).  The bridesmaids wore flattering brown gowns with lace bodices tied with velvet ribbon, one of the most unique choices I have seen in awhile.  Check it out:

Now that I have a son I have a whole new appreciation for mother son dances.  I was trying hard not to tear up…

There was a bit of confusion during the exit…  Jaymi and Jeremy were navigating through the pitch black dark while being pelted with birdseed and understandably made a wrong turn, missing the getaway car and running smack into me as I tried to get out of the way… it was pretty hilarious.  My husband, photojournalist extraordinaire, managed to capture an extreme action shot of Mel demonstrating the hidden dangers of wedding photography…

Here’s a slideshow with our favs from the day and if you would like to see their online gallery, click here.  Thanks to Jaymi and Jeremy for hosting such a crazy party and for having such a wonderful sense of adventure and humor.

It was great to get back to shooting, I only called home once, I was so good!  And it was even better to get home and love on that baby boy.