Asheville North Carolina is such a beautiful place, and Hidden River is one of those beautiful venues in this beautiful place. Tanya and Kyle’s morning started low key, and I was able to stay the night before to get myself acquainted with the land and I just couldn’t help but adore the landscape as the sun rose. Since Kyle’s Family comes from the west coast, they got to do a fun family road trip across the country just for the best wedding ever! Even though I got to see Tanya super early in the morning, I was starting with Kyle in the morning with him getting Ready before going to Tanya for her Shenanigans. Kyle and his family were so cute, were super organized for family photos and they just loved being together. Weddings are the best for Family Reunions!

Karissa is this super chill, down to party, excellent planner and visionary who is extraordinarily smart and compassionate - did I mention she was a teacher? I love all my teachers! They are always the most organized and prepared ;-) John is this kind, soft spoken, means what he says, dutiful and super considerate man who would do ANYTHING for Karissa. He’s such a nice guy, he’s the type of guy who wants the best for everyone, especially for Karissa on her day. Part of his considerateness is that he got White Claws and had it delivered to her room in an ice bucket to keep cool, like... come on how much nicer than to be thinking of making sure you’re soon to be spouse to properly hydrated AM I RIGHT?!

So if anyone knows me, knows that I am on time if not early so I like to get myself presentable and head on out to the venue as soon as possible. Little did I know, that I needed to run an ERRAND this particular day! I get a phone call asking for a favor, apparently… the couple was already at the venue, but the groom forgot his dress shirt in the apartment in Albany. Good thing I was ready to go! So I decided to drop by Downtown Albany and pick up the dress shirt, no fuss, no muss, Thank goodness for good roommates and landlords!

Sarah and Tom have been anxiously and excitedly WAITING for this day. I’ve been in constant contact with them the entire time, planning and helping them map out what their day would look like with me and coordinating with other events of the day. Luckily we had the Amazing Alexis who is the Maid of honor and a previous Jay Zhang Photography Bride in the KNOW of how a wedding day goes and she was on top of EVERYTHING. It always helps when your best friend is also experienced, aint that right Alexis?!
When I got there, I could tell there was some nervous energy, and they were grateful I was early (mostly because i’m always anxious i’ll be late, so I show up early!). With that in mind, I started early just so we can get the ball rolling and ease some anxious energy!

Haley and Henry have known each other for a very long time, grew up in the same neighborhood and separated by collegiate endeavors but even distances apart couldn’t separate these two for long before they decided to be with each other again. When I think about these two, I think about two people who have been married for YEARS. The subtle inside jokes, the quirky smirks and side eyes, the reminiscing of when they were kids, the ideas of the future together, these are just a few of the things that make up Long Term Love.

A hot summer Wedding was exactly what we needed on this day as the sun beamed on everyone’s excited faces. John in his usual goofy self was so excited to be marrying Sarah today but you could see the little bit of nervousness peek through when he wasn’t focusing on not being nervous. to ease up the getting ready tensions, his side of the party got to play some lawn games and hang out on the property while Sarah also prepared for the day. Did you know she is a jewelry maker? What better way to commemorate the day than by making your own jewelry on your own day. She was BEAMING with beauty, and she was definitely a little nervous about the details of the day and hoping that it just goes well. More importantly, she was excited to see John.

What a day this day was for Kate and Erik’s Wedding! There was an upcoming rain storm that was going to hit at sometime close to ceremony and there was so much left to do and things to plan for! When I arrived at the prep area for Lord Howe Valley, the ladies were almost done finishing up and the boys were quickly on their way, so we took this opportunity to take a couple of photos of the dress in one of the empty prep areas before they came. Everyone was in great spirits, ready to party and ready to celebrate and Kate looked absolutely GORGEOUS with her hair and make up done. First Look was going to be an amazing time!

This was definitely a day of new experiences, new adventures, lots of anticipation, and lots of family (chosen and related)! Kristin and Tj are two sides of the same coin - they both love a good ski adventure up a mountain and they love to party with their friends. The only thing that would make it better would be to have their wedding on top of a mountain, OF WHICH THEY DID. Kristin was a little anxious and ready to see TJ in his full attire and TJ was nervous as all heck - lets just add that they’ll go up to the top to do their first look and some photos and the wait time in between everything. THE ANTICIPATION WAS KILLING ME.

The day starts with A TON of laughing, perfect - that means we’re in for a PARTY. I get to Katie’s room and one of the bridesmaids is DEFINITELY keeping the party vibes on high (You the true MVP). There was no shortage of laughing, champagne, beautiful details and loving family in this room. Before her mom gets to put on her dress we take a couple of photos of Katie and her Bridesmaids on the balcony and a small champagne toast. When Katie is all buttoned up in her dress, we did a quick first look with Dad and then I moved into Ryan’s room to capture some details as he gets ready. His sister helps him put on his jacket and a family friend/florist help pin the flower and we quickly whisk ourselves away to get ready for the First Look before it starts to have the IDEA of rain.

On this day, in the zenith (SAT Word right there) of the Autumnal season where there are plenty of beautiful colors to be had, Asia and Tammy get MARRIED. Like every couple, they’ve been waiting to have this day together for a while now, and its quite obvious (you will see in a minute) that when someone says “If you cry, I will cry” that its true for this silly, laugh it off type couple. When Tammy cried at the ceremony, Asia cried, and then I CRIED (even if you won’t have proof)

This day was always going to be beautiful and things couldn’t have gone any better on this wedding day! The weather was perfectly blue with a couple smattering of clouds just to keep everyone a little cooler on a hot August day. They both wanted to do a first look (My favorite!) and they were going to do it as a back to back but the one challenge, They both wanted to get ready in the upstairs room with the family that was more important to them.

On THIS day in July, It was a hot day - Ironically enough we were all worried there would be rain so we were first coming up with a rain plan - then as the days got closer, it was definitely NOT going to rain. Instead, Mother Nature said “Let there be sun” and TONS of it. It was a hot and humid day, thank goodness for AC at the Marriott Troy and Takk House because we took advantage of all the cool interiors as much as possible.

Sam and Jeremy are such Sweet people, low key, chill and always thinking about their loved ones - Even on their own wedding day! They honestly just wanted to celebrate their day in the least resistance and more relaxed way possible, and FOR SURE it was a success. They would do anything for each other and have been with each other through some good times and some hard times and whatever waves may come crashing on their shores, they are ready to weather it together (CUE The cheesy alert). But Seriously though, Portland Maine where they live, at a BREWERY with Family, LOWKEY drinks and dancing all night, and an after party at a pub. If this doesn’t say Sam and Jeremy, I don’t know what does!

Its amazing what memories come flooding back when I’m creating these blogs and it just reminds me that I love doing this because I love storytelling. Sam and Kevin have been waiting for this day for a while and we definitely talked over the logistics of the day to death on how it was going to go down because THIS WEEKEND WAS MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND. Why was this important? Well…

This Winter Wedding was supposed to be the type of wedding that people would talk about - AND BOY was this a freaking crazy story! The night before, I come into town to stay the night at the hotel so that things would be smooth sailing on the day of - Fast forward to me driving down the interstate hours before a major snow storm trying to safely make it to the venue. Thankfully, I made it with close to half an hour before i start to see flurries out the windows….