Meet claire + chad...
Claire and Chad became college sweethearts when they met at a dorm party at the University of Notre Dame their freshman year of college. Claire was just visiting for the weekend from Dayton, OH, where she went to school. Little did she know that she would meet her future husband that weekend. They quickly became friends and started dating the next year. They did years of long distance (including a time when Chad was in Italy for his architecture program), before finally both getting jobs in the same city of Atlanta, GA, after college. Finally dating and discerning marriage in person was a breath of fresh air for this couple!
When they got engaged, they knew they wanted to get married at Christ the King Cathedral in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA—not only because that's where they attend Mass, but also for it's breathtaking architecture. When Claire and Chad reached out to us to capture their day, they explained how it was important to them for their photos to highlight the architecture of the Cathedral as it lifts the eyes to heaven. It's not every day that we get to capture a wedding in a Church like that so we were beyond excited for the challenge. Check out some of their highlights below.
pre-ceremony
Coverage of Claire and Chad's day started an hour before their wedding Mass, which was enough time to snag a quick and simple flat lay, a first look with the bride and her dad, some bridal portraits, groom portraits, and architecture shots of the Church. This time went by so quickly, but we loved some of the images we were able to capture before the day really got going!
nuptial mass
The nuptial Mass began at noon with a beautiful liturgy. While the Mass is always heavenly because Jesus is always present, getting to partake in the liturgy in such a magnificent Cathedral was even more special as one's eyes couldn't help but be drawn upward. The giant crucifix with the tabernacle holding Jesus under it, was the backdrop as the couple exchanged vows and promised to love each other until death. Just like Our Lord died for us, through their vows, Claire and Chad promised to die to themselves every day out of love for the other. THIS is why we do what we do and getting to capture these moments is such a grace for us, too!
couple portraits
We were able to have three different points throughout the day for couple portraits, which gave a lot of variety and depth to the couple portraits in Claire and Chad's gallery.
The first portrait session time was right after the Mass at the Cathedral. The church had a tight window on time after the Mass because of a few other weddings happening that day, so we had about 15 minutes to grab whatever couple portraits we wanted at the church. We quickly snagged a few family photos in front of the altar before hopping into couple portraits in the church and then a few outside! Little did we know that all of the guests were waiting for the bride and groom outside the church doors, so we got an impromptu exit from the church, too!
After leaving the Cathedral, we drove around the corner to a small little neighborhood park in Buckhead called The Duck Pond Park, which was the perfect backdrop for our second and longest portrait session with the couple. It was mid-day with bright sun, so we found shade where we could and embraced the direct sun when we needed to as well!
Our last portrait session time was right before entering the reception at The Biltmore Ballrooms in downtown Atlanta. The couple wanted some photos in the courtyard so we snagged about 5-10 minutes of photos there before they walked in to join the cocktail hour.
group photos
While we captured just a few family portraits at the church, the majority of the family portraits and bridal party photos took place at The Duck Pond park and the Biltmore Ballrooms. We snagged these right before the couple portraits and had some fun with the bridal party.
the reception
The reception at The Biltmore Ballrooms was one of our favorite parts of the day (after the Mass of course) not only because it was a blast, but also because the venue was so gorgeous and we love the way we were able to catch light streaming through with detail photos. Our coverage ended at 8PM, which gave us enough time to capture all of the formalities and about 30 minutes of dancing photos.
thank you!
Special shoutout to all of the amazing vendors of Claire and Chad's day! We were so grateful to be able to work with each of them. It was a beautiful, fun, joyful, and sacred day and we hope you enjoyed living it through our lenses!
Vendors:
- Church: Cathedral of Christ the King, Buckhead Atlanta, Georgia
- Portraits: The Duck Pond Park, Buckhead
- Reception: The Biltmore Ballrooms
- Photography: The Delac Collective
- Videography: Compass Films
- Hair and Makeup- Beauty Asylum
- Florist- Peachtree Petals
- DJ- DJDre1800
- Caterer- Talk of the Town
- Bridesmaids Dresses- Revelry
- Invitations- The Knot
- Wedding Cake- Cakes by Anna
- Crooner- Conner Lorre
