Megan & Tripper’s Winter Wedding | Wellsburg, WV

Hello, everyone!! Get ready….it’s going to be a long one!!! These are my VERY favorite blog posts!! It’s a wedding and when I really, really love something….I talk (or type) A LOT!! It’s not just any wedding either…it’s a winter wedding!! I’m particularly biased because I was a winter bride too!  Every once in a while it’s nice to do an “off season” wedding even though we freeze our buns off!  I won’t lie…there was a time or two when we were all wishing it was summer during the outdoor photo part of the day!! “We are warm.  We’re at the beach.”  That’s what we kept chanting!

So, here we go!  Megan and Tripper were married a little less than two weeks ago on January 28th at Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church in Wellsburg, WV.  They hired me to photograph their wedding a little less than a year ago.  We did their engagement session in a much warmer climate and I knew after that their wedding pictures would be beautiful!  They were great sports and willing to pose and do just about anything!! You’ll see what I mean in a bit.  Despite the cold climate, wet ground, and very beautiful, white dress, Megan was willing to do what we needed to do to get some amazingly, breathtaking images!  It was sooooooo worth it!

Enjoy!!

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Narigon!

Here is a shot of the invitation by Wedding Paper Divas.  I always like to get a shot of this if I can because this is really what starts the whole wedding day (aside from that important proposal, of course)!

Here are some of the beautiful details!

These flowers were GORGEOUS! From what I could tell (and I’m definitely not a florist), everything was live except the white berries, of course.  This bouquet was absolutely stunning….and it held up the whole day!  Wilkin Flower Shop of Wellsburg did a wonderful job!! I had never worked with her prior to this but I highly recommend her now!  (More information at the end of this blog on all the vendors who were a part of this day!)

I stopped by Megan’s house (which happens to be about five houses down from my own home) and caught some shots of her getting her hair done by her own Momma!!!  There was great hair styling going on for the whole bridal party.  Everyone’s hair stayed in place and looked great even by the reception!

After that, I headed to the church.  The guys were there super early, dressed, and ready to go!!  Here’s some nice black and whites of Tripper getting the finishing touches put on.  His dad assisted him with the finer details!

Then, I moved on to Megan!  She takes a stunning black and white image, right?!  That gorgeous dress adds a nice touch too!

Here is more decor by Wilkin Flower Shop!  As mentioned above, this ceremony was held at Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church in Wellsburg, WV.  It’s a nice modern sanctuary to have a wedding ceremony!

I’m not sure anyone expected Tripper’s reaction.  I honestly didn’t expect him to get this emotional because he’s such a bright, happy spirit and a jokester!! This was an amazing moment!! I was so focused on Megan coming down the aisle, I almost…..almost…. missed it!! I happened to see some of the guests faces and flipped around and caught these images.  Sorry, Tripper!! These were just too dang sweet not to share!

Check out the ring bearer below in the bottom right hand corner.  He was so curious about that first kiss!

You know, Tripper claims he doesn’t like his picture taken and then we captured these!  He looks like he belongs in a magazine modeling his tux, right?!! I mean….really….he clearly takes a great photo!

I can’t say it enough.  Megan was a real trooper!! It was 30 degrees.  The snow had melted.  The ground was soggy and muddy…..and she was willing to do and go anywhere it that crazy, beautiful, WHITE dress!!!  We did these formal photos at Brooke Hills Park just next to the church. Most of the park is closed off for the winter so I had to get creative.  We shot these right at the park entrance by the public toll house and on the edge of the golf course!

As you can see, Tripper helped carry her over the soggy ground.  The large photo and the bottom  two photos on the left were shot by my wonderful friend and second shooter that day, Carrie White!  Thanks, Carrie!  This was a great moment!

“We’re warm.  We’re at the beach.  We ARE warm.”  That’s what the bridal party kept chanting. HA!  Needless to say, we snapped these really quick!  The wind was really starting to blow!

Brace yourselves.  We have photos of a stunningly, beautiful winter bride next!! Seriously…..these are eye candy for a photographer!  You know how sometimes we (photographers) have to throw the dress’s train and/or veil in the air to get those fun “blowy” shots…..Well, it was 30 degress AND windy.  How lucky, right?!  Well, for sake of the photos….YES!  But poor Megan, she had goose bumps and somehow she managed not to look frozen in these pictures!  After we shot this next group, we took a break and hopped in the cars for 10 minutes to warm back up!

Once we were warmed up a bit, we got back out and took some more!! We had gobs of time to do bride and groom formals and I think it really shows!!

Now, we’ll move on to the reception.  They had their reception at the St. Francis center in Follansbee, WV.  Check out their first dance!

Their cake is by Ashley Haddox of Simply Sweet Cakes.  The florist added the flowers!

I don’t always show father/daughter and mother/son dances on my blog but these two groups of photos showed some amazing emotion!

Now, let’s get this party started!

We decided to try something fun at the end of the night!  Tripper and I had a heck of a time lighting these sparklers because it was so cold and windy.  We had to huddle together to get them to spark, but it worked!  This was a funny moment too because very few people saw us leave and go outside.  When we came back, guests were frantically looking for the couple!  Not to worry, everyone!! They didn’t leave without saying “goodbye”!

So, that’s that!  These images were some of my favorites from their entire gallery!! They are now going out to be printed!  I can’t wait for Megan and Tripper to see them!! Congrats to the both of you!!!!  It was such a pleasure (and fun time) working with you and your families!

As promised, you will find vendor information for this wedding below.

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Bride’s Dress – Purchased at Sorelle Bridal Salon

Bridesmaid Dresses – David’s Bridal

Groom/Groomsman Attire – Men’s Wearhouse

Florist – Susan Wilkin of Wilkin Flower Shop

Ceremony Venue – Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church – Pastor Bryce Grieco

Reception Venue – St. Francis Center in Follansbee, WV

DJ – David Secrist

Cake – Ashley Haddox of Simply Sweet Cakes

Invitations – Wedding Paper Divas

Hair/Makeup – Tracy Johnston (Mother of the Bride)