John & Katy: Snowy Mountain Lake Lodge Christmas Themed Wedding

If you remember from what I wrote for their engagement session, John & Katy aren’t just clients, they are dear, dear friends. Katy and I have known each other and been friends our whole lives. We were less than a year old when our paths crossed and we’ve been friends ever since!

Katy is such a dear friend, that I asked her to be a bridesmaid at my wedding! When Katy told me she was getting married, she also asked me to a bridesmaid, but also asked if I’d be her photographer! I, of course, said YES to both!

Being a bridesmaid and photographer does have its own set of challenges, but that is for an entirely different blog post! Today is all about John & Katy’s wedding day!

It’s funny because here in Virginia, we’ve had an incredibly MILD winter with average temperatures being in the 60s and even climbing into the 80s! It’s been crazy. BUT there was one cold snap in December and it was none other than on their wedding weekend!

Matt and I drove up to the Mountain Lake Lodge Friday evening and began to notice snow flurries. It was an enjoyable sight, but we didn’t think anything of it. Well by the time it was dark, the snow was sticking! Everything was covered in a thin, but beautiful layer of white powder and I was praying it would stick around for the next day. And you know what? IT DID!! It may have been in the 20s with a wind chill of much cooler, but these portraits are some of my favorite! It may have been strange for this winter season, but it was the perfect addition to John & Katy’s Christmas-themed wedding!

Everything was so spirited with hues of red and green. Katy’s bouquet is one of my favorites ever being full of red roses, green pines, and pine cones! LOVED it as well as all the Christmas trees, fire places, candles, cranberries. It was perfect just 6 days before Christmas.

Enjoy these unique photos both because of the snow and because I’m in a lot of them! My family was even present and it was so fun to have so many people I loved at a wedding I was working! Haha. A huge thank you to Hillary for being the photographer when I was a bridesmaid and to Matt for jumping in as a second shooter!