Gerry & Jason

A Wedding at Stowe Manor

This Charlotte wedding is so near and dear to my heart. I told the story of how I met Gerry and Jason separately when I posted their engagement session. Being friends with both of them, I was so honored when they asked me to photograph their wedding. I was even more excited when I found at that it would be a destination wedding at the beautiful Stowe Manor in North Carolina. There’s really nothing I love more than photographing a wedding at a location that’s new to me :) My husband and a few of our friends made a weekend out of it, traveling up to Charlotte for the weekend. We joined Gerry and Jason for their rehearsal dinner at a really cool brewery with beer and tacos inside and a fire pit outside. Joined with their amazingly fun wedding party and friends, that was basically the recipe for a really fun night :)

The day of their wedding, I showed up to the Stowe Manor to find Gerry all smiles. This is pretty much how she always is, now that I think about it. Full of life, welcoming you in. And when I saw Jason for the first time on his wedding day, you could tell that he just couldn’t wait to see Gerry walk down the aisle.

They had an early afternoon ceremony, followed by lunch and dancing. Can I just say that I LOVE early afternoon weddings?! I don’t know why, but there is just something so romantic about them. Even though it was only 2pm, that didn’t stop any of their friends from putting on a pretty awesome dance party. At the reception, Gerry changed into a traditional Vietnamese dress, the beautiful red one you will see below. It is called an Ao Dai, and is red because that is the color of luck in Vietnamese culture. (Her maid of honor was also wearing a red necklace. I love when couples tie in their cultural traditions to their wedding!) One of the moments that I still laugh about is right after the cake cutting. (The cake cutting was great too, when Gerry put the whole plate of cake into Jason’s face…)  It is a tradition to have a little competition with the champagne bottles. As the tradition goes, whoever’s bottle pops first wears the pants :)  For some reason, Gerry’s cork must have been pretty loose, because with very minimal shaking her cork went flying. Jason’s mom was standing across from them getting ready to move, but she basically had to drop down to the ground to avoid being hit. Luckily, no one was hurt, and everyone was doubled over in laughter. Way to start off your relationship with your new mother-in-law, Gerry ;)

Thank you so much to Gerry and Jason for letting me be a part of your wedding day! I can’t wait til the next time y’all come visit Charleston!