Stories
East Atlanta Wedding Photographer
Located in the Historic West End of Atlanta, Monday Night Garage is the newest location for Monday Night Brewing focusing on sours, barrel aged and experimentation! The space is expansive and eclectic making it the perfect backdrop for a wedding day. From the brick, to the barrels, to greenery and let’s talk about all the mismatched chandeliers throughout - it was easy to see why Lenssa and Shelton fell in love with this space for their wedding day.
When Holly asked me if I travel for weddings, of course, my response was Y E S! Because Holly and Adam’s wedding would be in Charleston we racked our brains to come up with an engagement session location that was travel friendly for me and something a little different for them. After much googling, we found Savannah Rapids Pavilion.
The DeKalb History Center is one of my favorite venues to photograph weddings at. From the grand windows, the marble throughout, and just all around vibe of the wedding venue. If you aren’t familiar with the DeKalb History Center you may know it as the Historic DeKalb Courthouse! ..and if you aren’t familiar with either of those names let me give you a little history about the building.
The building use to serve as the old courthouse! Now it houses permanent and temporary exhibits relating to the County’s history along with a lot of wonderful weddings! Alesha and Nick complimented the venue with greenery and blush colors in the florals along with the bridesmaids in sage and the groomsmen in classic grey with sage ties really sets the stage for this summer wedding.
Alesha and Nick were ready when it came to portrait session time. They also booked an engagement session with me, so they knew my mumbo jumbo wording when it comes to posing and the different cues I like to use. This made it so easy to get a lot of different wedding portraits for their wedding day.
During their engagement session we went to Piedmont Park and then we literally just walked around the streets of Atlanta letting the vibe come to us. See more of their engagement session HERE. Exploring the city and letting the city come to us for their photos really allowed us to get to know each other. They really got a chance to see how I photograph in ALL situations and I really got to know them as a couple.
There were so many special little touches this couple did for their wedding day that truly made it their own. Like you saw above, Alesha had each of her bridesmaids along with her mother help her into her dress. As you are going to see below, Nick had a very special ring security as part of his groomsmen.
The desserts! How fun and perfect the brushing on the cake and in the exact colors of Alesha’s color pallet and who doesn’t love a cupcake with sprinkles! Metrotainment Bakery really pulled out the stops here with this amazing display of wedding dessert!
GLOW STICKS! A wedding exit with glow sticks is a great option if you feel your guests aren’t responsible enough to hold a sparkler (yes, some couples do have that fear, ha ha), or if your venue doesn’t allow sparklers or if you are just looking for something different. There is no right or wrong way to exit from your wedding plus the glow sticks make for a fun reception time! Alesha and Nick handed out their glow stick close to their exit time, so their guests got the opportunity to dance with them and allowed me to capture a different type of dancing photos. When it was time to exit all everyone had to do was go outside. Easy Peasy!
Venue: DeKalb History Center
Photographer: Krisandra Evans
Planner: Wedding Belles
Florist: Candler Park Flowers
Beauty: Shadani Beauty
Caterer: Fox Bros
Desserts: Metrotainment Bakery
DJ: SE Events
When I think of wedding day bliss I automatically think of Courtney and Nick’s wedding day at Naylor Hall in Roswell, GA. From the rainy and foggy morning, getting behind on the timeline, the beautiful venue, and fun cake! Nothing could wipe the smiles and tears from the couples’ faces. There was even a tearjerker first look with Courtney’s dad that had us laughing and crying at the same time.
The wedding day first look with the couple is one of my favorite moments. Depending on the timeline for the day this may be the only chance the couple actually gets to be alone to enjoy the fact that they are finally at their wedding day! This first look was one of the sweetest.
Before this beautiful wedding day, I had never photographed a Naylor Hall wedding. This wedding venue is absolutely stunning! From the traditional southern porch (with blue roof I might add), to the giant windows that fill the rooms with light. There isn’t a spot on the property that is just, “eh” for taking portraits. This couple really filled every space like the venue was made for them and their day.
Weddings days for the most part run the same. There is the getting ready part, the portraits part, the ceremony, more portraits, of course the PARTY! With that being said, no two weddings are ever the same and I still get surprised with every wedding day I photograph. From little details to a full on horse and carriage for the bride to enter on! Yea, I said it, she entered via horse and frickkin carriage!
Check! I have photographed a bride entering her ceremony in a horse drawn carriage.
How fun is this grooms’ cake?! Little touches like this surprise me every time. This is just another way to make your wedding day your very own!
If you don’t follow me on social media ( CLICK HERE ) you missed the meaning of these last few photos. When I met with Courtney and Nick for our final meeting before their wedding day they had mentioned not wanting to have a formal exit, that they would rather enjoy the company of their guests.. I love this except from the photography standpoint. I wanted their gallery to have and end point and not just a photo of the guests and then nothing. We came up with a “fake exit'“!
Once the dance floor opened we pulled the wedding party outside with the couple and a basket of bubbles. Not only does it give the wedding party a chance to hang with the couple for a few more minutes, but they also don’t have me in their face until the very last minute of their reception. This is a fun alternative to ending your reception early to get all your guests lined up outside for a formal exit.
Whatever you decide to do on your wedding day - first look or not first look, formal exit or no formal exit, just make sure the day is yours. At the end of it all, that is what your guests are going to remember, the details that made the day unique showcasing your love story. That is all that really matters!
Photographer: Krisandra Evans Photography
Venue: Naylor Hall
You can consider where you first met, where you got engaged, your hometown, a place you visit often OR you can consider a place you have never been to before for your engagement photos. You can then get amazing outfits to compliment those locations and plan the perfect time of day and day of the week with your Atlanta wedding photographer and make killer engagement images! All it takes is a little planning and your engagement session can be more than just a trial run in front of the camera before your big day.
Spring has sprung! Welcome to Spring everyone. Welcome to pollen and mosquitos and BBQ’s and late afternoon hangs and bumble bees and all the fun things that come along with longer days. And welcome to the amazing golden light that fills the air!
McDaniel Farm Park is such a diverse space for every season, but there is just something about when the land starts to bloom and start fresh for the year that I had to suggest it to this family for their session. With concrete and natural paths this park is suitable for everyone. The park has so many great options like the pathways, or the fencing, a bridge, a barn, you name it!
Hitting it off instantly, they had their first date after a week of talking and on their second date he knew she was THE one. After 11+ months he recreated their first date down to what he was wearing and even what was on tv that night. He had his guitar wrapped around him and he played a song he had written officially asking for her hand before getting down on one knee, using her full name, and asked her to marry him. SWOON
You know those days where you wake up and you know it's just going to be ah-mazing! Well, that is how this whole wedding weekend was in Hilton Head. As a full time Atlanta Wedding Photographer, I make it a habit not to drive more than 3 hours in a day to a wedding because after photographing for 8-10 hours and driving.. DEAD. So with the travel time of just over 4 hours there, 10 hours photographing, and 4 hours back; I decided to drive in the night before. So glad I did. I had never been to Hilton Head before and it was a much needed change of scenery. You couldn't have ask for a better breeze, whiter sands, perfect blue sky and just the right amount of overcast.
The wedding was held at this great compound on Bradley Beach called 5 Urchin Manor. When I say this was a compound, I mean it was a compound! The total number of people this place can sleep is 21! This place was breathtaking.
At every wedding something.. SOMETHING gets tangled in the wedding dress. On this wedding day it was "sea urchins". Not really sea urchins, but those grass burrs that are super prickly and stick to your shoe laces.. yea those things. But, we all laughed it off including some beach goers.
The wedding reception was intimate and beautifully set with peaches in the center pieces and the most delicious BBQ for dinner under a tent in the middle of the compound. The guests signed a globe and left bucket list ideas for the couple. Their first dance was adorable and they actually tricked me! If you have been to as many weddings as I have you see couples choreograph their first dance where they start out slow dancing and the DJ back spins a song or makes it seem like the song messed up.. well that happened here and I actually thought the song messed up - BUT it didn't. They did this fun high energy dance together and had everyone on their feet.
OH MY GOSH and let me tell you about the dueling pianos they had for the reception.. SO FUN! I was literally laughing all night. There wasn't a song they couldn't play. If you ever get a chance to see dueling pianos, you totally should. It was a unique idea for this wedding day and I was so excited to see the performance leading up to the wedding day. The show did not disappoint. Between the pianos and the guests reacting to the pianos, the reception was one for the books.
Not all wedding days have a formal exit and that is OK! I always try to make an "ending" photograph just because I feel it completes the album in my weird way. Since this couple was staying at the compound they did not "exit", but the groom sure did end the night by singing Tom Jones to his bride! And let me add, he sang extremely well.
Personalized touches is what helps me get to know the couple I photograph. Most times I don't get a lot of time to get to know the couple that brings me along on their wedding journey due to time or distance or what ever reason. Spending over 8 hours with someone on the wedding day, you should most definitely feel comfortable with each other and you should be able to have fun!
Venue: 5 Urchin Manor
Photographer: Krisandra Evans Photography
Coordinator: Cindy Brown
Florist: Tracy Inglesby
Caterer: Bess Soper
Salon: LUSH
OCALA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
There isn't a bad location at the Georgian Terrace hotel. Trust me. I've literally been all over that place. It is just stunning - EVEN THE ELEVATORS! Then you add an amazing bride, beautiful flowers, good vibes and you are setup for a fantastic day. And that is just what Kelly and Chris got! They were good sports too! I have them alllll over that hotel and the Georgian Terrace is no small space. I even had them on the roof top. Given the proper amount of time, we will hit all the portrait locations at your venue. I shoot fast for a wedding photographer, test me (haha).
Seriously, do you see what I mean? Just stunning. This is a dream location for any Atlanta Wedding Photographer. Having a wedding in a location like this means you can pretty much have free range of the venue to take portraits (I even got roof top access for the wedding party photos! See a few photos below). If you give me 25 minutes for your portrait session, I will take 26. If you give me 45 minutes for your portrait session I will take 46. I will use every minute you give me.
ROOF TOP ACCESS! yessssssssss. Did I mention I was afraid of heights? Well, lets just say the elevator ride up was interesting to say the least. Like it was high enough to make my ear pop. And all of us in one elevator, ah! Usually, if I keep photographing I am able to block out the scary things like height or bugs or tight spaces.... I have to because you hired me as your wedding photographer and I can't come with a list of things I won't do. I have been part of an helicopter exit. So imagine me on the roof top with no safety rails and a helicopter and a bride and a groom plus the wedding party! Now a helicopter exit, let me tell you how scared I was that I was going to be so busy photographing and not paying attention and get my head chopped off (LOL) - seriously. But, I'm getting off task here. Lets focus! OH, but not before I tell you what happened at my most recent wedding where I sat my camera bag on the ground and somewhere in the ground was a nest of baby spiders, so my bag got covered with hundreds of baby spiders DURING the ceremony. Talk about professional... no one even knew ;-)
Georgian Terrace Wedding Photographer, right?! Ok.
I have to give a shout out to all the amazing vendors this day. Not only did they work with my crazy timeline of wanting to hit all these great locations, but they made sure I had access to each location. And of course to Kelly and Chris for having me along on their wedding day journey. It was truly a pleasure to work with you both and your families. Thank you for trusting my vision. Best wishes for the future!
Wedding Planner: Peachy Keen Planners
Florist and Decor: Peachy Keen Decor
Venue: The Georgian Terrace Hotel
Photographer: Krisandra Evans Photography
OCALA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Alright, so real talk - I am the worst for showing the sessions I photograph. Its not because they aren't awesome, because they are really. Its because, well, I'm busy shooting all these amazing sessions and talking with you! But, with baseball opening weekend just passing I had to come back to this baseball engagement session because it's that good.
So, let's go back to early 2016. March to be exact. This is Pam and Thomas. They needed some engagement photos since they were having a destination wedding (no, I was not the wedding photographer, sadly). Sometimes this happens! Sometimes couple will hire a local photographer to do their engagement session and hire a local (their destination) photographer to photograph their wedding like me who is an Atlanta wedding photographer.
But yes, they wanted some engagement photographs and came to me with the best ideas. First they wanted to start on a baseball field and ending at a private lake just on the other side and a small climb behind the field. Me to them, "OMG, yes!! Let's do all of that". I had been dying to photograph a baseball engagement session being a huge Atlanta Braves fans and living no further than 6 miles from former Turner Field at any given time over the last 7 years.
Now of course this amazing location isn't located inside Atlanta and I do no mind driving for these amazing locations. I really like to create images for my couples that are special and important to them otherwise you might as well go to JC Penny or Picture People and have standard portraits done. Right? RIGHT!
Just before sunset we had climbed down this little hill and then down a small trail to where they like to bring their dogs. Now when they described this lake to me, I imagined this magical place, but you really never know what you are going to get on any given day. Overcast, dry spell that has the lake level low, someone could have mowed the grass... but this area - holy moly! OH and there was champagne which makes everything better.
Being a wedding photographer in Atlanta allows me to get to visit all these great places. There are SO many place I have yet to photograph in and yet SO many places I have photographed in. Every couple has their own idea of what they want from their engagement session and even if its the same location that has been used before, it hasn't been used before with that particular couple. So, when you book your engagement session with me I will ask you your ideas on location and we will come up with something unique that you are excited about! Good chances are that if you are not excited, I won't be excited either. Then it really just becomes a formality at that point and if that is the case... I am not the photographer for you. Because let's be honest, you will get better results at Walmart.
THE BARN AT TATUM ACRES WEDDING CEREMONY
This is Demi and Matt - they are a stunning couple. And yes.. I say this about all my couples because all my couples are stunning. But, they were totally into each other. Even during their engagement session (which we did in their beautiful home with their adorable pup) they were just all about each other. And that is what makes amazing photos. Well, a lot of things happen that make amazing photos, but being into each other is a key part. They just have a sexiness about them as a couple and its rare that I use the word "sexy" about wedding photos. And can we talk about that veil for a moment. I. Cant. Even. I am a sucker for a long, flowy veil (flowy is a word, right? My spell check keeps disagreeing with me). Flowy. Flowy. I'm going to say that is a word and if it really isn't it is now a word to describe wedding veils. Done. (ok. I googled it and it is a word, my spell checker just doesn't like the word.)
Oh and Matt got Demi's name tattooed on his ring finger!
They got married at The Barn at Tatum Acres in Jasper, GA! And of course I can't say enough about this venue that sits on 75 acres. From the bridal suite, to the inside of the barn, THE VIEWS, the outdoor dance area. It's just stunning up there and the crew are just the sweetest ever. And I mean it, some venues are good, but this one was outstanding.
They were so accommodating to whatever we needed, and the venue owner, Miss Debbie, even moved my car for me when I was busy photographing because we all know I always park in the wrong place or leave my gear laying around. Which reminds me, Miss Debbie even held onto a lens I accidentally left out there on a pile of wood because I was trying to get this shot. Totally worth it, wouldn't you agree?! My lens is fine, by the way, haha.
ATLANTA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Do you see this wedding cake! I have seen a lot of wedding cakes like a lot, but nothing like this one. I mean.. its hanging from the ceiling. From the ceiling! By a chain! You guys. I need to see more suspended cakes. The cake was definatley a center piece at this reception which is why you get a lavish cake, right? Kinda sets the tone for the reception and the couples style. Here comes that word again, SEXY.
Not only was the cake display stunning, but the flowers and greenery were a wedding photographers dream. I mean, ah! The estate table was just dreamy. The pale pink lush flowers against the wood with alllllll that greenery is for sure one of my favorites.
Demi and Matt, thank you for having me along on your wedding journey.
The Barn At Tatum Acres - Atlanta Wedding Photographer
Wedding Venue: The Barn at Tatum Acres
Wedding Planner: Ivy Marie Weddings
Wedding Flowers: A Delicate Petal by Melissa
Wedding Cake: Cakes by Carissa
Wedding Photographer: Krisandra Evans
