As promised, I said last week that I would blog about the fun camp-away wedding I had the opportunity to photograph this past weekend. The wedding took place at Ramblewood Campground in Darlington, MD. This rustic setting was great for the fall chilly weather that seemed to sneak up on us this year. The bride and groom, Kelly & Greaton had planned every detail themselves and enlisted family and friends to make the rustic property into a venue suitable for a wedding. I arrived Saturday night for the rehearsal and watched how their friends and family all pulled together to make it happen.
Kelly looked absolutely stunning in her “old hollywood” style gown with her beautiful red hair pulled back tight like a old-time starlet from the past. She and Greaton were so easy to photograph as they knew just what pose to strike to make the shot happen. I love it when that happens!
The ceremony took place down by a small pond and wooded area. Kelly walked down a beautiful stone stairway to greet her groom to the sounds of bagpipes. After the ceremony, the wedding party and I had a little adventure as we used the cabins, old barn and woodsy areas around the rather large property of Ramblewood. I was totally in my element as I came up with new an interesting ways to shoot the wedding party “posed” photos. I always love shooting at a new venue and exploring the not so beautiful areas and making them look amazing in my photographs. My favorite shot is of Kelly and Greaton standing in the barn on the stage with the red velvet curtains behind them and an old “The Barn” sign in the background.
After a delicious dinner in the dining hall, we all moved out to the pavilion for the reception. They did an awesome job of transforming the simple wood structure into a fun party atmosphere with strings of white lights, a disco ball and lots of orange and purple lanterns hanging from the ceiling. This place was a challenge to light with the bare wooden rafters and high roof, so I decided to have a little fun with my lighting toward the end of the ceremony and played a bit with my artsy side.
That evening after the reception, the plan was to have everyone go down the hill to a giant bonfire and play music….
side note: Kelly and Greaton have a ton of musician friends who were all in attendance (including many of my boyfriend’s long time friends), so I was relieved of my shooting duties and got to join in on the bonfire fun….I love when a wedding ends this way!
…unfortunately, it started to rain so the instruments never made it down to the bonfire, but several of us did with umbrellas in tow. It was a blast hanging out by the fire while it was raining…a perfect way to end the evening.
I also want to give a shout out to her friend and Best of Baltimore dessert maker extraordinaire Bettina Clair who knocked it out of the park not only with her fabulous cake but with a table full of fall inspired desserts and candy apples for the guests to take home.
Freckle Photography-Annapolis, Maryland 