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Brad & Jen | Photographers & Mentors

@bradandjen

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Documenting love since ‘09 | Southeast & Beyond
Empowering photogs @bradandjeneducation
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More than anything else, really, it was a day full of pure joy and gratitude.

A day, a family, an April breeze like we’ve never seen.

Venue | @cortinafarms
Photo | @bradandjen
Video | @alittlelongdistance
Planning & Design | @ebjandcompany
Florals | @thehouseofhonor_
Band | @jordankahnorchestra
Cake | @rachcakesnashville
HMU | @amandapaigegros
Dress | @thesentimentalistatl
Shoes | @prada
Second Dress | @varca.bridal
Tux | @sidmashburn by @bradandjen

Can still hear their exhale as they walked away from cocktail hour to spend a moment together. ⁠
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Lisa's Dress: @lindafriesen.couture ⁠
Vision: @eventsofalifetime ⁠
Beauty: @eimakeup @karinnamagic⁠
Entertainment: @radialentertainment⁠ by @bradandjen

Little fall throwback from Hot Springs, VA before we dive into the summer stretch of weddings 😍

There’s something so meaningful about stepping into a day already knowing the people, the stories, the inside jokes between friends and family. Ravenel’s weekend felt like a deep breath...negronis on the front porch, books in the hammocks of @omnihomestead, hikes with friends, and a warmth that can only come from years of spending time in a place that means so much to her and her family!

Grateful doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Thank you to this incredible family (again!) and to @forloveoflove for dreaming up something so effortless and rich with meaning ✨

@forloveoflove
@bradandjen
@thecateringoutfit
@tupelofloralco
@emily.artistry
@whiddonproductions
@maxandmaidenink
@cakesbyrachelbakeshop
@rentequipva
@bbjlatavola
@paisleyandjade
@young_hearts_music
@samhillentertainment by @bradandjen

Stepping into 30A is like living inside the best part of a memory - walking pristine beaches, palm lined cobblestone streets, the vacation homes named Walker on Water, Days Like These, and Meet Me Here …

There are families abound, porches packed with guests and fresh seafood and good music…

To call it a “beach town” doesn’t really capture what makes this place so magnetic.

While the gulf constantly beckons another beach day… what seems to make the biggest impact is how much this place invites presence.

It’s pure recreation.
Memory making.
Slow dinners.
Mornings runs.
Coffee with neighbors.
Endless blue skys.
Pristine landscaping.

It’s almost… not real. But what happens here is. Thousands of families paticipating in a collective exhale. Bonding. Clinking their glasses. And remembering most of all, what is most important in life - time with one another.

Madison & Daniel, thank you for letting us witness your little piece of this place. Another porch full of people. Another table gathered around. Another family with a reason to come back here and remember exactly how it all began.

@harbordistrictevents
@tulipeventflorals
@bradandjen by @bradandjen

Swapped Northern Michigan for the PNW this summer.

Bricked our phones, read our books, packed a ton of film (for the kids too), explored tide pools, caught crabs, ate fresh baguettes, sipped french wine, and did our best to rest the RPMs of our hearts.

Truthfully it’s hard to not be on the move a lot when we travel… so renting one house, on the ocean, and staying put was a welcomed gift of slow pace and soul rest. Highly recommend.

@kodak @bradbutcherjr by @bradandjen

One of the first questions we ask every couple is, “What matters most to you about your wedding day?” 
Almost every answer comes back to the same thing - the people.
 Friends flying in from across the country. Parents meeting the college crew for the first time. Cousins who haven’t seen each other in years. Childhood friends, work friends, old families, new families. All in one place. 
You don’t get to your wedding day without your people.
 They were there long before the wedding, and they’ll be there long after it. They’re just as much a part of the story.  And years from now, those photographs become time capsules.
 They remind you who was there. How young everyone looked. The friendships that shaped your life. The people who celebrated you before careers changed, kids arrived, and life pulled everyone in different directions.
 A wedding is one of the few moments in life where everyone pauses to say, “We’re here. We love you. We’re with you.”
 That’s why our cameras are always pointed in more than one direction.
 One toward the two people getting married. The other toward the people who helped them get there. by @bradandjen

Summer 2020. Lauren emailed us... 
“While 2020 has not been what we expected, the word we’ve placed on our marriage is momentum. Good, bad, ugly, we’ve vowed that it would propel us toward betterment and greatness together.

The advice from a friend was, ‘get married - and let the rest of your life be a celebration.’ So that’s what we’re doing.”

So Colleen opened Alabaster
Lauren & Shaun invited her closest friends
Jeff officiated
Cheryl & Adam brought their voices and a guitar
Family FaceTimed in from across the country
Simoni prepared the meal

And every single person there made a toast to two people who have woven so much joy and creativity into the lives they have touched.

A gift to look back on this one - the first wedding we documented all on film. Something we’ll forever be indebted to - remembering this wedding as the one that changed everything about our creative process. by @bradandjen

A moment I think about every single day when I pick up my little girl.⁠
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Waiting for her at the top of the aisle to walk her toward the man she'll marry.⁠
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Will he love her as much as I do?⁠ Will he treat her with grace and kindness?⁠ Will he give her room to grow and change and become?⁠
⁠
This is a holy moment.⁠
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A father standing in the very moment I've imagined so many times.⁠
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I look forward, wondering who my daughter will become.⁠
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He looks back, remembering the little girl she once was. by @bradandjen

Joy abounds with the Larriviere’s! 🥂

Planner: Susan Hart
Florals: @bwdesignsinc
Photographer: @bradandjen
Video Team: @alittlelongdistance Beauty: Ayan Scott
Band: @musicgardenbands by @bradandjen

We’ve known Mary for a long time.

Back when Nashville still felt like Nashville. When her studio was still above Sam & Zoe’s and our favorite burrito spot.

When you’ve known someone across that many years, you don’t just know who they are. You get to witness the different versions and seasons of their lives.

I think that’s what made this weekend feel so special. Because this wasn’t simply the story of Mary & James finding each other. It was the story of finding each other, losing each other, missing each other, waiting for each other, and somehow finding each other again. A story with detours and heartache and longing and bad timing.

We heard stories of fate.
Of friendship…and when it turned into something more.
Of James waiting for Mary’s call and the day it finally came through.

And maybe one of our favorite details was hearing about @judahandthelion …. who knew before they did. Who, when James’ phone lit up with “Mary Hooper”, ran into another room and immediately started writing a song (last slide) because he was convinced these two would end up together.

I think when most of us picture weddings, we often imagine a straight line.

Meet. Fall in love. Get married.

But Mary & James took the scenic route and brought us along to see the beauty of those winding roads, unexpected turns, and stories we never could have written.

And standing there with their people, watching them finally arrive at this moment, it was hard not to feel grateful for every mile that came before it.

Thank you to @jessicasloane, @bygossamer, and @whiteinkcalligraphy for helping create so much beauty around this rainy fall day, and @shannonmclaughlinphoto for second shooting and always being such an example of joy and selflessness 💛

Planning: @jessicasloane
Florals: @bygossamer  Paper Goods: @whiteinkcalligraphy Photo: @bradandjen
Video: @kassidymarieco by @bradandjen

The rainfall added a natural diffusion to the day, enhancing every detail and giving the florals an organic, editorial softness that felt true to the season.

Planner: @elevents.design
Photographer: @bradandjen
Venue: @thecordelle by @bradandjen

Natalie sat in the chair after her Mom gently slipped on her wedding shoes.

We were about to leave for their first look when I asked her a simple question, something small in passing, and she turned toward her mom, then looked back out the window as her eyes filled with tears (slide 6).

“Damnit Brad… I’m just so excited to see him.” ❤️

And just like that, I watched Natalie’s breath calm. She let herself feel something that so many people just rush to get to.

We love these moments with our couples. These seemingly small unscripted pauses to feel the weight of their day.

There’s so much of a wedding day built around what’s next. The ceremony is coming. The first look is coming. The party, the people, all of it.  And yet sometimes I think the richest part of the day is realizing… you’re already in it. It’s already here!  And when you let yourself feel the weight of that while it’s happening…the gratitude, the wonder, the anticipation…it changes the experience of the day itself.

We’ve come to believe presence works this way. It deepens the experience first, and the photographs second. Not the other way around.

So we taxi’d to Central Park, where she and Nick chose a spot on their favorite lawn. Through shared text threads we mapped the light, landed on a perfect October afternoon, set out folding chairs, gathered their closest people, and closed the night with sushi and espresso martinis at @exploresaishin 🍣

Which felt exactly right.

Because that’s what this day keeps reminding me of.

How much life is missed when we live too far ahead of ourselves. How much beauty hides inside the pause. How often the main thing is already the main thing… if we’re awake enough to notice it. by @bradandjen