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« THE ULTIMATE CHECKLIST TO PLANNING A WEDDING IN ATLANTA!

Wedding Bells are Ringing At Cowan Historic Mill | Alyssa and Matthew

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March 10, 2023

Mathew and Alyssa’s wedding at Cowan Historic Mill located in Georgia was nothing short but magical. It was a pure vision from the bride and groom and let me be the first to tell you the details in this wedding were EVERYTHING! I cannot wait to take you on this wedding day journey and the love story between these two University of North Georgia love birds.

wedding photo, bride and groom posing side to side at a historical wedding venue

Engagement Session at Millennium Gate

Mathew and Alyssa began working with me back in 2020 when I first started on my photography journey using more moody brown colors. They always loved my photography style and when they got engaged I was so honored they chose me to be their photographer and videographer!

I took their engagement photos around Atlanta in the area around Millennium Gate Museum. Their chemistry is completely contagious and they were super comfortable in front of the camera. We even ended the session with a good old trip to Taco Bell!

I always tell my clients that engagement photos are so important because they can be used for a variety of things. From home decor, save the dates, and elements of your wedding. Alyssa and Mathew totally followed through with that by incorporating their photos as wedding decor pieces like their guest book and framed photos. (Scroll below to check it out!)

Getting Ready!

Their wedding took place on January 20th and the day was beautiful. The getting ready process was a breeze and Laura Cross Makeup Artistry killed it with Alyssa’s hair and makeup as well as her bridal party. I loved Alyssa’s dress and the train she had. It was from Belfiore Bridal. It not only photographed so well, but looked even more beautiful in person. The lace on the train looked one of a kind. We even almost had a near miss when someone knocked over a glass onto a bit of her dress! We were able to save it with some cleaning solution and the holy grail: a tide pen!

It’s All In The Details!

No personal touch the bride and groom included on their special day didn’t go unnoticed. Alyssa and Mathew had a vision for their wedding and I was so eager to be able to capture every moment of it. Alyssa had tons of different flat lay options ready for us to use. She really trusted me, and as a photographer, my relationship and trust between my client and I is so important to me. I would show her different photos we took during and after and I can see how excited she got seeing what we were able to create!

With the ceremony coming close, our bridal party photos started rolling in! My assistants took the Groomsmen’s photos on the train tracks. The timing was perfect as the train had stopped to load supplies. The lighting was every photographer’s dream and it created perfect shots in the shade for Mathew and his groomsmen. I love how these photos came out!

Alyssa’s bridesmaid’s photos we decided would be perfect right by the entrance of the venue. The white brick background worked perfect with the vision I was going for. Alyssa’s bridal portraits were on the second level of the venue which included a lot of editorial and moody photos with the hard sunlight peaking it. It allowed me to experiment with different lighting and shadows, and my client’s allowing me to try something new is an honor and the end result of these were awesome!

Bridal Gown: (Instagram) @belfiorebridal

Cowan Historic Mill

Cowan Historic Mill is such an amazing venue. It has so much to offer as well as different floors with different lighting so you can get a lot of variety. It offers an indoor ceremony site which is the route that Alyssa and Matthew went with. It does get tricky with lighting so me and my team made sure to use our spotlights to give enough lighting to the couple and make the photos and videos match our clean moody style. I think it is worth considering a photographer and videographer that uses indoor lighting like this to get the best possible photos and videos.

Cowan Historic Mill also has a handful of places to take photos off site. We ended up going to the park within 5 minutes away to take their photos. Afterward, we found an elevator by the bridge and took some trendy flash photos I got from my inspiration board. Mathew and Alyssa were amazing with me and my team at all these locations. This gave their wedding gallery has so much variety with different lighting and backgrounds!

Time To Party!

We made it back to the venue with spare time for the reception after the ceremony. Again, we love using lighting that we set up to give the best possible quality and background separation. This worked out best for the night time reception photos. The photos and videos ended up looking incredible with the lighting peeking through the background and onto our couple! With my videography style, I also really like incorporating audio from reception speeches to make our videos really intimate and personable. To make this possible, we work with DJ’s to use our audio equipment to pull from their audio.

During the dancing, they had glow sticks that looked incredible in the photos. With my style, I switched over to a flash system that makes everything look very vintage. Their guests at their wedding had a blast. Their reception was filled with personal touches, surprise dances and gestures. While you scroll, take a look at their cake! They had two, one personalized for the bride and groom who LOVES Spiderman. (Fun Fact, Spiderman was a major inspo for the groom’s all black tux and some of his poses on the big day!)

At the end of the night, the newly married couple stepped out to cheers from all their guests holding up their glow sticks and cheering once more to the bride and groom! A last kiss locked in and ended an amazing day. With the 2023 wedding season coming up, I cannot wait to photograph more weddings not only at this amazing venue but venture out and see what else is in store! If you’re in the Georgia area and looking for a photographer for this venue or any venue please be sure to look at my website for package details and ways to contact me!