Lauren & Jonathan | An Intimate Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding + Downtown Greenville Celebration
Some of my favorite weddings are the ones where couples decide they don't really care how they're supposed to do it- Lauren and Jonathan did exactly that!
Their intimate wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains was small, colorful, a little alternative and completely personal to them. With around 30 of their favorite people there, they exchanged vows surrounded by autumn colors, rocky overlooks and those hazy mountain views that make the Blue Ridge so exceptionally beautiful.
Then we left the mountains and headed to downtown Greenville, SC to celebrate.
Honestly, I loved every bit of it!
A Small Wedding Done Their Way
Lauren and Jonathan met on a dating app, and Lauren describes what followed as pretty much love at first sight. She knew early on that Jonathan was going to change her life, while he described finding a happiness and peace with her that he'd never experienced before. < insert happy cry emoji >
Their wedding felt very much like them, too.
It wasn't a smaller version of somebody else's big wedding. It was an intentional, intimate wedding built around what they actually cared about.
That’s one of the reasons I love photographing elopements, micro weddings and small intimate weddings so much. There’s a freedom that comes with doing things a little differently- keeping the traditions you love, skipping the ones you don’t, and making the day feel like you.
And Lauren and Jonathan definitely did.
A Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding With Plenty of Personality
Lauren described herself to me as alternative, witty and assertive, which honestly tells you quite a bit about this wedding.
Her lace dress was gorgeous against the rocks and autumn woods, but then there were the details: bright fall flowers, turquoise ribbon, red lipstick and custom embroidered Vans underneath it all. Jonathan's suit had custom details of its own.
Nothing felt cookie-cutter.
And those are the things I love photographing- the shoes, perfume, flowers, movement, little personal details and all the things you chose because you actually liked them, not because Pinterest told you they belonged at a wedding.
An Intimate Mountain Ceremony
With only around 30 guests, their ceremony had some of the intimacy of an elopement while still allowing them to have their people there.
They walked each other down the aisle as Lauren’s nephew, Brody, played the guitar and then exchanged vows on the rock as the sun started dropping over the Blue Ridge Mountains, with everyone gathered close around them. There weren't rows and rows of guests or a huge production. Their families and friends were simply there with them.
That's exactly what I love about micro weddings and intimate weddings - the presence.
You don't have to choose between eloping completely alone and throwing a 150-person wedding. You can make your own rules.
And photographically, these are the days I love most: documentary enough to preserve what actually happened, with just enough editorial mixed in to make it beautiful.
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to Downtown Greenville
After the ceremony, mountains and autumn color turned into brick streets, neon lights in downtown Greenville, South Carolina.
Some of my favorite images from the day are Lauren and Jonathan dancing downtown. They're blurry. They’re fun. There's movement in her dress and neon spilling into frames.
They aren't technically perfect photographs- and we don't care.
They feel like a memory.
And that's always what I'm chasing. I want the beautiful portraits, obviously, but I also want the little moments, the wind, the movement, the person laughing in the background and the photographs you didn't even realize I’d taken.
Why This Wedding Is Still One of My Favorites
Lauren and Jonathan are still one of my favorite couples I've photographed, and Lauren (who’s the EXTREMELY talented owner of Misfit Manicures) has become one of those clients (who turned into friends) who fiercely recommends me to others! There really isn't a better compliment than that!!
But I also keep coming back to this wedding because it represents so much of what I love about photographing smaller weddings.
You are allowed to have the wedding you actually want.
Twenty people on a mountain? Do it.
Just the two of you and your dogs? Absolutely.
A cabin outside Blue Ridge with your closest people? Perfect.
A waterfall ceremony followed by dinner with your family? I'm there.
A North Georgia micro wedding, Blue Ridge elopement, intimate wedding near Rome or Ellijay, Chattanooga elopement, or tiny wedding somewhere between Georgia and the Carolinas that doesn't fit neatly into a traditional wedding category?
Even better.
Looking for a North Georgia Elopement or Micro Wedding Photographer?
Sweet Melissa Photography photographs elopements, micro weddings, intimate weddings and unconventional celebrations throughout North Georgia and the surrounding areas, including Rome, Blue Ridge, Ellijay, Marietta, North Atlanta, Chattanooga, the North Georgia mountains, Greenville and Upstate South Carolina.
My photography is a mix of documentary wedding photography, lifestyle storytelling and editorial portraiture, especially for couples who care a lot more about their wedding feeling like them than following somebody else's rules.
So if you're planning something romantic, off-beat, unconventional- or just something that feels completely like the two of you- I want to hear about it!
And if your wedding plans make somebody ask,
"Wait... can you do that?"
Absolutely!!! Shoot me a message and let’s chat about it!
Florals: Twin Run Flower Farm - Watkinsville, Georgia
Makeup: The bride :)
Dress: VEA - The Label
And, they lived happily ever after!
Planning a Wedding in North Georgia or the Blue Ridge Mountains?
Whether you’re planning an intimate mountain elopement, a laid-back micro wedding, or a full wedding day with all of your favorite people, I’d love to photograph it in a way that feels honest, beautiful and completely like you.
Sweet Melissa Photography photographs weddings, elopements and micro weddings throughout North Georgia and the surrounding areas, including Rome, Blue Ridge, Ellijay, Marietta, North Atlanta and Chattanooga, as well as Greenville and Upstate South Carolina. My style blends documentary wedding photography with editorial portraits and all of the little in-between moments that make your photos feel like your actual day.