Welcome to part 2 of Courtney and Eli’s wedding at Lambert’s Vintage Wines in Weston, WV.  I wrote a lot in part 1, so this time I’ll just skip right to the good stuff.

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First, some detail shots.  I love shooting details.

Courtney’s bouquets were beautiful, and some of the most unique I’ve seen.  They featured basil, rosemary, and cabbage mixed along with the flowers.  To be honest, just photographing them made me hungry!

(I believe in giving credit where it’s due, so thanks to Emily and Bobby for the idea on the ring shot above!)

After the ceremony and formal group shots, we sneaked away for some bride and groom time.

Courtney and Eli are “foodies” and love to sample exotic foods and wines, so we took a few portraits in the winery’s kitchen and cellar areas before moving on to the reception.

It rained (hard) pretty much the whole evening, but the weather certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

Courtney and Eli planned their food out in great detail – even sending the caterers some of their own recipes to try – and I will say, they had QUITE the spread.  Here’s a little taste (ha!), but I think the food could be a blog post in itself.  There were so many different, colorful, exotic things to try.  Dinner with Courtney and Eli must be an adventure!

I loved the DJs, who played old school jazz and big band most the night, along with some fun oldies.  They skipped all the usual group dances, and played no rap songs.  I’m a fan, because it got EVERYONE dancing.  It was so much fun to see the bridal party, grandparents, and toddlers all out on the floor together.  I don’t care how old you are, Ella Fitzgerald and company are just plain GOOD.

(Check out DJz Jason & Janice Hinkledire if you’re looking for someone for your wedding!)

And now for my favorite part.

Eli and Courtney planned their exit to a red VW bug convertible with sparklers all around them.  Unfortunately, the sparklers got wet in the rain, and while they did light, they didn’t exactly sparkle. Instead, they smoked like crazy.  The bright side?  All that smoke along with the flaming sparklers made for some BEAUTIFUL colors in the photos.  Combine those colors with the the soft, almost vintagey look of high ISO on the 5DmarkII, and you get some of my favorite shots ever.   They have a different look than some of the others, but I promise they are not extra processed.  All I did was adjust the exposure and add a little bit of contast – the rest is straight out of camera.

I love them.

Congratulations, Eli and Courtney!