I get asked pretty often if I do headshots – because I don’t publish a whole lot of examples since I mainly focus on weddings. But I’m here to tell you – I DO HEADSHOTS! I don’t do it all traditional with studio backgrounds and artificial lights. I do all outdoors with natural light and I like to think they turn out WAY better that way! A lot more modern, a lot more fun. This beautiful girl, Chandler, and I walked around downtown Wilmington recently to get her some headshots for her acting portfolio. Check out my favorites!! And catch her in her upcoming play at Thalian Hall October 17-19 – a Harry Potter spinoff called “PUFFS”! – Allison
Read MoreBluewater Grill Wedding Photography | Christina & Craig
One of the best parts about my job is getting to document wedding days of people that I know and love. I’ve known Craig and Christina for awhile now, Craig is one of my best friends’ older brothers. These two have ALWAYS made me feel like a part of their family, including inviting me over for Christmas since all of my family is back in Ohio. I remember when Craig started dating Christina, and we were SO excited because he’s deserved a girl like her for so long now. I’m so happy that they found each other, and I’m so happy to have been able to be a part of their wedding day. Christina and Craig tied the knot at the absolutely stunning St. Mary’s Church in downtown Wilmington. After that we took their GIANT bridal party and adventured all over Wilmington, stopping for photos at Hugh McRae Park, Airlie Gardens, and ending at Wrightsville Beach. They arrived at the reception via private boat, TALK ABOUT AN ENTRANCE! Their reception at Bluewater Grill was nothing short of beautiful – an ice sculpture, a live painter, flowers everywhere. This family has a way of making you feel right at home, and their wedding was no exception. I’m so excited to see what comes next! – Allison Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography Ceremony: St. Mary’s Church Reception venue: Bluewater Grill Getting Ready Location: Hotel Ballast Florist: Fiore Fine Flowers Coordinator: Shauna Loves Planning DJ: Eyecon Entertainment HMUA: Meraki beauty Cake: Imaginary Cakes Dress: Camille’s Rentals: Party Suppliers Live Painter: Tesh Parekh
Read MoreTopsail Island Beach Wedding Photography | Johnna & Rob
You know what the best kinds of weddings are? Beach house weddings. And you know what’s even better than a beach house wedding? One with only 30 guests. Johnna and Rob had planned to have their wedding on the East Coast for quite some time now, and ended up moving out to southern California before they got to have their wedding. They decided to continue with the plans to do a beautiful beachside wedding in North Carolina anyway, and invited only their immediate family and closest friends. These are the kinds of weddings I live for. It’s small, intimate, and casual. Most of the guests all stayed in the same beach house all week, getting to spend most of their time in town with the happy couple. The day of the wedding, everyone got ready in the same house, and then walked across the street to watch Johnna & Rob say their “I do’s” with a short & sweet ceremony. For the reception, they had one long family style table decorated with simple and elegant decor, where they enjoyed a delicious meal together, and then danced the night away when they were done. It’s such a nice change of pace from working 200-person weddings to getting to actually connect and have fun with a group like this. Johnna & Rob were able to spend their entire day with all the people they love most, and had the time of their lives. Congratulations to these two!! Next time I’m back in California, expect to be hearing from me!! – Allison Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography Venue: Topsail Island Beach House Planner: Brandy Lawson, High Cotton Events by Design Catering: Harley, Poor Piggys BBQ DJ: Jason, Absolute Best DJ Service Rentals: L&L Tent Rentals & Sales, LLC
Read MoreGreenfield Lake Engagement Photography | Cody & Alex
This story is so sweet, so I’m just warning you now, get ready for some cuteness. Cody reached out to me through a mutual friend of ours, telling me that he planned to propose to his girlfriend soon and he wanted me to be there to catch it all on camera. First of all, SO EXCITING. Second of all, SO HARD to coordinate everything!!! We had a couple dates picked out that ended up not working out based on one of our work schedules, but Cody kept trying and made sure to get all the details right. The proposal date kept getting pushed back slightly and I ended up randomly meeting Alex, already knowing that I was going to be taking photos of her getting proposed to, and our friend introduced us and said, “Oh this is my friend Allison, she’s a wedding photographer!” And she laughed and said she hoped to be needing my services soon, because she was hoping to get engaged soon. Little did she know, Cody already had me signed on! He thought of everything, he had Alex go get her nails done, he got all of their closest friends together at a restaurant after the proposal was to take place so they could go to dinner and be surprised by everyone, he went early to Greenfield Lake and wrote sweet love notes in sidewalk chalk all along the path that he planned to take her. He said he even had to go back twice to make sure everything was perfect. He walked her along the tree-lined paths, stopping to slow dance with her, and eventually finding the right spot where he had written “Will you marry me? Check YES or NO” which I thought was adorable on it’s own, but it turns out that when he asked her out in the first place, that’s how he did it, so he continued the tradition in the proposal, too. OF COURSE SHE SAID YES!!!!!!! Apologies to all the random people who walked by and saw me hiding behind a tree with my camera. I swear I wasn’t being weird. – Allison
Read MoreIronclad Brewery Wedding Photography | Jen & Paul
Jen & Paul got married at the end of August at the beautiful and industrial Ironclad Brewery. They had a sweet ceremony on the stage downstairs, followed by a reception that involved some delicious local craft beer and a whooooole lot of dancing with their closest family and friends. They spent the day making me laugh so hard my face actually hurt when I went home. Every detail was perfect and so THEM. I wish every single wedding could go as smoothly and be as much fun as this wedding was. I could probably gush on and on about these two for many more paragraphs, but instead I’m just going to share a bunch of my favorite images from their big day! – Allison Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography Venue: Ironclad Brewery Coordinator: Jennifer Wilson, Belle Ame Events DJ-:Joey Hall Florist: Verzaal’s Florist Catering: Mission BBQ
Read MoreDowntown Wilmington Portrait Photography | Amber & Heather
These two sisters live in separate states and haven’t spent any time away together in YEARS – so they took a trip to Wilmington together – just the two of them! I absolutely love the idea of a sisters-only vacation, and they were clearly having the best time already and I met up with them on their very first night in town! So much fun to get to know them and walk around downtown Wilmington with Amber and Heather. We ended our photo session at New Anthem Brewery and enjoyed some cold beers together. Thanks for spending an evening with me on your sister trip!!!! – Allison
Read MoreDowntown Wilmington Engagement Photography | Bri & Richie
This adorable couple came to visit Wilmington the other week and are planning a wedding for next spring! We got some beautiful photos of them on their visit to town by walking around downtown Wilmington and ending with a stop for a beer at New Anthem Brewery, which is ALWAYS delicious. I hope you guys had the best trip and I’m so glad we were able to connect while you were here!! – Allison
Read MoreDowntown Wilmington Portrait Photography | The McCarthy Family
This sweet family came to Wilmington for vacation and I got to meet up with them while they were in town and show them around downtown! We wandered through the pretty southern alleyways and around the Riverwalk. So much fun meeting awesome families on their beach getaways, and so happy to be able to give them some memories to keep with them after they return home! Here are some of my favorites. – Allison
Read MoreFort Fisher Family Photography | The Auld Family
I met this amazing family because of working at Ironclad Brewery. Tabitha and Lenny got married there, and have since turned into great friends! They just had a brand new baby girl, Brooklyn, and decided that while Lenny’s family was in town visiting, that would be the perfect opportunity to snag some family photos. We wandered around Fort Fisher and climbed rocks and also just so happened to make the most awesome group photo that in fact looks just like they’re starting their own band! HA! What’s a photo shoot without a little fun?? So glad I was able to capture some memories for this family and I also believe that little miss Brooklyn gets the award for most well-behaved infant ever. Her first photoshoot and she knocked it out of the park!!!! – Allison
Read MoreDowntown Wilmington Portrait Photography | Rebekah & Gaither
I met these two via my Airbnb experience while they were in town for a long weekend getaway! I had so much fun wandering the alleys of downtown while we chatted and laughed our butts off. Airbnb is such a fun way to meet awesome people visiting Wilmington – these two even told me all about the BOAT they were staying on near Carolina Beach! SO COOL! I want to stay there…… and I even live here. Hope you two had the best trip ever!! – Allison
Read More
