beach wedding

Listen, I could write a novel about Alex and Jim. But let’s start with the basics. They chose the stunnnnnnnning Brooklyn Arts Center for their wedding day, on a beautiful sunny day in November in Wilmington, North Carolina. And lucky for me, they chose me to photograph it! Every wedding day at this venue is a good day, but this one is truly one for the books.

Okay, so we started the day off strong with a FAKE first look right out the gate after getting ready. One of Alex & Jim’s best friends put on a dress and we set the whole thing up as if Alex was going to be the one to tap Jim’s shoulder and then surprise – it was very much NOT ALEX. Honestly, it set up the whole vibe for the day and it was truly just one fun and joyful event after another. We hopped on a party bus and drove around downtown with the whole wedding party for photos, and then made it back for the ceremony. During the ceremony, they had a “flower man” instead of a flower girl, and he delivered better than anyone I had ever seen attempt this at any wedding!!!! Truly. His dance moves were top tier. And it was a LONG aisle to walk down! Actually all my memories of this day are of me laughing with them. That’s a really good summary of Alex & Jim’s relationship. These two are just down to have FUN together, there wasn’t a point in the evening that it was any other way. I love a love like this one – it’s so easy to be around and so easy to root for and so easy to capture photos of.

They threw one heck of a party, too, and their guests were READY for it. I’d say the vibes were at about a 20 out of 10 at all times. They opened up a bourbon bar in the upstairs Bell Tower and that was a huge hit, too. And then to end the night, the bridesmaids all brought out a pair of scissors and chopped off the bottom half of their dresses so they could go dance at the bars after! I had heard about this happening before but I’d never seen it myself, and I loved it. Give a bunch of drunk people some scissors at the end of a wedding – I dare you!!!!! Hahahaha no but really – I’m so grateful that I met Alex and Jim. Getting to work with clients like these that turn into friends is exactly why I love my job. They don’t make me feel like I’m working for one second. Okay now go look at all these epic photos!!!

Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography

Second Photographer: Neal Lewis, Cavalry Film Co.

Venue: Brooklyn Arts Center

Planner: Dayma Huston, Dia Mia Designs 

Florist: Verzaals

Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes

Rentals: Party Suppliers & Martha My Dear

Dress: Camille’s 

Hair Stylist: Brittany Foy

Makeup Artist: Amy Kennision

DJ: Active Entertainment

Catering: A Thyme Savor

Officiant: Alex Swan

Transportation: All Access Transportation

January is almost over and I’m still working on blogging all of my 2025 weddings but I SWEAR I’m getting closer to finishing up! So we can’t forget Lauren and Noah – these two chose The Atrium in downtown Wilmington, NC for their wedding day. It’s no secret it’s my favorite venue, because I love being surrounded in greenery and ivy walls and an open ceiling for all the best natural light and… yeah I could go on awhile. ANYWAY. These two were so fun to work with. Noah is like, the goofiest groom I’ve ever experienced in my life, Lauren is like the beautiful calm to his chaos, and it’s truly so enjoyable to be around. I couldn’t stop laughing all day. And of course the highlight for me was their FLOWER GIRL – their sweet sweet Great Pyrenees. She was SO SWEET and I love getting to work with dogs on a wedding day!!! I loved the table decor and the vintage plates and the greeeeeeens – it was all so pretty. Sign me up for endless weddings at The Atrium forever and ever.

Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography

Venue: The Atrium

Planner: Detailed Event Visions

Florist: Falling in Lovely Florals

Rentals: Martha My Dear Rentals & Party Supply Rentals

Dress: Camille’s, Stella York

Hair Stylist: Noelle Snoots Hair

Makeup Artist: Kreashenz Salon

DJ: Yoel del Rio

Catering: A Thyme Savor

Ring: Perry’s

Wrightsville Manor is one of the top rated wedding venues in Wilmington, North Carolina. And it’s booked out so far in advance for a REASON. It’s located just a couple minutes’ drive from Wrightsville Beach, which makes it the perfect location for your family and friends to come stay at the beach for a long weekend. It’s got everything on one property: a bridal suite, your choice of indoor or outdoor locations for the ceremony and reception. It’s got perfectly manicured lawns, gorgeous giant oak trees with Spanish moss hanging down, palm trees, it’s like a little secluded tropical paradise. It makes for the perfect photo backdrop, no matter what kind of light is coming through that day, each side of the building itself offers gorgeous photo spots, too. It’s definitely one of my favorite places to work a wedding.

Caroline and Mitch got married on an absolutely perfect October day. It was warm, but not too warm, it was sunny, but not so much it inhibited our photos. Their families were so happy to be there, so happy for this union, and so kind to me. Their SWEET dog, Doug, made an appearance, and he was quite the hit. Everyone loves Doug, me included. He even wore a vest to dress up for his parents! Caroline and Mitch are some of the kindest people I’ve ever gotten to work with. So gentle, so sweet, but then they also knew how to get down on the dance floor! What a fun day! We had the best vendor team to bring everything together, and I just LOVED their reception setup.

Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography

Venue: Wrightsville Manor

Planner: Social Butterfly Events

Florist: FauxReal Florals

Desserts: Publix

Rentals: Party Suppliers

Dress: White of Raleigh

HMUA: Beauty Crew Mobile

DJ: Active Entertainment (Matt)

Catering: Middle of the Island

Invitations: Zola

Ring: Reeds Jewelers

Seating Chart/Signage: @fleurdeboisart

Ukeleles: Esty shop TideandTuneStudio

Doggie ‘fit: @handsomehoundfashion

Okay, it’s no secret that working at The Atrium ALWAYS makes me happy. I love photographing weddings there. But I have SO many reasons why it’s one of my top favorite places and so little of it has to do with how beautiful it is (and it is SO BEAUTIFUL). 1) It is like a little secret garden hidden right in the middle of downtown Wilmington. You are surrounded in greenery and that can be hard to achieve in a downtown setting. That makes for some gorgeous photos. 2) It has an open ceiling in the ceremony area, which provides the most perfect natural lighting to the entire venue, at all times. This is also ideal for photos. 3) The location is PERFECT for walking down to the river for sunset, or stepping out into the cobblestone streets for some portraits with your person, or your wedding party. 4) It’s rare, but I’ve had wedding days here that rained the entire day. And guess what? You can’t even tell in the photos. This is a great example. It actually ended up raining ALL DAY on Alex & Tim’s fall wedding day. It wasn’t what she had envisioned for her wedding day, but the way the vendor team was able to pivot, relocate the ceremony, the dance floor, literally everything, was incredible. We were still surrounded in beautiful greenery, the background for the ceremony was still so pretty, and we were able to still have the entire day outside, and remain dry. Having a rain plan on a wedding day is SUCH an important thing, so that you know your venue can accommodate that and all of your guests can still be comfortable. WHO CARES about a little rain on your wedding day? You can still get married to the love of your life, you can still dance the night away with your favorite people, you can still eat the delicious food you ordered, you can still eat the cake, enjoy the laughs, the love, the mems. One of my favorite unique things that Alex & Tim did on their day was to not have a formal sit-down dinner time. They only had one table set up and decorated, and anyone could use that, but mostly it was cocktail tables and an informal setting and I loved that. Some people danced while others ate, everyone could kind of do it on their own time. The most fun part for me was that I had already met a few of Alex’s closest people because I had done one of their weddings a few years ago, and half those people were also in the informal “wedding party” this day, so it was a fun blast from the past, and a group who was SO welcoming, it made me feel like I was just one of them. What a great day, what a great group of people, what a wedding. Congrats to Alex and Tim!!!!!

Venue: The atrium

Planner: Pearl and petal

Florist: Pearl and petal

Cake: Spoonfed

Rentals & Draping: Design Perfection

Dress: Beautiful brides

Hair Stylist: Leshia Ortiz

DJ: Active DJ – Matt

Catering: Spoonfed Kitchen

Officiant: Eddie Key

Invitations: Zazzle

Ashley and Wade got married on an absolutely perfect sunny day in October. They had a super small and intimate wedding with only their absolute closest humans with them, everyone stayed together in one beach house for the weekend, and I just love a day like this one. No super strict timeline to follow when you’re just hanging with your besties. They had a beach ceremony, followed by the reception up at the beach house. They ate dinner (tacos!) and listened to speeches on one deck of the house, followed by dancing and drinks downstairs by the pool. These two were so wonderful, so welcoming, I truly felt like another one of the guests. Thank you both for being so amazing to work with, I’ll remember this one for a long time!

Photographer: Allison Eding | Lightbloom Photography

Venue: Luxury Lodging by Laura

Florist: Briarpatch Florist 

Rentals: 3 Cheers Party Rentals

Dress: Pearl Bridal Holyoke, MA 

Hair Stylist: Christy Cole

Musician: Eric Metts

Catering: Art Catering & Events 

Bar: Johnny’s Bartending Service 

Officiant: Danielle Barone (friend)