Shell Island is a beach resort located at the verrrrrry North End of Wrightsville Beach, in Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s a GREAT location, for a lot of reasons. The beach itself is typically a bit less crowded on this end of the island, because unless you’re staying at this hotel, most people don’t venture all the way to the very end of the island for a beach day. It is located right across the street from a marsh access, which isn’t available anywhere else on the island! Their indoor space is pretty much just a blank space, with a wall full floor-to-ceiling windows that face the ocean, with a nice little tropical patio for sitting and socializing, too.
Rachel and Walt picked a beautiful day in April to tie the knot. They decided on a brunch wedding – which, in my opinion, is literally the best idea in the world. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve gotten the privilege of photographing a brunch wedding. 1) Breakfast food at a wedding!? Say less. 2) All the coffee you want at a reasonable time of day?! 3) They were done for the day by 3:30 PM and everyone went upstairs to their rooms, changed into their bathing suits, and spent the rest of the day casually hanging at the beach. I actually cannot think of a better and more relaxing way to spend your wedding day. So they already started out so strong, and then they went and hired all the best vendors in town, and then on TOP of that, they turned out to be two of the most incredible humans we’ve all ever had the pleasure of working with. Rachel and I bonded a long time ago, over our initial emails, I cannot even explain how many exclamation points were exchanged between us and probably anyone else reading our emails would think we’re crazy, but we’re both just really bright, happy, sunshine-y people with big joyful personalities, so we really hyped each other up, before, during, and after the wedding. And Walt, he was so unique in the way that he actually understood our camera gear, and while he works in video, he never once tried to tell any of us how to do our jobs, he hired professionals that he trusted and he let us do our thing. Upon delivering their photos (literally two days ago LOL) his responses were so personal to me because he actually understood the process and he valued it more than the average person does. This couple is just the dream couple that everyone wishes they got to spend every weekend with forever.
We ended the day by running off with just Rachel and Walt into the marshes, where we did all their portraits, in the beautiful sunshine, with the tall grasses and the water, and Rachel never once feeling concerned about dirtying up her wedding dress. I wrote about this on instagram but I have to mention it on my website, too. Another thing about Rachel: she fully understood that the beach is a windy place, and she never worried about the way her hair looked, she never cared if every little detail was perfect, she went with the flow, she accepted the day exactly as it unfolded, and I think it really shows in the photos. Being photographed at the beach can be really difficult between the sun and the wind, but because of their trust and not sweating the small stuff, Rachel and Walt were able to enjoy and fully participate and I truly believe that makes for the absolute best photos you can get. I will never forget this day, this couple, and this amazing experience. Shout out to the amazing vendors, the amazing wedding party, the sweet sweet families, and of course, Rachel and Walt. Y’all deserve every little moment of happiness that the world brings you.
Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography
Second Photographer: Neal Lewis, Cavalry Film Company
Venue: Shell Island
Coordinator: Meg Henson Events
Catering: MOI
DJ: Active DJ – Jesse
Videographer: Heartline Films
Florist: Harris Teeter
Dessert: Cinnaholic & Lexie’s Layers
Officiant: Sherri Crawford
Hair: Valerie Dunn
You must be logged in to post a comment.