travel photographer

Weddings
Porter’s Neck Wedding Photographer | Kathy & Mandy
- May 8, 2023
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- by Allison
Kathy & Mandy have been together for TWENTY YEARS now. They decided it was finally time to celebrate their love and invite their closest friends and family to join them all together in one place. They have over 20 people come over from Europe, which is a record in my opinion! I met these two for their “engagement” photos (they’ve already been married for awhile!) to get to know them before the big day, and we did their photos in their beautiful home along the water in Porter’s Neck, facing Figure 8 Island. They let me befriend their dogs and share a glass of wine and we exchanged travel stories and I knew that I was going to just LOVE their wedding, and boy was I right. They hired a team of TOP TIER vendors, so I already knew going into the day that it was going to be stunning, but even I underestimated just how stunning it really was. A hanging spring floral chandelier, twinkle lights covering the entire ceiling of the tent, a live band to play music to keep the guests dancing ALL NIGHT (and I mean literally all night). The food was hands down my favorite meal I’ve ever had at a wedding, and the vibes were the best part of all. The guests kept me laughing and enjoying myself all night, and the love for these two humans was felt for miles. They had their day planned out perfectly, and I loved the layout of their day, as it was very non-traditional. They started with a cocktail hour while all the guests arrived and they got to mingle and greet everyone together, followed by a ceremony of just their vows, followed by dinner, and drinks and dancing! I’m so grateful to get to be involved in days like this one, and I wish Kathy & Mandy many many many many more years of happiness together!

Planner: Knot Too Shabby @knottooshabbyevents
Ice Cream: Nye’s Ice Cream @nyescream
Catering: Spoonfed Kitchen @spoonfedkitchen
Florist: Designs by Dillon @designsbydillonnc
MUA: Amy K @amykmua
Band: The Finns @thefinnslive
Tent & Floor: Perfect Touch Rental @perfecttouchrental
Rentals: Party Suppliers @partysuppliersandrentals
Transportation: Coastal Event Shuttle @coastaleventshuttleilm
Specialty Rentals: Martha My Dear Rentals & Design Perfection @marthamydearrentals @dpetc
Lighting: High Performance @highperformancelightingnc
Plants: Coastal Plant Rentals @coastalplantrentals
Stationary: Minted @minted
Calligraphy: Southern Bee Brooke @southernbeebrooke
Travel
Travel Photographer | The Balkans
- May 1, 2023
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- by Allison
Attempting to keep up on my travel blogs – I never finished talking about my tour around The Balkans last summer! I did a whole blog post on Croatia – because it was so wonderful it deserved its own post instead of being crammed into one huge one about 6 different countries. But basically, I booked a group tour through Contiki called the Best of the Balkans (Split to Split), where I traveled around the Balkan region of Europe! I started a few days early, solo in Split, Croatia. Then ended another few days after the tour, solo again in Split. But this post is really here to talk about all the countries I visited in between circling back to Croatia again! The Balkans are unlike any other area I had been to in Europe, before. It has the same charm, absolutely, but these countries are so different and unique. In this post I will cover:

Kotor, Montenegro
Budva, Montenegro
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belgrade, Serbia
Budapest, Hungary
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

Kotor, Montenegro

After hitting Split and then Dubrovnik in Croatia, we moved onto Montenegro. I knew VERY little about this country going into this trip. And it surprised me in such a good way. We started with a little day trip to Kotor, Montenegro, on our bus ride to where we were staying in Budva. We only stayed briefly, but Kotor was wild. Apparently they worship cats here, and we unintentionally stumbled upon an entire cat village while we were walking around, complete with tiny little cat houses and everything. But mostly I was just blown away by how this town looked like it had been pretty much built into the side of a mountain. We spent our time having lunch, wandering, finding delicious gelato, and then it was back on the bus to head to Budva.

The currency accepted in Montenegro is Euros, which is easiest for me to use, because it is so similar to the US dollar.

Budva, Montenegro

Now, Budva just absolutely blew my mind. Not only was our hotel incredible, but it looked like I had stepped back into Mykonos, Greece. No joke, it looked just like a small little Greek town inside of our hotel. But the hotel was HUGE. It was called Hotel Slovenska Plaža. If you go, stay there. I swear. You could walk to the city center in 15 minutes, and the hotel goes right up to the beach. The buffet for breakfast and dinner was excellent as far as buffets go, too. And very big! The breakfast was always my favorite.

Our first evening, we spent having drinks together as a group on the little rock beach behind our hotel. It was nice, you could go buy drinks from one of the many carry out stores nearby and go sip them wherever you wanted, so we just hung out by the water and it was beautiful. Most of the group went out to a club, which was also only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, but I was old and sleepy and went to bed early. It was a very safe town and I felt incredibly comfortable walking around at night there.

The second day was my favorite day. We found out that for only 10 euros a person, we could take a little boat out to the island called Hawai. Yes, we went to Hawai in Montenegro. And honestly, it was even better than I imagined. We spent a majority of our day out there, because once we arrived we discovered that it actually had sun beds for you to lay on (I believe it was 10 euros for the day) unlike all the PACKED beaches we walked by on Budva, we would never have found even 4 chairs near each other, it really was swamped in the summer. So Hawai was the way to go. Not only was the beach amazing, but there were restaurants too. You could grab drinks or snacks and take them back to your beach chair, or you could go sit at one of the restaurants for awhile. There was even a DJ at one spot! Highly suggest bringing water shoes for these beaches, as most of the bottom is rock and painful on your feet. In the evening, we walked to dinner in Old Town and it was so cool. Tiny little street bustling with people. We followed signs for a Secret Garden and enjoyed a cold cocktail there. I could’ve had more than just 2 days in Budva, but it was time to head to the next country in the morning.

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Next up was a quick day stop in Mostar, Bosnia. A very tiny little town, where basically the entire thing looks like one big castle, with big stone pathways (SLIPPERY WHEN WET, but also slippery even when NOT wet. But if it’s raining and you go, holy cow, watch out), and complete with a spot where people jump off of this beautiful old bridge into the water below. I was far too afraid to jump off the bridge, but it was so fun to stand there and watch for awhile. We mostly did some shopping in the quaint little stores, complained about the heat – we were there midday in August), and stopped for a “kabob” which was basically just a big beautiful pita sandwich that was to DIE for. I’m vegetarian so when I asked for the sandwich without the meat the man shook his head at me and said “……it won’t be very good” LOL. But I promise, it was.

The currency accepted in Bosnia is the Bosnian Mark, but also a majority of places would still accept Euros here, and credit card was not commonly accepted.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Another place that I really didn’t know much about aside from there being a recent war (in my lifetime!) but again, I didn’t really know anything about it. Well, the FIRST thing we did was head into the city and sit down and learn more about the war that happened between them and Serbia in 1992 to 1995. It was crazy, to be standing in a place that this happened to recently, and hear from people who experienced it in real life. We walked through a portion of the actual war tunnels that they had dug to get people out of Bosnia safely. They were so small and cramped, I couldn’t imagine fleeing my country with all my belongings on my back in a tunnel that I couldn’t even stand up straight in. Then when we were walking around the Old Town, you could see bullet holes in many of the buildings, it was crazy. I really enjoyed the city center, though. Endless shops and local goods, local artists, really good food, REALLY GOOD BREAD. Hookah was all over the place and so were cats. We took a cable car up to where the bob sled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics were hosted and we were even able to walk along the tracks and take photos! We ended the day with a local brewery with our group and then a delicious local dinner with everyone. We learned that we were in town for the ending of the Sarajevo Film Festival and it was packed with people and apparently some celebrities that we did not get to see! One of the coolest things we got to do here was have dinner in a local person’s home, someone who was there for the war. Our host was only about 4 years older than me, and she can remember everything that happened. It was so wild to hear about someone’s own person version of the war and how it affected them.

Belgrade, Serbia

What a strange thing to head right to Serbia directly after being in a country that most of their tourism involved telling us how horrible the recent war was, so it made me almost not even want to go to Serbia! But we only had a one night stop over before we headed to Budapest. So honestly, we didn’t even do much. I definitely felt a little more uncomfortable in this country than I had previously, but again, I think it was mostly just because of all the history I learned the day before. We got in in the evening, on a gloomy day. We walked around some cool old castle things (the usual) and then headed into the city center for dinner. This was literally all we did in Serbia, but I genuinely had one of the best meals there and sat around for HOURS with my new friends, getting bottle after bottle of local wine, and just laughing and enjoying ourselves. It was weirdly one of my favorite dinners. Annnnnnd we had no idea what we had in store for us the next day. Just wait.

The currency in Serbia is the Serbian Dinar, but since we were only here one night, we did not get any cash out, and we just paid all together on one credit card (for the ease of the restaurant) for our dinner and wine.

Budapest, Hungary

Now. We were traveling by private coach. On a bus with 40 people. Our drive to Budapest wasn’t supposed to be anything too crazy, maybe about 5 hours normally. However, we were warned by our tour manager that because of the amount of tourism in the summer, the last group that they had driving over the border from Serbia to Hungary ended up getting stuck on the bus at the border for 8 hours. Just waiting in line for that long. We were terrified, but thankfully we knew about it ahead of time and they made designated stops for us along the way for bathroom breaks and to purchase allllll the snacks before we got to the border. Turns out, we couldn’t even have been totally prepared for what happened. We beat a record that day. Our bus was stuck in line at the border for ELEVEN HOURS. No exaggeration. We timed it. After the first 4 hours or so, we decided to all hop off the bus – it was standstill traffic – and bring a bluetooth speaker out there and we taught each other every possible line dance or choreographed dance we could all think of. The Australians taught us some fun ones, we taught them some traditional ones that Americans do, we played lots of music, sang lots of songs, ate lots of snacks, we watched Shrek on the bus. Then we watched Shrek 2 on the bus. We played games. We ate more snacks. We filled up our bus toilet that was only to be used for emergencies. And then we couldn’t use the toilet at all anymore. It was A DAY. But honestly? One of the funniest memories. It’s one of the days that I will absolutely never forget. I don’t even know what advice I can give you to avoid this from happening to you other than maybe don’t go in August? LOL

So we lost a full day in Budapest. We were supposed to do a night time boat ride and drink champagne while we rode past the Parliament Building. Thankfully, I had already been to Budapest before, and I’ve already gotten to do that exact thing. So I felt pretty lucky that the one town we missed some precious time in was one that wasn’t brand new to me. But wow, I love Budapest. We wandered the Central Market Hall which is one of the largest indoor markets in Hungary. You HAVE to try the local Hungarian fried bread (there were definitely stalls in the market that had it) called Lángos. It’s topped typically with sour cream and cheese but you can pick from a variety of toppings. It’s incredible. This time I got to check out the famous thermal baths, we went to Széchenyi Thermal Baths, and it was AMAZING. It was packed, but I didn’t care. There are multiple baths to choose from, it even started raining on us when we got there and we could still go inside and use some baths in there while we waited for the rain to pass. We ended up being able to do the river cruise that we had intended to do the first night, and we were all very grateful for that! We had a group dinner that night at a place called Trabant Pressźo and they were some of my favorite cocktails on our entire trip, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food, too.

The currency accepted in Hungary is the Hungarian Forint. It will absolutely feel like play money and they come in huge increments – for example, 10 USD translates to 3390.44 HUF. So you feel like everything is wildly expensive, but honestly, for a big city, Budapest is incredibly affordable.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Our first stopover on our way to Slovenia was a cute town called Lake Bled. I had seen photos of Lake Bled, and while they were already stunning, they don’t even do this place justice. It didn’t really feel real? Like it was so picturesque I had to keep reminding myself that it was real. We walked around the lake for quite awhile, stopping for photos along the way. We only stopped for an hour or two to see the lake, and of course try the Bled Cream Cake we heard so much about. And yes, it was delicious.

Slovenia also accepts Euros as their main form of currency!

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Another town and country that absolutely shocked me, in such a good way. Another country I really had no idea what to expect because I didn’t really know anything about it. But I was excited to explore for that reason. This town was visually stunning, but also more modern than I expected it to be! A city full of pretty, big, tall buildings, lots of canals and bridges. Amsterdam-esque in that way but also totally different. I had the best day shopping around all the local European chain stores that we don’t get in the State, as well as cute little local spots. The first place I had iced coffee on the trip. Always a plus. It had dogs EVERYWHERE. Another plus. It had cable cars you could take up to the top of the town, there was a winery up there where they let us sit in a private cellar, there were dragons everywhere (I don’t know… it was their thing), great food, great drinks, very safe place. One of my favorite moments I had was out to dinner one night, we chose a small Italian place because we’d had a LOT of the traditional Balkan meals at this point and we were ready for a change up. The sweetest thing was that our waiter could not stop talking about how much he loved Slovenia and how happy he was that we were here. Their love of their own home is amazing. Slovenia is a place that I would ABSOLUTELY return to. Just all around good vibes, good views, and a surprisingly CLEAN city, too. Probably because it isn’t as popular as some of the major European tourist destinations. If you are EVER in this region in a neighboring country, please take the time to come to Slovenia. Also, if it helps, you pronounce it “loo-bee-ahh-nuh”
Travel
Travel Photographer | The Maldives
- April 24, 2023
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- by Allison
As a photographer who works for themselves, it’s a pretty big advantage to be able to take off work whenever you’d like to. People ask me all the time how I get so much vacation time, and let me just clarify – I work really hard to make it happen. I bust my booty when I’m home, and I work like a crazy person in order to take time off. I also do not get paid when I take time off, unless I am able to book a shoot while I’m on my trip, which is not always a guarantee. It’s challenging to market yourself in a country where no one has ever heard of you. BUT – if you work hard when you’re home, and take vacations in between your busy wedding schedule, you can make it happen if you prioritize it.

The Maldives always seemed like a far fetched dream, first, because they are just SO FAR AWAY from the United States. Second, because I always just assumed that I couldn’t afford it. But here’s how I did two weeks in The Maldives on a budget!

WEEK ONE: All-Inclusive Resort $1500 USD for 7 nights

Let me start out by saying, upon my very first Google searches for all-inclusive resorts in the Maldives, I realized this place was EXPENSIVE. The over-water bungalows you always see in photos are actually in the price range of $8000-$14,000 USD per night. No exaggeration. So I was on a mission to find a resort that didn’t take a year’s salary to book for a week. I found one, which honestly, I’m not even going to name the resort, because I wouldn’t stay there again, so I’m not going to suggest it to you all. But I will just say, it’s entirely possible to stay at a resort on a budget, but you absolutely get what you pay for. Mine was visually stunning, I felt like I was living in a beach jungle for a week, and the pool and staff were amazing. The rooms were private individual bungalows (NOT over water) with a sunrise beach view, and outdoor bathrooms. Which I loved. But in March, it wasn’t exactly busy season for them yet, so the resort itself was dead, which meant that a majority of the water activities that you could book during the day weren’t even happening because they didn’t get enough people to sign up. And my resort only had the ONE restaurant (a buffet) to eat at for every meal for 7 days. So, I don’t think I needed 7 whole days in the same place, with the same food the whole time, with nothing to do but lay by the pool and have some drinks. I would’ve loved a little more variety in both food and activities. Luckily, I traveled with 3 friends, so we had each other to stay entertained, but we definitely counted down until our second week when we booked an island hopping tour! I still had a great time at the resort, but if I were to do it again, I would’ve splurged a bit more on a nicer resort, or hit up a neighboring country like Sri Lanka, and explored that before hopping over to the Maldives for our tour. One of the highlights that we did at our resort was going on a dolphin cruise, where we saw HUNDREDS of dolphins swimming out in a cove near our resort, and that was SO cool.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

WEEK TWO: Koda Sail Maldives Island Hopping Tour $1550 for twin share, with an early bird discount

The second week was easily one of my favorite weeks of my entire life. I faced many fears on this trip and did things I never really imagined I’d do…… ever. I have done a LOT of group travel in the past, mainly with large tour companies like Contiki and EF Tours. And honestly, I love all my group trips. But this one was just DIFFERENT. Koda Sail is a company who’s target audience is aimed at “young professionals” meaning the age range is a bit older than the other tour companies, and a little bit nicer quality than the others as well! The group was smaller, with a maximum of 20 people, which also kept it small and more personal. But the locations we stayed and the activities that we did were really what took it over the top. And our guide was INCREDIBLE. We even had the owner of the company come on our trip with us, so we got two awesome people instead of one. Some of the highlights from this insane week:

– Stayed in Dhigurah for the first 3 nights, a local island small enough to walk from one side to the other. Definitely felt like stepping back in time, but this was our home base for some amazing water adventures, and we were only a 1 minute walk from the beach.
– Had a rooftop dinner by candlelight our fist night with the group
– A full day out on the water searching for whale sharks (they didn’t come out for us, they were too shy)
– A fresh seafood lunch setup on the beach
– Snorkeled with many ocean creatures like bright colorful fish, manta rays, sting rays, and even nurse sharks
– Had lunch in the middle of a sandbank in the ocean
– Explored a shipwreck under water
– Went scuba diving for the first time
– We got day passes to two different resorts, one was 4-star and one was 5-star, and both were incredibly epic, and I wish I had stayed at one of those instead of ours the first week! One was called Centara Ras Fushi and the other was Amaya Kuda Rah
– Stayed on the island Maafushi the last 4 nights, which was my favorite island, and the most “western” meaning you could find a variety of food, mocktails, and fun water activities to book every day. Our hotel was great, we could walk to everything, there was fresh squeezed juice everywhere you looked, and a very safe environment to walk around morning or night.
– In my spare time, I enjoyed floating at the beach (bring water shoes, the coral is ROUGH on the feet) and I tried parasailing for the first time!

Important things to note about visiting The Maldives: it is a Muslim country. This means that you (especially women) must bring clothes to cover your shoulders, chest, and knees at all times, unless you’re out on a boat or at a resort island. Alcohol is completely illegal anywhere outside of resort islands. So you cannot just stay at an Airbnb and be able to have drinks on your vacation. You can ONLY drink at resort islands, or in some more “westernized” islands, they may have a “party boat” offshore that you can take a smaller boat out to, and enjoy a few drinks before coming back to your island. We also traveled in March, during Ramadan. Which meant that all the locals could not eat or drink during daylight hours, and they adjusted all of their store/restaurant hours to match that. A lot of the time, we couldn’t shop or find places to eat during the day, because it was all closed. Another little trick we learned during our first week traveling on our own without a tour group, is that the resort islands definitely have a monopoly going on transportation to and from their islands. Once we landed in Malé (the main airport), we then had to take a tiny plane out to Gan, get picked up by our resort staff in a speedboat, and take a boat for another 20 minutes until we got to our resort. That cost us an additional $350 USD each, and we had no control over our flights that they booked for us, and our group even got split up because they decided to bump 2 of them off of our tiny plane at the last minute and put them on the next flight available, with no warning. So pay attention to the location of your island and how you will be able to get there, and factor that price in before you book. It may just be easier to stay on an island closer to Malé and pay a little more for the resort. Also, just book with Koda Sail. They literally handle all transport for you, included in the price already. No questions or additional fees there at all.

All in all, it was easily one of the best experiences of my life. On my way there, it took me 30 hours of flights just to get to Malé airport, and that was before the additional flight and speedboat ride to the resort. On the way home, it took me 24 hours in flights and a 2 hour drive home. It was absolutely worth it, though, and I can’t recommend Koda Sail enough. Check out the other tours they do, too! They also do sailing tours around Croatia and Turkey!

UPDATE! I forgot to mention! CURRENCY! A very important part of international travel. This blew my mind, but the most widely accepted currency in the Maldives is the US dollar! I was shocked to learn that, and it made it so convenient for us. Sometimes, if you paid a small local shop in American dollars, they may give you back change in Maldivian Rufiyaa, which I would just turn around and buy myself small things like snacks and waters with before I left, because you cannot exchange any Maldivian currency in the US. So you may as well spend it if you get it. They DID accept credit cards at many places, but as usual, cash is king and makes it much simpler, especially if you’re traveling in a group who would prefer to do separate checks with credit cards. That will take forever, IF they accept credit cards. Another strange thing I learned is that they also would NOT accept a bill if it had ANY rips at all. So don’t bring your beaten up old dollar bills, they will turn you down. Maybe not everywhere, but someone rejected a $100 because it had the tiniest rip. So bring fresh ones from the bank, your life will be much easier. Also, when shopping, they do barter a bit! Nothing like the intensity of some places I’ve been, like Morocco, where they will literally chase you out of a store arguing with you, this was much calmer. I’d simply ask if I could get two for a better price, and usually they would. So keep that in mind as you buy souvenirs!
Weddings
Neuse Breeze Wedding Photographer | Lesley & Brian
- April 17, 2023
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- by Allison
This was my very first time photographing a wedding at Neuse Breeze in Havelock, North Carolina. What a great space, I can completely understand why people choose this venue! The perfect outdoor areas, a ceremony space right on the water, an outdoor dance floor, a house for getting ready, and a great floor-to-ceiling window reception space. However, for Lesley and Brian, things didn’t go EXACTLY as they planned. When we saw a 100% chance of storms ALL DAY, we had to make some backup plans. The wonderful staff at Neuse Breeze worked really hard to transform their reception area into a ceremony space, too, and let me tell you, it made me forget the weather outside. I know that it wasn’t their original plan, but the floral display and the table setups and everything was just STUNNING. Yes, we were stuck inside all day, but you know what? WHO CARES. What a fun and energetic bridal party, they kept the dance party happening ALL NIGHT, and I could not stop smiling. Lesley has this energy about her that literally lights up an entire room, and her attitude about the day is really what changed everyone’s mood about the storms. She was positive, happy, and she realized the one most important thing: she still got to marry the love of her life that day. Thank you both for such an incredible experience, and for going with the flow, and for throwing one HELL OF A PARTY!

Photography: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography

Venue & Florals: Neuse Breeze

Hair & Makeup: Dalisay Salon

Bar: Sassy Spirits

Cake & Desserts: Famous Baking Company

Catering: The Flame Catering

DJ : Paul D’Elia, Generations DJs
Weddings
Bakery 105 Wedding Photographer | Erin & Ryan
- April 10, 2023
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- by Allison
I am back from my brief hiatus (vacation hiatus!) and attempting to be back to my blog post schedule! Starting with my last wedding before I left for the Maldives! Erin and Ryan got married on a BEAUTIFUL day in March at one of my very favorite venues: Bakery 105! Located in Downtown Wilmington, just a block from the river front, this venue is such a catch. Brick walls, the patio full of ivy climbing up the walls, walking distance to all my favorite downtown photo spots, I just love working here. Pair that with an EPIC couple, I am so grateful I was able to be there for Erin and Ryan’s wedding day! These two have such an incredible, welcoming energy. I adored being around them, and TALK ABOUT A DANCE PARTY. One of my secret favorite things about working weddings is seeing all the different kinds of dance parties by the end of the night, because every wedding is so different. Let me just tell you, this one was a night to remember. Thank you for having me, you two, wishing you allllllllll the years of love and laughter!

Photographer: Lightbloom Photography

Venue: Bakery 105

Planner: Meg Henson Events

Florist: Among the Wildflowers

Dress: Beautiful Brides

DJ: Active DJ

Catering: 128 South

Rentals: L&L, White Birch

Lighting: Event Excellence

Cake: Publix

Hair & Makeup: Dalisay Salon

Popcorn: Midtown Pop
Weddings
Station No. 2 Wedding Photographer | Ally & Doug
- March 13, 2023
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- by Allison
Station No. 2 is a beautiful wedding venue located in Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. I adore photographing at this spot – but this was my first spring season wedding here and OH MY GOODNESS. The outdoor patio was transformed into an English spring time garden, and I am HERE FOR IT. Ally and Doug are the kind of people who make the people around them feel loved, welcome, and like your’e just part of the family. Ally’s daughters quite literally made me one of their own, and I happily accept this position. Being at their wedding felt like a big warm hug. Ally and I bonded pretty early on into our booking process, over our love of books and taste in music (we actually unintentionally met for the first time at a The Head and The Heart concert in town) and our similar personalities, and all of that bonding made for an even more amazing wedding day. It was my first full-sized wedding back for the season, and what a way to start off the year! One of my favorite moments was when Doug surprised Ally by writing personal vows (which they had promised they WEREN’T going to do – and then he did it anyway!) and saying them to her after their first look, when it was just the three of us. Something he said in the vows really stuck with me, when he told her that he liked the person that she made him. Okay, I’m not a cryer. I work weddings for a living, I see a lot of cool stuff. But this one got me. And then later on at the reception, he wasn’t done! He also surprised the entire guest list by standing up and performing a song for Ally that he had written, AND IT WAS AMAZING. I love their love. I love their wedding day. I wish we could do it again already.

Photographer: Allison Eding, Lightbloom Photography

Venue: Station No. 2

Planner: Meg Henson

Florist: Designs by Dillon

Cake: Pink Baking Co.

Rentals: Party Suppliers and Rentals & White Birch & Honey Bee Vintage Rentals

Dress: BHLDN

Hair Stylist: Beauty Crew Mobile

Makeup Artist: Beauty Crew Mobile

DJ/Band: Active DJ

Catering: A Thyme Savor

Invitations: Minted

Ring: Melanie Casey

Calligraphy: Lady Bird Lettering
Destination Wedding, Weddings
Charleston Wedding & Elopement Photographer
- March 6, 2023
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- by Allison
I had the most incredible weekend in Charleston, South Carolina photographing in the absolutely stunning downtown area. I’ve gotten to photograph weddings in Charleston before, but I’ve always been at the plantation kind of venues, and I’ve never gotten to photograph downtown before! So when I saw a photography workshop available on instagram from The Crafted Space, I signed up right away. This workshop was everything – multiple real couples styled up for these photo sessions, ranging from engagement style shoots to wedding and elopement styled shoots. With different backdrops around the city, I was screaming in happiness. What a beautiful place, what an incredible group of people, what an experience and a fun fun fun weekend in Charleston. Hire me for ALLLLLLL the Charleston weddings. I will repeatedly drive there from Wilmington. I don’t even care. I love it so much!

Also, another perk of being a part of this workshop was that I was able to take the time and shoot some 35mm film photos, too. Something I’m not always able to slow down and do. I’ll add all of my favorite film photos here, too!

Nora

Val & Charlie

Maddie

Harper & Johnny

Caroline & Drew

Dani & Fin

35mm Film Photos
Weddings
Airlie Gardens Wedding Photographer | Cecilia & Daniel
- February 27, 2023
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- by Allison
On a GORGEOUS evening in February, Cecilia and Daniel said their vows at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina. I was one of the lucky TWO people in attendance, and what a day it was. An intimate wedding ceremony, which was stopped multiple times by fits of laughter and sheer joy, followed by us frolicking around the gardens in a golf cart, stopping for photos along the way. I can’t explain enough how much fun I had with Cecilia and Daniel. I want to gush and talk about how great they are, but I also don’t want to delay you from seeing these photos because I am so proud of them – can you say Nicholas Sparks inspo!??! Thank you for being so wonderful to work with, for being so enjoyable to be around, for a love that radiates so loudly, and for letting me capture that on camera.

Officiant: Nick Arbia
Travel
Travel Photographer | Croatia
- February 20, 2023
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- by Allison
In August 2022, I had the absolute pleasure of touring the Balkan region of Europe for the very first time. I hit 6 new countries in one trip, and, as always, it was life changing. I can’t express enough how much I adore exploring a new country, especially ones like these that I had never experienced before. Croatia will go down in history as one of the most unique and incredible places I’ve been. I have officially crossed off 25 countries on the map after this trip, and every single check mark was perfect. I did the Best of Balkans tour from a travel company called Contiki. If you’re between 18 and 35 years old and you want to travel and get out there, but don’t want to go solo? This is the perfect thing. It’s how I’ve seen so many countries over the last 7 years and made so many international friends. I’ll be aging out later this year, and I’m super sad about it, but it’s taught me so much I needed to know about international travel. And set me up for a lot more comfort in traveling solo and planning my own trips, too.

Instead of making a blog post about all 6 countries I visited on this trip, I’m putting Croatia in its own post, because I spent the most time there, in different cities.

I arrived in Split, Croatia, as my first stop. I arrived a day before my tour started, which I’m learning that I prefer, to give myself a day to rest and catch up on jet lag, and accommodate myself with the city. Split was incredibly welcoming. It was summer, and it was on the verge of rain, and getting dark out, as I ventured out for the first time to go meet up with a few new friends who were to join my trip tomorrow, and the place seriously felt like a big warm hug. The streets were full of people, but not in an overwhelming way, in a way that showed how much life there was in this place. The people were friendly and kind, The man who I was renting my room from for the night had carried my large bag all the way up to the top of the stairs. I had all kinds of hilarious and heartwarming interactions with the owners of the local places when I stopped for food or for coffee. One of the coffee shop owners even reached across his counter to hug me. I even befriended the tattoo artist I went to later on my last day of the trip, and taught her my favorite place to get a drink! I liked Split. It made me feel like a local and it was so easy to get my bearings in this place. While a lot of the streets look the same, you start to get your feel of the place right away. Also – the beautiful marble streets are SLIPPERY when it rains. I learned this many times. Favorite things to do in Split:

– Wander the “Riva,” their lively boardwalk right along the water with restaurants and bars.
– Charlie’s Bar – we discovered alcohol in bucket-form here and it changed the course of the rest of our trip to always be on the lookout for buckets. Literal sandcastle buckets full of tasty drink. It was hilarious and wonderful.
– Lobster Tattoo – where I went and got my tattoo on my last day! 10/10 experience and it looks STUNNING, I’ll include a photo below!
– Head to one of the beaches! Keep in mind that water shoes are almost necessary at a lot of these places, the places that you’re swimming are tough on your feet, I was VERY grateful to be traveling with a pair of Teva’s for those purposes. My favorite beach hangout was the Jadran Beach Bar. Loud music, plenty of drinks, and a great view out over the water. Not my favorite spot to swim but the vibes were great to hang and lay in the sun, here.
– My hotel on my last night in town (we circled back to Split again at the very end) was called Prima Luxury Suites and it was affordable, I had my own room with the best shower I had YET on the entire trip, and it was walkable to EVERYTHING and I seriously felt like a local there. I absolutely loved that spot! I would stay there again in the future. No included breakfast or anything like that but it didn’t matter when you were just footsteps from the city.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

After Split, we headed off to Dubrovnik. I was excited about this because I am a Game of Thrones fan, and I know that King’s Landing is basically just Dubrovnik. It was pretty cool to walk around and actually recognize some places, including walking down the same steps at Cersi when she did the naked walk! Fun fact: did you know Croatia had to update its laws about public nudity because of that episode? Tourists try to walk down the steps naked all the time, so they had to change the laws! LOL. Dubrovnik was a ridiculously magical place, unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before. You basically just start out by entering a castle, but the castle is an ENTIRE CITY. It’s also stupidly expensive because it’s grown so popular. Don’t expect to pinch your pennies here. I went to a club one night (a club inside of a castle) and I think one mixed (literally vodka soda) was somewhere around $20? I much preferred a nice drink with a nice view, but if you love clubs, Dubrovnik is your place.

Favorite highlights of Dubrovnik:

– We started with a sunset cruise along the water, and it was the best intro I could’ve asked for in Dubrovnik. It picked us up right outside our hotel, fed us dinner, gave us wine in paper cups, and gave us the perfect group bonding before a night out.
– The next morning was one of my favorite activities of the entire trip: after a quick walking tour around the city, we hopped into kayaks and paddled ourselves around King’s Landing. We went all the way out to a blue lagoon, got out and swam, cliff jumped, then hopped back in and came back to land for lunch. Those are just some views you cannot experience from land.
– With the rest of our day free, we took the cable car up to the top of Dubrovnik and took in the views, which is another thing I highly recommend doing. You can either hike or cable car, and let me tell you, the cable car got me there in just a few minutes. LOL.
– After the views we wanted to locate one of the epic “cliff bars” aka Buzabar (there are multiple). The one we found HAS to be the coolest one, unless they are just all that cool, but I was blown away. Not only was it insanely hard to find the entrance (that was on purpose) but once we did, it was like our own secret spot to enjoy a cold beverage and watch the sunset, while honestly just attempted to not fall down the cliff.
– We ate delicious Italian food that night for dinner at a place I will never know the name of, and that was really all the time we had in Dubrovnik. I always want more time in the places I go, but I love being able to see as much as possible. So the next morning, we were off again.

From Dubrovnik, we continued onto Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia (all of which will get a separate blog post), and then we circled back to Croatia again to finish off the tour. Our first stop back in Croatia again was Plitvice National Park and the Krka Waterfalls. Plitvice gave us somewhere along the lines of 4 hours of hiking after a long night out drinking the night before. We had all been in better places physically, but that doesn’t stop you on trips like this. You don’t miss out on these things. We picked what we thought would be the easier hiking paths, only to discover we actually took the most difficult one, so we turned around, but not after hiking to what felt like the very top, anyway. LOL. Doesn’t make any of this place less beautiful. We stayed in this super tiny town (I don’t even know what it was called) just for one night before we headed back towards Split for our last night together. Things were getting bittersweet with our new travel pals and realizing the fun was coming to an end. We called our quaint little hotel in the country “Grandma’s house” because it looked and smelled like a Grandma ran it – along with full taxidermy animals set up like they were in the middle of a poker game in the lobby. We left Grandma’s house with a little stop over to see the Krka Waterfalls which were also stunning, but I definitely remember a lot of bees trying to eat my food, and so many people it was less enjoyable, but again, still stunning. And SUCH easy walking paths this time, much smaller than Plitvice. But, I definitely preferred the views of Plitvice.

Another trip well spent, and more info on the rest of the countries coming on another post soon!
Photography
What Kind of Camera Should I Buy to Get into Photography? | Wilmington NC Wedding Photographer
- February 13, 2023
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- by Allison
I can’t explain the sheer volume of people that ask me what kind of camera they should buy if they want to start getting into photography. So I thought I’d make this blog post to share my experiences and knowledge from the last….. well….. 15 years as a professional photographer.

Here’s the thing: I’m old school. I learned on film. I went to college for it, and spent a solid 4 years inside of a dark room (take me back). So genuinely, my first recommendation if you really want to LEARN how to use a camera and not just rely on the “auto” function – is FILM! Straight up 35mm wind it yourself film. Develop that shit yourself in a dark room and it’ll teach you how to use Photoshop, too. No joke. “Dodge” and “Burn” started in a darkroom, not a computer. It is hands down the ONLY way to not rely on the camera to tell you what to do, and you are forced to genuinely learn the functions of a camera. Also nothing is as beautiful as film. And it’s a blast. The only negative is how expensive it is to buy film and develop it. In college, I was able to develop it all myself by hand. But these days: there’s tons of online companies (like The Darkroom) that you can ship off your film, let them develop it, and send it back to you with prints, as well as digital copies! Ahhhh technology. Wish I had that in college.

For those of you who aren’t interested in film (shame on you) – then a DSLR or mirrorless camera is the way to go! What’s the difference? DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex, which works by the light hitting a mirror inside the camera, which is angled at 45 degrees. That light goes straight up into an optical viewfinder which allows you to see precisely what the lens is looking at. This is a true optical path, with no digital processing in the middle. DSLRs use the same technology as their film counterparts, which have been around for decades. Also one HUGE PERK of DSLR is that the battery will last SO MUCH LONGER than mirrorless.

Now, mirrorless cameras – I know this sounds crazy but stay with me – don’t have a mirror. With these cameras, the light passes through the lens and straight onto the sensor to be processed. It’s then displayed either on the monitor on the back of the camera, or in the electronic viewfinder, which you can see in real-time as you look through your viewfinder. I was personally very stubborn about switching over to mirrorless, purely for the fact that I felt like mirrorless was “cheating” – you don’t have to know your settings, because you can physically see them as you change them, so as someone who loves the technical side of photography and KNOWING my settings, I felt like the camera was doing too much of my own work for me, even though I’m the one still doing the settings. But one epic perk of mirrorless? It has so much new technology that it shoots even better in low-light without flash. Which is why I switched over.

Now, what do I shoot with? I use two Canon R6‘s and I love them dearly. However – if you are just starting, or only looking to be a hobbyist and not get paid for your photos, you do not need to drop $2500-$5000 on your beginning camera. Let me say that again. IF YOU AREN’T GETTING PAID FOR YOUR PHOTOS, YOU DON’T NEED TO SPEND $4000 ON A CAMERA! So what do I suggest?

BEGINNER FILM CAMERAS:
Honestly? These bad boys were made right, and made to last. All of my favorite film photos have come off of a camera I received as a hand-me-down from grandparents, uncles, and family friends. Come to think of it, have I ever actually purchased a film camera???? Old people love to hold onto these cameras forever. Ask the ones in your life if they have any lying around. I can’t say there’s one brand I even recommend over others, because I have used SO MANY and loved them all. The Canon AE-1 is a CLASSIC. And can be found on Amazon with a 50mm lens for $250! One of my personal favorites that I still use today is my Minolta X-700 (Amazon price around $200).

BEGINNER DSLR CAMERAS:
The Canon Rebel line is an incredible line of cameras, that will still produce better quality images than you iPhone will, but won’t break the bank. With a price range between $450-$1000, this is the best bang for your buck. You can even get a bundle with a camera body and lens combo, like this one. And then in the future, you can always upgrade and get a better lens! The glass that you put on the body makes a huge difference in image quality. You can even get some CHEAP lenses to play with that will probably only encourage you to take more photos and get more into it. Like this Canon 50mm 1.8. Also, the perk of purchasing a big name brand like Canon is that you’ll be able to use the Canon lenses interchangeably, which is HUGE. I will always recommend Canon. I’ve been using them for my whole life. I’ve edited it directly next to the other brands and I still prefer it over the others. Basically, I would suggest you pick a brand and stick with it. That way you can slowly collect lenses that you can always use.

BEGINNER MIRRORLESS CAMERAS:
With a smaller budget, but still an epic camera line, I have recently purchased and fallen in love with Fuji specifically for when I’m traveling and want something smaller in size, something a lot more lightweight than my work cameras, and something I don’t have to be so afraid of damaging while I’m galavanting around Europe. But I still wanted something that produced SOLID quality images, and files large enough for me to print when I got home. I got the Fujifilm X100F. While it isn’t exactly the cheapest on the market ($1400 new, I got mine for closer to $1200 used), it is honestly SO GREAT at what it does, and I *could* use this camera for work, it’s good enough quality, but I like having more control over my focal points like my bigger cameras have. If that one is well out of your budget, try another brand! I have friends who have started out with Sony mirrorless cameras and loved them. I personally haven’t used Sony aside from shooting a little real estate on them, but I really didn’t mess with my settings much so I didn’t experiment too much, so I don’t have many opinions on those. You could also try out one from the Canon line! The newer, fancier models start at $2200 and go up from there, but other beginner cameras can start as low as $450.

Hope this is helpful to everyone! Best of luck on the journey. It’s an addiction that is absolutely worth pursuing more of. Whether you want to pursue it for work or just for fun, it’s endlessly rewarding!