Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding in Hot Springs, NC

Coming from Houston, TX, being able to film in the Blue Ridge mountains is a bit of a dream. There’s a lot to love about Houston and Texas in general, but the forests and mountains in North Carolina hit different. Asheville has some kind of magic to it. It’s lush, organic, and unpredictable at times. We were rained on briefly before dusk - then the fireflies came out and light up the fields. I cannot tell you how much I love it here.

For this film it was largely a true “film.” I shot 16mm along with my standard digital footage. I was a hold out with film - but what I’ve found is that people react differently when they hear a mechanical shutter whirring. It’s not quite the same with digital. It’s imperfect - its got scratches, grain, weird sun flares at times - but it sparks something in people, too. It opens up something in people - I can’t tell you how much personality I see come out in front of film. I think it’s because we know there’s something rare and precious about it.

The entire wedding took place at The Heavens, in Hot Springs, NC. It’s perched up on a clearing with an incredible mountain panorama. In addition to the wedding itself, I spent some time doing what I call a Story Session with Jesse and Michael. Similar to engagement sessions in photography, I love getting extra time with the couple before (or after) the wedding day itself. Although wedding’s generally follow a certain order and structure, I find that what I’m most drawn to is a form of impressionistic filmmaking. I’m less concerned about following chronology, or the actual timeline of a wedding day, and far more interested in building a mosaic of the wedding formed from small moments, seemingly insignificant interactions that actually say a lot about the couple. I don’t use natural audio because I need filler - I think it creates depth and lets personalities really come to life.