Sword & Shield Audubon Society Wedding Photography in Maryland

Megan & Lee’s wedding in Chevy Chase was a fairy tale. I was honored to provide their Audubon Society Wedding Photography in Maryland. This wedding was full of geeky references and mole stuffed animals riding remote control cars and Jane Austen while the girls got ready and a BRIDE WITH A SWORD. I love these two, they’re SO much fun. So much so that we got into town just a bit early so we could all hangout and get a drink together the night before the wedding. {Thank you once again, guys, for introducing me to hard root beer. I’ll forever be in your debt for that one.}

There were so many personal and awesome touches at this wedding. Megan carried a sword instead of a bouquet, and her bridesmaids {her shieldmaidens} all had shields they decorated themselves to reflect their styles and personalities. Lee’s side all had Avengers pins or necklaces, specifically picked based on their personality traits. The girls watched Pride & Prejudice while they readied themselves {and everyone in the room pretty much knew it by heart}.

They had a sign at the ceremony spot that directed you to almost any fantasy or sci-fi world you could ever want to visit. Their centerpieces were different trees from literature and mythology, each made by Megan herself.

Their ring bearer was a mole stuffed animal who was driven in via remote control car, and his timing was perfection.

I love this wedding and our time with Megan & Lee. Thank you so much for having us.

Most memorable moment from your wedding day?

Both of Us: One of our friends had told us to take a moment, at the very end of the ceremony, before we walked down the aisle, to look at the faces in the crowd. To really take in what had happened, and the people we had shared it with. So as “Just One Person” from The Muppet Show began to play, we paused, held each other, and looked out at all the faces that we loved. The song is about one person believing in you, and then more and more people will believe too. Seeing all the people who believed in us and who loved us and came to support us while hearing that song and holding each other made it the most memorable moment of the day.

Funniest moment from your wedding day?

Megan: We had some pretty amazing, laugh-out-loud moments, as evidenced by our pictures, but probably the best was, after my vows when I was, as Lee calls it, “a cry-cry face,” he announced to the assembly that he was going to do his vows in the form of an interpretive dance and proceeded to begin, making me laugh and giving me a moment to catch my breath before he made me cry again with his beautiful real vows.

Lee: Our friends Colin and Christian came running over to me at one point during the reception and breathlessly asked if we were going to officially cut the pie. When I said “No,” they were so excited, and ran back to grab a slice.

What were you most anxious/nervous about regarding your wedding day and how did it turn out?

Lee: I think the only thing I was anxious about was everyone having fun. That everyone was entertained and no one was bored. And it turned out great! Everyone seemed to have fun!

Megan: All of my stress nightmares about the wedding were focused on my hair. The hair took too long and we had to postpone the wedding. The hair was just a mass of frizz and I looked terrible. In reality, it went fine! The hair did take longer than we expected, and so it knocked the timeline off a little, but it looked wonderful, and we were able to make up for lost time a little later. We just breathed and were flexible with the order of the day, and had amazing support from our wedding party.

 

What advice you would give to other couples planning their wedding?

Lee: Everyone knows that the wedding takes a lot of coordination with a lot of people, but at the end of the day you shouldn’t do anything that doesn’t make you happy. If doing something somebody else wants won’t make you happier by making them happy, or improve your day, don’t do it.

Megan: Seconded. There were a lot of traditional wedding elements we completely skipped because they weren’t important to us, or we couldn’t see the reason behind them. It saved us a lot of time and stress because we weren’t worried about how things were “supposed to be” and worried just about the kind of day we wanted to create that would make us happy and give our guests a good time.

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

Lee: I don’t think so! I think everything worked out the way I wanted too.

Megan: I think just skewing the timeline, so that things weren’t so rushed before the ceremony. The rest of the day was pretty perfect.

Any tips for future couples on how to prepare for the wedding photos?

Lee: Don’t. Just do. Don’t worry about them, let them happen, have fun and be with the person you love.

Megan: Yup! Just be silly. Be yourselves. Laugh, and have fun.

Vendors

• Caterer - Spilled Milk
• Cakes/Desserts - Dangerously Delicious Pies
• Venues - Woodend Audubon Sanctuary
• DJ - DJ Mole
• Hair Stylist/Makeup Artist - Joy Johnson
• Wedding Planner - Us!
• Dress/Clothing - Deb Sivigny (Wedding Dress); Different Regard (Groom’s Suit)
• Accessories/Jewelry - my Grandmother’s pearls (Bride’s bracelet); the Tie Bar (Groom)
• Rings - ManiDesigns from Etsy

Thank you, Megan and Lee, for trusting me to capture the real you! Interested in chatting with me about your wedding day photography?! Of course! Send me a message to get this party started!

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Raven is an Atlanta Wedding Photographer who captures real people on their totally unique and completely awesome wedding day. She travels throughout Georgia, including Athens and Dahlonega, documenting love.