St. Matthew Catholic Church & Reid House Wedding | Charlotte

Michael and Annah's wedding brought together two very different settings for one beautiful day: a traditional Catholic ceremony at St. Matthew Catholic Church followed by an evening reception at Reid House in Matthews, North Carolina.

It was the kind of wedding day I love photographing—full of people, movement, anticipation, and all the small moments that happen between the things everyone has planned.

A Wedding at St. Matthew Catholic Church

The day began at St. Matthew Catholic Church, where Michael and Annah were married in a traditional Catholic ceremony.

There's something about photographing a church ceremony that makes me slow down and pay attention. The light, the architecture, the quiet moments before the ceremony begins, and the expressions of family and friends as they watch everything unfold all become part of the story.

Rather than trying to manufacture photographs, I was looking for what was already happening.

A glance across the aisle. A nervous smile. A parent watching from the pews. The small interactions between family members before and after the ceremony.

Those moments can be easy to miss when you're focused only on the couple.

From Charlotte to Matthews

After the ceremony, everyone made their way to Matthews for the reception at Reid House.

The change in atmosphere was immediate.

The formality of the ceremony gave way to conversation, drinks, dinner, music, and a room full of people who had come together to celebrate Michael and Annah.

This is one of my favorite parts of a wedding day to photograph. Once the formalities are over, people tend to forget about the camera.

And that's when things get interesting.

A Reception at Reid House

Reid House provided a relaxed setting for the evening, with plenty happening throughout the reception.

I photographed the things you'd expect—family photographs, portraits, dinner, speeches, and dancing—but I was equally interested in everything happening around those events.

Friends talking between dances.

Someone laughing at the dinner table.

A parent watching their child from across the room.

The brief moments when nothing in particular is happening.

Those photographs may not have been on anyone's shot list, but they're often the images that bring a wedding day back to life years later.

Photographing the Day as It Happened

My approach to wedding photography is fairly simple.

I don't want the photography to become the event.

I'll give direction when it's useful, particularly during portraits and family photographs, but much of the day I'm simply paying attention.

I'm looking at the light, the composition, the people, and what might happen next.

A wedding only happens once. The goal isn't to recreate it later through a collection of perfectly arranged photographs. It's to make photographs that remind you what it was actually like to be there.

Michael and Annah's wedding had plenty of the big moments, but it was the accumulation of all the smaller ones that made the day theirs.

And that's what I want the photographs to preserve.

Candid Wedding Couples Portraits

Even though I’m a documentary wedding photographer, I still do couples portraits for 98% of my wedding clients. Most wedding photographers will pose these photos. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, when I first became a wedding photographer 15 years ago, I noticed almost all wedding couple had stiff couples portraits. So, I decided then, I wanted to approach weddings differently.

Now, 15 years ago, the thought of documentary wedding photography was a very small niche. It’s become more popular in the last couple years, but there are still few true documentary wedding photographers. I see a lot of wedding photographers claiming documentary, but have a portfolio full of posed photos. All the photos you see here were not posed at all.

That being said, getting the best possible photos for my clients is my top priority, not a “wedding term” or whether it’s true documentary or not. So, I typically find got spots beforehand, and when the lighting is good, I simply put you in those spots and give you the space to just be together in the moment. I send my couples a guide before their wedding that gives them some idea on how to “be natural in front of the camera”. Click the link to learn more.

In short, you don’t need to do anything crazy. It’s usually the simplest movements that make the best photos. But, I will absolutely step in and do more directing, or help you out if you get stuck. That happens sometimes and totally normal. A common myth is awkward people need a photographer who can pose them. In my professional opinion, It’s the complete opposite 90% of the time. If you are awkward in front of a camera(like me), there’s a good chance you will look stiff and awkward, just in a pose, which makes it worse.

Here’s some couples portraits where I just put the couple in good spots and gave them space to just be. They aren’t doing anything exotic, but that’s the point. It’s real life.