Victoria Grace
- Jul 10, 2021
- 4 min read

Lake Junaluska Bridals with Brit

I'm certain that when Brit walked across a bird poop covered bridge and heard me say, "Trust me," she was slightly wary. That's the reality of shooting somewhere with large flocks of geese and swans. The best part about shooting in a place with geese and swans (hint: it isn't the poop I have to Photoshop out)?

Sometimes swans float casually past your bride and you feel like you are photographing a real life fairy tale moment. I had very, very little chill about it just so you all know. These photos look super peaceful but in real life I was like, "OH MY GOSH A SWAN IS COMING GET READY!"

That blanket is there because the dock was COVERED in poop. Like, every inch. & thankfully her friend had a small blanket in the car or I wouldn't have made her stand out there and then we would have missed the swan shots and these gorgeous blue skies with the prettiest fluffy clouds. So shout out to her friend - who was so incredibly helpful and is the reason I always, always recommend my brides bring at least one friend to their bridal sessions.

Lake Junaluska is one of my favorite places to go and is actually the first place I ever visited in North Carolina before moving here when I was 14. I particularly love it for bridal sessions because there are a lot of "clean" places to shoot and tons of sidwalks/concrete versus dirt and grass to stand on which is especially helpful when the bride doesn't have much time between the bridal session and the wedding (aka - no time to do a quick dry cleaning).

Bridal sessions before a wedding let the bride see how she likes her hair and makeup "in person." There's a very big difference in how you think your hair and makeup will look based on Pinterest pictures and your imagination and how it actually translates in real life. Brit's suited her perfectly and no changes need to be made. Occasionally a bride will decide her lipstick is a tad too dark or realize she doesn't like messing with her hair down because it gets stuck on sequins on her dress and those changes will be made before the wedding.

Seriously. How gorgeous is she ??

I feel like she's the perfect example to send to people when they ask tattooed single girls, "What about when you get married and have a wedding dress on?" Answer? "I'll look as good as Brit & her tattoos do in her wedding dress."

I mean. Swoon.

This day was one of the last days this spring where flowers still looked pretty and hadn't started to wilt too much because of the heat - so we took full advantage.

If you buy a dress with pretty back and bottom details you can bet your tushy I'm taking pictures of your back and tushy so that in fifty years you can show those pictures off to your grandkids like, "Yeah, Nana was a bombshell. No Facetuning or filtering necessary."

Honestly. I love the buttons in the back. One day I plan to buy a dress with buttons. We shall see if it ends up working out that way but you can go ahead and remember that I called it here.

Now. About this time we realized somehow Brit got cut on somethin (my best guess would be the rock on the stairs) and a little blood had gotten on her wedding dress. So. We loaded up, I told them I would swing into the Dollar General for some peroxide and qtips and meet them at Bojangles (where we wrapped up her bridal session in their parking lot - you're reading this like ?????? - but just wait).

A quick Google search said to do 2/3 parts water and 1/3 part peroxide to not bleach the fabric. So we GENTLY swapped it with a wet Qtip and that solution and then dabbed it dry with a dry Qtip and repeated until it was gone.

Then we finished with THESE shots - and I'm currently blogging this the night before her wedding and wishing I could hit "post" because holding these images hostage for the last few weeks has been so hard. The MOMENT she says, "I do," and I sit down for a break if there's good enough service I'm hitting, "Publish."

If there isn't? I will stop at a McDonald's on the way home (it's about a three hour drive from her venue to my house) and publish them.

Remember everyone - this was at a Bojangles. Parking. Lot.

& those of you who follow me have seen me shoot here in the spring before. It's one of my favorite locations because these purple flowers make a wall with so much depth and texture.

Can we appreciate her friend again?

I could have spent all day shooting her through the flowers (sounds weird now that I'm reading it in my head, ha). & remember I said we were wrapping up the shoot? About the time I finished these portraits the sun ducked behind some clouds and I asked her if she'd want just a few more up at the top of the lake by the cross. I'm glad she said yes, because the lighting was perfect and nobody else was up there.