Wedding Teaser Film :: Maria + Courtland :: Wilmington NC

Something pretty amazing happened for Maria and Courtland.  This pandemic did everything it could to put a damper on their wedding..  Maria and Courtland were scheduled to get married in Asheville NC, surrounded by all of their friends and family.  However, A few weeks before their wedding, they got the news that North Carolina had decided to limit gatherings again to 25 people or less.  So, instead of postponing their wedding, the decided to move it back to their home town of Wilmington, reduce their guest list down to 25 people (mostly family,) and rent a house in town big enough for them to have a private celebration.  Her father would be the officiant of their ceremony and their reception would be a family dinner.  Then, a week before their wedding, their photographer had a close friend contract covid-19 and in an abundance of caution, she removed herself from the wedding.  Luckily, they were able to have another photographer step in and do an incredible job.  Then, as a final blow to the day, Maria and Courtland woke up to rain coming down in Wilmington that morning.  And when I say rain… I mean RAIN.  Torrential downpour, no end in sight, red all over the radar all day type of rain. 

Most people would be pretty bummed about the situation and some would have just rescheduled their entire wedding.  Instead, they decided to roll with it and what came out of their day was an absolute thing of beauty.  Throughout the day, their close friends and family members that were there did everything they could to make the day extra special.  They brought rose petals to surprise them as they exited the church.  They set up a special space on the rooftop of their rental house for them to share their family dinner “reception” time.  All day, it was little things that became the big things.    It stripped the wedding day down and made it all about the most important things in their life.  Just before their ceremony, the rain subsided and we started getting a glimpse of sunlight that gave everyone a little hope for our planned photo time at Airlie Gardens.   It ended up happening and as it did, you could see the stress of the day leave them.  But more importantly, it gave us a chance to focus our time on capturing un-rushed moments with them in the gardens and the marina.  It also gave us a chance to capture the little moments with their family that sometimes get lost in the rush of a wedding.  Things that we may not normally use in a wedding film or things that would get overlooked in the day….. but today, they seemed more important.  

When we created this teaser and while we are working on their full film, we wanted to give Maria and Courtland a video that would remind them that even through all of the chaos leading up to their day, something beautiful emerged.  

Ceremony Venue: St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church – Wilmington, NC
Photoshoot: Airlie Gardens – Wilmington, NC
Videography: Artifice Films – Greenville, SC
Photography: Stephanie Cranford – Wilmington, NC