Why I love photographing the big moments at small weddings in Raleigh NC

I love the idea of keeping it simple! 

Sometimes hosting a wedding day with an enormous guest list isn’t for everyone. The truth is that the happiest and most beautiful of wedding days that I’ve photographed, no matter the size of the guest list, are the ones that are truly a wholehearted celebration of life and love.

Over the past few year's I’ve had the pleasure of photographing a few *small weddings where only the very closest of friends and family of the bride and groom attend the ceremony. Often the ceremony is followed by an informal (or formal) reception dinner at a local restaurant where the attendees tell jokes and stories with a twinkle in the eye and a drink in the hand.  

 In my experience as a professional wedding photographer, these types of smaller weddings often tend to yield the best variety of memorable photojournalistic ( non- intrusive - real candid style) pictures because of the intimate nature of the event. The guests tend to know each other a little better and are generally much more relaxed so the images of your guests having fun with one another are easier to photograph thus ensuring that your candid photos are truly the sweetest ones captured.

Another benefit is that generally speaking, less people to photograph at a wedding means that my clients and I can often spend more time on capturing some very creative (and hopefully fun!) couples portraits that a larger wedding's typical portrait sessions - timeframe would simply not allow for. Less is definitely more in this case because extra time spent with the bride and groom translates to more couples portraits in your wedding album later which are always a lovely bonus!

Check out these photos from a few small weddings that I’ve photographed, I think you will see why I love capturing the big moments at “small” weddings so very much.

* Small weddings are defined as having around 0-50 people in total attendance. This number is based my estimates from 10 years of experience of covering weddings. 

A beautiful wedding day at the Hope Valley Country Club in Durham NC. 12 guests in attendance!

To see more from this wedding please visit http://sallysiko.zenfolio.com/durham/wedding/photography/hope/valley/country/club

A small wedding ceremony at the Deja View farm in North Raleigh. 8 guests in attendance. Visit http://sallysiko.zenfolio.com/daja/view/farm/wedding/photography/raleigh/youngsville to see more from this wedding :)

This wedding at Fred Fletcher Park in Raleigh had just 2 guests in attendance so we had plenty of time to capture a large amount of couples portraits following the ceremony.

Here's the link to see more...http://sallysiko.zenfolio.com/raleigh/wedding/photography/fred/fletcher/park

One of my favorites, a small wedding that was captured at the Siena Hotel and 411 West in Chapel Hill NC. Only 5 guests in attendance! Since the couple was married in one of the hotel rooms I actually photographed the wedding on my knees while on the bed since the room was kind of small. Lol!

Here is the link to check out the rest of this wedding...http://sallysiko.zenfolio.com/chapel/hill/wedding/photography/siena/hotel

To explore all of the weddings (of any size) in my portfolio please visit http://sallysiko.zenfolio.com/wedding/photography/raleigh/durham/chapel/hill/beyond

If you have any questions about my photography service please contact me anytime!

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 engagement and wedding photography price and service packages may be found here.