Adaline Acres Virginia Wedding Donnie + Kristi

Donnie + Kristi

This Adaline Acres Virginia wedding, was so special to us because it was for my baby cousin, Donnie & his beautiful bride, Kristi. It’s not often we get to photograph a family member’s wedding. This was such a joy & will be so easy to write about.

Adaline Acres

The Adaline Acres venue was beautiful. I told Kristi it would be a spot where I’d want my wedding if I could do it all over again. Personally I loved the white pavalion they got married in & it had my light & airy wedding photographer heart jumping. The entire venue was breathtaking.

Their Wedding

Donnie & Kristi drove down Monday after the wedding. We talked about Kristi’s favorite moments from the day. I never get to ask bride’s what they thought of their day afterward, so this was a special treat. On my wedding day I only remember everything feeling like a blur.

Donnie & Kristi did a first look & I wanted to hear what her thoughts were. Did she feel like it was a blur, or did doing a first look help her slow down & enjoy everything? She shared with me that she was glad they did a first look & she said she could remember everything for the most part.

Then she asked me what my favorite parts were. I have so many I thought! Donnie spent a few years in my home growing up, so being able to see him get married was a true joy. Being able to see so many family members together laughing, catching up, & being happy to celebrate the couple was amazing.

Personal Special Moment

Something very personal & special to be was being able to dance with our Uncle Quincy. I spent most of my weekends growing up at Uncle Quincy & Aunt Cindi’s house. Him & I would dance on most Friday nights to Whitney Houston. A memory very dear to my heart. During the reception, I was sitting at the table uploading photos & Jake came up to me. Somehow I had tuned out the music. Jake says to me, “Whitney is on & Uncle Quincy is here. You should go dance with him!” I put two & two together & quickly realized I’d probably never get this moment back, so I went over. We shared such a special dance together. I will never forget that moment.

Paul + Gretchen

I loved the beautiful relationship Donnie & Kristi had with Paul & Gretchen. You could see such a deep loved shared between the 4 of them. These types of bonds make me so happy because it’s not often you see people adopt honorary families where the relationship does deeper than family bonds. Gretchen shared a special prayer with the couple before the ceremony. It was such a powerful moment. I am so glad I was able to witness it. She also did a beautiful job officiating the ceremony.

Thank You

Donnie & Kristi did an amazing job interweaving all the special people to them into parts of their day. I can’t help but to think we got a seat at that table being able to photograph their wedding. It really was an honor. Sometimes I hear couples say they don’t want family members to photograph their weddings, but they want them to be able to enjoy the day. I think for me, I felt more blessed to photograph their day & wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

To Donnie & Kristi, thank you for allowing Jake & I the joy of being a part of your Adaline Acres Virginia wedding. We are forever grateful we got to be there & see you guys get married. As we’ve already mentioned, we hope the road between us & you guys is well traveled both ways.

Love you both bunches,

Jake & Jen

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