Emily & Pat = Wakefield Barn Wedding Day!

Wakefield Barn Wedding Day  |  Emily & Pat  |  May 14, 2022

Emily & Pat’s wedding day was a LONG time coming – they booked us way back in 2020, so we were so pumped to finally celebrate them! And speaking of celebration – Pat and Emily’s guests knew truly how to CELEBRATE them accordingly!  What a FUN group of family and friends they had! 🙂

Leading up to Saturday, the weather forecast was NOT looking good. The whole weekend was looking like a washout, and everyone was worried. After a week of many, MANY prayers about rain by me & my mom, Emily’s family, and even (her mom) Candy’s group of prayer warriors – the rain stopped right in time for outdoor photos. You’ll actually see in all my outdoor venue photos it was actually raining on me as I was taking them! What a HUGE blessing to have all our photos outdoors and not worry about the rain anymore. 🙂

This was our FIRST time working at The Wakefield Barn, so we were exciting to see a new-to-us venue! We started off our morning walking past the guard (AKA the 14-year old barn cat who stayed there ALL day) and going into the Bridal Suite to see all the girls getting glammed! My favorite part of the morning was seeing Emily open letters from each of her bridesmaids, it was such a sweet moment! Emily’s bridesmaid, Allie, actually did Emily’s makeup for her, and I was so impressed!  Emily looked absolutely GORGEOUS as a bride, and I especially loved the floral design on the dress skirt. So unique!!!!

Emily had a sweet First Look with her dad, and then Pat and Emily had a First Look! The way Pat reacted to seeing Emily for the first time was precious. He had the biggest smile on his face and just couldn’t stop looking at her!!!! We went right into some MAGICAL Bride & Groom portraits, and I just LOVEEEE how they turned out. Emily had warned us from Day 1 multiple times that Pat hates photos….but he did an AMAZING job and was just SO MUCH FUN to photograph!!!! (Plus he loves golf, UNC, and the Canes – so Phillip loved talking with him all day!)

We photographed the Bridal Party next, and I swear that Emily’s group of bridesmaids are insanely gorgeous and should all be models. They were soooo stunning! Emily chose such pretty blue hues for the bridal party to wear.

The ceremony took place inside the barn, and EVEN though Pat & Emily had done a First Look and taken an hour worth of photos together already – Pat teared up as he saw his beautiful bride walk down the aisle to him. It was SO PRECIOUS, and I absolutely loved it. My next favorite part of the ceremony was actually when Pat’s brother helped fix Emily’s dress right before they walked out of the ceremony as husband & wife. It was so sweet!!!! 🙂

Emily & Pat joined their cocktail hour, which was partially outside thanks to the surprise of the beautiful weather we had!!! Their signature cocktails were named after both of their dogs, AND their koozies had their dogs illustrated on them! So cute!!!!

The reception kicked off with The Legacy Band playing for their First Dances. Another sweet moment was Pat tearing up as he saw Emily & her dad dance together. (Isn’t Pat an absolute GEM?!) After a delicious dinner, the band started playing, and Emily’s sweet brother swept in to dance with her and kick off the dance floor – just the two of them! I thought it was just the sweetest thing!!!!

I have never seen a dance floor fill up THAT fast, and then their guests danced for 2.5 STRAIGHT HOURS!!!! It was incredible, they all had the best time dancing, drinking, and eating donuts together!! 🙂

At the end of the night, Pat and Emily walked through a tunnel of sparkles – and it was such a fun way to end the evening (side note – Emily is actually scared of sparklers, so it was reallyyyy brave of her to do this!)

We had the best time photographing these two and their FUN crowd of family & friends!!!! I can’t want for ya’ll to see my current favorite photos below. Enjoy!!!

P.S. Thanks so much to these amazing vendors:
– Florist: Expressions of Love Florist
– Makeup Artist: Allie Wheeler (for bride)
– Hairstylists: Brooke Glenn & Laura Taylor
– Director: Southern Oak Events, Erika Bath
– Band: Legacy Band
– Videographer: Oak Hill Media
– Wedding Venue: The Historic Wakefield Barn
– Caterering & Bartending: Mulino
– Cake Designer: Anabel Blue
– Invitation Design: Theresa Jatko Designs
– Calligrapher: Cindy Edwards
– Officiant: Erika Strahin
– Shoe Designer: Badgley Mischka
– Ring Designer: Diamonds Direct
– Dress Designer and Boutique: Essence of Australia – New York Bride and Groom of Raleigh
– Bridesmaid Dresses Designer: Amsale – Bella Bridesmaids
– Groom & Groomsmen attire designer: New York Bride and Groom – Jim’s Formalwear
– Transportation: White Horse