Pangburn Photography: Blog

Lera + Nate: Married

I am so excited to share this wedding with you! Lera and Nate are the kind of people you meet and you instantly fall in love with, madly, head over heels style. Not to be sappy, it's just true. They are the kind of people who just make you feel cooler by simply being around them (kinda like the fonz). They are also two of the most genuine people I've ever met. And if that wasn't enough they have one of the most romantic love stories ever (you can read all about it HERE if you're curious). So we were totally stoked to get to be the photographers for their wedding in Oak Island, North Carolina.

After my little car accident the night before we flew out to photograph their wedding, one of my best photography friends TimCo flew in from Florida to help me photograph their day, just in case I keeled over at some point lol... Luckily after doping myself up on pain meds just in case I was on cloud nine the whole day lol.

Ok... let's get to the photos, I'll talk while you browse through them...



When I arrived at Lera's parents house the morning of the wedding I was a little early so it gave me lots of time to play around and get some awesome detail shots... so I went a little crazy trying to decide which ones to post...







As usual while I was hanging out with the girls Joey was over chillin with the guys, I love these little detail shots he got!




Lera + Nate decided to do a first look, and take all their photos before the ceremony (which I LOVE) maybe next week I'll do a blog post about all the many reasons I love this idea. This is one of my favorite pictures from the sequence we captured...


After the first look we took off to take photos, Nate was seriously rockin' the shades. I think both him and Lera actually did some modeling when they lived in Japan... and apparently they haven't lost their touch lol...


Let me just say... this is the BACKYARD of their parents house... ummm... yeah... I'm jealous...


I could seriously comment on all of these, so lets just assume above every photo is a comment from me saying "AYKM!?"... How cool is the light in these two portraits of Nate though!? I was just a tad excited when I took them...



Lera was the perfect model...


Every time I see that photo on the left I feel like a little Gucci or Prada sunglasses logo would look so at home on it...



After we had some fun taking photos and took a short break to freshen up, it was off to the ceremony!


I loved everything about Lera's color palette for her wedding...




I love this photo of the ceremony Timco captured for me!


I don't usually post a ton of bridal party pictures, but these came out so cool I just had to post them!





Lera was the master planner and after the ceremony arranged for a trolly service to transport all her guests to the reception location down the street. I love these photos of the bridal party we got of them all on the trolley...



At this point, the light was PERFECT for heading down to the beach to take just a few more pictures before the reception. I love the little reception dress Lera changed into...



I love that photo on the right, somehow it just seems like the quintessential picture of pure happiness to me.


After our little beach session it was off to the reception, which was so gorgeous!



I love all the little unique details they included that were specific to them and their love story.


AYKM!?!?!? Seriously one of the most gorgeous receptions ever, with the perfect sunset too...





And I'll end with these two, you might not already know but Joey and I love ballroom dancing. I'm a little more obsessed than he is and more than anything I think he just goes along with me to see the big stupid grin I get on my face when we take lessons. So I LOVE LOVE LOVE when my couples do little choreographed numbers for their first dance and Lera and Nate's was flawless... it was gorgeous!


And if you still haven't had enough here is a MASSIVE slideshow you can watch with even more photos! It takes a little while to load but it's worth the wait I promise!

LERA + NATE: THE SLIDESHOW

I have to just say too before I end this post what an amazing family both of these two have. The moment I walked into her parents home I felt like one of the family. There was such an outpouring and love and support for these two the entire day that it was beautiful to witness.

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Behind the scenes

Since I had Tim come along we got a few more photos than usual of us doing our thing so I thought I'd post up a couple...

Lera's Dad snapped this one of Joey, Me and Tim at the start of the day (just a reference point to what I looked like in the morning, with all the running around we do I start to look like a catastrophe victim at the end of the day, so it's nice to know I started out looking decent at least lol)

Yes... you are seeing correctly, this is me sitting on Joe's shoulders taking pictures. Over the years it's sorta become our "signature move" lol. In reality it's just WAY easier than carting a ladder around with us everywhere we go!



At the end of the night Joey and I and Nate and Lera and Lera's sister and her boyfriend all shared a slow dance together :) (I love our clients!)



WHEW! That was a long blog post! Thank you Lera + Nate for letting us into your families and into your lives!