Turf Valley Resort Wedding & Reception

A look back at the wedding day of Erin & Jim from Dave McIntosh Photographics, Baltimore wedding photography and videography.

Erin and Jim married in early November at Turf Valley Resort. November weather can be risky but we lucked out on a beautiful sunny 65 degree day. Erin and Jim first met at Elon University in North Carolina, and they started their next chapter in style at Turf Valley. My team consisted of Daniel shooting video and myself and the second photographer, Anji shooting stills. I started the day with drone footage and aerial views of the gorgeous wedding venue. Everything went according to plan photographing and filming preparations. When I came outside with Erin for the first look, the guys were laughing and having a good time. I later discovered why the guys were laughing when I found the photos of Jim kicking the soccer ball at the groomsmen.

Erin and Jim’s photos provide a great example of why a first look is a great idea. We completed before the ceremony photos of:
the first look
the couple
the wedding party
the groomsmen and bridesmaids separately
the family, parents and siblings

Then we paused for 30 minutes before the ceremony. Turf Valley Resort has a wonderful garden area for the ceremony. A photographer’s dream really – plenty of room to move around the sides, a wonderful backdrop, and the sub is behind the ceremony not beaming harshly on the couple. If the couple has their back to the audience either me or the second shooter can moves to get a good angle like shown below for the candle lighting ceremony. Most venues I cannot do this without being a distraction.

After the ceremony we only needed to get a few photos of the entire family and photos of Erin and Jim at the fountain. While I photographed the groups Anji photographed reception details. 15 minutes with Erin and Jim as the sun went down was all it took to capture photos of the couple with the lake and on the course. Turf Valley Resort provides a golf cart to get us quickly on and off the course.

We headed to the reception in the Waterford Ballroom. Cocktail hour was at the reception area outside the ballroom. The party started with cocktails and hors d’oevres. Everything went as planned with lots of fun, speeches and dancing. Erin’s father took a moment to toast her mother. Little did I know at the time this would be some of the last photos Erin has of her mother. You can follow the reception in the photos. Erin and Jim had most of the reception traditions except the garter. That is one tradition that seems to be fading away. The reception ended 4 hours later with the groomsmen singing shown in the last photo.