Winston Salem Wedding Photographer: October Wedding at Statler Heights| Rachel and Zack

Rachel and Zack’s November Wedding at Statler Heights was a beautiful celebration of love, family, and friendship

Last October were so honored to capture Rachel and Zack’s wedding at Statler Heights. This was also the setting for their engagement session, which we had photographed almost exactly one year before their wedding. 

The Inspiration for an October Wedding at Statler Heights

Statler Heights is a beautiful, rustic venue just outside Winston-Salem. There is a large barn that can be used for ceremonies and reception, as well as a beautiful ceremony spot overlooking a large field. Rachel chose this venue because she saw that it was also elegant and beautiful, but also down to earth. She told me she loved the way it felt when they drove down the long driveway and saw the beautiful barn surrounded by tall, wispy grass. 

October is already one of the most beautiful times of the year here in North Carolina and has become one of the most popular times to get married. The challenge for brides can often be choosing a color scheme for their event that feels personal and not generically “fall”. Rachel and Zack decided on tones of mauve, gold, and green. These colors went beautifully with the venue. The mauve tones brought softness and romance into their setting. Rachel said, “I’ve always wanted lots of greenery and specifically eucalyptus. The mauve felt like a beautiful match, and I found the matching bridesmaids dresses that helped me pick out other beautiful decorations in that color scheme. Gold came in because I love the mix of some metallic and luxe look without being gaudy.” 

Rachel did something that was so helpful – when we arrived, she had all of the details she wanted photographed in a single box. This included things like a copy of her invitation suite, jewelry, shoes, and loose flowers. This made photographing her details so much easier because we didn’t have to gather it all once we arrived. She was able to include the loose flowers because they chose to use silk flowers throughout their wedding. Her beautiful invitation suite was by MagnetStreet. 

Fall Wedding Style

Rachel is already a beautiful human, both inside and out, but she was absolutely stunning on her wedding day. Her hair and makeup was done by Taylor Rogers of Socialite Studio. Rachel’s gorgeous gown came from one of my favorite dress shops The Magnolia Bride. When I asked Rachel how she knew it was the perfect one, she said, “I knew right when I put this dress on that it was the one. Everyone told me that they’d had this feeling, and I’d gone to two salons and not felt it. When I put this dress on, I had an overwhelming peace that this was my wedding dress, and couldn’t wait for Zack to see me in it.”

The groom and groomsmen wore blue suits from Bruce’s Tuxedo. Zack looked so handsome! The bold blue was a perfect complement to the mauve and green color palette. The bridesmaids were dressed in the primary mauve color in gowns from Birdy Grey. 

The Ceremony and Reception

Rachel and Zack’s ceremony was meaningful and very touching. Their faith was a very important part of their ceremony and vows. You could tangibly feel the love between not just the two of them, but also the love from their guests who came to support them. After their final I-Do’s and their first kiss, Rachel and Zack had a very cool ceremony exit. They had provided guests with biodegradable confetti. As they walked down the aisle, their guests tossed the confetti over them. 

The reception was a fun, relaxing party with lots of sentimental moments and great food by Debbie’s Catering! Standing there watching the party exchange stories and bear hugs was the highlight of the night for me. There was lots of dancing and laughter and so many sweet moments in between. At the very end, Rachel and Zack’s guests lined up and sent them off under the sparklers.