VA MOCA Wedding in Virginia Beach with Rachel & Nick

Here are some photographs from Rachel & Nick’s wedding at the VA Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Weddings by Michelle produced this gorgeous event, and I’m excited to share a glimpse into the special moments.
Rachel and Nick were engaged during a trip to Corolla, one of their favorite places to visit in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. To capture that special sentiment, they selected the one year anniversary of their engagement to serve as their wedding date.

The festivities began at the bride’s parents house, where the back room was transformed into Rebecca Wood’s oasis of beauty. Rebecca and CJ worked their magic while the ladies sipped mimosas and chair-danced unapologetically to the Maid of Honor’s unstoppable wedding day playlist.

Once makeup was finished, the gals gathered around Rachel’s mother as she helped with the gown. A knock at the door punctuated the final veil adjustment, and we all turned to see the father of the bride peeking in. Rachel rushed toward her father’s open embrace, threw her arms around his neck, and promptly brought tears to the eyes of everyone in the room.

In order to relieve stress and best organize the timeline, Rachel and Nick decided to see each other before their ceremony. The couple shared a very quiet, intimate first look on the MOCA’s wooded bridge, with only Michelle Kilgore and I observing from afar. As soon as the couple had a few moments to themselves, we headed back to the MOCA for some additional photography and to prepare for the ceremony.

Rachel and Nick exchanged vows underneath the signature Dale Chihuly glass sculpture that beautifies the MOCA’s Rodriguez Pavilion. And the Pavilion’s glass walls performed in concert with the late afternoon sun to shower the entire room with beautiful natural light.

One of my favorite memories of the planning process was seeing a copy of Rachel & Nick’s reception playlist: at the top of the sheet, they had written “NO SLOW SONGS!!” in huge capital letters. Astro’s Jon E. Flex exceeded those expectations, producing one of the most energetic dancefloors I’ve seen in a long time. Everyone, from young to old, was out there celebrating for the entire evening. Heck, the last people to leave the dancefloor were the couple’s grandparents! 🙂

Big thanks to Michelle Kilgore and the Weddings by Michelle gals for assembling such an all-star team for Rachel and Nick’s wedding. Having spent most of the past year working destination and out of town events, I was thrilled to reconnect with so many of my favorite local vendors.

Need more Rachel and Nick?
Head over to enjoy their beach engagement photos! I even shot some of their engagement session on film.