When I walked up to the door of Jamie’s room on the morning of her wedding, I could hear that beautiful laugh of hers echoing out in front of me and I knew I was in for a lively and joyful wedding day (the very best kind). It was so surreal to be back in this tiny town photographing an Old Salem wedding in the same place I had been almost 5 years ago as a graduate student intern at field school. I walked the same roads as a photographer now, as I had as a Historian, and for a split second I could almost see the younger version of myself holding my old camera up to my face and snapping a picture of this same doorway years before.

Before I knew it, I was wrapped up in the warmth of a room filled with love and laughter as Jamie and her closest friends readied for the big day. Special details – shoes, a dress, jewelry, flowers – all ready to become part of Jamie and Brandon’s own personal History, waited to be captured with the lens and another wedding day was underway. It was so rewarding to meet this amazing couple and get to spend such special moments with them, and seeing the beauty of it pulled together by the ever lovely eye of wedding planner Leigh Pearce was an absolute cherry on top of it all.

Every wedding day is memorable, but getting to spend this with Brandon and Jamie, two of kindest people you’ve ever met made it so special to witness. Better yet, I realized that somewhere along this journey I had been blessed enough to move from photographing and capturing the History of these buildings, to the lives that were beginning and growing in and around them, and that makes all the difference.

The stunning ceremony took place in St. Philip’s African Moravian Church in Old Salem. Originally built in 1861, the church still stands as a testament to History and it was absolutely wonderful to see this sweet couple start their lives off in such a pretty little place still standing after 150 years.

Love this Old Salem Wedding? See more fine art photography by Perry Vaile by visiting the site HERE.

All color images shot on Kodak film, BW shot with Illford Delta, with the Contax 645.